Customer Reviews

The Boys From Syracuse (1953 Studio Cast)

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

 

 

After Columbia's studio cast recording of PAL JOEY proved a smash hit, record producer Goddard Lieberson produced a number of other Rodgers and Hart shows with studio casts - Mary Martin in BABES IN ARMS, ON YOUR TOES and this first recording of their best score THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE. Jack Cassidy and Portia Nelson are acceptable but the numbers are recorded with less pizzazz than the 1965 Off Broadway revival and with less artistry than the 1997 reincarnation. Either of these is the first choice. The mono sound does not hamper this recording however - another Columbia marvel in sound recording. Portia Nelson's wobble may annoy (as did Hanley's in the 1965 revival)but all in all the recording is an acceptable if less than first choice.

There have been several revivals of The Boys From Syracuse, and in each one the music seems to have deteriorated. This version is taken from the original 1938 score and is true to the Jazz Age/Tin Pan Alley roots of the music. Arguably, Rodgers and Hart's best collaboration and without a doubt the most authentic of the soundtrack recoprdings.

Jack Cassidy was to me what Frank Sinatra was to others of my generation. I simply swoon when I hear him and this recording has always been one of my favorites.

Perhaps it is simply nostalgia (my parents had this record when I was young -- until I absconded with it!), but this recording is by far my preference of the three available. I love the quality of the voices which do not sound like modern singers at all -- very charactery and very fun.

one of the best of goddard lieberson's 1950's columbia productions. outstanding singing by performers with addicting voices.jack cassidy(better heard than seen), portia nelson,bibi osterwald with her comic nuances.rodgers and hart couldn't have been interpreted better.