Customer Reviews

Lady In The Dark (1950 Original Cast Members)

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

 

 

In my opinion this CD sounds like a copy of one of Gerties shortened radio show Versions, though I am not certain.She did 30 min and 45 minute verions of all of her plays on her radio show she had in the 40's-50's. The talking part of this CD is excellent and Gertie, and the supporting cast are great. The script is very funny, very witty with an interesting plot. And Gertie is hysterically funny in certain scenes,She is the best in this kind of many faceted role of Liza. But the Music parts are shortened Versions and the sound quality is terrible though Gertie's singing is fine. so buy this CD if you want to capture Gertie and her acting talents, but if you are a Music conisseur forget it it's terrible.

SO WHAT! The recording 'might' be slightly dated .....BUT dearest - that's the JOY and the Great Charm of it! Not everything today is thoroughly modern - Thank God!

Gertie is brilliant and will always be so - listen and learn neophite! [And despite all of those rumors - voices WERE actually trained - by profesionals, and live performances were without electronic 'enhancements'].

THIS IS A LIVE RECORDING - designed for Miss Lawrence - gives the listner more insight into the actual play and appropriately has the Star vehicles "Saga of Jenny" and "My Ship". ABSOLUTELY a 'must have' for all Gertie fans.

Noel would joyously applaud ......!

This CD is shamefully misleading! It only features snipets of the original score and two members of the original cast. In fact, there is more dialogue than music on this CD! Worse, it sound like somebody dug up a set of '78s they found buried at the bottom of their gandfather's trunk and decided to record them on CD, scratches, pops, and all! I am a huge fan of Gertie Lawrence, but even I didn't have the nerve to play this CD more than once! Pick up The Royal National Theatre's production instead!

Even though this is Gertrude Lawrence at her best and a good recording, there is a lot of dialouge from the show. So for those expecting a CD full of songs and music beware at times this is like listening to a play. But the CD is still worth buying for it's artistic and historical value.

Don't go near this. It's a third-rate recording of a fifth rate Radio Show. Orchestrations are soupy, badly played, and terribly mixed - often drowning out the singers. It's all talk - good but dated talk with
" Jenny" sandwiched in. If you're expecting to hear show tunes, with Broadway zip and sparkle - then this ain't for you.

This recording of "Lady in the Dark" is actually not a cast album but a recording of a live, radio broadcast of a highly edited version of the show recorded 10 years after it initially played on Broadway. It is one of about five recordings of this show available today and is toward the bottom of the list in terms of quality and a desire to listen to it repeatedly. It does have the show's star, the legendary Gertrude Lawrence, repeating her role of Liza Elliot, and it is easy to see why she was so well reviewed and loved. Her singing is shaky but her acting is dead-on. It also has a young Hume Cronyn as Dr. Brooks. Very little of the score has survived in this version and its highlight, "The Saga of Jenny" has had its racier lyrics cleaned-up. It was recorded before a live audience and their noise is clearly heard throughout. The engineering is surprisingly good. This CD is for the die-hard fan of the show, Gertrude Lawrence, or the curious.

My advice is to stay away from this CD at all costs. Although the speaking segments are OK, the music sounds like a defective record from the 30's.