|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Masterpiece,
By
This review is from: Show Boat (1946 Broadway Revival Cast) (Audio CD)
In terms of age, this 1946 revival cast album is as close as we can get to having an Original Cast Album of Show Boat. Although this revival was staged nearly 20 years after the 1927 original, this is the first "complete" cast recording. This was not the first revival of Show Boat, but the second. The first revival was staged in 1932. This album was originally recorded by Columbia Records on February 11-14, 1946. While the sound quality on this album (mono, of course) is beginning to show its age, it is no less captivating and moving than it would have been 56 years ago. For the most part, sound is crisp and clear and superb throughout. Most of the cast is not well known today-only Jan Clayton stands out-and this album is by no means complete, but I cannot understand why it is so under appreciated and forgotten as Show Boat albums go. As the booklet states, one scene and 3 minor songs were cut from this revival. "Where's the Mate for Me?" "I Might Fall Back On You" and "After the Ball" do not appear on this album. On the plus side, "Ol Man River" and "Why Do I Love You" are presented here more closely in tempo to their original 1927 counterparts. Both are sung in their longer, original versions here as well. The Overture here is not the original 1927 one (see the 1988 studio cast album for that), but the one here is very majestic and good. This one was also used for the 1962 Studio Cast Album (also on Columbia, with John Raitt/Barbara Cook/William Warfield). Hats off to the cast as well. Charles Fredericks is right on the money as Gaylord Ravenal, right up there with Howard Keel from the film, although I prefer Keel's singing. Frederick's strong tenor is excellent. Jan Clayton is also dynamite as Magnolia, fresh from starring alongside John Raitt in the original B'way production of Carousel. Kenneth Spencer, as Joe, is no William Warfield but he is just as good. Carol Bruce makes a wonderful Julie and is much more pleasant to listen to than what is had on the 1962 Columbia Studio Cast album. Bill, as heard here, has never sounded better. It is difficult, though, to compare her to Ava Gardner (who was dubbed for the film). Playing time is 40:36, which is kind of generous for ten tracks and is about normal as Cast Albums of the mid-Forties go. I highly recommend this cast album, at the very least for its historical significance as being the earliest cast album of Show Boat released. IMHO, this recording of Show Boat, along with the OBC of Brigadoon, Oklahoma, and Carousel have that irresistable sound of an early Broadway cast recording (however poor the sound quality may be, most notably on Brigadoon).
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
"Joseph Toner, Broadway Legend" and PAUL ROBESON forced together in the SHAME of HAMMERSTEIN's REVIVAL,
By Shewolff77 (North Carolina) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Show Boat (1946 Broadway Revival Cast) (Audio CD)
Paul Robeson put out his OWN copy of this revival on a different label in 2002. It is listed at the end. Robeson can be seen on the cover of this Show Boat, and there is no Charles Fredericks to be found. That is because the real singer, Joseph Toner, was Ravenal.1932 recordings of RAVENAL and "Old Man River", under different names are all JOSEPH TONER! How did this happen? It is complicated.According to Mr. Robeson, he was able to perform in Othello in 1943 to rave reviews. He also sang a piece by JOHN LATOUCHE about FREEDOM in AMERICA, and was outspoken in his opinions as to how persons of color were then being treated in the US. The NY TIMES reports that the National theatre was not just segregated, it DENIED access to "NEGROS". JOSEPH TONER sang Blossom Time in it's 25th ANNIVERSARY TOUR while a "PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATION" was in progress.(NYTimes, JAN 23, 1947). "Truman Atttended Show, Pass Demonstrators". This went to the SUPREME COURT. It was IGNORED when the COURT ordered OUR NATIONAL THEATRE to desegregate. Who enforces Supreme Court Decisions? The booklet in this Show Boat is deceptive. It describes some scenes being cut out. I obtained MANY copies of the LIFE MAGAZINE in January 28 1946. What is on the cover? Jan Clayton. The supposed Charles Fredericks? His original photos were taken LONG AGO. What a shock it must have been to Hammerstein! Fredericks cannot fit in his suit any more! He gained, I would guess, 75 lbs! By the time he made his first film, he was doing bit parts, at least in his mid 50's, and a good 100 lbs heavier that these shots! This guy was some sort of model. I have photos of him on other records documented now to have been done in the 30's when he was supposidly in California and too young to sing! It is totally possible that he was ALWAYS in california. One photograph is being examined now and the preliminary results indicate that the full stage with him in the far backround appears to have been painted. These were taken by a pro long before the show ever opened. Who knows where the pictures from Life came from, not the pro! The shot on the album cover? No Charles Fredericks at all. That is Buddy Ebsen. And where is the backround? Gone? I don't know who stood there, but that voice is not from that man. A stand in who pretended to sing. His voice is way too high to be that of a leading man. Go rent a movie! Tarzan's hidden jungle is a good one! (He's NOT Tarzan). That's not all. This is NOT just the 1946 Show Boat. Did anyone ever wonder why they had 16 showings in ONE day in 1948 for a revival? I do and have the recordings. The 1946 original recording is basically junk, with a few good studio recordings in it, and some pretty uncomplimentary words for the African Americans in the show. I have 3 copies. It is in a simple brown cover, not meant for distribution. IT IS Columbia Special Products ML 4058. So they had to do more recording. Thus the 1948 revival was a long recording session. Does anyone know what it takes to MAKE a revival of Show Boat? NOBODY does it for a DAY! This was not a revival. In 1948 the UK came up with new recording techniques. BUT they kept the album, FOR 50 YEARS. I HAVE A COPY OF ONE OF THE PARTS OF THE SHOW, ORIGINAL FROM ENGLAND. THAT is where MM-611 comes from, 1948, ENGLAND. In between they published Columbia Special Products OL 4058, but not in the US, and no photos. No nod to P. G. Woodhouse either, Hammerstein's lifelong promise. As I understand it, when you get a copy MADE IN ENGLAND, and I did, the copyright is over in 50 years. PERIOD. Why did ENGLAND hold out? well, I suppose it did because the US would not give Robeson a passport out of the US until the late 50's. But he is on the cover of this album, and ignor the photo of the supposed Kenneth Spencer.Robeson gave in and became an exclusive singer for Columbia Records. This is why they created the fake album saying and creating the lie and myth that he ever sang on the AMERICAN STAGE in SHOW BOAT ever before this. I don't know how Columbia gets away with it now saying that this is "KENNETH SPENCER" or that the lead is that man Fredericks. I would like to say this is the worst of it. It is NOT. Hammerstein II, and Romberg were working together at this point in time with the Shuberts. They were developing a man then named Wilbur EVANS. His true name is ENZIO PINZA. Later they found someone to take over the name, but I have the ENGLISH album of WILBUR EVANS testing Some Enchanted Evening. He sang the album of the RED MILL, and had just done the NEW MOON, and MERRY Widow, and Bobby Clark's Mexican Hayride (very discriminatory towards Mexicans who were starting to be targeted). Who actually sang the albums available at the time of Show Boat, Oklahoma, South Pacific (The last so famed it caused the changeover to 33 record players!), and the King and I? Ah, a new pseudonym for Joseph Toner, RICHARD TORIGI. In 1950 the Shuberts realized that Pinza was no where near Joseph Toner and tried to get him back. Negotiations failed. He wanted his own name. But a series of photos were taken, still never shown. "John Charles Thomas" was a dead ringer for Joseph Toner, you would be shocked. It was John Charles Thomas, IE JOSEPH TONER, in 1932 who sang OLD MAN RIVER, making it famous on THIS side of the Atlantic! The 1945 Red Mill? In the NY Times suddenly it comes out that just as THIS SHOW BOAT was to start, they are going to Revive THE RED MILL for the first time since 1906. Why did they never before? The Sets are outrageous.Plus the RED MILL Is to run for only 2 months! Why build all the SHOW BOAT sets and then tear them down for TWO MONTHS? For that matter, how does one get them back up in a week? Pro's tell me it is not possible. And it did not go to the National Theatre until much much later. So where did they take the photo's and did they really hold the RED MILL revival at all? No cast album, just the opportunity for "Wilbur Evans" who by the by, sang Romberg's UP IN CENTRAL PARK, and starred in it too! The Fred Stone from at least the time of "Smiling Faces" was the same man as the guy who became the "final" Stone. Photos were reprinted, Joseph Toner was re-blackmailed. What was called Shubert Alley demanded Joseph Toner sign off on the final Fred Stone and family and I have the signiture. Pros say it is forced, dysgraphic, and not normal, but a match for Joseph Toner's hand.I also have a secret about the original Fred Stone that no database knows. And the posters to prove it. This is in the same theatre as THIS SHOW BOAT, that just said, SURE, we've been working for over a year on this, we'll break it all down for a couple of months for your show! NO PROBLEMA! And the sets for the Red Mill are huge, so where did they suddenly come from? People are this ignorant? I do not know where those sets were built or photos taken, but there is NO chance they took down Show Boat for a two month fling! It gets worse. LAVERNE FRENCH was a brilliant dancer, a jazz dancer. She had won awards and scholarships and so on. From the pro photos I think she probably took steroids. But like many very lean female dancers, she was, well, flat chested? Much like the gymnysts? A photographer from the 40's probably would not know. For some reasson, it is impossible to get information on "Spring in Brazil". Laverne French played in this but was taken out to dance for Hammerstein in THIS SHOW BOAT. TOPLESS-like an "African savage" to use Rhomberg's words at the time. At first she was dancing alone in what I can only describe as the most prejudicial shocking bigoted scene imaginable. I presume it was the begining of building the sets in 1944-45. Her breasts were so obvious. So Hammerstein II got her to dance in a troupe of "a new style dance, not in the original production", "executed by a troupe of 36 Negros in the Chicago World's Fair scene." In 1948 she is the Dahomey Queen. Then they let her wear a top. Ziegfeld would roll over in his grave. This "Disc" and I care not if Joseph Toner's voice is on it, is fully covered in LIFE MAGAZINE JAN.28, 1946. Somehow Hammerstein got his star on the cover of an issue which, inside, openly depicts HIS personal abuses of persons of color, in SHOW BOAT, this SHOW BOAT-- that is supposed to teach us tolerance! Somehow this "performance" TRUMPED, the HOLOCAUST, TROOPS RETURNING HOME, THE CATHOLIC CHURCH BEGGING world leaders to stop RUSSIA from taking over Poland, the explicit description of the exclusion of Catholics, people of color, etc., from any voice in society,and that is just the start! This disc is a sham and NO ONE SHOULD BUY IT EVER. It is the shame of our history of the 50's immortalized. By today's standards it is INVOLUNTARY SERVITUDE, and possibly HUMAN TRAFFICKING. By law it may be illegal to sell. Recall what SHOW BOAT was all about, civil rights: equality, tolerance, the trouble that came from a two class society, alcoholism, gambling addiction, abandonment, the terrible plight of people of color and prejudice--I cannot give, even JOSEPH TONER AND PAUL ROBESON SINGING SIDE BY SIDE, more than one star for a product that continues what Ziegfeld was trying to END. How do I know this? Robeson has put out his own products that tell the whole story, and definitavely document that he was not in the 1932 Show Boat. I think Amazon carries both of them! One is the EMI Sessions, and one is the Prism collection of Show Boat. That includes both this, and the 1928 Show Boat(sounds great too), but the proceeds go to some of the right people! The products by Robeson are these: Showboat; Broadway Musical Series and The Complete EMI Sessions, 1928-1939 [Box Set] I await the Shubert... Read more ›
8 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A good but not essential SHOW BOAT,
By
This review is from: Show Boat (1946 Broadway Revival Cast) (Audio CD)
An original cast recording of the 1940s version of SHOW BOAT. Originally on 78 RPMS the sound is somehwat dated. The cast is adequate but the recording fails to generate much genuine excitement.Better recordings: Sony's 1964 studio cast with John Raitt & Barbara Cook; the 1993 Toronto cast starring Rebecca Luker; and EMI's complete 3 CD set that recreates the original 1927 version.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
|
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
