Customer Reviews

Lady In The Dark (1997 Original London Cast)

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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.)

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!

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).

This brilliant 1997 recording is the only complete example of the Weill/Gershwin/Hart 'musical play'. Maria Friedman is Eliza Elliott (Oliver Award Nominee - Best Actress in a Musical); she plays this notoriously difficult role with dramatic subtlety and an alluring sense of heightened drama. Her character moves through the work with appropriate confusion yet allows for a truly justified revelation (My Ship). The supporting cast are generally good, particularly Steven Edward Moore as Randy Curtis. If there must be a highlight on this recording, it could only be the thematic cohesion of the score - as nonspecific as that may sound! This is one of Weill's best and most loved works, Ira Gershwin said it was the work of which he was most proud as a lyricist. Sound quality is extremely high, showcasing the full orchestration (made for this recording). I could not recommend it more highly.

Oh, the first time I heard this delightful and witty score was the old CBS Rise Stevens recording. The use of three mini-musicals within the play seemed a wonderful and stagey way of playing with our "dreams." Certainly some of the music may seem dated, but the over-all effect is still charming. I did catch the Encore's production, some years ago, in New York and fell in love with the show all over again. I waited for the album, it didn't come. Then this excellent British production came along and with its original orchestrations. I think it's great! The cast is excellent and the whole album is fresh and funny. "Lady in the Dark" is one our first great modern musicals.

This is the best representation of this fabulous score that I've ever heard (and I've also heard the 1963 studio cast with Rise Stevens and old 1941 recordings with Gertrude Lawerence and Danny Kaye). Maria Friedman is a wonderful Liza Elliot, and her performance of "The Saga of Jenny" is the best bravura performance of this song out of the above-mentioned recordings AND off of the 1972 OCR of the off-Broadway revue BERLIN TO BROADWAY WITH KURT WEILL. I am so glad that the booklet contained the lyrics, and some stellar liner notes and photographs of the production. Finally, complete recordings of "The Princess of Pure Delight," "One Life to Live," "Girl of the Moment," and "This is New." And there is also the beautiful, haunting, and peaceful rendition of the beautiful, haunting, and peaceful "My Ship." This show really does deserve new life (as does just about everything else by Kurt Weill), and maybe if theatre artistic directors hear this recording, they will realize that there were more musicals written in the 1940's than just OKLAHOMA! and CAROUSEL. May Kurt Weill's msuci have a long life in recordings such as this one. (And if you like Friedman on this, check her out in recordings of PASSION, CABARET, and A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC.)

Background: The score to Lady in the Dark is a sophisticated and clever one. The music is complex and holds up well over repeated listenings. This show was Sigmund Freud's debut in a Broadway musical. The lady in question is in the dark about all the indecisiveness in her life, and resorts to psychoanalysis in desperation to solve her problems. The musical numbers are primarily long and elaborate dream sequences that reveal her inner turmoil, and are a perfect counterpoint to her otherwise tight, businesslike personality.

This recording has sumptuous orchestrations, and contains more of the ancillary music than most others of this all-too-rarely performed musical. In fact, this is probably the most complete recording you're likely to find of the show. However, where it falls down completely is in the casting, and interpretation by the characters - primarily, Maria Friedman as the main protagonist, Liza Elliot.

Despite all the wonderful music, one has the uncomfortable sense that you're listening to a high school performance. Not because of the quality of the voices, but because of the simplistic emotional interpretation that comes across in the witty lyrics.

In terms of voice quality, while Friedman has some lovely songs, her voice has a strident sound to it at times that is downright annoying. And there are passages where she seems to be hitting words just a little too hard in her pronunciation, possibly trying to sound more American, but comes off sounding just exaggerated and inappropriate to the character.

While there are others who have reviewed this CD, and suggested that if you want the most complete recording, this is it, I'd say that if you were going to buy only one version, even despite the inferior sound quality, your best bet is the Ann Sothern version.

That CD, recorded from a 1950s Television production, is not only the best ACTED production available, but it comes with virtually all the available original 1940s cast recordings (Gertrude Lawrence and Danny Kaye) as bonus tracks.

For all the great music, and excellent sound quality of this Royal National Theatre production, on balance, the acting/singing interpretations pull it down far enough to outweigh the benefits.

This CD is so much a part of me. It is the only cd i have that can put me into the calmest, most wonderful state while listening to the beautiful music score by Kurt Weill. I very, very much love this cd and all the marvelous performers on it. Maria Friedman's voice snatches, and hurls you into the vast, and frightening world of Liza Elliot's haunting dreams. The wonderful orchestrations fill your room (or earphones!) with a solid and beautiful melody that can set your mind at ease, and mood to emptiness: To take in all of the beauty, glamour, and "inability to make up one's mind" into one fantastic musical.

What a fabulous score! My only reason for my purchase was the hugely talented Maria Friedman, who stars here as psychoanalysed leading-lady Liza Elliott. Music is by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ira Gershwin.

The ensemble play a large role in the story-telling, where as the leading-lady only gets a few solo songs. This doesn't greatly matter!

All of the music has been written around 4 of Liza's dreams: Glamour Dream, Wedding Dream, Circus Dream and Childhood Dream. I have fell in love with much of the music (all of the music in the Glamour Dream) - although some of the latter dreams may seam somewhat monotonous.

The music dates back to 1940. There are some brilliantly tuneful motifs here, which you feel you have to hear over and over!

The vocals are in the region of Classical Music Theatre, rather than popular styles. Therefore, it is absolutely suited for the National Theatre, from where this recording originates.
All the original orchestrations, by Kurt Weill, are used here, which are absolutely lovely. Therefore, there are considerable differences compared to the NT's live production, where they re-orchestrated using a much smaller orchestra. Also, although all the NT's performers are recorded, the score is in its original key. I believe that Maria Friedman needed the score transposed down for the show, although I strongly believe that she sounds fantastic in her higher register.

I thought I wouldn't enjoy this style of theatre, from the Gershwin days, but I have been truly and excitedly thrilled by this fantastic show. I can't get enough of the Glamour Dream!

Tip: I would firstly listen to the C.D. whilst reading the enclosed synopsis/lyrics! You get a better idea of meaning!

Although none were awarded, Lady in the Dark received a few Olivier nominations, including best new musical, and Maria Friedman as best actress.

Lady in the Dark has been finally given a recording of its full score on this CD from JAY and starring Maria Friedman and members of the 1997 London cast. It was well worth waiting for. All three of the dream sequences are here in their complete form (with a few additions of spoken lines to help clarify them). I have the script for the show and it is fascinating to read it and follow along. It is a tightly written show. Back to the review. Maria Friedman does an admirable job as Liza Elliot, even if her British accent sneaks in here and there. The big showpiece "The Saga of Jenny" is given a tour-de-force performance by her with her showing her vocal range by hitting the high C at the end. The rest of cast really gets into the spirit of the piece, too, and show strong performances. My only problem with the score is the song "Tchaikovsky", which was written for Danny Kaye and could be sung by him in 30 seconds. Of course, it does not go that fast here and just slows down the action. It could easily be cut from the production. The CD engineering is excellent with clear separation and balance between singers and orchestra. The CD is track divisions are generous. The accompanying booklet is great and gives a history of the show and a description of the London production. This is a CD I proudly own and you won't regret buying it.