Customer Reviews

The Boys From Syracuse (1997 Studio Cast)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Of the three versions of <The Boys From Syracuse> that have appeared on CD, the one from DRG (94767) is by far the best. For years I had to be content with the 41-minute recording on EMI, which is very well done but finds itself lacking some 28 minutes of music available on the DRG set. A good deal of the extra material consists of reprises and the dance music for "Sing For Your Supper" and the Twins Ballet; but we also now have the Act I finale and "Big Brother." Another terrific advantage of his 1997 set is that it uses a restoration of the original orchestrations, a fact that gives it instant priority over any other set.

On top of all that, the performers are up to snuff and do full justice to a score that reminds us of a time when musicals had melodies (as I keep lamenting) and we left the theater whistling more than the scenery.

THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE is one of the more delighful offerings in the Rodgers and Hart canon. It features some of the most beloved songs ever written for the Broadway stage. This recording is from the acclaimed 1997 concert-reading from the Encores! series.

Rebecca Luker (THE SECRET GARDEN, THE MUSIC MAN), Davis Gaines (THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, SWEENEY TODD), Sarah Uriarte Berry, Julie Halston (GYPSY), Debbie Gravitte and Malcolm Gets, all superb Broadway talents, lead the strong cast.

The musical, based on Shakespeare's COMEDY OF ERRORS, originally opened on Broadway in 1938. This is the first time since then that the show has featured the original orchestrations, restored and played to perfection by the Coffee Club Orchestra, led by Rob Fisher.

Rebecca Luker dazzles and scintillates with "Falling in Love with Love"; Debbie Gravitte belts out "Oh, Diogenes" in her own grand style, whilst Davis Gaines and Sarah Uriarte Berry sing the ballad "This Can't Be Love" (later added to the film score of Rodgers and Hart's JUMBO). Luker, Gravitte and Berry also sing a dizzying rendition of "Sing For Your Supper", arguably one of the score's high-points.

This album is a must-own for fans of this gorgeous show and its candy-box score. Highly-recommended.

This is an exceptional recreation of the original sound of 1938 Broadway. Here are all the numbers plus the extended dance music and ballet. Performances are excellent, the sound is crisp, clear and fully present, and the original orchestrations, lovingly restored, are a revelation of brightness and bounce. I defy anyone to listen to this joyful recording and not start dancing around the room. This is great theater, great Broadway and great Rodgers and Hart - an exceptional achievement.

This disc of BOYS is the one to get. The recording sparkles from start to finish! Great cast! Great score!

Miles ahead of the Columbia/Sony Broadway studio cast which is terribly dull. And better sung than the lively and theatrical (and now, sadly, out-of-print) 1963 off Broadway revival cast on Broadway Angel/EMI.

This recording of the 1960 London production of THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE features some good performances, but the 1997 Encores! recording is the one to get for the true treatment of the score.

Heading this cast are Lynn Kennington as Adriana, Bob Monkhouse as Antipholus of Syracuse and Ronnie Corbett as Dromio of Syracuse. Also in the cast are Maggie Fitzgibbon, Paula Hendrix, Pat Turner, Sonny Farrar, April Olrich, Denis Quilley, John Adams and Edward Atienza.

The Richard Rodgers-Lorenz Hart score is one of their best, with such songs as the ravishing waltz-like "Falling in Love with Love", the chirpy "Sing For Your Supper", the romantic elation of "This Can't Be Love" and the tender "You Have Cast Your Shadow on the Sea". Add numbers like "Big Brother", "Oh, Diogenes!", "The Shortest Day of the Year" and "What Can You do with a Man?", and you have a tunefest fit for a King!

This recording from Decca Broadway also includes a rare set of recordings made in 1938, performed by Rudy Vallee and Frances Langford. These interesting recordings give an idea of how these songs appealed to the masses when the show originally opened on Broadway.

I wasn't convinced that a new 1997 version of "Boys from Syracuse" could compete with the old Bway revival recording of the 1960's but this CD of Rodgers and Hart's masterpiece is a fantastic find. All the songs, all the music, masterfully performed, a total and complete JOY....

What is right about this album is almost enough to make me understand why everyone on this page so unreservedly raves about it. The performers are great, the women more so than the men, both seperately (Rebecca Luker in "Falling In Love WIth Love" and the reprise of "The Shortest Day of the Year," Sarah Uriate Berry in her duet and reprise of "This Can't Be Love," and Debbie Gravitte in "What Can You Do With a Man?" "He and She," and especially "Oh, Diogenes!") and together in the showstopping trio "Sing For YOur Supper". The completeness of the recording and the restored original orchestrations are a great bonus. And there is plenty of energy and fun to be found. But there isn't quite enough to disguise the fact that this score doesn't quite approach the greatness of the Rodgers and Hart scores for such shows as Pal Joey, On Your Toes, and Babes In Arms. Those shows had one great song after another, or at the very least great tunes supplemented by ones that weren't on their level but were perfectly pleasent and agreeable in their own right. This show's score has plenty of great songs, including the above mentioned as well as "Dear Old Syracuse," "You Have Cast YOur Shadow On the Sea," and the touching "Big Brother," but there are a few noticeable misses, made all the more dissapointing when one considers Rodgers and Hart's reputation and repertoire. The opening shows the pitfalls that can be encountered in the attempts to integrate a musical; is is dull exposition instead of a great song that also eases the audience into the story. "Ladies of the Evening" and "Come With Me" are one-joke songs, and Hart doesn't seem to try too hard to come up with enough of his trademark quick and clever rhymes to allow us to forgive that. And the Act I finale, "Let Antipholus In," must be extremely funny in the context of what's going on in the show (A synopsis in the liner notes would have been helpful) because just listening to the title being repeated over and over and over again drove me to distraction. It is great that Encores! is producing concert versions of vintage, rarely performed musicals such as these to allow their scores to be heard and appreciated by a new generation. Much of what is here makes for a great recording, but when one considers that we are dealing with Rodgers and Hart, the odd misfire in the score is enough to make for a less than completely wonderful experience.

This famous American musical well deserves to be remounted commercially, though those familiar with Shakespeare (or the Australian musical The Venetian Twins) may find it strangely familiar. This is a terrific recreation of the style and performance of the original score and the series it is part of deserves support for giving exposure to some rarely staged shows. Not that its songs are not famous in their own right - but you do tend to hear them and think "so that's where that comes from". A must have if you are a serious music theatre fan.

This is one of the best show recordings I've ever heard; marvelously performed and heavenly to the ear. I couldn't stop smiling, listening to it. There isn't now, nor was there ever, a song writing team that compares with Rodgers and Hart, and this recording is a perfect tribute. Wonderful.

Lately I've been listening to this recording a lot. Except for the sublime Pal Joey, it's the most brilliant show Rodgers and Hart ever gave us. There is no merrier, more tuneful score in Broadway history. The orchestrations are unsurpassable, and the performances are flawless. Every time I play this recording my spirit soars. Other recordings of "This Can't be Love" have bored me, but the rendition on this CD is delectable, the best imaginable. I've only seen one actual production of The Boys from Syracuse, which only whetted my appetite for more. It's time for another Broadway revival.