Alan Menken wants Sister Act OBCR
Alan Menken wants Sister Act OBCR
jacobsnchz14
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/13/06
#1Alan Menken wants Sister Act OBCR
Posted: 8/14/11 at 2:38pm
@AlMenken: Hard to contain my frustration over having no SISTER ACT original Broadway cast album. When will our producers wake up? "Raise Your Voice"!
Read more: https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/TWITTER-WATCH-Alan-Menken-Wants-SISTER-ACT-Recording-20110814#ixzz1V1uZBard
I think they could at least record the new musical numbers written for Broadway that aren't on the London cast album... kind of like how they recorded "Forever" "I'm A Believer" for Shrek when they were written/added in later.
#2Alan Menken wants Sister Act OBCR
Posted: 8/14/11 at 2:39pmHe has eight Oscars and royalties out the ass from writing some of the most successful songs of all time...why doesn't he put some of his own money up?
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
madlibrarian
Broadway Star Joined: 8/15/06
#2Alan Menken wants Sister Act OBCR
Posted: 8/14/11 at 2:44pmConsider my voice raised; I, too, would like a Sister Act OBCR. What is the obstacle?
#3Alan Menken wants Sister Act OBCR
Posted: 8/14/11 at 2:57pmI agree AC. Raise your wallet Menken, not your voice!
"Broadway...I'll lick you yet!"
#4Alan Menken wants Sister Act OBCR
Posted: 8/14/11 at 3:02pmExactly. The $50,000K it might cost to make this recording could go missing from his checking account and he probably wouldn't notice.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#5Alan Menken wants Sister Act OBCR
Posted: 8/14/11 at 3:08pmDoes that mean the show may close soon? I only remember when a Cast Recording is announced, its because of the popularity of the show and they want to get something done right away, or because the she is about to close and they want to record the piece for prosperity.
#6Alan Menken wants Sister Act OBCR
Posted: 8/14/11 at 3:17pmSeems to be doing well enough. I'm sure it will, at the very least, make it through the end of the year.
"Broadway...I'll lick you yet!"
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#8Alan Menken wants Sister Act OBCR
Posted: 8/14/11 at 3:42pm
Put your money where your mouth is Mr. Menken! THAT would make it happen, and then you'll get the return on that as well.
Q: Are they selling the London recording at the theater?
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
#9Alan Menken wants Sister Act OBCR
Posted: 8/14/11 at 3:46pmYes, they are.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#10Alan Menken wants Sister Act OBCR
Posted: 8/14/11 at 3:51pm
I have to agree with the others here that he should pay for it himself if he is that upset --- Not that it is any business of mine to tell people how to spend their money, but if they will publicly complain, when everyone knows they could afford it if they wanted to....
Case in point --- John Kander put up all (or almost all) of the cash for the SCOTTSBORO cast album.... We wouldn't have that album to listen to at all if he didn't put up the cash himself.
CurtainPullDowner
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/4/04
#12Alan Menken wants Sister Act OBCR
Posted: 8/14/11 at 4:29pmYou have the money, Menken. I'm sure if you told the producers you were putting up the money that they wouldn't say no.
#13Alan Menken wants Sister Act OBCR
Posted: 8/14/11 at 5:38pm
It is funny how he is damning the producers who look like they are going to lose millions....
But I am glad he is vocal about a new cast recording. I loved the score and then I heard the London cast album and was so disappointed 
.
"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
bk
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/03
#14Alan Menken wants Sister Act OBCR
Posted: 8/14/11 at 8:10pm
"The $50,000K it might cost to make this recording"
Thank you for your hilarious post. I live on a little planet I like to call Earth, and 50K would perhaps cover the orchestration and copyist bills, but not, you know, little necessaries like cast, musicians, studio, engineer, mixing, stage manager, general manager, and other little items that would most likely add up to $250,000 or more.
Very few cast albums are made today that are not funded SOLELY by the producers. That's been going on for about seven years now - gone are the days when labels would put up the dough and maybe even have to bid on the show - that only happens once in a blue moon now and it's real easy to tell when it happens - it's when the show isn't on Ghostlight or PS Classics. If the show is on Decca then Decca has paid, etc.
#15Alan Menken wants Sister Act OBCR
Posted: 8/14/11 at 8:13pm
Wow, Bruce. Did you need to be sarcastic? I was basing that off of some quick research I did. Not everyone produces cast recordings for a living.
Either way, Menken could EASILY bankroll a recording if he really wants one. It's tacky that he takes to his Twitter to castigate the producers when he could make this happen with a single royalty check.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
Mattbrain
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/23/05
#16Alan Menken wants Sister Act OBCR
Posted: 8/14/11 at 8:13pmI'm mixed about a new cast album. On the one hand, Victoria Clark's performance in those songs need to be preserved. On the other hand, I do not like It's Fun To Be A Nun.
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#17Alan Menken wants Sister Act OBCR
Posted: 8/14/11 at 8:17pmThe beauty about recordings is you can chose which tracks you want to listen to, lol...
"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
bk
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/03
#18Alan Menken wants Sister Act OBCR
Posted: 8/14/11 at 8:22pmAC, didn't mean to be sarcastic - I'm just an old curmudgeon (or so my baseball cap says) - but I always get tickled when I see what folks think these things cost. And yes, Menken could pay for it himself, and Menken won't. When I recorded the York Merrily and we were paying for everything (off-Broadway, so less dough all around), Steve really wanted the ten-piece orchestration Tunick had done - do you think he offered to put up one CENT of that extra money? No. They never do, especially the wealthiest of them. So, we paid the extra because I didn't feel like recording a trio.
#19Alan Menken wants Sister Act OBCR
Posted: 8/14/11 at 8:25pm
Thanks for putting things into perspective, Bruce. Something about Menken's comments really rubbed me the wrong way. It doesn't surprise me that he (or Sondheim, or anyone) wouldn't put their money where their mouth is. And I'm sure many people appreciate the good MERRILY recording and the extra money it cost--I sure do. 
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
bk
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/03
#20Alan Menken wants Sister Act OBCR
Posted: 8/14/11 at 8:33pm
It's just interesting that the poorest struggling composer/lyricist will put up some dough to get their about to close off-Broadway show recorded - they do whatever they need to, but these guys who are gazillionaires? Never. Ever.
I recently did a Kickstarter project to help fund the restoration of a film I made in the 70s. The cost had more than doubled and I thought it would be a fun way for fans of the film to become backers and get some fun rewards and make it much easier on my pocketbook. We funded and were successful. And would you like to know how many of my VERY wealthy producer and artist friends came in to donate (keep in mind, you could donate a dollar up to a grand)? Zero. I had friends who could not afford to do much who did ten bucks or twenty bucks, but these guys? They would rather DIE than part with a penny. I've just found this mindset completely weird.
#21Alan Menken wants Sister Act OBCR
Posted: 8/14/11 at 8:38pmThis all makes me appreciate John Kander even more for fronting a good portion of the money to get THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS recorded.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#22Alan Menken wants Sister Act OBCR
Posted: 8/14/11 at 8:38pmI find that funny too BK. Mink Stole recently needed 12k to record her album. It was funded by all piece meal donations from fans. You think John Waters or Newline could write her a check for 12k easy, since they founded careers on her early work. Nope-her fans paid for the recording.
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
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bk
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/03
#23Alan Menken wants Sister Act OBCR
Posted: 8/14/11 at 8:44pm
It's always the way it is with these people (and believe me, some of them are really dear friends - I have one friend who was the producer and creator of a major hit long-running TV series - he would not donate one dollar to the Kickstarter thing - I told him it was offensive and he just smiled).
Re Mink Stole - many years ago in my acting days I did a play at the Mark Taper Forum - in the cast was Mink Stole's sister, Betsy Slade.
philly03
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/07
#24Alan Menken wants Sister Act OBCR
Posted: 8/14/11 at 8:48pm
Even Frank Wildhorn funded his own studio cast recording of Dracula, the musical (which he estimated back in 2004 was mid six-figures), or atleast said he planned to back then.
Among other things that don't need to be discussed to death again, it brought up the whole who holds the rights issue... do the producers or the writers get first dibs on the recording, and can a writer seek independent means to make a recording if the producers won't record.
I don't know the ruling of it, perhaps someone else does, but I'm guessing it was ruled you can't do it until 19 weeks after a production's final performance (aka the actors do not need to be paid equity costs either). But for something like Sister Act, since it's already recorded, who would really care to buy it when they have the London one to buy.
(Dracula was recorded in '05 and just released about 2 months ago. Great performances, but it's a little different when 6 or 7 people can sing the score vs. the full cast of Sister Act!)
