Customer Reviews

Broadway Showstoppers

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The title of this album, Broadway Showstoppers, is a bit misleading. Yes, there are some big hits included, like Swanee and Tea for Two. However, there also are numbers from some obscure shows and two from a complete flop. Kurt Weill's September Song is given in its original, somewhat menacing version, totally unfamiliar from all the cover versions. Bill from Show Boat is performed in the version with the original, 1918 lyrics by P.G. Wodehouse which was removed from the show it was originally intended for. The CD also contains the first recording of the original version for soloists and chorus of Kern's All the Things You Are, taken from the flop Very Warm for May, a show about summer stock theaters. There are three engaging numbers from Kern's 1929 Sweet Adeline. Perhaps most notably, the CD includes two numbers from the 1976 Lerner/Bernstein flop, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. One of them, Duet for Two, is a virtuoso romp for Judy Kaye, who portrays two successive First Ladies in the same number. The album is beautifully sung overall, while John McGlinn presides over the whole of it with wisdom and verve. The sound engineering is very good, too. In sum, Broadway Showstoppers may be a somewhat optimistic title, but this CD offers much real pleasure nevertheless.

David Saemann above covers all the bases in reviewing this album, but I have to call special attention to one of its real gems, "Some Girl Is On Your Mind" from Kern and Hammerstein's "Sweet Adeline" (1929). This is one of Jerome Kern's most inspired songs: a scene for male soloists and chorus that combines a sentimental 1890s ballad, "Jenny Lee," with an incredibly beautiful blues melody by Kern. In the song's final moments, as if the artful combination of two songs weren't enough, Kern adds another layer of sound to the all-male chorus and has the soprano (Judy Kaye on this CD), sing haunting fragments of two more wonderful Kern melodies from "Sweet Adeline": "Here Am I" and "Why Was I Born?" The effect is overwhelming and unforgettable, especially when heard with the gorgeous, original Robert Russell Bennett orchestration. For me, it's one of the finest things in American musical theatre history and must have been extremely effective on stage. "Some Girl Is On Your Mind" alone makes this a CD worth having. It's tops.

This is an impressive recording. Out of the fifteen tracks, there are four numbers from Jerome Kern's Sweet Adeline, of which one, "Some Girl Is on Your Mind," was compared in a New York Times review of a revival of the show by Encores to the great ensembles of Verdi! "Triplets" can be uproariously funny as it is here. One of the best moments in the CD comes at the end. It is the original version of "All the Things You Are" from Kern's Very Warm for May. It's a soaring and powerful double duet with chorus.
Arkiv Music has reissued the recording, and it is available at Amazon. This is one of Arkiv's most significant releases.

If you are a fan of old, old Broadway songs, done in the style of the original productions, you will adore this CD. These are from shows from the early 20th century. If that's not your cup of tea, however, you won't go for this. I also was not fond of the two Bernstein songs from a failed show (Jefferson in Paris, I believe, or something about American Presidents) - A highlight is All the Things You Are, with the most amazing harmony, (the show was supposed to be awful, but the song, in the original style is heavenly!)- songs from No, No Nanette, Sweet Adeline, among other masterpieces.

I took a chance on this. Actually, I was looking specifically for a first-rate rendition of ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE--well, I found it: the original verse, lyrics, orchestration--a perfectly splendid noise!

This interesting recording covers several obscure songs from several obscure musicals. I had high hope of it capturing some real hidden gems, but now realize there is a reason they are obscure. With John McGlinn's usual style, a Broadway scholar would love this recording. For the rest of us, take a pass.