Women On the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown [Original Broadway Cast Recording]

( 2 )

Editorial Reviews

All Music Guide - William Ruhlmann
Broadway musical history is replete with shows that proved unsuccessful on-stage, but, due to their outstanding scores, are fondly remembered on the basis of their original Broadway cast albums. The 2010 musical Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, based on writer/director Pedro Almodóvar's 1988 comic film about several desperate females in Madrid in the heady post-Franco era, seems poised to join the club on the basis of its cast album. As a stage production, the show had a number of problems that helped lead to its brief run, which ended well before the album was released. To begin with, the talented Sherie Rene Scott was essentially miscast in the central role...
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Editorial Reviews

All Music Guide - William Ruhlmann
Broadway musical history is replete with shows that proved unsuccessful on-stage, but, due to their outstanding scores, are fondly remembered on the basis of their original Broadway cast albums. The 2010 musical Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, based on writer/director Pedro Almodóvar's 1988 comic film about several desperate females in Madrid in the heady post-Franco era, seems poised to join the club on the basis of its cast album. As a stage production, the show had a number of problems that helped lead to its brief run, which ended well before the album was released. To begin with, the talented Sherie Rene Scott was essentially miscast in the central role of Pepa, an actress and singer whose lover, Iván, breaks up with her by answering machine message at the top of the show. And then there's the talented Patti LuPone, who got a big, showy "I am" number, "Invisible," so late in the proceedings that it stopped the show, but not in a good way. Problems like this are not apparent on disc. Scott may not read as Spanish in person, but on record she sounds fine singing songs like "Lie to Me," and "Invisible" is a good song well sung, even if it was extraneous in the second act. Songwriter David Yazbek, by now a veteran, having previously written The Full Monty and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, necessarily adopts Spanish styles -- tangos, mambos, etc. -- in his music. But what works for him is supporting the over-the-top emotionalism of the women on the verge. For instance, Candela (Laura Benanti), who stopped the show in a good way with her showcase song "Model Behavior" (another series of answering machine messages in which she confesses to Pepa that she suspects her new boyfriend is a terrorist), is just as effective here. And Brian Stokes Mitchell, as the oily Iván, remains charming and sleazy in "The Microphone." Names like Scott, LuPone, Benanti, and Mitchell suggest the Broadway firepower on display in this show, which was an embarrassment of riches in terms of casting, even if it ultimately didn't work in the theater. That it does work as a CD may suggest to later listeners that the musical was better than it was, and lead them to wonder how it could have failed.
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 5/10/2011
  • Label: Ghostlight
  • UPC: 791558444728
  • Catalog Number: 84447
  • Sales rank: 46,766

Album Credits

Performance Credits
Original Broadway Cast Primary Artist, Indexed Contributor
Patti LuPone Vocals
Laura Benanti Vocals
Sean McCourt Vocals
Sherie René Scott Vocals
Danny Burstein Vocals
Brian Stokes Mitchell Vocals, Track Performer
Murphy Guyer Vocals
Justin Guarini Vocals
Mary Beth Peil Vocals
Julio Agustin Vocals
Charlie Sutton Vocals
Yanira Marin Vocals
Jennifer Sanchez Vocals
de'Adre Aziza Vocals
Alma Cuervo Vocals
Nikka Graff Lanzarone Vocals
Women On the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Pit Orchestra Performing Ensemble
Vivian Nixon Vocals
Phillip Spaeth Vocals
Nina Laforga Vocals
Matthew Steffens Vocals
Luis Salgado Vocals
Jim Abbott Conductor, Keyboards
Technical Credits
David Yazbek Composer, Lyricist, Producer, Orchestration
Simon Hale Orchestration
Scott Hull Mastering
Pedro Almodovar Liner Notes
Dean Sharenow Producer, Engineer
Kurt Deutsch Executive Producer
Frank Rich Liner Notes
Bartlett Sher Stage Direction
Ian Kagey Pro-Tools
Derik Lee Pro-Tools
Jessica Disbrow Talley Art Direction
Juan Gatti Cover Art
Jim Abbott Orchestration, Music Direction
Jeffrey Lane Book
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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4.5
( 2 )
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Sort by: Showing all of 2 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted June 3, 2011

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 21, 2011

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