Comparing Cast Albums

[SundayInThePark2]

Personally, I like to compare and contrast various versions of a show's cast album. For example, The Sound of Music. I love the entire 1965 Julie Andrews version, but I can really only tolerate specific songs on the OBC recording with Mary Martin. Do any of you enjoy comparing different versions of cast albums/soundtracks? If so, which ones? 

[CorkySt.Clair]

I usually tend to stick to one version, but lately I’ve been expanding my horizons a bit (it helps that my streaming by service doesn’t have some of the OBCRs I’d listen to). I have an undying love for the original recordings of Sweeney Todd and Company but I’ve recently found that I adore the Doyle revival albums as well. At first they were a bit disconcerting (“God That’s Goid” in particular sounding sparse) but for the most part they’ve really grown on me.

[Call_me_jorge]

I would do this all the time with the the Stratford cast recording of Matilda and the OBC album. Then I updated my phone and lost the Stratford recording.

[SundayInThePark2]

Call_me_jorge said: "I would do this all the time with the the Stratford cast recording of Matilda and the OBC album. Then I updated my phone and lost the Stratford recording."

Oh, me too. It's interesting to me how different real English accents sound compared to the Broadway English accents. And also how much crazier Lesli Margherita seems than Josie Walker.

[NewYorkTheater]

I couldn't listen to the 2009 Broadway Hair album. I don't know if it was inferior or just that the phrasing from the 1968 Broadway album had worn a groove in my brain, and variations from it made me cringe.

[Call_me_jorge]

SundayInThePark2 said: "Call_me_jorge said: "I would do this all the time with the the Stratford cast recording of Matilda and the OBC album. Then I updated my phone and lost the Stratford recording."

Oh, me too. It's interesting to me how different real English accents sound compared to the Broadway English accents. And also how much crazier Lesli Margherita seemsthan Josie Walker."

That, plus Lauren and Bertie had totally different voices between the two albums. 

[Jarethan]

SundayInThePark2 said: "Call_me_jorge said: "I would do this all the time with the the Stratford cast recording of Matilda and the OBC album. Then I updated my phone and lost the Stratford recording."

Oh, me too. It's interesting to me how different real English accents sound compared to the Broadway English accents. And also how much crazier Lesli Margherita seemsthan Josie Walker."

I don't have a lot of duplicates, but I definitely have favorites: examples:

-- I have more versions of Follies than any other show, at least 5 that I can think of off the top of my head.  I think the Papermill Playhouse version is far and away the best.  It is not truncated to death like the original; Dee Hoty's singing is IMO far superior to any other Phyllis; Ann Miller does a better I'm Still Here than any other Carlotta; Lilianne Montevecchi's; Ah! Paris is far superior to any other.  I have to admit that I do not remember who Sally is right this minute, so shame on me, but I still love it.

-- I think Boyd Gaines is much better than Daniel Massey, but still prefer the original cast recording of She Loves Me, because of Barbara Cook and Barbara Baxley.

-- I actually like the cast recording of the recent South Pacific revival moire than the original production or movie version.  The orchestrations seem better, the music lusher, especially in the goose bumps generating overture; and, as much as I like Mary Martin, Kelli O'Hara has a much better voice.

-- I prefer the original Hello Dolly far more than the current version: orchestrations, finale, crescendos in HD and Sunday Clothes, Carol Channing vs. Bette Midler; in a perfect world, Gavin Creel and Kate Baldwin's voices would be on the original cast album instead of Charles Nelson Reilly and Eileen Brennan.  Now, that'd be an even better cast recording.

-- One more: I prefer the Angela Lansbury Gypsy to the Ethel Merman, Patti Lupone, Bernadette Peters, or (yuk) Tyne Daly versions.  She acts and sings the hell out of that score.  Interestingly, my favorite Rose's Turn is Peters' version...the way she growls 'well, someone tell me when is it my turn' is gut-wrenching.

[qolbinau]

Of course. Listen to every recording of "In Buddy's Eyes" and you will find only one actress (Bernadette Peters) - in part due to the inclusion of dialogue, recording at the right tempo, and acting/vocal skills - actually captures the transition into sadness for the end of the song. 

[Jarethan]

qolbinau said: "Of course. Listen to every recording of "In Buddy's Eyes" and you will find only one actress (Bernadette Peters) - in part due to the inclusion of dialogue, recording at the right tempo, and acting/vocal skills - actually captures the transition into sadness for the end of the song."

I actually think BP was the best Sally I have seen (which, come to think of it actually only includes Dorothy Collins 5 times; Julia N. Mckenzie in London, and Judith Ivey), nut I am soooooo sick of 'In Buddy's Eyes' and 'Too Many Mornings' that I can't be fully objective.

To add one other show to my original list, I actually much prefer the London Song and Dance to the Broadway version.  The London is 'rawer' to me; I always thought whoever directed and choreographed the Broadway production 'homogenized' the show...it was just too smooth, for want of a better word.

(And, for what it is worth, I have always been a big BP fan; however, my favorite of her performances are likely to be controversial: ALNM, Gypsy, Mack and Mabel, On The Town.  She did nothing for me in either of her two Tony performances; but, honestly, that is probably because I felt that they were both pretty lifeless productions.  Of course, one could argue that ALNM was too, but she transcended that production).

[SundayInThePark2]

I don't have a lot of duplicates, but I definitely have favorites: examples:

-- I actually like the cast recording of the recent South Pacific revival moire than the original production or movie version. The orchestrations seem better, the music lusher, especially in the goose bumps generating overture; and, as much as I like Mary Martin, Kelli O'Hara has a much better voice.

-- I prefer the original Hello Dolly far more thanthe current version: orchestrations, finale, crescendos in HD and Sunday Clothes, Carol Channing vs. Bette Midler; in a perfect world, Gavin Creel and Kate Baldwin's voices would be on the original cast album instead of Charles Nelson Reilly and Eileen Brennan. Now, that'd be an even better cast recording.
 

I totally agree with you on these two for the most part. I think Kelli has a better voice than Miss Martin; I also really enjoy There is Nothin Like a Dame better from the revival than the OBC. 

Also, both Charles Nelson Reilly and Eileen Brennan kind of annoyed me on the Hello Dolly cast album. I much prefer Gavin and Kate. Their voices are absolutely fantastically rich. 

[Charley Kringas Inc]

Oh, sure, of course! Any musical I get into that has multiple cast albums I have to explore, just to see what the others are like, especially if I overlisten to one and want a fresh take on the music (the original London casts of Into The Woods and Night Music give me great relief in this department). Often I find that the original cast album is preferable, unless it’s poorly mastered or incomplete - revivals, and more modern recordings, often have a buzzy, dry glee club sound to them that I kind of loathe, whereas older albums have a fuller, more reverberant sound with a broader range of voices. I want to hear the character of a voice, not the technology squeezing it into a tiny box of synthetic pre-determined perfection.

I think the only show where the revival and original get equal play is Cabaret - both feel so vital in such different ways, it’s hard to choose. But then you have OBC albums like Company and Merrily and Evita that are so beautifully acted and textured and captured that listening to a different recording feels like an act of infidelity.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

NewYorkTheater said: "I couldn't listen to the 2009 BroadwayHair album. I don't know if it was inferior or just that the phrasing from the 1968 Broadway album had worn a groove in my brain, and variations from it made me cringe."

Likewise. The 1968 album just sounds more authentic (although, to be quite honest, I've rearranged mine in a playlist with some songs from DisinHAIRited -- gotta fill out the plot the way I see it). The 2009 is a good listen if you want a polished version, but it's as plastic as an artificial plant in an office building.

[John Adams]

I have multiple versions of several shows. In most cases, it's because one album is 'more complete' than another (i.e., Follies). Others have various changes to the score (i.e., Candide).

For other examples, I prefer to have a better quality recording than was made of the original (i.e., I was hoping for a recording of Encores' Brigadoon, as most older recordings have such poor sound quality and/or uninteresting cast vocals). I'm also still looking for a definitive Oklahoma!

I have all the recordings of Gypsy (except for Bernadette Peters' version - not interested) because each Rose is so different. I happen to like LuPone's as the 'best'. Funny enough, I like Merman's version the least - but it's CLASSIC!

I also have every recording of Candide because that show went through so, so many changes and I find them all interesting.

[thebookofwhizzer]

I feel I am probably the only one who prefers the 2009 cast album of Hair to the original one. I do agree that the original has a more authentic sound, and the 2009 one has a more polished sound but I listened the the latter before the former so I just grew fonder of that one. Also Will Swenson and Gavin Creel are stunning.

[The Other One]

I tend to not get multiple recordings of the same shows, but I can honestly say that I treasure both the OBCR and soundtrack of West Side Story.  I prefer the soundtracks and in some cases revival recordings to the OBCRs of most R&H shows, but that has more to do with improvements in recording technology than with the actual performances.

One alternate recording I have grown to prefer is the 1968 London Cast album of Cabaret.  In almost every case, the singing on the (excellent) Broadway recording is technically superior, but the feel of the show itself comes through with remarkable power c/o the London cast.  

[Cryoutloud131]

In all honesty I tend to favor the 2009 cast album of West Side Story over the original because I love the spanish lyrics

[John Adams]

Cryoutloud131 said: "In all honesty I tend to favor the 2009 cast album of West Side Story over the original because I love the spanish lyrics"

...and speaking of Spanish...

If there were a commercial version of the London cast of Women on the Verge..., I would buy that. I like the accents (and deliberate lack of) much better than those attempted so unsuccessfully on the OBC recording.

I liked how those that weren't able to authentically create a Spanish accent in the London cast, simply didn't. I also liked how effectively the different examples of British dialects were used in their stead.