Customer Reviews

Anyone Can Whistle (1964 Original Broadway Cast)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This recording is far better than the concert version done with Bernadette Peters. I can't really name the exact reason--if anyone looked at the cast lists for both, the talent would seem to be about dead even--but this album has far more heart and simplicity. The 1990's version is cutesy and far too "knowing." The performers seem less sure of themselves and the material so they act with very broad strokes. The original version however, is subtle and heartfelt. When I listen to it, I almost consider it to be Sondheim's best score. (Although, I usually think that Assassins, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd or whatever Sondheim show happens to be in my CD player is his best!)

I have only seen the film version of "A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum<' but from all I understand, the musical, hilarious as it may be, has its heart in its book and staging, and the score (The first complete one Stephen Sondheim premiered on Broadway) doesn't really have much of the SOndheim "style" that theater fans have come to know and love. "Anyone Can Whistle" is the true beginning of that style, which of course took off in later years with Company, Follies, Sweeney Todd, etc. The melodies are intriguing and certainly different from the typical musical of the period (Which is probably why the show lasted just a week on Broadway), dissonant at times but often quite clever and truly beautiful, and the lyrics are witty, perceptive, and moving, and completely in character with the show and the characters. From the sensational opening number "Me and My Town" to the touching conclusion "With So Little To Be Sure Of," the score is consistently fresh and inventive, by turns wickedly clever ("Miracle Song," the music/dialogue interplay in "Simple" and the "Cookie Chase" dance, "Come Play Wiz Me"), poigniant (The title song, perhaps a very personal statement for Sondheim himself, and even, in a strange way, "A Parade In Town"), and simply stirring and powerful ("There Won't Be Trumpets," "Everybody Says Don't"). Thankfully, despite the show's short run, Goddard Lieberson of Columbia Records insisted on recording an original cast album, and so we have a record not only of this score as it first sounded but of the wonderful performances by a great cast, especially the three stars, who were all not known at that point for doing musicals but nevertheless acquit themselves beautifully. Lee Remick is both charming and irresistably moving as the nurse Fay Apple. Her tentative but imploring reading of the title song is enough to break your heart. Unfortunately, she mostly concentrated on acting in straight plays, movies and television after this, but she gave at least one other brilliant musical performance, again singing the songs of her close friend Sondheim, in the 1985 concert of "Follies." Angela Lansbury, of course, went on to stardom in musicals like "Mame" and, again for SOndheim, "Sweeney Todd," and in her first major musical performance as the mayor-ess (yes), Cora Hoover Hoople, she is highly effective, both hilarious and even a little touching in her attempts to get tourists into her town by arranging fake miracles and keeping the Cookies (mental patients) under control. Harry Guardino, as the supposed psychiatrist, Dr. Hapgood, is charming and sincere, although I have heard better recordings of "Everybody Says Don't" sung by female singers at faster paces. Apparently, the book and staging, teh strongest points in "A Funny Thing," were the weakest points in "Anyone Can Whistle," which may have contributed to its quick close. The score was definitly not a reason, unless it was simply too original to really be understood or enjoyed. It is a great score, and this recording shows you why.

Stephen Sondheim's second show as both composer and lyricist, and the one that set the mold for much of his career; i.e., a brilliant score wedded to a second-rate book. As usual, Sondheim's songs express the show's ideas with more wit and eloquence than anything that the librettist (in this case Arthur Laurents) could even concieve of, much less achieve. And as was often the case, his work attracted talented performers who often do some of their best work in his material (Lee Remick is strikingly witty and intense here, and Harry Guardino, a macho stalwart in films and television, displays a talent for whimsy that one would never have expected). Angela Lansbury is less of a surprise (she seems to give brilliant performances as easily as she draws breath), but there is still profound pleasure in her witty and oddly poignant performance as the scheming mayor of a backwater small town; when, in the opening song "Me and My Town" she sings "somebody, please buy a ticket to us," there is a desperation in her voice that makes the character's subsequent chicanery at least comprehensible. It makes you wonder, at least it makes me wonder (and not for the first time), why Sondheim doesn't write his own scripts. He couldn't make a bigger hash of it than most of his collaborators have.

While "Anyone Can Whistle" was a flop in its Broadway incarnation (running for 9 performances), its score has appeal broad enough for any theatre fan. While I know many theatre enthusiasts who are daunted by Sondheim's work, I would recommend this recording to any of them. The premise of a town creating a miracle to boost tourism is funny enough, add the complication of a bunch of lunatics on the loose and some snappy, funny Sondheim songs and you've got a winner! "The Miracle Song" alone is reason enough to buy this album! "Simple" is Sondheim weaving script into song. It may become tired for some listeners, but I enjoy it. This score, unlike "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" before it, really provides insight into Sondheim's future as a composer. The talent and structure were there. Unfortunately, the show didn't take off.

What a recipe for disaster - a young, relatively untested composer, a writer/director with more than enough satirical targets for five shows, three stars who had never before appeared in a musical, Brechtian and Pirandellian techniques - and what a disaster it was. This show ran only a handful of performances on Broadway. And really, it didnt deserve any more - it was way too far reaching, not nearly funny enough. But luckily, here is the score, and what a score it is! It is abundantly clear that, at this early date, Sondheim was going to be one of Broadway's most vital composers. Every song is brimming with invention, melody, emotion, wit, what have you. From the hilarious opening and Miracle Song, through the charming second act duets, to the heartbreaking conclusion, this score is fantastic. It even includes a recording of There Wont Be Trumpets, surely one of the best songs ever to be cut from a show, and nearly all of the third act Cookie Ballet. Although the ballet - and the first act closer - arent as effective without seeing the dazzling staging, they still work on their own terms. Lansbury, Remick, and Guardino all do excellent work as well, although it is quite obvious that they werent too experienced. But this fact, along with some rather poor orchestrations, should not be too much of a distraction from one of the most clever, inventive scores of the 60s.

I rarely give a review of 5 stars... but this recording is amazing! It is absolutely hilarious (Come Play Wiz Me) and yet very moving (Anyone Can Whistle, With So Little To Be Sure Of) Lee Remick and Angely Lansbury are simply amazing as the female leads of this legendary musical. Harry Guardino is likewise amazing. You should also consider the concert version with Bernadette, Madeline Kahn, and Steve Bakula.

This is a Sondheim flop, and rightfully so. Some voice are ok, the lyrics aren't bad, and the orchestrations can be nice, but overall its just boring. Dull. Unfinished. Another problem with this recording is you need the synopsis to tell you what the heck is going on because none of these really seem to go together. For Sondheim fans I would suggest NOT getting this and saving yourself the depressing bore that he produced here. If your a new listener of Broadway DON'T get this. If you like the transition between new and old Broadway this might be your cup of tea. This CD should only be bought by collectors and older-style fans. (But I'm not sure even they will like it!) Sorry Sondheim, but tow stars is generous for this. Favorite song: "Anyone Can Whistle"

I am a BIG Sondheim fan, yet this CD does not really cut it for me. There are a couple of great songs that Sondheim wrote for this show and one of them, "Everybody Says Don't" was not very good on this recording. The man who sung it did not have a great voice and that really disappointed me. There are so many better Sondheim works and I would not get this one.