Customer Reviews

Dear World (1969 Original Broadway Cast)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've been a fan of Jerry Herman for a while, as soon as I discovered 'Mame'. 'Mame' had me hooked on Herman along with Angela Lansbury, as did her version of 'Sweeney Todd' (which is also fabulous).
This is by far my FAVORITE Jerry Herman score and beats all of 'Mame's music (except for 'If He Walked Into My Life') which is hard to do. Herman soars in this show, as does Lansbury.
Buy it if you loved MAME. Buy it if you love Jerry Herman.
Heck, just buy it.

DEAR WORLD was indeed ahead-of-its-time, in terms of its subject matter and its delicious score. Jerry Herman's musicalization of Jean Giraudoux/Maurice Valency's THE MADWOMAN OF CHAILLOT is a superb show that desparately calls for a revival.

Jerry Herman recruited two stars of his original MAME, Angela Lansbury and Jane Connell, for the roles of Countess Aurelia (the madwoman of Chaillot) and Gabrielle (the madwoman of Montmatre). The cast also includes Milo O'Shea (MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS), Pamela Hall, Carmen Mathews, Kurt Peterson, Gene Varrone and Michael Davis.

Angela Lansbury sinks her teeth into the central role of the tragic-comic Countess Aurelia, with several lovely numbers including "Each Tomorrow Morning", "I Don't Want to Know", "Dear World", "Kiss Her Now", "One Person" as well as the heartbreaking "And I Was Beautiful". Pamela Hall steals the show with the achingly-lovely "I've Never Said I Love You".

Jerry Herman's score is delicious. This isn't your brassy MAME, HELLO DOLLY or MACK AND MABEL. This show was truly ahead-of-its-time, and desperately calls for some sort of revival. DEAR WORLD shuttered after an abysmal 132 performances, but the sparkling cast album has ensured it a devoted cult following.

Highly-recommended.

I don't typically belong to the Jerry Herman fan base, but this score of his is awesome. I am familiar with Hello, Dolly, Mame, Mack And Mabel and La Cage Aux Folles, but this is the only Herman score I find enjoyable throughout. Having the glorious Angela Lansbury singing the bittersweet songs is also wonderful. As this show is one of the celebrated, legendary flops of Broadway history, I assume the book of the show has to take the blame. The score is first rate. Take this from a dedicated Sondheimite;)

Having seen Angela Lansbury on Broadway in this funny one moment, rip your heart out the next, musical, and having appeared in it in a regional production, I can say it is one of the more complex, clever scores out of a man who has sent thousands from theaters humming his tunes. Perhaps this is why Dear World was not more successful... people in the 60s expected bubble gum happiness from a Herman score, (with VERY little thinking required)Here came a show based on a classic (no disrespect to Patrick Dennis) Novel that involved ugliness (reality??) Domination of a large force over a smaller one (Europe in the 40s???) and perhaps a suggestion that the "crazy" people are more sane than you or I (we saw how THAT idea bombed in "Anyone Can Whistle") so that even a great, VERY clever score, the underdog winning over evil, and even the boy getting the girl in the last scene, were not enough or what the late 60's theater going public expected/wanted. WHAT would they think of the Mega War/Violence/HIGH body count musicals of today?? SHAME on Jerry Herman for being ahead of his time. The greatest tragedy of this album is that you can not see the show, as it is VERY visual. Pour yourself a glass of (dare I say it) French wine, gather a dab of Pate, dim the lights and escape into the musical world of Jerry Herman's Paris of days gone by. I bet you'll be able to see "Dickie"

A charming musical brought to you by the composer of such hits like "Hello Dolly!", "Mame" and "La Cage Aux Folles." Eventhough this shows run was short lived on Broadway, this C.D brings you Jerry Herman's lovliest tunes. Ranging from a beautiful opening waltz where the evil schemers plan to pollute Paris, to an astonishing performance by Angela Lansbury singing "I Don't Want To Know", to the three "crazy ladies" complex musical sequence called "The Tea Party." Anyone who loves Herman's catchy tunes will surely just adore this show

I must say that this cd is fantastic. All of the songs are very good and i cannot stop listening it it. it is a pity that Dear World did not get the acclaim as other Jerry Herman musicals such as Hello Dolly and Mame because i feel the songs were way better. The only compensation is that Angela Lansbury won a Tony for Best Actress. My favourite songs from the show are, And I Was Beautiful, Kiss Her Now and I Never Said I Loved You (which i feel is one of the best love songs ever written.). Words cannot describe how good this cd is so after you have finished reading all of the reviews don't take our word for it buy it and see for youself.

I like Mame and Hello Dolly some, but frankly they always annoyed me by straining too much for lively and enthusiastic. This one is much more in keeping with my taste. It is mostly a gentler and more subdued show, with a lot of very good music. The title song and One Person are too much in Herman's rousing and stirring mode, and very much out of place with the rest of the score. That rest of the score is a wow, though.

The sardonic opening Spring of Next Year has a gorgeous melody but the lyrics are a sly parody and indictment of the big business ethic, a very French attitude. The contrast between melody and lyrics is exquisite. The Tea Party builds and builds until it ends in a hilarious babble of triple counterpoint harmony. The ballads Kiss Her Now, I've Never Said I Love You, and I Was Beautiful are gorgeous and express genuine emotion. Each Tomorrow Morning finds Herman in a gentler inspirational mode that works much better in this context than the two more standard Herman blasts. Even the song called Garbage is anything but. The performances are uniformly superb.

By the accounts I've read, Dear World flopped because an oversized production warred with the basically intimate nature of the show. Not too long ago, I had the pleasure of seeing a rare staging by a regional theater in Washington. It was a deliberately small production and to paraphrase the show, it was beautiful. In any case, of all Herman's scores, I think I like this one best, though Mack and Mabel is close. And Milk and Honey and La Cage have a lot to recommend them as well. Buy this one - you won't regret it.

I bought this because of the positive user reviews and couldn't be more thankful that I did. I'm not an expert on the musical form so I can't really speak to the strengths and weaknesses of the book nor the coherence of musical styles of the songs, but I can say with conviction that Angela Lansbury is unbelievably good on this recording. It's difficult for me to convey just how good she is, but I urge anyone whose curiosity is peaked by these reviews to break down and buy the CD. Lansbury's performance alone is worth the price of admission. Her voice is warm, comic, heartbreaking and uplifting. Just beautiful.

This "flop" has numerous songs that are simply wonderful, and
yet you can feel that "Jerry Herman" is trying to "stretch"
his talent as an artist, after having two hits, "Hello, Dolly!"
and "Mame"!

This show doesn't measure up to them but while those shows
were pure entertainment this show doesn't seem to want to be
compared with them and that he's trying to be more complex with
both his music and lyrics. I personally love it and would love
to see it on stage...it's different, but in today's world, and
lack of humanity the songs and "book" may be right time for a
revival, and that it was written ahead of his time.

This still is my favorite play, i was young but i do remember how delightfully charming and funny this tale was. The scenic design still lingers, but this score will forever be etched in my mind. Dear World, And I was Beautiful, Kiss Her Now, Each Tomorrow Morning to name just a few classics by Jerry Herman a pro and way ahead of the time...when theatre was still theatre.