why no "Where's Charley?" recording?

[dfwtheatreguy]

Posted: 6/15/07 at 11:52pm

How come they never recorded Ray Bolger in "Where's Charley"?

I like the music, and wasn't this one of Bolger's biggest roles?

What about the Noah Racey Goodspeed version?

[AnnaK<3LMIP]

Posted: 6/16/07 at 12:46am

I'm not sure. But they need to bring it on Broadway or off-Broadway with Christopher Fitzgerald. Perfect.

[BigFatBlonde]

Posted: 6/16/07 at 1:03am

I know that there is an interesting answer to that question. We need Margo Channing, Michael Bennett. They would have the answer.

The london cast recording is a fun listen and the movie is really good.

[NCGuy]

Posted: 6/16/07 at 1:31am

The classical label Naxos has released the OCR of Guys and Dolls supplemented with various recordings from Where’s Charley overseas, but apparently it’s not available for sale in the states (“due to possible copyright restrictions”).

The album notes on their site offer this explanation for the absence of a full cast recording:

No complete original Broadway cast recording exists, because the show opened during the 1948 “Petrillo Ban”, in which the head of the musicians’ union, James Petrillo battled with the record companies over a better deal for his players. After the ban ended in 1949, Bolger and his leading lady Allyn McLerie released a two-side 78 featuring the popular “Amy” and the love song Make a Miracle.

Naxos.com - Guys & Dolls/Where's Charley

[BroadwayBulldog]

Posted: 6/16/07 at 11:31am

There are two WHERE'S CHARLEY recordings available.

1. The 1958 London West End cast starring Norman Wisdom. This was released on LP and released on an Angel CD, available from Amazon.

2. The 1952 British film version of the musical entitled CHARLEY'S AUNT stars two of the original Broadway cast: Ray Bolger and Allen Ann McLerie. Songs from the soundtrack were released on a commercial LP by an independent label, ECNAD.

Hope that information helps you.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 6/16/07 at 12:38pm

The question is why the Raul Julia version of the show (Circle In The Square) was never recorded. It was a delight.

(Why do I think Mary Louise Wilson was in the cast?)

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 6/16/07 at 12:38pm

Where is Bryan when you need him?

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 7/8/07 at 3:37am

The Petrillo/musicians union ban prevented Decca from making a full album of WHERE'S CHARLEY? The single of "Once in Love with amy" backed by "Make a Miracle" was done near the end of the run, mainly becuase Amy ahd been a showstopping number

It's a glaring gap in the Frank Loesser catalogue only partially helped by the London cast album. The show itself got mixed to negative reviews and ran mainly on the strength of Ray Bolger's name. These days most groups opt for the non-musical play which is better, and the musical is seldom staged.

[Jon]

Posted: 7/8/07 at 9:31am

Theatres prefer "Charlie's Aunt" to "Where's Charlie" because the additon of a chorus doing big production numbers adds nothing to the show except make it more expensive to produce. Songs like "New Ashmolean Marching Society", "Pernambuco", and "Red Rose Cotillion" are pretty mediocre. The show is at its best when the principal characters are interacting, and it stays close to the non-musical original.

[bk]

Posted: 7/8/07 at 6:17pm

We (Kritzerland) came within an inch of recording the Tony Walton production with Noah Racey. We were going to do After the Ball and Where's Charley back to back.

But, there were problems (what else is new) with certain rights holders, who always think there's a major revival waiting around the corner that would be better to record. Of course, there isn't and there won't be and it was a real lost opportunity.

[Johnnytoc]

Posted: 7/8/07 at 6:27pm

I'd Love to see a revival of this done someday.

[Jon]

Posted: 7/8/07 at 6:36pm

There SHOULD be an Encores production.

[Hogarth]

Posted: 7/8/07 at 6:38pm

Isn't there enough suffering in the world already without a CD of this score?

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 7/8/07 at 8:10pm

The Petrillo Ban is also the reason why we have no original cast recording of Alan Jay Lerner & Kurt Weill's "Love Life".

I was hoping that the DVD release of "Call Me Madam" with Ethel Merman would encourage a DVD release of the film version of "Where's Charley?"

[elmore3003]

Posted: 7/8/07 at 8:15pm

Hogarth wrote:
Isn't there enough suffering in the world already without a CD of this score?

And you dislike this score for what reason?