Lady In The Dark (1997 Original London Cast) [Cast Recording]

Kurt Weill (Composer, Conductor), Steven Edward Moore (Performer), Hugh Ross (Performer), Charlotte Collingwood (Performer), Jill Cooper (Performer), Peter Cormican (Performer), Charlotte Cornwell (Performer), Louise Davidson (Performer), Emma Deigman (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Steven Edward Moore, Hugh Ross, Charlotte Collingwood, Jill Cooper, Peter Cormican, et al.
• Conductor: Kurt Weill
• Composer: Kurt Weill
• Audio CD (May 5, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Cast Recording
• Label: Jay Records
• ASIN: B000006PVR
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #205,546 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LADY IN THE DARK should step into the limelight!, May 9, 1999

By 

Mike Ward ([e-mail]) (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lady In The Dark (1997 Original London Cast) (Audio CD)

Perhaps one of the more sophisticated and lush scores ever to have been written for the Broadway Stage, this import version brings to light the lovliness of this LADY IN THE DARK. With a score by Kurt Weill and lyrics by Ira Gershwin --delivered with power and panache on this crisply recorded cd -- as well as some exceptional information about the history of the piece in the liner notes, this particular recording of LADY IN THE DARK shows why this seemingly lost score deserves to be heard and, perhaps, revived on the current Broadway stage or in regional theatres. Listen to this disc and see why Weill is perhaps the most undeservedly overshadowed composer who deserves more exposure and greater recognition as one of the best --if not THE best-- composer of our time. (SIDE NOTE: If you've listened to the original Broadway recording or have seen the butchered Hollywood film version with Ginger Rogers, you've NEVER experienced the genius of this score. Buy this cd to capture the true brilliance of this oft forgotten musical gem.)

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A forgotten gem of vast historical importance, February 10, 2002

By 

burghtenor (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lady In The Dark (1997 Original London Cast) (Audio CD)

Many people cite OKLAHOMA! for re-inventing the Broadway musical in 1943. Those who praise it repeatedly cite three revolutionary concepts: three-dimensional characters, a quiet opening, and a choreographed dream sequence revealing the heroine's inner desires. How does LADY IN THE DARK (premiered in 1941) stack up? The characters are three-dimensional, and the show opens with one man on stage in an office. Dream sequences? There are three multi-song technicolor dreams, plus an extensive flashback sequence.

Even though it's rarely staged today and many avid fans of Broadway musicals are unfamiliar with it, LADY IN THE DARK was a hit back when it was first staged in 1941. Look at the talents who collaborated on it: Moss Hart wrote the book, Kurt Weill wrote the music, Ira Gershwin wrote the lyrics, Gertrude Lawrence and Danny Kaye originated two of the lead roles.

THE STORY:
Liza Elliot, a successful editor of a women's fashion magazine, has been feeling uneasy and she can't figure out why. As a last-ditch attempt to get a grip, she goes for psychoanalysis. As we watch Liza interact with her coworkers, her lover, and a movie star, we also view the issues with which she's struggling through her dreams. And what dreams they are! In the first, she's the epitome of glamour and popularity, in the second, she imagines her wedding going terribly awry, and in the third - one of Broadway's most incredible musical sequences - she is the defendant in one of the most bizarre courtroom dramas ever witnessed. It isn't until Liza has talked through these dreams that she finally recalls some childhood incidents that she has repressed - related in surprising ways to the dreams - that free her to move onward.

THE MUSIC:
Wow! Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin have created some amazing stuff! Almost all of the music occurs in the three dream sequences. Three of the four songs in the first dream, "Oh Fabulous One," "One Life to Live," and "The Girl of the Moment," are great. The second dream features the romantic ballad, "This Is New." All five songs in the third dream are wonderful, especially the two consecutive showstoppers, the Ringmaster's comic diversion, "Tchaikowsky," and Liza's defense of the virtue of indecision, "The Saga of Jenny." The only real clunker in the show is one number from the second dream, "The Princess of Pure Delight." Ira Gershwin said that LADY was his best work, and he's right. There's only a few of those forced rhymes that abound in his earlier work.

THE RECORDING:
This is a JAY Records recording, so I can't say I was surprised at the weirdness of the liner notes. There's lots of interesting historical information on the creation of the show and of the recording, pictures from the production, and complete lyrics, but there's no cast listing! There's no plot synopsis either, but the music is so essential to the show that you'll have a good idea what the show is about after listening. Don't worry, there'll still be enough surprises left for you to discover if you have the opportunity to see the show performed live later. The casting choices are good: these people (whoever they are) are actors first and singers second, which is the correct emphasis needed to pull off such plot-drenched music.

SUMMARY:
If you're a musical theater fan, you need to add this to your collection!

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The orchestrations we've long waited for--but not the Liza, January 11, 2003

By 

Jay Dickson (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Lady In The Dark (1997 Original London Cast) (Audio CD)

LADY IN THE DARK is one of the most seminal musicals in the history of the genre (the first musical to be more of a serious drama than a comedy, and certainly the first musical to deal with as weighty a theme as psychoanalysis), and it has some of the most beautiful of all Kurt Weill's music (including such standards as "Saga of Jenny," "This is New," and of course "My Ship"). But, unfortunately, its dated presentation of its themes (particularly with regard to gender) have made this loveliest of all 40s musicals virtually impossible to revive on the stage. The best recording has for years been a staged version done for RCA starring Risė Stevens as Liza and Adolph Green as Russell Paxton (the roles Gertrude Lawrence and Danny Kaye made famous on the stage), but as fine as they were in these roles the orchestrations were sadly abbreviated (completely leaving out "The Dance of the Tumblers" and cutting out a good half of the beautiful extended sequence "Girl of the Moment").

This newest version from a London 1997 gorgeously reinstates the score and its orchestrations to their full glory: the cascading counterpoints of "Girl of the Moment," in particular, show a particularly sumptuous side to Kurt Weill's Broadway music that perhaps most people have forgotten. The only problem with this revival is the London cast. Many of the performers are quite good (such as the Russell Paxton), and the role of Randy Curtis has perhaps never been so well sung as here. But Maria Friedman was a terrible choice for the starring role of Liza Elliot, who carries almost all of the score's most beautiful vocal work. Whether by intention or accident, Friedman attempts an incredibly harsh American accent that is all wrong for the part, making Liza seem in her dream sequences coarse and unpleasant, when she is supposed to be the height of glamour and sophistication. It really sends the entire recording askew. This is the most complete version of the musical that exists, but I would still send someone to the old Risė Stevens version while we wait for a complete LADY IN THE DARK recording with a Liza who can do this great role justice (perhaps Audra McDonald, or Melissa Errico).