Customer Reviews

Guys & Dolls: A Musical Fable Of Broadway (1950 Original Broadway Cast)

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Not all that many musicals can brag that more than half the songs have become standards. And in these days of the "one tune show" (if that many), it is the revivals of the Oldie Greats that represent the American Musical at its best. And high up there stands <Guys & Dolls>. I will grant that the recording of the last revival is quite good and certainly more complete than the original cast recording from 1951. But the soloists (if we forget the relatively lackluster role of Sarah) cannot replace the Damon Runyonesque cast of the original: Robert Alda, Vivian Blaine, Sam Levene, Pat Rooney, Sr., and Stubby Kaye. Therefore any collection of Broadway history must include this older release.

So just in case you do not yet own a copy, know you by this presence that Decca has reissued it on CD (012 159 112-2) with four bonus tracks from the film for those who think Marlon Brando renditions are worth hearing. Add to which, the booklet has some excellent photos from the 1950 production. 'Nuff said. Run out and grabbit.

As the son of the original musical director of "Guys & Dolls", I can see why you said that the show only works as a cartoon. Thats because you've only seen the show done in that manner and not played "real" the way it's supposed to. The characters of Sky, Sarah and especially Adalaide should NEVER be made fun of. When the show works the best is when the audience thinks they could leave the theatre and run into those people on the street and not in the Sunday comics. "Guys & Dolls" should be done the way "Fair Lady", "West Side", etc are AND not cut like the last revival, with dances that relate to the story, not just pretty "steps".
If we only had critics even on the level of John Chapman around today.
The reason I gave only 4 stars to the recording is the 50's sound of the recording and that they didn't record so much of the score. But if you listen to the original orchestrations you can hear how even the relate to whats being said, listen to "I'll Know" and the difference between Sky's section and Sarah's Then listen to what they did in the revival.

Was there ever a time Guys & Dolls was out of the record catalogues? Like "I Love Lucy" does a day go by without some group performing this picture perfect Runyonesque hommage that is amongst the top five greatest musicals of all time (including Showboat and Oaklahoma)? MCA's CD re-issue, complete with the original liner notes and additional notes that serves as a neccessary "antidote" to the original notes, is a must for anyone who loves good music. Now, don't misunderstand me. There's nothing wrong with the original notes. Just that, like the rest of New York, critic Louis Untermeyer was intoxicated with the brilliance of the lyrics, score and the casting (why did they cast Marlon Brando in the film instead of Robert Alda? What a big mistake!). As Max O. Preeo, the writer of the "antidote" notes states, "Untermeyer greatly oversimplified Guys and Dolls' success". This was done with good intentions, of course. Nevertheless, the entire CD package is the best issue yet of Guys & Dolls. The two programme notes, original artwork from the first DECCA issue, photos from the production itself; what a wealth of treasure to accompany the wonderful music. Loesser is a master composer whose style can range from Jazz to Beethoven-type harmonies, with a lyrical singing line that singers would expect from Mozart Arias. Incredible music that easily places one in the world of "petty-gamblers", Salvation Army members and show girls. All this from the same composer of the score for Danny Kaye's film "Hans Christian Andersen"!!

Winner of the 1951 Tony Award for Best Musical, GUYS AND DOLLS is considered by many to be a near perfect musical comedy. The book is genuinely funny and yet we really do care about the characters.

Decca's original cast album was taped just a few weeks after the show had opened to rave reviews. The voices are full of character: Robert Alda and Isabel Bigley make an ideal Sky and Sarah. Vivian Blaine forever owns the role of Adelaide (and she got to preserve her performance in the 1955 film.) Sam Levene is NOT a singer (the cast even asked him NOT to sing in the chorus numbers) and his appearances on the recording are limited. Still, GUYS AND DOLLS would not work with opera singers. The flat Decca sound does not exactly make the vocals sound warmer, but in remastering the original tapes, we can at least hear everything clearly and especially some of the orchestral textures lost in the previous releases. And no one can beat Stubby Kaye's "Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat" Like Blaine, he got to repeat his role in the film but neither of them appear on the soundtrack album.

No complete soudntrack album was made of the 1955 film because of Frank Sinatra's contract with Capitol Records. Decca put out a 4-song EP with Marlon Brando and Jean Simmons singing their numbers from the film and that mini-album is included here as bonus tracks.

The 1992 Broadway revival was a spirited production with a great cast (Peter Gallagher, Nathan Lane and Faith Prince) and a recording that captures all the fun. It's more complete, and has better sound. What it lacks are Stubby Kare and Vivian Blaine.

Being that I am doing a production of Guys and Dolls as Nicely-Nicely, I decided to do some research. Naturally, I started with the Original Broadway Cast Recording, but of course I had been familiar with this recording for years already.

I just have to say that NO ONE can beat Vivian Blane as Adelaide, no matter how big their belt, or how nasal they are, Vivian brings something real to the role of Adelaide, and I am glad that her performance was captured here, and in the film. Sam Levene is hilarious as Nathan Detroit, although he is not a singer by ANY means. Isabel Bigley and Robert Alda are great as well. Stubby Kaye as Nicely-Nicely, just like Vivian Blaine cannot be beat. His "Sit Down, You're Rockin' The Boat" is THE definitive version, and the best recorded version. Excellent.

Although the orchestrations are not as full and lively as other recordings, it captures the feel of the time period this show is supposed to take place in, and I it is just perfect.

I would definitely recommend this recording over the plethora of Guys and Dolls recordings.

Stereo it's not, but it's the real thing. Listening to the Original Broadway production brought back all the joy I had when I first heard all those memorable tunes. The CD has cuts from the movie version, but they pale in comparison with the performance and voices of Robert Alda, Vivian Blaine and Sam Lavene. No one could reproduce the humor and power of Vivian's "Adelaid's Lament" or "Take Back Your Mink", or Stubby Kaye's "Guys and Dolls". All was as I remembered; a thoroughly enjoyable classic.

This album is the bomb! It has all of the great songs, like Bushel and a Peck, or Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat. It really gives you a good idea of the play, Guys and Dolls, if you never saw it!Plus, it has an interesting story all about Guys and Dolls in the cover. So buy this great album today! Believe me, it's worth your money, cuz you'll love it like I did!

I attempted to watch GUYS & DOLLS, with Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra, and I couldn't bare it. I'll tell you why. My mind kept drifting back to the Original Broadway Cast recording. For me, it was like watching stand-ins for the real thing. The problem was, the "real thing" never arrived in the film.

GUYS & DOLLS is the story of petty criminals and gamblers, and the women who love them. While Skye Masterson (Robert Alda) is a high roller with a penchant for playing craps games, Nathan Detroit (Sam Levene) runs an illegal "floating craps game" and has been engaged to his fiancee, Miss Adelaide (the wonderful Vivian Blaine) for fourteen years. Adelaide is a burlesque dancer at the Cat Trap (I think the name is self-explanatory). Skye makes a deal with Nathan to snag a "doll" and take her to Havana, the craps game. He finds Sarah Brown (Isabel Bigley), sargaent of the Save-A-Soul mission, and agrees to bring her a dozen sinners, in exchange for a date.

Some of the best music by Frank Loesser is here. My personal favorite songs include "I'll Know," "A Bushel and Peck," "Adelaide's Lament," and "Luck Be a Lady." The cast is marvelous and charismatic. Vivian Blaine is hilarious as the long-suffering fiancee. She plays Adelaide as a beautiful, wonderfully comedic pin-up girl to the hilt. You hear anyone else playing this role, and you just can't shake Blaine's incomparable performance. The singing is strong and the story is filled with shenanigans that will definitely hold your attention through to the end of the album. Classic!

What a pleasure to hear the original Broadway cast recording of this musical comedy classic! The CD contains what they call "Bonus Tracks" taken from the movie version. I heartily recommend skipping these altogether - why listen to Marlon Brando whisper his way through "Luck Be a Lady" when you can hear Robert Alda deliver it the way it was meant to sung?

This recording ranks high amongst those which ought to be deployed in an overdue effort to teach younger audiences about the essence of Broadway musicals during their salad days. They were days of luscious words and music, a time of actors who sang and singers who could act. Cartoons? Well, that's exactly what Damon Runyon about --- he took the characters he had observed and wrote a light-hearted story about them! He had no intention of revealing to us the seamier side of life. How else to explain a plot which involves a loony character like "Harry the Horse." or a scheme to deliver a bunch of Broadway schmoes to the sanctuary of a salvation mission? I laughed aloud when I first read of Harry punching the milkman's horse, collapsing it to its knees. I'm sorry folks, but this show was not the precursor of "West Side Story." Frank Loesser was brilliant, but he was not,and did not attempt to be, the other Leonard Bernstein. The reality here, as was the case with many Broadway shows, comes from people such as Robert Alda, who gets the song across while his limited voice makes him so very believable