Customer Reviews

Saturday Night (2000 Off-Broadway Revival Cast)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This New York revival cast recording of Stephen Sondheim's first show as composer and lyricist is a must-own for any Sondheim fan. Even if you own the 1998 London cast recording of Saturday Night, you will want to purchase this recording for several reasons. First, this recording is more complete. It includes such songs as "Montana Chem.," which clearly gives hints and previews to quintessential Sondheim "dialogue songs" to come in later shows such as Company. Second, the orchestrations are far superior, including many more strings and four trumpets. Third, unlike the London cast, this recording does not torture the Brooklyn accents (and the fake Southern accent in "Isn't It.") Fourth, the cast is sensational, especially Australian David Campbell as Gene. Saturday Night is a sweet musical and this recording will have you singing along. The enclosed book includes the complete libretto, a history of the show, and poses the intriguing question of where Sondheim's career may have gone had Saturday Night actually been produced in 1954 and particularly whether the show might have been successful or not. With this recording and Kathleen Marshall's off-Broadway production, it is hard to imagine in retrospect that the show could have failed. This recording certainly does not.

Sondheim referred to watching the recent production of "Saturday Night" as analagous to seeing his baby pictures... nowhere in this sweet, simple little musical is there a trace of the man who for the next four decades would turn the musical theater world on its head with its most ambitious material.

The craft is there already, though... the wordplay, the structure, the wonderful melodies can be seen even in this 45-year old material. And it's not just an intellectual exercise, either: "Saturday Night" is a charming show in its own right, and it's hard to believe that it took this long to stage. The story, centering on a group of young men trying to a) get a date, and b) strike it rich, is charming, and the snippets of dialog introducing the songs sound great.

The songs themselves include "What More Do I Need"? (The ultimate New York City valentine), "So Many People" (perhaps Sondheim's best pure ballad), "That Kind of a Neighborhood" (how many odes to Brooklyn have YOU heard recently, let alone one which can find a rhyme for "delinquents"?), and "Montana Chem," which could have been a Loesser song out of "How to Succeed." Speaking of "Montana Chem", it's one of four new songs on this recording which were not on the previous Bridewell company cast recording. This recording also features Jonathan Tunick's brilliant (as always) orchestrations, an overture, and a reprise or two not previously recorded.

The sound is a bit less "edgy" than that of the Bridewell recording, and most of the Brooklyn accents have been softened here (with one notable grating exception: in "In The Movies," Valentino is mentioned as 'wearing a poiple toiban')...

Lauren Ward and David Campbell are more than capable as the leads in this sweet engaging romantic comedy. A separate booklet of liner notes, complete with eye-catching black-and-white production photos, complete lyrics and a well-written plot summary, round out a great overall package. If you haven't gotten the Bridewell cast recording, skip that one and go right to this one. If you have the Bridewell cast, you still need this one. No musical theater buff should be without this one.

At last, the full score with that long-lost "dinosaur" of musical preludes- an OVERTURE! This American original NY cast does beautifully by Sondheim's very first score originally written in the mid-1950's yet tragically unproduced due to the sudden loss of its producer. It just might have been a little ahead of its time in musical construction and sophistication, but it would have been a kick to see how its cleverness would have fared with some of its peer musical scores of the day that were considerably less witty and smart. Although the British cast did a valiant job with the New York American dialect, this recording has the accent down pat, which is so integral to the score, story, and timeline. One would think that such a mundane topic as a bunch of guys struggling to get a date and ultimately enter the sophisticated realm of cafe society in a time and place where social status mattered deeply (and once again does, as much, if not more) would not be the stuff that intense, comically dramatic musicals are made of, but Stephen Sondheim, with this score, showed for the first time, that plunging into the depths of the yearning human psyche with highly intelligent and apt wit, could turn a simple story into one of great insight. This just wasn't a common event in musical theater of the 1950's, (or 1960's) for that matter. Plunging the depths of human emotion, yes, but the complications of the mind, not so much. So it is a pleasure to have this definitve "early" Sondheim musical on disc, at last. But not just because it's his long-lost first show, but because even in his youthful first go at a musical, Mr. Sondheim was not in such an "early stage" at writing the kind of score he has so many years later become famous for. Saturday Night is not "early Sondheim," it is SONDHEIM "written early!" "What can you do on a 'Saturday Night,' alone, alone?" Listen to this recording and learn the answer!

Any Sondheim fan will most likely be surprised by the pure delight in this recording. After listening to this, it is hard to believe that this is the man who would revolutionize Broadway with Company, Assasins, and Sweeney Todd, amongst others. A very old-fashioned score with catchy music and some of his most clever lyrics (You can start with a bagel/ and end up with Conrad Nagel) are accompanied by a conventional and old-fashioned plot. People hoping to delve deep into the characters and plot may be dissapointed, as the songs aren't quite as emotional as some of his other works (Epiphany, The Ladies Lunch, Rose's Turn), but if you are either a Sondheim fanatic or just enjoy light, old-fashioned Broadway, you will want this score. Charming and almost on the brink of innocent, it shows the enchantment of early Broadway

Saturday Night Was Stephen Sondheim's first musical. It was scheduled to be produced in late 1955 or early 1956 when the composer was twenty-five years old. When the intended producer died the production was cancelled. Recently it has been done in London and Chicago. The present recording is by the original cast of off-Broadway production which ran early this year. The title song, which opens the show, is lively and tuneful, an important consideration since it is vital for a musical to get off to a good start and set an appropriate mood. This music recurs frequently throughout and is a unifying device. What More Do I Need? is well on the way to becoming a standard because of Dawn Upshaw's outstanding version in I Wish It So. So Many People is a fine ballad and could also have real staying power. The book is very light compared to Sondheim's later work, but it works. Saturday Night is a young man's musical about young people in 1929 New York. Appropriately it has a young cast which is very accomplished. The music is hummable and the lyrics, while not as sophisticated as Sondheim was later to write, are still quite good. Since it is more complete than the recording of the London cast, the New York version is to be preferred. Anyone interested in the development of Sondheim's great career will want this record. At the time he wrote Saturday Night, he was only a little younger than composers such as Jason Robert Brown, Michael John LaChiusa, and Adam Guettel, all of whom are touted as leading lights of the "post-Sondheim" musical theater. With the possible exception of Brown's Parade, there is not much sign of promise on the level that Sondheim displayed in his mid-twenties. He has built some high hurdles for these young men to clear.

Stephen Sondheim's first score took 40 years to receive a full staging, and it is ironic beyond words that a New York native's first show, set in Brooklyn, should receive its premiere performance and recording in England, of all places.

To rectify, at least in part, this deplorable situation, comes this recording from the New York premiere of Saturday Night, with fresh new orchestrations by master Sondheimite Jonathan Tunick, three new songs (plus an instrumental section), an overture, liner notes including great production photos, a plot summary (a MAJOR failing of the previous recording) and full lyrics, and a cast featuring Australian heartthrob David Campbell, and the lovely Lauren Ward.

The recording has less of an "edge" than its British counterpart, with a fuller orchestra (an entire string section was added for the recording), less grating accents (with the exception of Andrea Burns's "poiple toiban" in "In the Movies"), better musicality, and tighter harmonies. A few extra well-placed bits of dialog assist the listener in following the relatively simple plot of romance in 1929 Brooklyn.

The songs show Sondheim as a direct link to the Broadway which preceded him ("Montana Chem" could have been written by Frank Loesser), even as tantalizing hints of his interest in unconventional wordplay and musical structure are occasionally shown.

Sondheim referred to this score as his "baby pictures," and, like all baby pictures, are best appreciated by those who know and appreciate what the baby has grown up into. Sondheim fans will want both this recording and the Bridewell cast, while musical theater fans will do well to get this recording to familiarize themselves with a lovely treasure of a score.

This recording is an absolute gem and a must have for Broadway fans. David Campbell and Laura Ward sound so sweet together and both have clear, ringing voices that are perfect for this bright, jazzy score. The ensemble is fantastic and have a wonderful chemistry. Aside from it's merits independently it's a fascinating look at the early years of Sondheim and hints of the direction that his music would take in shows like Company can be heard throughout the score. It is definitely one worth having, even if just for the glimpse into Sondheim's musical development.

Any musical comedy afficionado must get this cd now! As though no one knows, this was Sondheim's first musical meant for Broadway in 1954. Backing fell through and it remained a memory in Mr Sondheim's mind until it was given its premiere in London last year.This off Broadway cast is better than London.It has a very talented cast that show off Sondheim's wonderful score. I'm sure in 1954 the score was ahead of its time.This cd is attractively packaged with full lyrics and photos. I hope more theatres in the country perform this gem.

Good cast, enjoyable score and rare chance to consider what might have happend if SATURDAY NIGHT had managed to open on Broadway in 1954. My guess is that it would not have been a huge hit but would have spun off one of those excellent Columbia Records original cast albums that musical comedy buffs cherish. "So Many People" would have become a hit record for Rosemary Clooney; and the cast would have performed "One Wonderful Day" on The Ed Sullivan Show. And it would have taken a lot longer for Stephen Sondheim to develop his own musical voice.

This is the version of SATURDAY NIGHT to get. The London cast recording is to be avoided.

This early Sondheim effort is a real surprise, in more ways than one. First of all, it's not the bland, nondescript show that he and other musical officianados have maintained it was all these years. It really is a simple pleasure. The second surprise is HOW much of a pleasure this musical is. I simply didn't expect to be listening to this score again and again. I certainly haven't listened to the last few Sondheim scores again and again. Once and then into the dustbin is more like it ("Passion" -- ugh!). This little musical is actually QUITE musical, with one memorable song after another spinning out of the speakers at you. Of course, it must be stated that the actors play a huge part in how entertaining this CD is. The enthusiasm and panache these young performers display really makes you feel for the characters, even distinguishing one from the other in several of the patter-type songs Sondheim is noted for. "Saturday Night" brings to mind simpler, easier times, when being young and exuberant was everything, and the world was waiting like one big adventure. Sondheim's own youthful exuberance comes across in this musical as in no other he's ever written. The sardonic cynicism perveying most of his later work is nowhere to be found here, which makes this show unique in his canon. One wonders what happened along the way to make him lose the ability for the kind of joy found in the songs here. Sad. But don't let that deter you. This is not just a cast recording for Sondheim completists. Anyone who enjoys traditional, muscular "show" tunes, should give "Saturday Night" a try. You'll enjoy it the rest of the week.