BWW Reviews: ANDY CAPP Original West End Cast Recording

The 1982 musical 'Andy Capp' is the most recent release from Stage Door Records who have digitally remastered the show from original master tapes. The production opened to critical acclaim and was even nominated for Best Musical at the Oliviers in the same year. This recording features the Original London Cast who transferred from Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre and starred Tom Courtenay, Val McLane, John Bardon and Alan Price.

Andy Capp was a long running cartoon strip in the Daily Mirror created by Reg Smythe. The musical is written by Trevor Peacock with music by sixties pop icon, Alan Price. The show is very animated and is demonstrated on this cast recording.

I can't say that I grasped the concept of the storyline from the recording alone but the musical numbers are very exuberant with catchy melodies. The strongest tracks in my opinion due to the orchestrations are ' I Have A Dream' by Nicky Croydon and John Bardon, the comedy element of 'Oh Gawd, Men...Beasts!' by Vivienne Ross and 'Mr Scrimmett' performed by Robert Vahey. There are some great ensemble numbers and the score is its strongest point. I particularly enjoyed Paul Donnelly's banjo and mandolin which featured quite heavily on some of the numbers.

Stage Door Records have excelled in reproducing a more than competent musical. Perhaps not a widely known production, hopefully the release of this CD will bring it to the attention of a modern audience. I would definitely recommend it as a piece of easy listening. I can also imagine that as a fully staged production, it could be quite something.

'Andy Capp' is available from Stage Door Records at www.stagedoorrecords.com now.

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