Nick Wakeham casts an eye over some of the latest CD releases.
TWO CITIES – Original London Cast (Stage Door Records – STAGE 9045)
We in the UK have always been very lucky when it comes to original cast recordings. It used to be that the company was taken into the recording studios the first Saturday after the show opened and made the cast recording. So, even if the show didn’t have a long run, we had a record of what was on stage.
Such is the case with Two Cities from 1969. Theatre producer Jerry Wayne commissioned his son Jeff Wayne to write the music to a project he was working on with Constance Cox, to turn Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities into a musical.
It opened at the Palace Theatre in the West End on 27 February 1969 and 44 performances later, it closed. The production had out-of-town problems and the reviews were mixed, to say the least. However, word-of-mouth was good and attendance picked up – too late unfortunately, as the show had already been given notice. The show was nominated for Best Musical at the 1969 Variety Club and Evening Standard Theatre Awards with Edward Woodward winning both awards for Best Male Performance in a Musical.
What we have in this recording is a great reminder that Edward Woodward was not only an excellent actor but had a great voice for musicals. He stars alongside stalwarts such as Kevin Colson and Elizabeth Power with a fantastic supporting cast.
Added to that, we have original 1966 demos of some of the songs and others that were cut from the production, which are always of great interest to the musical theatre buff. Yes, the music may sound a little dated nowadays but I have to admit to having this playing on repeat mode. There is something quite haunting about the music and although it was critically slated on release, I think with hindsight the critics were unfair. Of course, Jeff Wayne went on to become one of our most prolific composers, arrangers, conductors and producers for stage, film, TV, radio and recordings. Known instantly, of course, for his musical version of War of the Worlds.
Stage Door Records have once again come up with a wonderful ‘lost’ British musical and one that will be added to many of our growing catalogue of blissful memories. Thank you Stage Door Records.
Click HERE to buy from Dress Circle.
CAROUSEL/ALFRED DRAKE & ROBERTA PETERS SING THE POPULAR MUSIC OF LEONARD BERNSTEIN – Studio Recording (Stage Door Records – STAGE2340)
I remember buying this album on vinyl but not listening to it for quite a number of years (am I the only person who did something like that?). The reason being that I collected musical recordings so couldn’t let this slip through my fingers, but I didn’t listen to it because it was another of those opera singers taking on musicals and my experience of those had not been good.
I mean Frederica Von Stade, more used to singing Rossini and Haydn, in Show Boat and The Sound of Music! Kiri Te Kanawa and JoséCarreras in West Side Story – worse still, Josephine Barstow and Richard Van Allan in Oliver! I know those are later editions to this mixed-up genre, but all I can say is: stick to what you’re good at.
So, it was with trepidation that I remember putting the stylus on this recording and… I was pleasantly surprised! Roberta Peters, a coloratura soprano more at home with Mozart’s ‘Queen of the Night’, gives a lovely performance as Julie Jordan, aided immaculately by Alfred Drake as Billy Bigelow. The two voices blend beautifully and not a coloratura run in sight.
Joining them is the film’s Nettie Fowler, Claramae Turner, another fine operatic contralto who lends great kudos to ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’.
There are tracks and snippets that don’t appear on many of the Carousel recordings, such as ‘Geraniums in the Winder’.
However, add to this a recording I hadn’t heard before and that is Alfred Drake & Roberta Peters Sing the Popular Music of Leonard Bernstein! Wow! Tracks such as ‘Lucky To Be Me’ from On the Town; ‘The Best of All Possible Worlds’ and ‘Glitter and Be Gay’, both from Candide; ‘Maria’ from West Side Story, plus others – it is simply a fabulous treat for the ears.
They are ably assisted by The Command Chorus on Carousel and the Ray Charles Singers on the other album. Orchestral arrangements are wonderful and both orchestras play with vigour.
Again, thank you Stage Door Records! Can’t wait for the next offering.
Click HERE to buy from Dress Circle.
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