Customer Reviews

Song & Dance: The Songs - Original Broadway Cast Recording

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

SONG AND DANCE earned Bernadette Peters the first of two Tony Awards. The musical SONG AND DANCE is actually two different programs - 'Tell Me on a Sunday' and the dance piece 'Variations'. 'Tell Me on a Sunday' is the story of an English hat designer Emma who follows her American boyfriend back to the states, only to discover heartache and unhappiness. 'Tell Me on a Sunday' was originally an album of songs performed by Marti Webb, later expanded into the stage show SONG AND DANCE in the double-bill with 'Variations'.

Bernadette Peters perfectly inhabits the character of Emma, and while her English accent occasionally falters, she conveys the rollercoaster of Emma's emotions beautifully. Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Don Black's incisive and entertaining score includes numbers that have become standards like "Take That Look Off Your Face", "Unexpected Song" and "Tell Me on a Sunday".

Even more beautiful is the haunting "Nothing Like You've Ever Known". There are also great character pieces like "Capped Teeth and Caesar Salad", "English Girls" and the "Letter" songs.

As several other reviewers have noted, sound quality is dreadfully muffled, but this is overshadowed by the tour-de-force performance of the amazing Miss Bernadette Peters.

I have never reviewed any item that I gave less than four stars, so this is a first for me. That said, I bought this CD because "Tell Me On A Sunday" is one of my all-time favorite songs, and I looked very forward to hearing Bernadette Peters' version of it. What a disappointment! No criticism against Ms. Peters -- I couldn't tell if I liked her version or not. The sound quality on this recording is the worst I have ever encountered. This CD is for me, completely unlistenable.

I've read many reviews complaining of the sound quality of this recording. Am I missing something? I think the recording is excellent. You can hear every word that comes out of Bernadette's mouth. Now, onto the show itself. It's brilliant. It's an acting and singing tour 'de force. One can either choose to listen to the entire recording from beginning to end, and get a great story set to exceptional music. This is where one can enrapture one's self in her Tony winning performance. If you aren't interested in the story, you can enjoy this for the many showtune standards sung with extreme passion by Miss. Peters, including "Take that Look Off Your Face," "Tell Me On A Sunday," and "Unexpected Song." If you've read this review, don't hesitate to get this ultimate recording of the show, before it's out-of-print.

Ms. Peters has never been in better voice. Evokes all the right nuances and emotion, from giddy to heartbreaking. The problem is that every high breaks, every low muffled. A sublime performence is undermined by lousy recording and worse transfer. It sounded pretty bad on vinyl, I had hoped the CD mastering would be a correction. I was wrong, and the music was wronged.

The music of Song & Dance is warming to me. Particularly that lovely overture...gah. Bernadette Peters is in beautiful voice through and through even with that ridiculous accent. I sat at the computer and listened to this whole recording without any breaks and felt the tears coming by the end. Bernadette has that raw talent to make you feel what she feels. The way her voice breaks in all the right places. She is more than a singer, more that an actress...she's just more.

I'm not a huge fan of Andrew Lloyd Webber. I feel he's too repetitive and recycles melodies often. I can even hear bits and pieces of Phantom of the Opera in some of these songs. However, this score is a joy and a delight to listen to. The lyrics aren't anything to write home about, leave The Master (Sondheim) to that. One other complaint: the sound is crap. It's all muffled when she hits those beautiful high notes, and in some places the volume shifts up and down.

After listening to this recording, I feel like I just watched the show live. I could picture every movement in my head. I really wish I had seen her in this role. Damn it.

I must agree with the comment that no one knows how to do Bernadette justice on disc. Her unique vocal quality really loses something during the recording process, and this album is no exception. Bernadette has definitley sounded better (check out Into the Woods and Sunday in the Park...), but that characteristic emotional delivery that won her a Tony for this performance is undeniable here. The songs are a whole lot of fun to listen to and sing along with...any Bernadette and/or Lloyd Webber fan will be well pleased with this recording.

I love Bernadette--but she always breaks the microphone. She's MUCH BETTER live. When will someone learn to record her properly? The Marti Webb version of this show is rougher, but much better. Still, Bernadette's "Married Man" breaks my heart. The Sarah Brightman version was probably the most in character, as she's such a princess--but her nasil-y singing drives me up the chalkboard.

This cd was my first exposure to the talent of one of my favorite performers/vocalists Bernadette Peters. I would've love to see this show performed by her, just listening to the cd gives me chills everytime she sings "Unexpected Song" and she rips my heart out with the "Finale" everytime! The power and intensity in her voice is never matched by anyone...I tried to listen to the Sarah Brightman version of this show and it just fell flat because that woman is about as emotive as a piece of ply-wood (beautiful voice, no acting quality)...Bernadette breaths life into each song and won a well-deserved TONY award for this!

This performance is so well done, and it's only Bernadette Peters who sheds all the chilling emotions into it. Neither Sarah Brightman ("Tell Me on a Sunday" TV version, London) nor Marti Webb (London Original Cast) can come close to this performance. It's Bernadette that Cameron Macintosh and Andrew Lloyd Webber always ask when they do their spectacular musical revues (check out "Cam's Hey Mr. Producer," and "Andrew Lloyd-Webber's "Celebration Live at the Royal Albert Hall"...it's Bernadette Peters they always ask to do "Unexpected Song," which is perhaps one of Andrew's best compositions ever. I personally prefer "Tell Me on a Sunday," and only as performed by Bernadette. This album was out-of-print toward the latter 80's and early 90's, and I almost got a heart attack when I saw it re-released by the mid-90's. Thank God! It's an album of Bernadette you just can't live without. Just superb!

I only have one beef with the CD, and that's the sound quality. ITs not that obvious except in 1 or 2 songs. Should that keep you from buying the cd? Absolutely not! I don't think she performs the best on Tell me on a sunday, I'd say listen to Sarah Brightman's version for that. But the rest will have you smiling, laughing, and give you so much enjoyment that you'll forget about life's stresses.She definitely keeps things original, although the sound quality could be better the quality of the music itself is beautiful so I can't even imagine giving this soundtrack less than a 5!