I would go for the 2007 studio cast. The 2004 cast is a little weak and the recording isn't complete. The 2013 LA cast is a little too poppy for my taste, especially the title track. Again, that recording only has 6 songs. The one good thing there is Lindsay Pearce though.
"Pardon my prior Mcfee slip. I know how to spell her name. I just don't know how to type it." -Talulah
The 2007 recording is really the way to go. It is the complete show and offers some great performances. You lose out on a few good performances as that are in the 2004 recording, like that of John Hill, but it is overall a great recording.The orchestration on the new 2013 recording is a little odd. It isn't the same that was used in performance and gets a little distracting.
Wasn't the Off-Broadway revival at New World Stages last year supposed to be recorded?
Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
I saw the 2013 los angeles revival and it was the original bare not the off broadway crap. and the 2013 ep is not how they sounded in the show. that ep sounds like a rock artist sang the songs. they were much better live.
AND the 2007 studio cast is complete and the best. Matt Doyle's "Role of a Lifetime" is the most played song on my library. That album is my favorite musical album I own. And I own about 400+ musical albums.
The revival was indeed recorded but they're not releasing it for some reason. The 2013 version was FAR superior to the original. It came off a great deal less self righteous, the original left a really nasty taste in my mouth, the revival was one of my very favorite theater going experiences thus far in MY LIFE.
Are you referring to the 2013 off-Broadway version. That was crap, man. Critics didn't care for it, fans loathed it, and the theatre going public was not very interested in it. That version died and will likely never be seen again, and that is as it should be,
I just wish she could find another great high profile theater role.
"The gods who nurse this universe think little of mortals' cares. They sit in crowds on exclusive clouds and laugh at our love affairs. I might have had a real romance if they'd given me a chance. I loved him, but he didn't love me. I wanted him, but he didn't want me. Then the gods had a spree and indulged in another whim. Now he loves me, but I don't love him." - Cole Porter
I thought the newer version was quite brilliant. I almost didn't see it because of how much I reviled the original but I'm glad I did. I just loved the changes, especially giving Role of a Lifetime to Jason. I will say though, perhaps my love of the revised version comes from so,e of the extraordinary (in my opinion) that cast gave. I was particularly stunned by Taylor Trensch's Peter, somehow giving him more humanity. I did miss Nadia's original song though.
I found Taylor's voice Much more than serviceable for the part. He has been the only Peter I've heard or seen that didn't make me want to roll my eyes. Some far more accomplished singers haven't managed as much, I also think that vocal honors for that whole production belongs to Barret Wilbert Weed.
"The gods who nurse this universe think little of mortals' cares. They sit in crowds on exclusive clouds and laugh at our love affairs. I might have had a real romance if they'd given me a chance. I loved him, but he didn't love me. I wanted him, but he didn't want me. Then the gods had a spree and indulged in another whim. Now he loves me, but I don't love him." - Cole Porter