I've never seen the show live, but I know the recording pretty well, and there are a couple of really stand-out songs that I listen to all the time. The rest are fine, and I'm sure they'd do better within the actual framework of the show. It's an interesting story, so I'd say give it a try.
Like most of the others who've weighed in, I've not seen a production of the show, but I love the original film. I'm not a huge Ahrens and Flaherty fan, but I've heard all their scores, and the one for A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE is my favorite.
I had never been a huge fan until I saw it - the same production Sooner or Later saw. It turns out to be a very powerful piece, definitely in the upper tier of Ahrens and Flaherty shows.
I should add-totally agree with Mallardo's comments-in production it was very powerful but had I simply heard it first I might not have been much of a fan. I've listened to the recording but not extensively or for a while in fact. But still worth investigating I think.
Maybe I'm on nobody's side
http://phdconfessions.blogspot.com/
Absolutely loved this charming little show, that really isn't so little! For me, the subject of putting on a show is one of my favorites and that plotline had me from the opening number. Also the personal aspects of what the lead went through with his sexuality resonated deeply in me. Leaving the theatre I was immensely moved and A Man of No Importance was a production that I felt very lucky to have witnessed and enjoyed.
Adored Roger Reese in Nickolas Nickleby and Indiscretians as well his directorial duties in Starcatcher and Herringbone. What a talent!
I sat behind Louise Petra. Her hair (like Elaine Stritches voice) promotes instant recognition.
Loved this show at LCT. So funny and moving. The score is gorgeous.
I also saw a beautiful version several months back at Gallery Players in Brooklyn. Since the show takes place in an amateur theater group, the small scale and sweet simplicity of Gallery's production made it even more touching to me than the original.
I know some people who were disappointed by the show as, I think, they somehow were expecting another Ragtime (the fact that McNally collaborated with A/F again, perhaps added to that). Meaning, I guess, they expected a lot of anthems, when the score is *really* low key (Streets of Dublin being perhaps the only real exception). And this is exactly how it should be--I think it's a really great show, and in my top three Ahrens/Flaherty scores as well as shows (with Ragtime and Once on this Island).
And what performances on that cast album! Steven Pasquale has one of the most gorgeous legit voices in the biz right now. Why is his name never bandied about for any of the movie musicals that pop up. Great performances on "Rescue Me", plus a bona fide lead in a major studio movie. Sure, it was AVP:Requiem but still...
I saw Pasquale in Light in the Piazza in Seattle--it was too bad he couldn't do it on Broadway because of Rescue Me, I liked him in the role much more than Morrison on the cast album or Lazar in the telecast.