Nick Wakeham casts an eye over some of the latest CD releases.
FUNNY GIRL – Original London Cast 2016 (DECCA – 4793670)
There was so much hype regarding this new production of Funny Girl from the Menier Chocolate Factory and the fact that our latest national treasure, Sheridan Smith, was going to be playing the lead role of Fanny Brice. According to all the reviews I have read about the show, not having seen it myself, it appears that onstage she is the saving grace of the production. I only say that because I am reviewing this cast recording blind, not having witnessed the physical production live on stage.
I have to admit that I was longing for the CD to finish. I was getting bored listening to it. Gasp! What? Yes, I honestly cannot put my finger on it, but it left me completely cold. Many a cast recording I listen to makes me really sad that I no longer live near London or near Broadway, as I’d give my eye teeth to see the production I have just listened to on CD – but, I have to admit, this one didn’t have that effect on me in the slightest.
I can tell from the CD that Smith is obviously the powerhouse behind the production and that she no doubt has the kind of stage presence that will make this show work. The problem for me is that, on the CD, I don’t get a sense of the excitement or the heartbreak that follows Fanny Brice throughout the show.
That’s not to say it is in any way a bad recording. The cast members all give good performances. The orchestra is lovely. The new orchestrations give it a fresh feel. The show is completely intact and, I believe, it is the first recording that has the entire score. So, why am I not overwhelmed by this cast recording? The simple answer is: I have no idea. I have given it four plays already, just in case I wasn’t in the ‘zone’ to listen to it beforehand – but it just never gets any better for me.
Click HERE to buy from Dress Circle.
LOST WEST END 2 – Various Artists (Stage Door Records – STAGE 9046)
The latest offering from Stage Door Records is another in what I hope will continue to be a series – Lost West End. There is something reassuring about listening to tracks from shows you may have seen all those years ago but were either never recorded or have just fallen into the depths of a foggy memory. And this CD contains some real humdingers! Yes, shows I had forgotten all about, such as Casper, Money to Burn, Isabel’s Jezabel, Bordello, Imagine This and lots, lots more. Some old friends are here too: Winnie, After Shave, Fire Angel, Moby Dick, Jack the Ripper and Murderous Instincts, to mention just a few.
What I love about Stage Door Records releases are the notes in the booklets. This one has some wonderful info on these shows and also a lovely centerfold of posters. I don’t think people realise the amount of work that goes into these booklets – the research is immaculate.
The tracks are either from a recording of the show, from demos or other sources. Some of the artists include Colm Wilkinson, Toni Palmer, Michael Crawford, Cheryl Kennedy, Anna Sharkey, Daniel Abineri and the absolutely gorgeous Hannah Waddingham. Out of the 22 tracks there are a few you listen to and think ‘Mmmm, maybe I know why that closed so quickly’ but that’s all part of the enjoyment and on the whole it is what every musical aficionado longs for.
Thank you again Stage Door Records and I can’t wait for Volume 3!
Click HERE to buy from Dress Circle.
PRODIGY – National Youth Music Theatre cast (AUBURN JAM RECORDS – AJR2632)
I didn’t have the pleasure of seeing this production at the St James Theatre last year but, by all accounts, the production was as enjoyable as listening to this cast recording has proved.
Jake Brunger and Pippa Cleary have taken an idea, run with it and made it into a wonderful musical. The concept is a backstage drama where five finalists compete on the latest of those painful television talent shows. Emotions and bitterness run wild as the live final looms ever closer.
The cast of 27, all aged between 11 and 23, are impeccable. It would be completely puerile for me to pick out any single member, as they all put in marvellous performances. The humour (and pathos) is well played out in the lyrics and the music couldn’t be more suitable to the subject matter if it tried.
The National Youth Music Theatre has been in existence since 1976 and throughout the years has kept a consistently high standard in all that it does. May it continue for many years to come and I, for one, am delighted and overjoyed at this latest offering and just hope that, when it is remounted, I get to see it.
AS LONG AS I HAVE MUSIC – The Songs of Eyles & Gould – Various Artists (iTunes/Spotify)
Rob Eyles and Robert Gould have written a couple of musicals including A Pebble For Aaron and the more recent The Wonderful Musician. A Pebble For Aaron was actually a finalist in the inaugural Stiles and Drewe Mentorship Award.
This album is a compilation of songs written by this extremely talented songwriting team. They have brought together a gifted group of singers to showcase some of their output. They include: Carolyn Maitland, Rob Houchen, Kieran Brown, Shaun McCourt, Keith Ramsay, Lauren Ingram, Michael Riseley and Joe Sterling.
If I had any reservation about the album, it would be that tracks two to seven are all very serious and start to meld into one another. After the upbeat start to the album, “No More’, it does seem to take a downward curve. I am not saying there is anything wrong with the songs – there isn’t – it is just the lack of variety in the selection. Even though I really enjoyed the album, I would have liked maybe a couple more upbeat numbers for variety, but that’s me nit-picking.
Can’t wait to hear the new musical when it is recorded. Watch out for it in the future, but meanwhile get online and download this selection.
BEAUTIFUL DAY – Tom Solomon (iTunes/Amazon)
Tom Solomon is known for his appearances in West End musicals such as Les Misérables, Chicago, The Phantom of the Opera, West Side Story and Chess – as well as two Royal Opera House productions.
Beautiful Day is a self-produced solo album that crosses many divides and will certainly appeal to the many fans that Solomon has built up over the years. The album contains 28 tracks including: ‘The Show Must Go On’, ‘Una Furtiva Lagrima’, ‘Ave Maria’, ‘One Day Like This’, ‘My Way’, ‘The Way We Were’, ‘Love On the Rocks’ and ‘The Power of Love’.
This, for me, is where the album doesn’t quite make it. There are very few artists who can jump from balladeering to musical theatre to classical. In fact, I can actually only think of one and that is Josh Groban. Solomon is obviously a great ballad singer, that is clear from the majority of the tracks on the album, and I’m a great believer in sticking to what you do best. I also believe this to be the case the other way round where opera or classically trained singers try to perform ballads or pop songs – it really doesn’t work.
There are, for me, some stand-out tracks: Whitney Houston’s ‘I Have Nothing’; Michael Jackson’s ‘She’s Out of My Life’; U2’s ‘Beautiful Day’; but then tracks such as ‘Always On My Mind’ and ‘Vincent’ are taken very slowly and don’t work as well as others. The classical tracks including ‘Ave Maria’ and ‘Una Furtiva Lagrima’ – I’m afraid just don’t do it for me.
Even with all my nit-picking, overall it is a lovely album. Fans are going to adore it. I just wish that maybe he had stuck to the ballads and, instead of including the classical tracks, had maybe included a couple of less well-known musical torch songs. But that’s only my very humble opinion.
THE COURAGE OF A DREAMER – Simon Beck (SimonBeck – SB001)
Simon Beck, better known in the musical theatre world for his musical direction and vocal coaching, has released his first album. In the making for eight years, the CD includes some not so well-known songs from musicals through the years – and one very well-known Beauty and the Beast track.
Tracks include: ‘Self Portrait’, ‘The Human Heart’, ‘Make Me a Kite’, ‘Alone in the Universe’ (a duet with the lovely voice of Tara Nelson), ‘How Lucky You Are’, ‘Beauty and the Beast’, ‘I’d Rather Be Sailing’, ‘Just a Boy’, ‘Dancing Through Life’, ‘Come Down From the Tree’, ‘Use What You Got’, ‘Everybody Wants to Do a Musical’, and ‘The Chance to Sing’.
Beck has a pleasant baritone voice which is suited more to certain tracks than others. The stand-out tracks for me are: ‘How Lucky You Are’, ‘Use What You Got’ and ‘Everybody Wants to Do a Musical’. All three are up-tempo numbers and suit Beck’s voice much better than the slow ballads. Although of the slow ballads I would have to choose the duet ‘Alone in the Universe’ and ‘Just a Boy’ as favourites.
The album has been mixed and mastered by Ryan Martin and produced by Simon Beck on his own record label.
SHARE THIS POST:
Comments are closed.