Customer Reviews

Anyone Can Whistle (1964 Original Broadway Cast)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Simply put, ANYONE CAN WHISTLE is just delightful. It's a shame that it wasn't seen as such in its own day and time, because Sondheim's music and lyrics are first-rate.

Originally having opened on Broadway on April 4, 1964, the show quickly folded, closing on April 11, 1964 after only nine short performances. Why this happened is a mystery to me, but some attribute it to the time in which the show was extant, the perhaps confusing book by Laurents, and other factors. The key here is that each of these factors were less related to the show itself and more to the unchangeable things of the day. In the end, it's a great shame that ANYONE... closed; just have a listen to this CD and see for yourself.

Angela Lansbury, marvelous as ever, stars as Cora Hoover Hooper, the mayoress of a small town facing one problem after another. She laments how her "peasants" detest her in "Me and My Town." Along with her town council, she hatches a not-so-brilliant but strikingly humorous plan to revive the town's economy in "Miracle Song." In an effort to prove this "miracle" a farce, Nurse Fay Apple (played by Lee Remick) gathers her patients from the local sanitarium, in an effort to confront the Mayoress and out her scheme. J. Bowden Hapgood, a sham psychoanalyst, arrives on the scene and separates the town into groups, claiming that he can tell who is sane and who is crazy -- the only problem is, he refuses to tell anyone!

While a bit complex at times, and often goofy, ANYONE... has become a cult classic in spite of (and perhaps in part due to) it being a financial flop. Ahead of its time in many ways, it's a shame that even now, some forty years later, there has yet to be a true revival.

All-in-all, the vocal performances here are superb. Lansbury is deliciously devious as the Mayoress, Remick is strong and powerful as Nurse Fay Apple, and Harry Guardino is hilarious as the misguided Hapgood.

It's a shame that they don't make them like this anymore -- in spite of it not being a success in 1964, this is truly one of the most fascinating and funny scores that classic Broadway has to offer. Very highly recommended.

Goddard Lieberson was a genius! He knew how to translate this complex score to records and still make a listenable package! In fact when it came to recording flops it seems he took even greater care.

It's easy to see why WHISTLE failed in 1964. It was totally out-of-step with the other hit musicals: HELLO DOLLY!, FUNNY GIRL, etc. Not that it was in any way inferior to these shows...quite the opposite. It was, if anything, too intelligent, and the score too complicated. That is why the recording stands up to repeated listenings. Still you can imagine your average middle-aged, middle class theatre going going out for intermission after the amazing song/scene "Simple" totally baffled! If they came back for Act Two (doubtful) they certainly did not hang around for Act Three. Yet they would have missed one of Sondheim's most beautiful songs: "With So Little To Be Sure Of."

There's more gold in ths score: The title song is well know, but Lansbury's three solo's are wonderful especially "A Parade in Town." And the comic "Come Play Wiz Me" is great fun...though it sounds similar to the old Peter Sellers-Sophia Loren single "Goodness Gracious Me." Did Sondheim take his inspiration from that old comedy song or was it the other way around? No matter..both are fun!

Then there are the extended musical scenes: "Simple", "The Miracle Song" and the ballet "The Cookie Chase."

One person has wondered why "There's Always a Woman" was not recorded. The answer is simple: the song was dropped from the show long before opening night (although it was restored for the 1995 concert.) Lee Remick's "There Won't Be Trumpets" was also cut just before opening night. That it was recorded at all is a miracle. (The track did not make the original LP release, but is included on this CD.)

As always, Sony has done a wonerdful remastering job. Sondheim's many fans will want to hear the composer's demo recordings of some of the dropped songs, but the key reason to get this Cd is the still wonderful original cast performances. True, none of the leads have truly outstanding singing voices, but they are so loaded with character that it hardly matters.

Ther has always been talk of revising and reviving ANYONE CAN WHISTLE and when you listen to this cast album you'll understand why.

What a complex, unexpected, unwelcome show for 1960s Broadway! And how fascinating to hear it today thanks to the, as ever, fine Goddard Lieberson produced OBC Album; a prized museum piece.

Arthur Laurence (a McCarthy witch-hunt-victim) must have been embittered, eager to retaliate with a vengeance here; and his sophisticated, ever willing to innovate and experiment, young collaborator Stephen Sondheim backed him up with a (some of them, indeed bizarre!) mixed bag of musical numbers. The impetus ranges from Brecht, Offenbach, Viennese Operetta through the likes of Ionesco, Pinter to the more conventional (Me and My Town recalls the Marilyn & Boys "Heat Wave"; "Come Play Wiz Me", the saucy Sellers/Loren doctor song). All told, a Broadway musical imposing such adamant, incisive, lunatic angle on US executive corruption was then, indeed, audacious at all risks.

The core of this (then doomed) effort is the number called "Simple"... and simple it is not at all: an extended, frantic, absurd, sardonic ensemble-scene leading to the end-of-Act-One "you are all mad" idea where the audience were impelled to see themselves as reflected on a mirror, lights on the house, the actors on stage facing and applauding them. What would today audiences see? Do they acceed to (and welcome) experiment and innovation so much more nowadays, as Sondheim's later (comparable) opus, ASSASSINS finally and successfully evolved from 'Off' to 'On' Broadway stage?

Recording sessions must have been sweaty for Lieberson, for Sondheim, not the least for musical director Herbert Greene, as principal love couple struggled to comply with their pitch range, syncopations, machine-gun lyrics and proper voice technique as well as the required emotion. Lots of the latter abounds though, not unlike every original cast album recorded days after its premiere, this one recorded the day after the show folded! And quite a cookie chase it had been: sundry internal squabbles during previews; director Laurents' continual --desperate, stubborn-- re-stagings and cuts (like the marvelous "There's Always A Woman" which Kaye Ballard and Sally Mayes recently recorded beautifully in the album "Unsung Sondheim"); the quarrels between producers and creators (a fist-fight is legendary); an actor's death of heart attack during rehearsals... Whatever, the Sondheim Cult has proclaimed this album 'a must' and so it must be.

'Whistle' producers' later comments that neither Guardino or Remick could sing are exaggerated; flaws included, they could deliver a song with plenty of charisma. And a little less Sondheim tough, convoluted writing might have eased it all. Exquisite blue-eyed Lee Remick, whose acting talents rendered every word she sang so clearly defined and felt, couldn't cope with the syncopated vocal line in most of "There Won't Be Trumpets" but we can forgive her, after all, the song was cut for the premiere and, although recorded, also from the 1964 released vynil album. (Had they computer mixing and Pro-Tools facilities then, some of Remick's voice track could have easily been shifted to fit the orchestra; also some pitching repair would have delivered them all flawless.) Whatever, I never heard a more moving rendition of "Anyone Can Whistle" than Remick's (or Sondheim's own voice & piano bonus track demo). That Guardino couldn't utter "Everybody Says Don't" very fast was not such a sin then, as the world hadn't as yet experienced Sondheim's virtuoso speedy lyrics ("Getting Married Today" or the Seurat-inspired numbers for Patinkin were still in God's mind... let alone the Ballad of Czgolgosz.....) still, Guardino's singing is ripe, heavy-cigaretted and seducingly charming... The renderings of his songs in the 1995 Carnegie Hall Concert Revival sound epicene in comparison.

Last but not least, Angela Lansbury's debut in music theatre whose casting alone is worth cherishing this recording, where she coped bravely and astoundingly with the whole bravura, dazzling span of her material, introducing her distinct, bewitching, everlasting performance magic.

A Sondheim/Laurents flop well worth cherishing.

This is to me probably the best cast album ever. Its only flaw is that it is too short. They could have included "There's Always A Woman" to make the pleasure complete.

Each single one of the tracks on this recording is an amazing gem. I recon everybody is familiar with the history and the plot of this legendary flop musical, so I just want to ensure you that there's no possible reason not to buy this record. ¨

Angela Lansbury is particulary outstanding as Cora, and the reast of the cast is wonderful too, though I can't deny I prefer Bernadette Peters as Fay. But then again, who can compete with Bernadette?

As opposed to the concert recording (which is more complete than this) the OBC recording benefits from a cleaner sound and not so messed up scenes. (I am also unable to get used to Madeline Kahn's voice on the concert recording...)

The bonus tracks with the semi god Sondheim himself singing some demo tracks (including the extremely outstanding title song) and some cut stuff makes this a musical album something everybody should be obliged to own.

I absolutely adore Anyone Can Whistle, and it it totally beyond my inagination why this was not an immediate success when it premiered.

The previous reviews have said pretty much all there is to be said about Anyone Can Whistle, its history, the performers etc. By now all musical theater enthusiasts will know about this show and know whether they like it or not. The musical itself is kind of difficult, certainly a bit snarley (not a surprise with Sondheim), certainly dark and frankly a bit convoluted. The score however is a gem and the performances by the OBC are legendary.

What I want to comment on is Columbia's remastering of the original material. The sound quality is phenominal, much brighter and clearer than the LP and first CD issues. The first CD issue added the cut "There won't be Trumpets" and it is still here. This go around they have restored all the missing snippets of the Cookie Ballet, which by my count consist of one variation and about 40-50 miscellaneous measures. There are still a few missing bits which you can find on the concert recording with Bernadette Peters and Madelyn Kahn. Then there are the 6 Sondheim tracks. There is a reason that he cut some of these numbers and changed others before production, because his later thoughts on them were better, but still they are interesting to hear once or twice. The sonic fidelity needs again to be mentioned. I heard things on the CD that I never heard on the LP or the one time I listened to the first CD issue. A first rate transfer. THANK YOU COLUMBIA FOR YOUR OUTSTANDING JOB.

Anyone Can Whistle is a one of a kind musical. Looking at the evidence- an incomprehensible plot line, deathly challenging music and an infamously short broadway run- one would think that this Stephen Sondheim musical is a deservedly forgotten flop and nothing more. However, Anyone can Whistle is a poignet and relevant musical that deserves another day in the sun.

Angela Landsbury plays a corrupt mayoress who, in order to restore her town to economic prosperity, creates a fake "miracle"- water pouring from a rock. Pilgrims come to the miracle but unfortunately become mixed up with visiting resedences, "cookies", of a sanitorium. The cookies are accompanied by their nurse, Lee Remick, who sees through the mayoresses plot and refuses to identify her patients. The mayoress calls in Doctor Hapgood (Harry Gaurdino), who will separate the mass of tourists into who is sane and who is not. Then, all hell breaks loose. Some may say the plot is needlessly confusing, but the plot comes second the Sondheims magnificent score.

The best songs are ME AND MY TOWN, where we meet the mayoress and her crooked assistants, and they bemoan their failing town. In THERE WON'T BE TRUMPETS, which was originally cut from the show but included in this recording, Lee Remic denounces the mayoress' evil doings, and prophesizes a hero coming to save the town. SIMPLE has Doctor Hapgood winning the town's trust by dividing them into Group 1 and Group A- one group is sane, the other is not. Its a smart and funny song about the fine line between sanity and brilliance. In A PARADE IN TOWN, the mayoress watches her once loyal population be won over by the Doctor and his non-regime leadership. EVERYONE SAYS DON'T, possibly one of the most musically difficult songs in the show, has the Doctor teaching the nurse about his free lifestyle. I'VE GOT YOU TO LEAN ON is a song of extreem divotion between the mayoress and her lackees. WITH SO LITTLE TO BE SURE OF is a tragic love duet about the realities of love, and about the uncertanties we all feel about the future.

Anyone Can Whistle is pure genius and a must have for every Sondhiem collector.

It was a commercial flop when it opened in Broadway (only 9 performances, according to the booklet)but it has remained just the way "cult" material lingers in the mind of fans. And that's exactly what it is: a "cult" musical, such as "Tenderloin", "Little Shop of Horrors" or Paul Simon's "Capeman". Musically, I think it's quite uneven: it does contain some beautiful songs and others are not that good. However, as a whole, it's quite well-worth listening and highly valuable to Sondheim's followers.

A terrific show. An excellent CD. Most of the songs are better than anything on Broadway today. It is a shame that it is the paying public that decides what will be a hit or a failure. Alot of the shows that the public makes hits are really bad just like TV shows.

The first time I played this soundtrack, I found the lyrical content and subject matter off-putting, and the performances (save for the always great Angela Lansbury) to be servicable at best. Being a Sondheim fan however, I gave this sountrack a second chance. And then a third and fourth...tenth and many more to come. Anyone Can Whistle is now one of my favorites. It is very edgy. And very sharp around those edges. The music often reminds me of Prokofiev and a little even of Shostokovich. Repeated listenings helped me to see how the musical ideas develop. There are some beautiful moments of music that are a bit hidden by the lyrics being sung. And when I realized that the story was about just how insane and bad the Characters in this musical were, rather than indictment of society in general, I was able to digest the lyrics more easily. The extra tracks of Sondheim singing at the piano also do a great service to better understanding the score from the original soundtrack. Perhaps if Anyone Can Whistle had been better cast, it would have run longer. But again, if you are Sondheim fan, this is a must for your collection.

I wonder how many Sondheim fans have actually seen this dreadful show. Somewhere in the 90's I saw a revival in Los Angeles. While the performers could not hold a candle to those performing on the cast album, it was painfully clear that the show itself was tedious, overwrought and not half the fun that I'm sure was intended. In a number of post-mortems the show was referred to as "a bitter pill" or condescending and I couldn't agree more. Who's crazy and who isn't and calling the audience nuts, even if they've chosen to come and see your show, is a little much for anyone to take. I personally found the whole affair to be insufferable.

Taken on its own,however, the music on this album is wonderful and beautifully performed. I understand that Remick and Guardino were not as good vocally on stage as this album suggests but I guess it doesn't make much difference. They certainly sound fine here. Ultimately, the show is a true bomb but like a few others I could mention, the score on its own makes for enjoyable listening.