Customer Reviews

Two Gentlemen of Verona (1971 Original Broadway Cast)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Two Gentlemen of Verona has always occupied an awkward place in the history of musical theatre, at least for critics and afficionados. Originally produced in the summer of 1971 as a part of the free Shakespeare in the Park program at Joe Papp's Public Theatre in New York City, it was transferred to the St. James Theatre on Broadway in December of that year and ran for 627 performances. It won Tonys in 1972 for Best Book of a Musical and Best Musical, beating out Stephen Sondheim's Follies (and, for that matter, Grease, which had odds as the popular favorite), the fact of which can still evoke rumblings of resentment from hardcore Sondheim fans and other musical theatre junkies who to this day hold a grudge. There have been no major revivals of the show in the last thirty years except for a very few notable exceptions in regional theatre. Certainly, just listening to the CD, you would be hard pressed to understand what all the fuss was about. Sure, some of the tunes are catchy and fun, a few of the lyrics clever and even funky, but there is a reason it has taken thirty years for the original double LP cast album to finally come out on CD. This is a good reissue; all of the sonic problems on the original LP have been cleaned up for this release. The liner notes and reminiscences are great as well. TGOV is pleasant to listen to, but this score cannot and does not stand on its own very well, certainly not in the way that Follies does. So why buy it? I was lucky enough to have seen the show after it moved to Broadway. It was ebullient, energetic, a celebration of multiculturalism before we even knew there was such a word. The score by Galt MacDermot, which is preserved almost in its entirety on this CD, came only a few years after the runaway success of Hair. MacDermot, with playwright John Guare (The House of Blue Leaves, Six Degrees of Separation) used Shakespeare's play as a jumping-off point to write a musical about youth and age, change, growth, friendship, love and responsibility. It was an exciting and joyous evening of theatre, and a genuine celebration of the transformative nature of love. It encapsulates the best of the spirit of the late 60's and early 70's in America, when we still believed that the power of love could make the world a better place. There are excellent performances by Raul Julia, Clifton Davis, Diana Davila and Jonelle Allen; and, if you dig deep enough into the credits, you will see that both Jeff Goldblum and Stockard Channing were in the chorus! This is a CD that belongs on every collectors' shelf.

I was one of the fortunate theatregoers who saw this show on Broadway in 1972 with its original cast. I am 52 years old, and cannot recall having a more joyous time at a musical than at TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA.

Of course, it helps if you get a kick out of Shakespeare's comedies, even the less successful ones, to enjoy the comic pizzazz of these lyrics. Galt MacDermott and John Guare did masterful work transforming centuries-old poetry to modern day words and music. Live and in-person, it worked flawlessly, and as a result earned Joseph Papp and company the Tony for Best Musical in its premiere season.

The orchestrations (as in, eg. WHO IS SILVIA?) are spiffy and many stand the test of time. There is a lot of camp and parody to this musical, though, so let the buyer beware. If you don't like this approach to comedy, you may not be happy with your purchase.

For those who buy, however, the CD is a 78-minute blast because the actors are having such a good time. Raul Julia was a comic genius in the show -- as were Clifton Davis, Jonelle Allen and Diana Davilla; their talents shine through here.

I've read reviewers on amazon who have panned this effort, and simply don't understand their point of view. It may be that they simply dislike musicals from the over-commercial '70's. It may be that TWO GENTLEMEN'S arrangements pale in comparison to those performed by today's pit orchestras.

But I promise you: Play this after a long week, and you may find yourself line-dancing in the living-room with your dinner guests. You may also be inspired to read Shakespeare's two-star, but wonderfully silly play.

Five stars and welcome back.

Finally! I can't wait to buy this cd. I just found my ancient cassette copy of my brother's even more ancient double lp and listened to it for the first time in over 25 years - and found myself transported back to when we saw the show way back in 1972, when I was only 7 going on 8. I still vividly remember the mass of scaffolding on stage as we walked into the St James theater, and wondering why the place seemed like it was under construction, only to be astonished at the transformation that took place as the show unfolded. Too bad there isn't a DVD - the show was riotously colorful to watch, with an electrifying cast and idealistic spirit. It was the first time I ever saw Raul Julia, and will always be my most vivid impression of him. Jonelle Allen too, a real powerhouse actress and singer. TGOV is right up there with Pippin and The Wiz as one of the most lively and memorable shows of my childhood, and having played a few Broadway pits in more recent years as a professional musician I still think that even if it seems dated and groovy it is far more inventive than most (although Sondheim's shows of the 70's remain the most sophisticated). Enjoy.

Joshua Gordon

Lydian String Quartet

To those who will (and have) listen(ed) to this CD and dismiss it as a wrinkly old 70's musical with kitschy lyrics and canned music...guess what? That's what the show is! It was THE product of the 70's hippie love-in rock music backlash that just doesn't hold up to the test of time. It's virtually impossible to produce this show now because it is SO dated. Think about this though..."great" musicals in history such as Hair and RENT are dated as well. Even RENT is slowly becoming a relic and remember when that came out and it bacme the rage?
So far, this sounds like a negative review but I actually really get a kick out of this show. I've had the chance to do it as well (with small cuts and restructuring of lyrics) which also makes me a little biased.
I will totally agree that the singers on this recording aren't always the best. It was however, the way it was intended to be heard on this CD. Nothing would please me more for someone to do a studio version of this CD with stronger singers but as it is, again...it's a product of its time.
My director saw this show on Broadway and said the recording can't do it justice. In the St. James Theater on Broadway there were live animals (birds, sheep, etc.) and the cast extended out into the house and made the audience all-encompassed in the proceedings. A CD cannot duplicate that and I feel that that was probably a huge part in what made this show so succesful...it's audience interaction.
Listen to the audio samples here...if you are piqued even a bit, try this CD on for size. The show has always hooked me in its opening and closing melodies. Try those.

Although I'm a great admirer of Stephen Sondheim and think his "Follies" is an incredible work of genius, I can't be upset that "Two Gentlemen of Verona" won the 1972 Tony Award for Best Musical, because seeing the original Broadway production was one of the joyous high points of my life as a theatregoer. It leapt, it soared, and it delighted. And listening to this recording for the first time in years (I wore my LP of it out with repeated playings and despaired of its ever being released on CD) brought back all the joy and delight of my experience seeing it 30 years ago. May it never go out of print again!

I saw this play in '72 and I was laughing through the whole thing. The cast was perfect! I have to vinyl copies and both are pretty much worn out so this is great that they finally released it on CD. Thurio's Samba is hysterical

"Two Gentlemen of Verona" was a great show, starring the late Raul Julia. Listening to this music again after many years, I must confess that not all of the songs impress me now as much as they did in 1971. But there ARE some fantastic tunes here, and the album recreates amazingly well the atmosphere of the live performance.

This is a nostalgic favorite because my high school did a bfd production of it and man, was it fun. The score has some marvelous energy and a lot of silliness/camp. I bought this 20 years later and found that I pretty much still knew the whole thing by heart.

OK. The vocals. The actresses playing Julia and Sylvia are awful, awful singers. Really bad. Which is a shame because most of Julia's songs are dynamite. Clifton Davis has a great voice and some fine opportunities to show it off. Full, warm, vibrant.

Raul Julia. What a marvelous voice. The Perfect Broadway Voice. Huge, delicious, expressive, alive, sensual, with that undiluted accent. His charm is palpable here. Even the sillliest songs are full of wit and charm. I get the feeling he may have been the show stealer here.

I bought it for some of the funky, brass-heavy arrangements and the heavy nostalgia element. I'd buy it again for Raul Julia's numbers.

This rock musical version of "The Two Gentlemen of Verona" won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 1972. Oddly, the reasoning of that honor doesn't translate on this disc. The score is fun, clever, infectious and irresistable, but you have to try (very hard) to look past the awful vocals that ruin it. It's a great musical, just don't expect too much from the performances on here. Why has it not been revived on Broadway yet?? Until it is, this is the only recording available.

1971 was an interesting year for musical theater. The opening of Follies, Jesus Christ Superstar, Grease and Two Gentlemen of Verona was interesting enough, but when Verona won the Tony for best musical and recieved a 2 record recording compared to Follies one record disaster, many theater lover turned against this wonderful musical.

Set against a revised version of a semi-famous Shakespeare play, the musical was staged in a way that represented the tumultous time of the Vietnam war. Using a racially mixed cast, the score by Galt MacDermot contains a wide range of musical styles and many great songs. From the contageous Summer Summer which opens the show, to the title song that sets a pair of females off on the road in male clothes, are wonderful songs that are reminders of the style that MacDermot brought to the Broadway stage in his first musical Hair. MacDermot uses latin, soul, broadway style songs to tell the story of Valentine and Proteus, two best friends, and the women they love. The score is full of rich melodies and some clinkers. This is MacDermot at his best, post Hair, but before those twin disasters of Via Galactia and Dude. MacDermot returned to writing for the stage with the wonderful Human Comedy, but hasnt written anything for Broadway since.

Raul Julia, Clifton Davis, Jonelle Allen and Diana Davila are all wonderful in the leads of this musical that deals with love, mistaken identities and searching for the meaning of ones life. Two Gentlemen of Verona is a wonderful musical of its time. It has always been one of my favorite scores. The transfer from record to CD is wonderful and really brings out the heavy use of the horn section used throughout the show.