Martyn Green

A rare collection of complete live recordings of classic American musical theater is now available at two major venues: Goodspeed Musicals' Scherer Library of Musical Theatre in East Haddam, Connecticut, and Cleveland Public Library in Cleveland, Ohio.

Masterworks Broadway continues to make good on its promise to make available its extensive catalog of cast recordings with the release of three classic albums from the archives - Pinocchio (July 17), Woman of the Year (August 14), and The Beggar's Opera (September 18). Upon release, each title will beaccompanied by new album pages and photos on MasterworksBroadway.com.

Operetta composer Libby Moyer brings Gilbert and Sullivan to Central Pennsylvania in the classic tale of Aesthetic poets and their crazed fans

In The Heights is not standard Maryland dinner theater fare, concerning, as it does, the residents of a largely Dominican and Puerto Rican barrio at the northern end (and highest part) of Manhattan. The lyrics are often in Spanish, often delivered in rap monologue, and largely assume a kind of cultural literacy not common among Maryland dinner theater patrons: knowing, for instance, what it means for someone to say she comes from La Vibora or from Vega Alta (things I had to look up after the fact) or what kind of comestible a mamey might be (ditto), or what it means to yell 'Wepa!' (ditto again). This is probably a good thing; all of us should constantly be looking to broaden our horizons, especially in our theatergoing. At the same time, as much help as possible should be extended to make the proceedings as comprehensible as possible for us Anglo newbies. And sadly, barring a half-page insert of explanation in the program, that kind of help was in scant evidence in Toby's new production.

Well, imagine my surprise when I opened my mailbox and not only did I receive a copy of the new Betty Buckley CD, Betty Buckley 1967 (being released on Playbill Records, a joint-venture partnership with SONY BMG Masterworks Broadway), BUT accompanying it, was a 12 inch LP, in all of its HI-FI 'MONO' glory.