Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown [Cast Recording]

David Yazbek (Composer), Patti LuPone (Performer), Laura Benanti (Performer), Brian Stokes Mitchell (Performer), Sherie Rene Scott (Performer), Julio Agustin (Performer), De'Adre Aziza (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 10, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 2011
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Cast Recording
• Label: Ghostlight
• ASIN: B004TPJN2I
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,871 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

When Pedro Almodóvar arrived in NYC in 1988 to show his new film at the New York Film Festival he became an instant sensation. Channeling the burst of energy and freedom in post-Franco Spain, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown was one of the most unusual and exhilarating new films in years. It was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, and quickly became not just a classic, but a favorite.

WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN is a new musical based on the film. Bartlett Sher (South Pacific) leads the extraordinary collaborators Jeffrey Lane (book) and David Yazbek (music and lyrics). Lane and Yazbek, the team behind Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, have taken Almodóvar's tale and infused it with their own wry, comic style and an irresistible Spanish beat.

Both touching and hilarious, it's a story about women and the men who pursue them... finding them, losing them, needing them, and rejecting them. At the center is Pepa (Sherie Rene Scott) whose friends and lovers are blazing a trail through 1980s Madrid. And why do they all keep showing up at her high-rise apartment? Gazpacho anyone?

Along with Pepa, there's her missing (possibly philandering) lover, Ivan (Brian Stokes Mitchell); his ex-wife of questionable sanity, Lucia (Patti LuPone); their son Carlos (Justin Guarini); Pepa's friend, Candela (Laura Benanti), and her terrorist boyfriend; a power-suited lawyer (de'Adre Aziza) plus a taxi driver (Danny Burstein) who dispenses tissues, mints and advice in equal proportion. Mayhem and comic madness abound, balanced by the empathy and heart that are trademarks of Almodóvar's work. And of Bartlett Sher's too.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Score May 20, 2011

By BrianOC

Format:Audio CD

This is the best score of the 2010-2011 Broadway season -- and Book of Mormon and Scottsboro Boys are both terrific (so is Catch Me If You Can, for that matter)! It fully deserves its Tony nomination. I'm solely judging from the recording, since I foolishly missed the production when it was running.

The score is complex and original, yet accessible. It's filled with zesty rhythms, gorgeous melodies, wonderful harmonies, brilliant wordplay, and evocative Spanish flavor. And it's just plain fun to listen to.

Add to that the performances by Laura Benanti, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Danny Burstein, Sherie Rene Scott, and Patti LuPone, and it's a must-have.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Yazbek's best to date May 17, 2011

By Steven Valenti VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

Perhaps the best praise I can give to David Yazbek's score for "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" is that he nailed the world of Pedro Almodovar.

The music for this stage version of the film by the colorful Spanish director, whose films often mix outrageous screwball humor with melodrama and a dollop of poignancy, catches the flamboyant tone just right. The Spanish-flavored music is tailor made to showcase the talents of the leading ladies, Sherie Renee Scott, Patti LuPone, and Laura Benanti, just as Almodovar provides substantial roles for his actresses. (Once you hear Benanti's "Model Behavior" and LuPone's "Invisible" you won't be surprised they earned Tony nominations.)

Yazbek's music is varied and memorable, his lyrics characteristically clever and literate. The orchestra sounds great, and the rest of the cast, including the estimable Brian Stokes Mitchell as the source for a few of the women being on the verge of breakdowns, and Danny Burstein as a scene-setting cab driver, are also terrific. I also enjoyed Yakbek's "The Full Monty" and "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"; this is his best score to date, and seems strangely underrated at present (though he did receive a deserved Tony nomination).

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful CD for Theatre Fans May 13, 2011

By Raef

Format:Audio CD

I think this is a wonderful CD, rich with clever and witty numbers. It is surprisingly good despite the fact the show had a short run. Patti Lupone and Laura Benanti really shine and their numbers alone are WELL worth the purchase of this CD. It will make you long to see the show and make you wish it was still playing on Broadway--you'll wonder what might have been if they just did this or that...