Try to Remember

by Rita Gardner

Overview

Rita Gardner, who originated the role of the Girl (aka Luisa) in The Fantasticks in 1960, began presenting this one-woman show in 2002, and has enjoyed a long run with it -- and for good reason, as this CD reveals. Gardner's voice, like her talent, won't quit, and she can still glide across those girlish numbers from The Fantasticks convincingly 40-plus years later. With Alex Rybeck's deft piano accompaniment and a beguiling persona -- witty and charmingly self-deprecating, but always warm -- she glides, slides, and soars across several decades' worth of musical theater history, all the while recalling the off-Broadway world and her colleagues from the 1950s to the start of the 21st century. She's frequently funny and occasionally very poignant in her reminiscences, and it's all worth hearing and keeping. The repertoire ranges from Jones and Schmidt to Kurt Weill, Jerome Moross, Marvin Hamlisch, David Shire, and Jacques Brel, including a few unexpected choices that only liven up the proceedings even further. ~ Bruce Eder

Product Details

Release Date:	06/13/2006
Label:	Harbinger Records
UPC:	0632433220221
Rank:	213812

Tracks

1. Opening: Much More/I Can See It
2. Welcome
3. No Tune Like a Show Tune
4. Your Good Morning
5. Your Hand in Mine
6. Off-Broadway Medley
7. Mack the Knife
8. Lazy Afternoon
9. Carousel
10. Larry Hagman
11. Initials
12. Lorraine Hansbury
13. It's You
14. I Don't Remember Christmas
15. I Miss You
16. What I Did for Love
17. Taking My Turn
18. The Fantasticks
19. Try to Remember/They Were You
20. Joy
21. Playoff

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Rita Gardner   Primary Artist
Alex Rybeck   Piano,Musical Direction

Technical Credits

LuAnn Graffeo Blonkowski   Package Design
Jerry Herman   Composer
Jacques Brel   Composer
Barry Kleinbort   Producer,Liner Notes,Stage Director
Galt MacDermot   Composer
Marvin Hamlisch   Composer
Edward Kleban   Composer
James Rado   Composer
Eric Blau   Composer
Gary William Friedman   Composer
David Shire   Composer
Richard Maltby, Jr.   Composer
Jim Wise   Composer
Ken Friedman   Additional Music
Gerome Ragni   Composer
Alex Rybeck   Arranger
Kurt Weill   Composer
Cynthia Daniels   Engineer
Robin Miller   Composer
Jerome Moross   Composer
Harvey Schmidt   Artwork,Composer,Logo Design
Will Holt   Composer
Pamela Sousa   Musical Staging
Jim Tyler   Arranger
John Latouche   Composer
Bertolt Brecht   Composer