Customer Reviews

Wonderful Town (Original Broadway Cast)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Early Bernstein, Rosalind Russell sings, what could be better? This wonderful classic '50's musical is based on the book "My Sister Eileen," one of the funniest books to come along -- even now. I consider myself fortunate to have seen the original cast of WT, have cherished the album. The music is a delight. Dated? Aren't we all?

This is probably not the best and most complete recording available fo the show. However, it does feature Rosiland Russel and the rest of the OBC, which is a major plus. The score has many hightlights, the strongest being "Ohio" (which I think should be the Ohio state song, but that's a whole different issue). Bernstein's music is definatly not bland or forgettable, and Comden-Green's lyrics are witty and all in all enjoyable, as best demonstrated in "One-Hundred Easy Ways" in which Rosiland Russell's character describes how to lose a man. There are some duds in this show, the biggest example being "Swing" which , aside from cheezy lyrics and an overal bland melody, does not make one want to swing dance. If this number were stronger--it certainly has potential--and if the recording and liner notes were more complete, this would easi ly be a 5-star recording. Unfortunatly, that isn't going to happen, so you'll have to setlle in order to enjoy this great score done by the original cast.

Her droll humor wrings emotion out of every word she sings. I was lucky enough to see the show when it came out, and this recording brings back all those memories of the great, great Broadway Shows of the 1940's and 1950's. I still go around singing "Why O Why O WhyO, Why Did I Ever Leave OHIO?" Edie Adams and Rosalind Russell were a nostalgic reminder to all the girls who ever went to New York to make it big. Wonderful Town was a GREAT SHOW and this is a GREAT recording.

Leonard Bernstein never erred on the side of subtlety, and this original-cast album contains two of his most enjoyable essays in musical near-mayhem: "Christopher Street" and "The Wrong Note Rag." The former is vastly like the theme music to "The Simpsons," and the listener can decide for himself how much of a coincidence this is or isn't. "The Wrong Note Rag" uses the tritone of the scale and a varied meter to make life difficult for the singers and anyone trying to count along. Unlike so many send-ups of the 1920s, this song ingenioulsy captures the musical and lyrical feel of novelty numbers like 1924's "Fascinating Rhythm"--or, better yet, the slightly later "Crazy Rhythm." A parody of the 1920s that shows any sense of the 1920s is a rare item, indeed. "Wonderful Town" is an interesting, enjoyable, and valuable historical piece, and I can only imagine what later performers did with it. I don't want to know.

Why didn't she sound like this in Gypsy? Listening to her here, i could see her doing Madame Rose, but it seems she lost her voice in the years between.