Thomas And The King (1981 London Cast Members) [Cast Recording]

John Williams (Composer), Ian MacPherson (Conductor), Richard Day-Lewis (Performer), Mike Sammes (Performer), Lewis Fiander (Performer), Dilys Hamlett (Performer), Tom Saffery (Performer), James Smilie (Performer), Caroline Villiers (Performer), James Harbert (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Richard Day-Lewis, Mike Sammes, Lewis Fiander, Dilys Hamlett, Tom Saffery, et al.
• Conductor: Ian MacPherson
• Composer: John Williams
• Audio CD (June 9, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Cast Recording
• Label: Jay Records
• ASIN: B000007SFX
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #277,639 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Processional - Original London Cast

2. Look Around You

3. Am I Beautiful?

4. Man of Love

5. Question

6. What Choice Have I?

7. We Shall Do It!

8. Improbable as Spring

9. Power

10. Question (Reprise)

11. Consecration

12. 'Tis Love

13. Sincerity

14. Test

15. Replay the Game

16. New Way to Turn

17. Will No One Rid Me?

18. So Many Other Worlds (Finale)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A curiosity, September 13, 2008

By 

Damien Slattery (Dublin, Ireland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thomas And The King (1981 London Cast Members) (Audio CD)

THOMAS AND THE KING is an odd musical that frequently has some lamentable lyrics by James Harbert that fail to establish the characters (truly horrendous!):

"..Am I weaving dreams?
Turning somersaults?,
Tell me is it all
True of false?.. ,"

John Williams' music is worthy of a listen and akin to the style of Frederick Loewe's MY FAIR LADY and CAMELOT. "Improbable as Spring" works very well for its mood (the lyrics work well here) and the sound of harpsichord and high-strings can be beautiful at times. Too often though the lyrics are set to musical time-signatures that are un-singable, with "Look Around You" being particularly egregious.

The singers manage the material well-enough, James Smilie as the King is best, but Lewis Fiander as Thomas (for this recording) is an aural abomination. I cannot believe they got him for a recording session- he has the harshest, most grating, non-singing voice I have ever heard. Really murderous vocalisations that are never on the note.. What on earth were they thinking??!
This recording is really just a novelty. The show itself was butchered by the critics in 1975 and never made it to Broadway.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bad...but not because of John Williams, November 3, 2006

By 

Eric J. McClellan "JT Williams Fan" (Youngstown, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Thomas And The King (1981 London Cast Members) (Audio CD)

It really is no mystery why this musical died a painful death. For those who are curious, the musical is based on the life of Thomas Beckett and was produced for the London stage. It was hampered by a poor book and really awful (actually painful is probably a better word) lyrics.
However, for those who are fans of John Williams (the movie composer/conductor) it is a fascinating glimpse at his song writing skills.
He has written numerous songs for some of his film projects including, "Hook", "Home Alone", "Sabrina", "Yes, Giorgio", "Not With My Wife, You Don't!", "Penelope", "The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing", "Superman: The Movie" and a few more. He even wrote a song cycle with former poet laureate Rita Dove. This recording further illustrates that he is skilled at song writing and if he had worked with a more competent lyricist, these songs would have been much more palatable.
So, in summary, I felt the recording was worth buying to hear some really fine John Williams melodies. If you're looking for more, don't waste your money.

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars absolutely dreadful, May 14, 2004

By 

Bryant Burnette "Bryant Burnette" (Tuscaloosa, AL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Thomas And The King (1981 London Cast Members) (Audio CD)

I bought this CD for one reason: I am a devoted John Williams fan. I have all of his available film scores (except a few of the rarer titles), all of the recorded concert works, and more than a few of the albums he has issued as a conductor and arranger. Of all those CDs -- about a hundred -- there are only a very few that I don't love. Some of his early work (such as the scores for "Lost In Space," or comedies such as "John Goldfarb Please Come Home") is listenable, but clearly uninspired, and a few of the mature scores (I'm thinking of "Always," "Sleepers," and "Stepmom" here) are just sort of boring. As for the concert works, many people will tell you they, too, are boring, but I think that is a mislabelling: they tend to be complex, difficult, and unconcerned with melody, but the only way they are boring is if you listen to them while working out. They reward attention.

This brings us to "Thomas and the King," a stage musical for which Williams wrote the songs (with lyrics by James Harbert) back in 1975, in the wake of the tremendous success of his score for "Jaws." The musical tells the story of Henry II and Thomas Beckett. Here's where I should confess that I am not particularly knowledgeable on the subject of musicals. I know a few -- "Chicago," "Oklahoma," "Wicked," "The Wiz," various movie musicals, and the Alan Menken Disney movies -- but am by no means an expert. But I know the sound of a piece of junk when I hear it, and "Thomas and the King" is a piece of junk. I couldn't even finish listening to it when I got it; it took me two tries. The songs are laughably bad, and they are made only worse by inept performances on this recording. Don't even get me started on the lyrics, which might have been written by a high-schooler. There is almost no evidence of the talents of John Williams on this CD, and I would not believe that it was even the same person if the liner notes didn't verify it. My only assumption was that Williams simply didn't understand how to write for a Broadway-type production; or perhaps his music was ruined by poor arrangement, lyrics, and performances. Or, hey, maybe this was Williams's one opportunity to truly suck. Certainly he has never done so since. The musical is a genre that can easily be very very bad, and this one is the worst I have ever heard, hands down.

If you are thinking about buying this CD, you had better have a really good reason, or you are likely to feel as though you wasted your money once you hear it. In my case, I bought it because I would like to have as complete a collection as possible of John Williams's music, and even I feel like I wasted my money.

You've been warned.