Customer Reviews

Face the Music (2007 Encores! Cast Recording)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It is always terrific to have another "Encores!" recording; if one includes the Broadway transfer of "Chicago" this makes the thirteenth CD. The usual talent onstage and off are apparent, but the score this time seems distinctly second-rate Berlin (which is still better than first-rate most everyone else). There is a sameness to the tunes and flatness in orchestration that is not apparent in, say, "Louisiana Purchase." Worst of all, though, is the sloppy packaging by the usually impeccable DRG: the tracking goes wrong midway (cuts 6 and 7 are linked together, throwing all subsequent numbering off); songs that are solos as presented are listed with multiple artists (e.g., "Crinoline Days," etc) and vice versa ("Soft Lights & Sweet Music"); an entire verse is left off of the libretto to "Crinoline Days;" and there are textual errors throughout ("I needed a faithful lover/And..." rather than "lover/Who." Not quite a glittering diamond, this is more of a rhinestone disc.

I defy anyone to listen to this glorious show and not sustain a wall-to-wall grin from beginning to end. Written (in 1932) to lift the spirits of depression-weary Americans, FACE THE MUSIC is a brilliant example of a bygone Broadway era and the genius of one of America's greatest songwriters, Irving Berlin. I can picture Berlin and his collaborator Moss Hart, one of America's most successful playwrights, doubling over with laughter while putting this show together, a show that ". . . sends up showbiz, political corruption, Helen Morgan, nudity, optimism, parades, chorines, cows, and Catskill Resorts, among other things." (The quotes come from David Ives' terrific liner notes.) Ives further writes, "Frankly, I'm a sucker for any show with an elephant and somebody named Meshbesher, even when I have to adopt out the elephant for budgetary reasons. Of Mrs. Meshbesher, the more said the better." Mrs. Meshbesher, incidentally, is played by the incomparable Judy Kaye.

In these times of "budgetary restraint," one might have to make do without the elephant, but thanks to City Center Encores!, you can hear this marvelous score in all its glory, with orchestrations faithfully restored by Bruce Pomahac and vocal arrangements by Guest Musical Director Rob Fisher. Just close your eyes and let your imagination take over, furnishing the sets and costumes (and the elephant) missing from semi-staged concert versions. And if its necessary to choose between extravagant sets and costumes, lackluster "new" orchestrations & choral arrangements, puny pit bands and decimated choral forces OR legitimate voices that don't require amplification, a sparkling 30-piece orchestra [not a synthesizer in sight], and a singing ensemble numbering at least 20, then it's goodbye helicopters, falling chandeliers and the aforementioned elephant and hello concert versions.

FACE THE MUSIC reveals Irving Berlin as a superlative tunesmith and an unparalleled lyricist. Besides producing at least three bona fide standards ("Let's Have Another Cup of Coffee," "Soft Lights and Sweet Music," "If You Believe" - with Judy Kaye doing some marvelous Florence Foster Jenkins trilling above the chorus and orchestra), the show is chock-full of splendid novelty numbers like "The Police of New York," "Two Cheers Instead of Three," "How Can I Change My Luck," "I Don't Wanna Be Married (I Just Wanna Be Friends," the truly amazing "Torch Song," "Toast to Prohibition," "Manhattan Madness," and "I Say It's Spinach (And To Hell With It)." There's also a wonderful rumba, sung by ingénues Jeffry Denman and Meredith Patterson, entitled "(Castles in Spain) on a Roof in Manhattan."

Some sample lyrics: "While the panic's on/If you look for Otto Kahn/You will find that Otto's gone/To the automat" . . . "I longed to sit upon a piano or an organ/Pouring out my heart - the same as Helen Morgan" . . . "Here's to the eighteenth amendment/Long may America be dry!/Things are going very well/For the gentlemen who sell/To the many thirsty gentlemen who buy" . . . and, from the Gilbert & Sullivan-ish finale, "Once scene in Eden/The girls were naked, I know./One girl, your honor, /Who had nothing upon her/Is here to prove that it's so./Please tell the jury/How you came from Missouri/And joined this terrible show."

Yes, FACE THE MUSIC is just what the doctor ordered for the depression blues and just what we need today. With the price of gasoline and tickets to Broadway shows going through the roof, perhaps we, too, might sing . . . "So when we cheer the stars and stripes/Here's what we'll do,/We'll cheer the red and cheer the white/But not the blue."

Extremely highly recommended.

Kudos to all involved for resurrecting this work. If not a masterpiece along the lines of 'Annie Get Your Gun' or 'Call Me Madam,' still some wonderful, fun moments-- & great to have
anew a show by George Kaufman as well. Also fascinating that it anticipates
'The Producers' in plot, and the corruption farce still resonates in a way.
I think it's well cast too-- esp. the young lovers & Judy Kaye, if not in her
very best voice, still is effective in the 'Margaret Dumont' sort of role.
One of my favorite '07 show music albums.

This vintage Berlin musical bristles of tunes and snappy lyrics. The old master is at his most satirical and with a cast of true pro:s it's a pure delight to listen to.

CHE BELLO! BRAVO MAESTRO FISHER !!! YOUR ''FACE THE MUSIC'' IS A PERFECT JOY AND ANY BROADWAY FAN OUGHT TO RUN AND BUY IT. IT'S A MUST OR, USING IRVING BERLIN WORDS, ''IT'S GOOD, SO GOOD, YOU BET THAT IT'S GOODY, GOODY GOOD''. THESE CDS, IN THEIR ORIGINAL EXTRAORDINARILY BEAUTIFUL ORCHESTRATIONS, RECONCILE WITH THE AMERICAN MUSICAL THEATRE THAT, PERHAPS, HAS FORGOT TO BE DELIGHTFULLY RICH IN ELEGANCE AND SPIRIT. ROB FISHER OUGHT TO BE INCESSANT IN GIVING US CDS AS ''FACE THE MUSIC'' AND I WONDER HOW LONG WE HAVE TO WAIT FOR ANOTHER HAPPY TIME LIKE THIS. MAY I SUGGEST THE RELEASE OF A 'COLLECTION' WITH ALL THE EARLY RODGERS & HART MUSICALS? THE COMPLETE ORIGINAL SCORES!!! WOW!!! THE SAME WITH THE EARLY HUMOUROUSLY FUNNY WORKS OF JEROME KERN. LET'S SEE WHAT HAPPENS ... IN THE MEANWHILE ''THANKS, MAESTRO FISHER, I CONTINUE BEING DEVOTED TO YOU AND THANKS FOR MAKING ME SO HAPPY WITH YOUR WORK ... BETTER: WITH YOUR ARTISTIC POWER ''.
Ernesto G. Oppicelli
Via Certosa 1a-3
16159 Genova Certosa - ITALY zeller@alice.it

Fantastic musical by the great Irving Berlin. This old show of the thirties is melodious and rich in interesting lyrics. The recording is excellent. If you love the music by Irving Berlin, the purchase of this item is a must.

The Encores production of "Face the Music" last March was one of the highlights of the New York theater season. Here is a wonderful relic of the days when the theater existed so that people could have silly fun. The score is first class Irving Berlin, and the recording is a wonderful souvenir with a winning cast and terrific conducting by Rob Fisher. If you love classic musical theater, you will want this recording.

If fills a gap in my Irving Berlin collection (I would rather fill the gaps in my Rodgers & Hart and Cole Porter collections, only RH are scarce as hens' teeth, and Porter has too many duds in his scores). The sound on this CD is thin and tinny. The voices likewise, not rich and full. The tunes are mediocre and the lyrics are perfunctory. Some of the tunes are good and a line or two of lyric here and there are clever. I don't want to listen to it again. It doesn't have as many duds as LA Purchase has, but on the other hand it isn't as overall good as LA Purchase is either. The sound on Purchase is richer and more musical. There are some cute things in Face the Music, but like I said, I don't want to listen to it again. Did you notice that If You Believe had been transplanted to Merman's movie There's No Business..., sung by Johnnie Ray? I preferred Ray's version. Not that I agree with the point of the song to begin with. Is Berlin such a voice of the masses that they keep resurrecting his old shows, and are RH and Porter so esoteric and unpopular that the producers are afraid they won't sell?