Celebrate Broadway, Vol. 10: Best Musicals!

by Celebrate Broadway 10 / Various

Overview

The ten-volume series of discount-priced compilations of show music released under the title Celebrate Broadway has presented thematically arranged collections devoted to, say, songs concerned with children (Vol. 7: Kids!) or production numbers (Vol. 9: Gotta Dance). The tenth volume, subtitled Best Musicals! is a basically fool-proof "greatest-hits" sort of set, drawing its 15 tracks from musicals that were Tony Award winners in the "best musical" category between 1952 and 1993, and generally selecting standards from those shows. So, for example, Fiddler on the Roof, the 1965 Tony winner, is represented by "If I Were a Rich Man" and Phantom of the Opera (1988) by "The Music of the Night." The series is drawn from the vaults of RCA Victor Records, which did not manage to record the original Broadway cast albums for all the Tony winners, of course, nor even of all the shows excerpted here, which results in some ringers. After all, the award goes not only to the musical as a work, but also to a particular production, and the 1977 Broadway revival of The King and I, from which "Shall We Dance?" is taken, was not the same as the version that won the Tony in 1952, though it does feature the same king, Yul Brynner. Similarly, RCA did not release the cast albums for Phantom or Les Miserables, and has taken songs from an album of show music featuring Colm Wilkinson, who sang in both shows, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Most distant from the original is the performance of "Send in the Clowns" from A Little Night Music, done here by Glenn Close at a tribute concert to songwriter Stephen Sondheim, since Close did not appear in any major production of the show. Still, the album remains largely fool-proof just because it's so stocked with standards sung by major stars like Zero Mostel, Carol Channing, and Angela Lansbury, in addition to those already mentioned. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	09/12/1995
Label:	SONY MASTERWORKS
UPC:	0090266803729

Tracks

1. 42nd Street~Overture  - Al Dubin  - Harry Warren
2. Fiddler on the Roof~If I Were a Rich Man  - Jerry Bock  - Sheldon Harnick  - Zero Mostel
3. La Cage aux Folles~Song on the Sand  - Gene Barry  - George Hearn  - Jerry Herman
4. Ain't Misbehavin'~Honeysuckle Rose  - Nell Carter  - Ken Page  - Andy Razaf  - Fats Waller
5. Hello, Dolly!~Hello, Dolly!  - Carol Channing  - Jerry Herman
6. Kiss of the Spider Woman~Kiss of the Spider Woman  - Bob Cuccioli  - Fred Ebb  - John Kander
7. Jerome Robbins' Broadway~Overture  - Sammy Cahn  - Oscar II Hammerstein  - Hugh Martin  - Richard Rodgers  - Debbie Shapiro  - Jule Styne  - Michael Lynch  -  Debbie Shapiro- Gravitte & Company
8. Kismet~Stranger in Paradise  - Richard Banke  - Alexander Borodin  - George Forrest  - Lee Venora  - Robert Wright
9. Sweeney Todd~A Little Priest  - Len Cariou  - Angela Lansbury  - Stephen Sondheim
10. Redhead~Look Who's in Love  - Dorothy Fields  - Albert Hague  - Richard Kiley  - Gwen Verdon
11. A Little Night Music~Send in the Clowns  - Glenn Close  - Stephen Sondheim
12. The King and I~Shall We Dance?  - Yul Brynner  - Oscar II Hammerstein  - Richard Rodgers  - Constance Towers
13. Les Miserables~Bring Him Home  - Alain Boublil  - Herbert Kretzmer  - Claude-Michel Schonberg  - Colm Wilkinson
14. How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying~Brotherhood of Man  - Ruth Kobart  - Frank Loesser  - Robert Morse  - Sammy Smith  -  Kobart
15. The Phantom of the Opera~The Music of the Night  - Charles Hart  - Andrew Lloyd Webber  - Richard Stilgoe  - Colm Wilkinson

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Ruth Kobart & Company   Primary Artist
Debbie Shapiro- Gravitte & Company   Primary Artist
Michael Lynch   Primary Artist
Glenn Close   Primary Artist
Zero Mostel   Primary Artist
Ruth Kobart   Primary Artist
Sammy Smith   Primary Artist
Richard Banke   Primary Artist
Richard Kiley   Primary Artist
Nell Carter   Primary Artist
George Hearn   Primary Artist
Yul Brynner   Primary Artist
Bob Cuccioli   Primary Artist
Carol Channing   Primary Artist
Gene Barry   Primary Artist
Lee Venora   Primary Artist
Debbie Shapiro   Primary Artist
Len Cariou   Primary Artist
Robert Morse   Primary Artist
Gwen Verdon   Primary Artist
Angela Lansbury   Primary Artist
Ken Page   Primary Artist
Colm Wilkinson   Primary Artist
Constance Towers   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Glenn Close   Performer
Constance Towers   Performer
Harry Warren   Composer
Zero Mostel   Performer
Sammy Cahn   Composer
Ruth Kobart   Performer
Jule Styne   Composer
Richard Stilgoe   Composer
Richard Banke   Performer
Richard Kiley   Performer
Nell Carter   Performer
Michael Lynch   Performer
George Forrest   Composer
Herbert Kretzmer   Composer
Albert Hague   Composer
George Hearn   Performer
Claude-Michel Schoenberg   Composer
Stephen Sondheim   Composer
Yul Brynner   Performer
Sheldon Harnick   Composer
Bob Cuccioli   Performer
Al Dubin   Composer
Alexander Borodin   Composer
Dorothy Fields   Composer
Oscar Hammerstein II   Composer
Richard Rodgers   Composer
Jerry Bock   Composer
Gwen Verdon   Performer
Fats Waller   Composer
Carol Channing   Performer
Alain Boublil   Composer
Gene Barry   Performer
Charles Hart   Composer
Lee Venora   Performer
Debbie Shapiro   Performer
Len Cariou   Performer
Robert Morse   Performer
Sammy Smith   Performer
Andrew Lloyd Webber   Composer
Frank Loesser   Composer
John Kander   Composer
Angela Lansbury   Performer
Hugh Martin   Composer
Andy Razaf   Composer
Ken Page   Performer
Jerry Herman   Composer
Fred Ebb   Composer
Colm Wilkinson   Performer
Robert Wright   Composer