I have a used vinyl copy of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf's 4 LP original cast album (the whole play recorded by the orgiinal cast), but need it for a project I'm doing right now and don't have access to a record player. Can anyone help me find a CD or mp3 copy of this please? Updated On: 1/29/09 at 08:01 AM
"Winning a Tony this year is like winning Best Attendance in third grade: no one will care but the winner and their mom."
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
"Winning a Tony this year is like winning Best Attendance in third grade: no one will care but the winner and their mom."
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
"Sucks for Melinda Dillon to be the only castmember below the title."
It was her first Broadway credit. All the others had several Broadway credits under their belt. And she probably didn't think is sucked at all. To be 1 of only 4 castmembers in an astounding play got her major attention.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
Dillon got nominated for a Tony too, I think. Although of course she was replaced for the film by Sandy Dennis, who won an Oscar...I bet Uta Hagan wasn't thrilled about the film casting either. Albee famously hated the casting of Richard Burton and Liz Taylor, although IMO they were amazing.
"I bet Uta Hagan wasn't thrilled about the film casting either."
Nobody knew who Uta Hagen was at that time. I think the film had to go to already established movie stars.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
I believe this has already been addressed here. I'm pretty sure it was never released on CD -- it's one of the few vinyls I've kept through the years. I've seen subsequent productions of Woolf, but all I had to do was play the Hagen version to know how that role should be done. I'm not knocking Dewhurst (probably my favorite actress of all time) or Kathleen Turner (who I thought was really superb in the 3rd act), but Hagen really had that role down to the nth degree. I don't have the technical savvy to convert my LP to CD format and I'm loathe to lend it out, so I guess I'll still be using my old record player.
I do still have my vinyl but where I am for the next month and a bit doesn't have a record player--at home I have a great Dual with pitch control, new needles etc... (I need it since after Broadway one of my great loves is obscure 70s disco albums lol--I was so born in the wrong decade). This helps immeasurably.
So while we're on the subject--what other *plays* got this kind of cast album treatment? I wonder why it was done for Woolf.
Now might be a good time to mention L.A. Theatre Works. Though not Broadway they offer many MANY complete audio recordings of plays. All available for purchase on CD. I recently listened to their recording of PROOF and found it to be really well done. (They also had a live broadcast of FALSETTOS with most of the original cast. That broadcast however is not available for purchase.) L.A. Theatre Works
I wish I could stand behind L.A. Theatre works, but their productions are SO uninspired. They use some of the dullest actors and tamper with the text too much.
I listen to them and buy their recordings because they are the only game in town. But they are so bland... and for the most part not very listener friendly. How many times have they NOT described where the scene is taking place? How many times have the tweaked the text to cover up a visual stage action? Leaving the listener perplexed.
I'm sorry to rant, but they could fix these problems with a designated narrator describing the setting and stage directions.
And don't tamper with the text!
That said, I think THE HEIRESS is their best recording. I also like their MRS. WARREN'S PROFESSION.
I believe there's a recording of Michael Frayn's "Copenhagen," but I'm not sure which cast it is. Maybe London? (As you can tell, I'm too lazy to search.)
"I remember having the original cast recording of THE REAL THING. Probably one of the last Broadway plays recorded in its entirety solely as audio."
Not quite - as Reginald correctly points out, I recorded Copenhagen during its Broadway run (not London). At that time, I had plans to try and bring back plays on discs because I loved them when I was growing up. I tried to do The Play About The Baby, but Albee was too weird to ultimately deal with. I did do a studio recording of Beyond Therapy, but then other things happened and that was the end of that.
I was also going to reissue Virginia Woolf on CD, but the royalty structure was completely outrageous due to the fact of how many LPs it was. At that time, Sony wanted a guarantee of 5000 units, which means you paid for those whether you sold that many or not. There was just no way for it be be financially viable. I'm not sure if Sony still has the 5000 unit guarantee or not. I also loved Luv on LP.