Customer Reviews

Louisiana Purchase - The Musical Comedy Smash Hit: 1996 Original New York Cast Recording

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

 

 

Great performances, snappy tunes and clever lyrics make this one of the best recordings of a show to come along in many a moon. Not for the A. Lloyd-Webber crowd. This is a toe-tapper in the tradition of great American musicals.

What a find! I had no idea, when I purchased this disc, that I held in my hands one of the rare gems of the American Musical Comedy. It's one of Berlin's best scores, right up there with "Annie Get Your Gun" and "Call Me Madam", and features such great tunes as "You're Lonely and I'm Lonely" "You Can't Brush Me Off", and "I'd Love to be Shot From a Cannon with You". And the performances, led by Debbie Shapiro Gravitte, are first-rate.

All in all, this recording is highly recommended. If you thought you knew Irving Berlin, check this out. You're in for a delight!

Louisiana Purchase, which is often omitted from Berlin biographies, turns out to be a most pleasant surprise. With a musical score by Irving Berlin, Louisian Purchase provides theater-goers with delightful music. It is bouncy, often in the style of swing. There are some solid ballads with a haunting quality about them---"It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow", "Fools Fall in Love". A duo of Latin-like numbers prove to be top drawer songs as well, namely, "Wild About You" and "Latins Know How". Another fine melody shines through in "You're Lonely and I'm Lonely". "It'll Come to You" is another delightful number. This musical score ranks among the best ever by Berlin though the story line is a bit silly. However with the recent success of musical farces like "The Producers" and "Hairspray", Louisiana Purchase might just start reappearing on the American musical scene. After all it does have a lively score by the master himself. The recording has some interesting musical arrangements. Michael McGrath and Debbie Gravitte give winning renditions of the Berlin songs. Three songs cut from the show in l940 are included on the CD. They are "I'd Love to Be Shot from a Cannon with You", the aforementioned "It'll Come to You", and "Wild Bout You". Afficionados of musical comedy should enjoy this lost musical gem.

Once again has a classic musical been professionally recreated after years of negliance. Berlin's score bubbles with his usual marvelous twists and the artists seem to enjoy themselves. Great listening all the way.

This is a sparkling and swinging recording of Berlin's long forgotten but very hot musical "Louisiana Purchase". Pure pleasure with plenty of songs that you will want to listen to again and again. Loved it.

and I have to agree that it's a marvelous surprise. Wow! As one of the other reviewers noted, this one ranks right up there w/ Annie Get Your Gun and Call Me Madame among Berlin's shows. Definitely better than Miss Liberty, which was no slouch of a score either. Here you have a man who had been writing songs and shows for almost thirty years by the time he did this (1940), and yet the score was right up to moment for that year. Swing, Latin, Ballads - it all sounds exactly like you'd want 1940 music to sound. My taste generally runs more towards Cole Porter and Rodgers and Hart. I've never fully appreciated what a master Berlin was, but this one has me sold. It makes you understand why Porter always professed to admire Berlin so much. Since I got this CD last night, I haven't stopped listening to it. In fact, I'm listening as I write.

You'll know what I mean if you get this recording yourself. There's not a single clinker here - even the songs that were cut from the original production and restored for these performances are superb. All of the numbers are tuneful, charming, and bright, and most are very lively, to boot. You may have heard It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow and (if you're lucky) What Chance Have I With Love before. They're great. I've also heard the title song, also great, in the movie version. Unfortunately, for some unfathomable reason the movie version used almost none of the sparkling score, so I didn't hear the rest of it there.

Among the songs, Latins Know How is a luscious and lush rhumba. Wild About You is another good latin-influenced song. Louisiana Purchase and You Can't Brush Me Off are great swing numbers - you want to get up and dance. Outside of That I Love You is a breezy love/hate comic turn, reminiscent of Rodger's and Hart's I Wish I Were In Love Again. It'll Come to You is a swingy ballad, and just dandy. The Lord Done Fixed Up My Soul is a stirring revival number. The real stand out song for me, though, is the ballad, Fools Fall In Love. The liner notes call it "exquisite," and I can't think of a better word. I can't believe that this isn't a standard. If this were the only good song on the CD, it would still be worth having.

The cast is uniformly excellent, from the always incredible Debbie Gravitte to the very veteran George S. Irving. Michael McGrath and Judy Blazer are wonderful as the romantic leads. The New York Voices, recreating the tight harmony sound of the original Martins, give out with a real 1940's sound. All in all the singers are fully worthy of the material, and are clearly having a ball with it.

It's true, not every lost show is an undiscovered gem. This one sure is, though. I'm glad I finally took the chance and got this CD. I'll be listening to this for years. Take a chance and you will be, too.

This CD is well orchestrated, played and sung. Unlike many undiscovered revivals, this one truly did not deserve its fate and is pure fun from start to end. If you're a Berlin, Porter, Gershwin or Kern fan, it's a must have.

With such outstanding songs as "It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow", "You're Lonely and I'm Lonely", "You Can't Brush Me Off", "The Lord Done Fixed Up My Soul", and the title song, Irving Belin's LOUISIANA PURCHASE is a must-have for musical theatre enthusiasts. It's a shame that this little-known gem of a musical has been virtually ignored for so many years. The book is on the weak side, but Berlin's score is wonderful. Don't let this excellent recording pass you by!

When I saw the title, LOUISIANA PURCHASE, I thought this was to be an historical musical. It turns out that it is a standard Broadway musical comedy. Much of the music is likable, except for the relentless title song which is done three times and is basically boring. The stand out 11:00 number is "You Can't Brush Me Off", a tune that I can't get out of my head. The performances are excellent, as is the orchestra. I would recommend getting this unknown musical.It is good, though not great.