Broadway in Love

Kitty Carlisle

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 25, 2000)
• Original Release Date: January 25, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B00003XAH0
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #366,839 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

If you think this is yet another show tune collection of "Some Enchanted Evening," "One Hand, One Heart," and similar chestnuts, think again. Broadway in Love includes songs from some of BMG's more interesting cast recordings of the 1990s, such as Jason Robert Brown's Parade and Songs for a New World, William Finn's A New Brain, Stephen Schwartz's Children of Eden, Maury Yeston's Titanic, and Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens's Once on This Island (though nothing from Ragtime). Even a Sound of Music standard is from the 1998 revival rather than the Julie Andrews film, and Linda Eder's Jekyll & Hyde number is from the 1990 concept album with Colm Wilkinson. Though not especially generous at 51 minutes, the collection is surprisingly even listening considering the disparate sources. Even if you have all the above-mentioned CDs, you might still be enticed by Audra McDonald's "You Were Meant for Me"--she performed it in the 1998 Jennifer Aniston film The Object of My Affection, but the recording was never released until now. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Broadway anthology with a slight difference, January 25, 2000

By	F. Behrens "Frank Behrens" (Keene, NH USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Very few "Broadway" albums are very original. You always get this song from "Oklahoma!" and that from "Music Man" and the really interesting but lesser known shows are ignored. Quite some time ago, RCA Victor issued about 10 CDs in a series devoted to the more and less familiar shows (as long as they had been recorded by RCA) and tried with some degree of success to group the songs by category; and they make a very nice little anthology to own. Well, some of the more recent offerings on Broadway finally get into the spotlight in <Broadway in Love> (09026-63645-32).

The gimmick here is all 14 cuts are love songs, mostly duets, that go as far back as "Sound of Music " and "On a Clear Day..." and are as recent as "Steel Pier" and "A New Brain." Actually we have a paradox here. None of these songs are anywhere as memorable as love duets from (say) "Guys & Dolls" or like "Good News" or "South Pacific." In fact, none of them are even as good as the opening cut, "You were meant for me," which comes from a film and is instantly recognizable as a "standard," a status which I fear none of the following selections will ever reach. (There has much been much ink spilled trying to analyze why the American musical has lost its melodies even as it has picked up computerized special effects.) In fact, hearing one after the other makes you realize how much alike they all sound, how homogenous they are. However the paradox is that the total effect of this CD is one of great beauty, so that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Finally, it is a Good Thing to have a nice little anthology that includes, beyond the four already mentioned, "Parade," "Merrily We Roll Along," "And the World Goes "Round," "Once on This Island," "Jekyll & Hyde," "Titanic," "Songs For a New World," and "Children of Eden."

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "So buckle up and give a listen", April 1, 2000

By	J. Lovins "Mr. Jim" (Missouri-USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

A collection of some of the most beautiful, romantic and timeless songs in recent theatrical memory. With a previously unreleased performances by three time "Tony Award" winner Audra McDonald and heart stopping renditions of romantic favorites by Bernadette Peters, Linda Eder and Clifford Davis. "Broadway In Love" is the perfect companion for a quiet evening for two.

It is quite clear that love songs have always been a staple of "Broadway Musicals", but in recent years we have heard complaints that they don't write 'em the way they used to. So buckle up and listen to some "Broadway Love Songs" like they used to write 'em and still do. Performed by today's most talented artists who are now making new standards for you and for those you love.

RCA Victor has given us a light and refreshing album of compilations to enjoy with those in love and who are loved.

Total Time: 51:10 on 14 Tracks/ RCA Victor Records - 09026 63645 2 (2000)