JOHN KANDER / FRED EBB
Kander/Ebb: Curtains David Hyde Pierce & Debra Monk / Original Broadway Cast Recording [ Angel Records / CD - released 12/Jul/2007 ] 'Curtains' is an entertaining play within a play, as well as a "whodunit" new musical comedy featuring one of the last scores by legendary, Tony Award-winning, songwriters John Kander and Fred Ebb ('Cabaret', 'Chicago', 'New York, New York'). |
WRIGHT / FORREST
Kismet [plus excerpts from various other Kismet recordings] Original Broadway cast with Alfred Drake & Doretta Morrow [ Naxos Nostalgia Musicals / CD - released 1/Jul/2008 ] Baubles, bangles and B-movies...That's the best way to describe the crazy cast of characters - onstage and off - which led to the ultimate creation of the 1953 Broadway musical known as Kismet. |
LEONARD BERNSTEIN
Candide (Original Broadway Cast) Original Broadway Cast, with Max Adrian & Barbara Cook [ Sony Music / CD - released 4/Oct/2004 ] This original 1956 production, with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Richard Wilbur, and libretto by Lillian Hellman, based on Voltaire's novel of the same name, was not a hit, except as a recording. Presenting the remarkable Broadway debut of... |
CHARLES STROUSE
Strouse: Nick & Nora Barry Bostick & Joanna Gleason / Original Broadway Cast [ TER / CD - released 2/Feb/1992 ] Nick & Nora is a musical with a book by Arthur Laurents, lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr., music by Charles Strouse. The plot involves witty and urbane high society couple Nick and Nora Charles, characters created by Dashiell Hammett in 'The Thin Man'. |
GARY WILLIAM FRIEDMAN
Friedman: Sunset Tammy Grimes & Ronee Blakley / Original Off Broadway Cast [ Thats Entertainment / CD - released 23/Jun/2008 ] The release of TER's cast recording of Gary William Friedman and Will Holt's 'Sunset', is a welcome return to the market of a small scale, independent musical, that has steadily grown in reputation and popularity since its initial stage run in... |
JERRY BOCK / SHELDON HARNICK
Bock: The Rothschilds Paul Hecht, Leila Martin / Original Broadway Cast [ Sony Broadway / CD - released 1/Jun/2002 ] The Rothschilds is a musical with a book by Sherman Yellen, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and music by Jerry Bock. |
JOHNNY MERCER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mercer: Top Banana Phil Silvers & Rose Marie / 1951 Original Broadway Cast [ DRG Theater / CD - released 1/Aug/1999 ] Top Banana is a musical with music and lyrics by Johnny Mercer and book by Hy Kraft which premiered on Broadway in 1951. The show was written as a star vehicle for comedian Phil Silvers. |
RICHARD RODGERS / OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II
Rodgers: South Pacific Reba McEntire & Brian Stokes Mitchell / 2005 Carnegie Hall Concert Original Broadway Cast [ Decca Broadway / CD - released 17/May/2006 ] The New York Times critic Ben Brantley wrote, "Open-voiced and open-faced, Reba McEntire was born to play Nellie"; the production was received "in a state of nearly unconditional rapture. |
RICHARD RODGERS
Rodgers: No Strings Richard Kiley & Diahann Carroll / Original Broadway Cast [ Angel / Broadway / CD - released 17/May/1993 ] No Strings is a musical drama with book by Samuel A. Taylor and words and music by Richard Rodgers. No Strings is the only Broadway score for which Rodgers wrote both lyrics and music. |
ALBERT HAGUE
Hague: Plain and Fancy Robert Derr & Barbara Cook / Original 1955 Broadway Cast Recording [ Angel / Broadway / CD - released 12/Jul/1993 ] Plain and Fancy is a musical comedy with a book by Joseph Stein and Will Glickman, lyrics by Arnold Horwitt, and music by Albert Hague. One of the first depictions of an Amish community in American pop culture. |
FRANK LOESSER
Loesser: How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying Robert Morse, Rudy Vallee / Original Broadway Cast [ RCA Victor / CD - released 17/May/1993 ] After a 3½-week pre-Broadway tryout at the Shubert Theatre in Philadelphia starting December 2, 1948, the original Broadway production opened on December 30, 1948, at the New Century Theatre, where it ran for nineteen months. |
MEREDITH WILLSON
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Willson: The Music Man Robert Preston & Barbara Cook / Original Broadway Cast [ Capital / CD - released 17/May/1992 ] The Music Man is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms... |
LEONARD BERNSTEIN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bernstein: Wonderful Town Rosalind Russell & George Gaynes / 1953 Original Broadway Cast / plus 1945 cast [ Decca Broadway / CD - released 26/Feb/2001 ] Touched by tragedy, conceived in confusion and delivered with dissent, there's no possible reason that Wonderful Town should have lasted past opening night, yet alone become one of the classics of the musical theatre. Yet somehow it did and... |
RICHARD ADLER
Adler: Kwamina [Original Broadway Cast] Sally Ann Howes, Terry Carter / Original Broadway Cast [ Angel / Broadway / CD - released 17/May/1993 ] The musical opened in out of town tryouts in Toronto, where, as noted by Ken Mandelbaum "The reviews were promising" and then ran in Boston. Kwamina premiered on Broadway at the 54th Street Theatre on October 23, 1961 and closed after 32 performances |
CHARLES STROUSE
Strouse: Golden Boy Sammy Davis Jr. & Paula Wayne / Original 1964 Broadway Cast Recording [ Angel Broadway Classics / CD - released 17/May/1993 ] Golden Boy is a 1964 musical with a book by Clifford Odets and William Gibson, lyrics by Lee Adams, and music by Charles Strouse. |
KEITH HERRMANN
Herrmann: Romance Romance Scott Bakula & Alison Fraser / Original Broadway Cast [ MCA Records / CD - released 12/Jul/1988 ] Romance/Romance is a musical with a book and lyrics by Barry Harman and music by Keith Herrmann. |
LUCY SIMON
Simon: The Secret Garden Rebecca Luker & Mandy Patinkin / Original Broadway Cast [ Columbia / CD - released 2/Feb/1991 ] The Secret Garden is a musical based on the 1911 novel of the same name by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The musical's script and lyrics are by Marsha Norman, with music by Lucy Simon. It premiered on Broadway in 1991 and ran for 709 performances. |
FRANK LOESSER / JULE STYNE
Loesser: Guys & Dolls / Styne: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Stubby Kaye, Robert Alda, Carol Channing & Vivian Blaine / Original 1949 & 1950 Broadway Cast Recording [ ASV Living Era / CD - released 17/May/2003 ] Guys and Dolls premiered on Broadway in 1950, where it ran for 1,200 performances and won the Tony Award for Best Musical. The musical has had several Broadway and London revivals, also as a 1955 film adaptation starring Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons. |
JEFFREY STOCK
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Stock: Triumph of Love Susan Egan & F. Murray Abraham / Original Broadway Cast [ Jay / CD - released 1/Aug/1998 ] "A superb cast and a literate concept are not necessarily enough. Triumph of Love's tale of a deposed but over-educated prince regaining his kingdom and falling in love with the princess he must dethrone takes an esoteric approach that is often... |
MEREDITH WILLSON
Willson: The Unsinkable Molly Brown Tammy Grimes & Harve Presnell / Original 1960 Broadway Cast Recording [ Angel / Broadway Classics / CD - released 17/May/1993 ] The Unsinkable Molly Brown is a 1960 musical with music and lyrics by Meredith Willson and book by Richard Morris. The plot is a fictionalized account of the life of Margaret Brown, who survived the sinking of the RMS Titanic, and her wealthy... |