I am so excited to get this. I was beginning to think it would be one of those brilliant but unreleased recordings. The score is gorgeous, regardless of the silly book.
I cannot wait to listen to Justin Guarini's "I Talk to the Trees" on repeat for the rest of time.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
Speaking of PYW, the Seattle production with the new book by Jon Marans is opening in June. I don't know if the new book will have further life beyond that. Is anybody here going to the Seattle production?
It's funny that I had such a hard time finding someone to use my second ticket to this show, and it turned out to be one of the best Encores shows I've ever seen.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
Nobody else listening yet? I downloaded today and am listening now. Did not see the production at Encores and the God-awful movie was my only reference point to this show, sadly. Loving this score!
I think it is safe to put Lestat in cast album hell . It is evident Sir Elton will not let it see the light of day. Sad when a composer does not even stand behind his own work.
I'm enjoying the album. The score and performances are completely charming. The movie is mostly unwatchable so I wasn't sure what to expect but it seems as though the film and the show have very little in common. It's wonderful to have such a complete recording with such a brilliant orchestra and cast.
I just finished listening and I thought it was a great recording. This is one of the Lerner & Loewe shoes I'm not familiar with, it just never interested me. It looks like the original recording is about 30 minutes shorter than this new recording, is a lot of this material being recorded for the first time?
"Contentment, it seems, simply happens. It appears accompanied by no bravos and no tears."
One of the essays in the digital booklet confirms that a lot of material and dance music has been recorded for the first time on this album. The movie didn't use very many songs from the show and as stated above the OBC recording is quite truncated.
Ah, I listened to it on Tidal so I didn't have the benefit of a digital booklet. I was also surprised by Justin Guarini's strange accent. Nathaniel Hackmann's voice is gorgeous as is his face. Alex Socha is even better than she was in Fun Home.
"Contentment, it seems, simply happens. It appears accompanied by no bravos and no tears."
Excellent recording - and the show needed one for sure.
Interesting cut song Bonus Track: "What Do Some Other Folk Do?" I haven't read the booklet, but there must be some mention of this and Camelot. A different ,melody, but exact same idea as "Simple Folk".
"Problems with the second act led to the addition of a three-week Boston preview through most of October, with an extra week after that for the final polishing before the Broadway debut on November 12th. As part of this process several songs were dropped from the score. One of them, "What Do Other Folks Do?", a duet between Jennifer and Ben was recorded for the first time in connection with this album as a nod to its obvious historical importance: Lerner would later recycle the concept of the lyric for "What Do the Simple Folk Do?" from Camelot."
Which orchestrations are new? The booklet also says this:
"Helping to capture the spirit of the original Broadway production were the full handwritten scores used in 1951 by Franz Allers (Frederick Loewe's favorite musical director) and discovered accidently by Rodgers and Hammerstein musicologist Bruce Pomahac at the bottom of a musty Warner Chappell trunk stored, curiously, at the Rodgers & Hammerstein offices in New York."
Another glorious rediscovery on disc by Encores. It reminds me of the excellent recording of PIPE DREAM a few years back. Cannot wait until my CD arrives so I can read the essays in the booklet.