Slight OCD thing here - but it's not the Original London recording - it's the Original Stratford recording :)
I do enjoy the new Broadway Cast Recording; most of the childrens' accents are truly terrible - but the grown up British accents are amazing (especially Mr and Mrs Wormwood's). I love Chris' new orchestrations - but the tempi are a bit fast (especially in Miracle).
The highlight for me, though, is the much needed button at the end of The School Song - which the original cast recording emitted. Upon asking Tim about the missing button, he said "Ah, F*ck buttons, mate!*
Nick Hutson
Co-Presenter/Producer
MusicalTalk - The UK's Musical Theatre Podcast
http://www.musicaltalk.co.uk
Some people have been using OCR (Original Cast...) but it is right to draw the distinction between the Stratford and West End productions. OSR? I agree that the adult accents are good - Mrs Wormwood reminded me of Catherine Tate - but disagree with your comment about the kids. The accents of the Matildas, especially in the stories, are not perfect but I think "truly terrible" is, imho, going a bit far. As a fellow Brit, I thought they were very good, considering, and much better than the kids in Mary Poppins and Annie, for example. The kids' accents were, unusually, praised by a number of reviewers including the NYT and even the Guardian. If you want to use "truly terrible" for the Matilda kids, you'll have nowhere to go to describe the accents on Kinky Boots and the Menier's Merrily... They are the poster children for "truly terrible."
I'm not British (I'm Australian) but the accents don't seem too bad to me. Milly's accent sounds a bit Irish in "Quiet". Maybe it's intentional.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
I just saw Matilda again on Saturday with my friend who is European (with a British accent) and she assumed everyone in the cast was British. She was shocked when I mentioned that at this time, everyone is American in the cast (and Sophia was there as Matilda).
I don't think the accents are terrible at all. Most of the trouble I had in understanding the words the first time was the still terrible sound system and the fact that there are just so many words to hear. My friend had a hard time understanding everything that was said as well - but she did not at all attribute it to the accents.
One of my friends FROM LONDON saw the show 2 weeks ago. I asked which Matilda she saw, and she said: "The short blond british girl." She 100% believed that Milly was british, and it was too funny.
no - I take the "truly terrible" comment back; I think it was more a stream of consciousness thing!! They are very good indeed compared to the Poppins' accents! Don't get me started on whatever they're doing in Kinky Boots...
Nick Hutson
Co-Presenter/Producer
MusicalTalk - The UK's Musical Theatre Podcast
http://www.musicaltalk.co.uk
GlindatheGood22- congrats, you were quoted by Taylor Tensch in Lesli Margherita's new vlog for broadway.com ... yup, the performers do read what we say on these boards.
Just curious. Has anyone bought the actual CD that they are selling at the theater (I assume it's there already...even though it wasn't there when it was first announced)?
Even though i love the album, am I the only one who thinks the mixing can be horrible? Like in Miracle (Part 1) after the parents' part, when the kids and the parents sing together, I couldn't hear the parents at all, minus Ryan Steele. Just the kids. I tried so hard to listen to the parents, but the kids overpowered them :/
The CD on sale at the theater does not have Sergie's song and the "four girl 'Naughty'" as Milly referred to it on the EW video. The first three Acrobat stories are included as Bonus tracks.
^Wich makes sense since the bonus tracks wouldn't fit on a single disc and the tracklist listed on Amazon for the physical CD includes the Acrobat stories. I don't see why there was ever a question as to what they would be selling at the theatre.
Thanks for the info. I guess those of us who want to buy the CD will just have to purchase the bonus tracks at Itunes to get the entire package..if you can do that.