The Witches of Eastwick (Original 2000 London Cast) [Soundtrack]

Dana P. Rowe | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 1, 2002)
• Original Release Date: 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: First Night Records
• ASIN: B00004Y35W
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,188 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Overture

2. Eastwick Knows

3. Make Him Mine

4. I Love a Little Town

5. Eye of the Beholder

6. Waiting for the Music to Begin

7. Words, Words, Words

8. Dirty Laundry

9. I Wish I May

10. Another Night at Darryl's

11. Something

12. Dance With the Devil

13. Evil

14. Loose Ends

15. Who's the Man?

16. The Wedding

17. Something (Reprise)

18. Look at Me

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Bewitching Cast Recording, April 27, 2007

By 

Bennet Pomerantz "Bennet Pomerantz, AUDIOWORLD" (College Park, Maryland) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Witches of Eastwick (Original 2000 London Cast) (Audio CD)

I love original cast recordings. They capture the flavor of any show. The one thing that bothers me of this cast recording is the show never made it to Broadway. And the cast and the music sparkles

Ian (Deadwood, Lovejoy) McShane as Daryl van Horne (the Jack Nicholson role in the movie). McShane strolls thru the music with his bass voice as Rex Harrison or Peter O'Toole may have done. The witch trio is played by Joanna Riding, Maria Freedman and Lucie Arnaz (yes Lucille Ball's Daughter). All together mesh this music with the emsemble numbers.

John Demsey and Dana Rowe's Lyrics & Music are tongue and cheek, not know if this a tribute to other broadway styling or an original try.

On the whole, I wish someone would put this on Broadway NOW-it is witty and funny..and since the Producers is closing on Broadway, its time! Cameron Mackintosh's last musical Mary Poppins flopped-this may be a shot in the arm. And McShane has finished with Deadwood--Its Time!

Get this soundtrack NOW--so when someone smart brings this back, he know the music and will love to watch this on stage--ITS TIME for this BEWITCHING Musical to reappear on stage!

Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Witches of Eastwick - Original London Cast CD, January 28, 2001

By 

Sibelius (Illinois USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Witches of Eastwick (Audio CD)

I recently saw this show in London and was very pleasantly surprised! The CD contains all of the songs from the show with the exception of a few reprises.

All of Dana P. Rowe's melodies are "hummable" after only a few listenings and John Dempsey's clever lyrics range from warm and tender ("Something") to pompously Neanderthal ("Who's the Man?"). You won't hear anything new or different in the music (like Sondheim, Brown or Guettel might create). All of the musical structures are familiar to musical theatergoers. There's a rousing march in the opening number ("Eastwick Knows"), a tango duet ("Eye of the Beholder"), a bluesy vamp at the opening of Act II and a moving, sentimental ballad toward the end. Neither the score nor the CD is boring, however.

What this CD IS, is a lot of fun with some very strong performances. "Dirty Laundry" is a recreation of the townsfolk of River City gone bad with gossip. Rosemary Ashe's beautiful coloratura (she was the original Carlotta in "The Phantom of the Opera") sails high above the chorus at the end of the number a la Jonesy in "How to Succeed..." - transforming the ensemble number into "The Brotherhood of 'Mean'". Ms. Ashe is truly a highlight on this CD as Felicia Gabriel. Resentment and cynicism ooze from her voice as she spits up coins, candles and cherry pits during my favorite cut, "Evil". It's hard to believe this is the same woman who produced that lovely high passage in "Dirty Laundry"!

Ian McShane (known in the US from the "Lovejoy" series on PBS) rips into the character of Darryl van Horne via some very strong vocal acting on his part and the hilariously vulgar lyrics of "I Love a Little Town". As Alexandra, Lucie Arnaz' hard, jazzy belt is perfectly jaded in the very vampy, "Another Night at Darryl's" (again, some very cleverly written lyrics from Mr. Dempsey). Maria Friedman (Sukie) performs the very warmly written ballad, "Loose Ends" with touching sensitivity.

The three leading ladies (including Joanna Riding as Jane) have similar vocal qualities. Their three-part harmonies are well executed in "Make Him Mine" and are particularly lovely in the finale of Act I, "I Wish I May". I am delighted to find this number in its entirety on the CD and it doesn't take much imagination to hear the ladies fly through the theater as they actually did in the London production (even down to their ad-libs).

My only criticism of this recording is a matter of personal taste and involves the quality of the cast's voices. Not all would be considered strong singers. Ian McShane uses his acting ability to carry him through most of his songs. Maria Friedman, a very well accomplished musical theater actress in the UK (US folks may recognize her as the Narrator in the video release of "Joseph..."), sounds hoarse throughout most of the CD and noticeably "cracks" at times.

All of the leads (with the exception of Rosemary Ashe) have a "nervous vibrato" - the extremely rapid, fluttery vibrato that makes the pitch of every note sung seem almost sharp. A whole CD of this kind of singing is a little hard on the ears, but strong performances and an extremely likable score make this CD well worth hearing.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a great new musical, June 18, 2003

By 

Byron Kolln (the corner where Broadway meets Hollywood) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Witches of Eastwick (Original 2000 London Cast) (Audio CD)

THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK wasn't a huge success when it opened in London a few years back. It later re-opened with a tweaked score and a few new cast-members, but it later closed altogether. The Australian production was canned midway through the Melbourne season and plans for the Broadway production are still up in the air.

This recording may be the only good thing going for this musical.

The cast featured here is excellent; Maria Friedman (MARTIN GUERRE), Joanna Riding (CAROUSEL, MY FAIR LADY) and Lucie Arnaz (THEY'RE PLAYING OUR SONG) make for the perfect trio of the title, while Ian McShane is perfect as the devilish Darryl van Horne. Rounding out the cast are Rosemary Ashe and Stephen Tate as Felicia and Clyde Gabriel.

The score (which has a few hits and misses) is by Dana P. Rowe and John Dempsey, and is based on the novel by John Updike.

A few highlights of the score include "Make Him Mine" (the song the women use to conjure up Darryl); "I Wish I May", "Dirty Laundry" and "Another Night at Darryl's", Lucie Arnaz's bonafide show-stopper which she colors with a playful sexiness that is hard to resist.

Rosemary Ashe delivers the goods with her big number "Evil", one of the most complex and intriguing songs in the score.

I urge everyone who cares about this musical to buy the cast-album, as strong sales might make a statement.