3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
College Performance, August 20, 2001
This review is from: Cyrano (Original Cast) (Audio CD)
Don't expect a high quality recording: this is the original (and only recorded) version of Cyrano peformed back in 1958 by the Yale Dramatic Association. The recordings come from the first generation analogue copies of the lost master tapes.
Perhaps an interesting show, but a little bit of a chore to listen to.
The CD also contains extracts from Shire and Maltby's follow-up ay Yale, Grand Tour.
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2.0 out of 5 stars
An interesting piece of history, May 23, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Cyrano (Original Cast) (Audio CD)
The sound quality didn't bother me, ...; this CD just sounds like an old recording that's been re-digitized. However, much of the singing is simply dreadful, which IS hard to overlook, and I have to say that "Cyrano" and "Grand Tour" show few signs of the writers' brilliance in such later shows as "Starting Here, Starting Now" (which I highly recommend). A few songs are lovely despite everything, like "Autumn" (which later was put into "Starting Here").
Richard Maltby Jr.'s liner notes are not to be missed, however; he gives a fascinating and funny history of how he met David Shire, what theatre (professional and college level) was like in the 1950s, and points out that many people featured in these two early shows went on to have recognized career in show business. For example, listen for Dick Cavett (of talk show fame), John Cunningham (who was recently in "Titanic"), Austin Pendleton (director of Broadway's "Little Foxes" with Elizabeth Taylor), Gretchen Cryer and Nancy Ford (who wrote the musical "I'm Getting My Act Together & Taking It On The Road." Sam Watterson (of Law & Order fame) was apparently also on the stage crew of the early Maltby/Shire shows.
This CD is not terribly listenable--and don't expect the shows to hit Broadway any time soon. Just enjoy them as the Maltby & Shire intended them: to be a curiosity in your CD collection--an interesting piece of history.
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2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
as good as I remember, June 11, 2000
This review is from: Cyrano (Original Cast) (Audio CD)
I had ther pleasure of playing Cyrano when the original cast album was only in vinyl. I am extremely happy to get it on CD. The melodies, soar and some of Maltby and Shire's best pieces reside in this work. I fyou are looking for something exciting for your theater group try this CD and see what all the fuss it about!
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