Customer Reviews

Harry On Broadway Act 1

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I think Harry Connick Jr. attracted most people to this show and this CD. I was one of the few who bought it for Kelli O'Hara. I first became a fan of O'Hara's silverly soprano on the Light in the Piazza OBC, and the OOBC of My Life With Albertine. In The Pajama Game she takes on a new kind of role- a belty Babe Williams. I was never particularly attracted to the Pajama Game as a musical but I wanted to see what O'Hara did with it.

What she does is show off her versitility as a performer, departing from ingenue roles and playing the brassy Babe for all she's worth. O'Hara never breaks character and brings an energy to songs like "I'm not at all in love", "7 and 1/2 cents" and "There once was a man" that is rarely heard on a studio cast recrding. The same cannot be said for Harry Connick Jr. Not that he isn't good- he is. But there were times when I felt that I wasn't listening to Syd Sorkin so much as Harry Connick Jr- especially in "Hey there".

The supporting cast is paricularly strong and enjoyable. Even though songs like "Her Is" are rather dated, that's part of their charm.

As for the oh so controversial packaging. Basically there is a sleeve with a picture of Connick on it. Remove the sleve and you have a Pajama Game CD with the artwork. Connick writes and into in the booklet. I had absolutely no objection to that and when I got the CD I tossed the sleeve. As for the bonus disc, I enjoyed it. Harry Connick Jr. performs songs from his Broadway flop "Thou Shalt Not" with Kelli O'Hara. It's not a cast recording. It's a series on solos and duets- more background music than the Pajama Game, but it's more or less free. The Pajama Game would have the same price without this disc so I don't see why people object to this so vehemently. Yes, it's a marketing ploy, but so is just about anything you buy.

I saw this revival of The Pajama Game on Broadway and was hoping the CD would capture at least some of infectiousness of the live performance. Though no CD is as good as its live performance, this recording is outstanding! I completely disagree with those who have been critical of Harry Connick's vocal performance here -- he is fabulous on ballads and up-tempo songs, and emotes appropriately (i.e. noticeably) for each. I mean, he's not exactly an amateur at interpreting lyrics convincingly. I can't imagine anyone more well suited for this role. And Kelli O'Hara's voice is like "buttuh!" This version of The Pajama Game is a real treat - I recommended it over the film soundtrack, if you're looking just for the show. And if you're a Harry Connick Jr. fan, it's a must.

The new Broadway Cast album of "The Pajama Game" is a sunny and bouncy rendition of the old 1954 show. Kelli O'Hara sinks her teeth into the role of Babe Williams and she is delightfully infectious. Harry Connick Jr's vocals are fine but his styling is a tad too sophisticated for his role as a superintendant of a Mid-Western pajama factory. Having said that his rendition of the big song "Hey There" is sublime. And his duets with Miss O'Hara are so perfectly blended you would swear they have been singing together forever.

Some numbers notably "Steam Heat" have been arranged differently so not to invite comparisons with the original dance music used for the unsurpassable choreography devised by Bob Fosse in the original 1954 production.

This cast album has all the musical numbers from the show and a few that were cut from the original production. Enjoy!

If you are a Harry Connick Jr. fan, this cd is for you!! If you were lucky enough to see Pajama Game, this cd is for you! Every song is exactly like the Broadway show and leave you with a happy feeling in your heart. "There Once was a Man" is one of the best songs on the cd. You can feel Harry jump through your speakers.
(i wish he would!!!)

Harry on Broadway Act I gives us the cast recording of the recent hit revival of The Pajama Game, in which Harry starred, and selections from the ill-fated and quite terrible musical Thou Shalt Not, for which he wrote the score. While the latter CD seems unnecessary, as there was an original cast album released, it is good to hear the mediocre songs well sung by Harry and his Pajama Game co-star, Kelli O'Hara, though no song is especially memorable. The Pajama Game, though, is a joy, a wonderful recording of one of the best Broadway scores from the 50's. Harry Connick, Jr.'s unique singing style is quite different from that of John Raitt, the star of the original production, giving a new twist to old favorites, and he sounds particularly fine on a lesser known song from the score, "A New Town Is a Blue Town." The score contains many songs that were Hit Parade favorites in the 50's ("Hey There," "Steam Heat," "Hernando's Hideaway"), and they and other great songs ("Once a Year Day," "There Once Was a Man," "Seven-and-a-Half Cents") are well served by a terrific cast that includes Kelli O'Hara, Michael McKean and Megan Lawrence. While many may wonder why the cast recording of The Pajama Game wasn't released by itself, the two-CD package is reasonably priced and well worth buying.

If you want to hear "Pajama Game" done great, get it. But it's venal for them to make you buy "Thou Shalt Not" with it. Unless you love jazz, you'll want to drive into a wall. Full disclosure: jazz feels like there are bees in my head. I could not get through one entire song on the "Thou" cd. But again, I play "Pajama Game" over and over, so in my case, it was worth it. But I'm still annoyed that I had to buy something I had no interest in. And that makes no sense in packaging with an old fashioned Broadway musical.

So happy they were able to record this revival of Pajama Game. It hasnt been recorded in many years (at least in the U.S.) and deserves a new hearing. A strike in a Pajama factory threatens a management/union romance and that's all you really need to know. The movie version provided Doris Day with one of her best musical roles, though a lot of the songs were cut. (For some reason it doesnt pop up on tv that much). If you are unfamiliar with the score, you may be surprised at how many songs you recognize from the show. Hey There, of course is well known, but there are plenty more: Hernando's Hideaway, Steam Heat and others. Harry Connick is great here. There's a reason this show is a smash. Buy it, and enjoy!

"The Pajama Game" half of this two-CD set is lively and enjoyable. Connick does better with the ballads than with the characters songs but Kelli O'Hara is a delight throughout. The "Thou Shalt Not" CD is dreary, repetitive and endless. It is a show with limited appeal and the original cast recording was much better. The "songs from" CD is a waste, with not even Connick coming across very well.

I really enjoyed "The Pajama Game", but was rather bored with "Thou Shall Not".

I'm a longtime fan of both the Pajama Game and Harry Connick, Jr. (and now Kelly O'Hara). Having seen the show, I can truly say I've never had so much fun at a Broadway musical. However, although this CD is good, it's not great -- in my book, it's not as good as the original cast recording with John Raitt in the Sid Sarokin role. On this CD, something's been lost in the show's translation from live to recorded performance. But if you were lucky enough to have seen the show on Broadway,this recording will transport you back to the palpable chemistry between Kelly and Harry as well as Harry's show-stopping piano improv during Hernando's Hideaway, among other delights.