The Frogs (2004 Broadway Cast)

Stephen Sondheim (Artist), Nathan Lane (Artist), John Byner (Artist), Michael Siberry (Artist), Roger Bart (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 25, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: P.S. Classics
• ASIN: B0006SSMWY
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #51,900 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
For a long time, Stephen Sondheim's 1974 compact offering The Frogs was known for two things. It was originally staged in Yale's swimming pool with a chorus that included Sigourney Weaver and Meryl Street; and its song "Invocation and Instructions to the Audience" has become a perennial in Sondheim tributes and cabaret shows. The show was given a belated studio recording in 2001 with Nathan Lane in the lead role of Dionysus. Lane then went back for more--literally, since he adapted and expanded Burt Shevelove's book--and Sondheim wrote several new songs. Finally, The Frogs was a full-length musical, staged in 2004. New tracks "I Love to Travel" and "Ariadne" are on par with Sondheim's best--the first a bouncy song, the latter a wrenching love song that could become a new recital favorite. While this recording is more enjoyable than the actual show, which could be a bit of a slog, it's hard to shake the feeling that maybe The Frogs should have remained a curio. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Just so everyone knows, there IS a better recording....., July 14, 2005

By	The Cosmoknot (Scarsdale, NY United States) - See all my reviews

I happen to love stephen sondheim. that does not mean that every production of sondheim is going to be golden. to prove that, he gave us Bounce. but seriously. The Frogs has some really intelligent music, which is quite apparent. But when you buy this soundtrack that I am reviewing, you are buying the final stop in a devolution of a good piece. It was mentioned that The Frogs was first performed in a swimming pool at Yale, and now it became this Broadway spectacle but now you can buy that original version that starred not only Nathan Lane, but also Brian Stokes Mitchell and Davis Gaines, who, as many of you know, are phenomenal. This talented trio brings the show home, something that Lanes later on with a weaker cast and plodding additions can not do. By buying the earlier version (also sold on amazon), you will acquire a soundtrack that just sounds a whole lot better.

But wait. There's more. When they released the original Frogs, they slapped Evening Primrose on as well, another obscure Sondheim. Luckily for us, it is one of the better ones. Some of Neil Patrick Harris' songs are really incredible, and ones' only regret about Primrose is that it only lasts for four songs. Yet these four songs stand out so much, that they have established Primrose as one of the stronger Sondheim works.

Here is what it comes down to. When you buy this version of The Frogs, the 2004 recording, you get a show that closed early, its ticket sales were so poor, with additional mediocre music. BUT. If you purchase The Frogs/Evening Primrose, you get a better cast, better songs, and an additional amazing Sondheim.
As Captain Planet would say: The Choice Is Yours.

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Looking for a metamorphosis, March 15, 2005

By	Richard LeComte "richlec" (Tuscaloosa, AL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I listened to this album twice while driving in the Nevada wilderness. Nathan Lane is always a charming person to spend some time with, even if he's just a voice coming out of my CD player. The problems the critics identified in the Lincoln Center production are vaguely apparent on the recording: With the exception of "Shaw" and "Ariadne," the songs sound like Sondheim using half his considerable brain -- the songs are clever, but they're not tied to the passions or thoughts of complex characters. The final song really is a letdown -- it's a call to action, but to do what? And the humor presented in the dialogue is pretty routine. Still, you should by this if you're either a Sondheim or a Broadway score completist, and there are several minor rewards.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Where are the Aristophanes fans?, September 7, 2006

By	Penner Theologius Pott "humpty-dumpty" (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews

I'm astounded to see most people's reactions to this curiosity, which I stumbled across entirely by accident and immediately fell in love with -- until, reading the other reviews, I realized that the other reviewers are all Sondheim fans. Well, I am, too, and I recognize that this a remarkably atypical piece for him -- *and that's not a bad thing*.

Most people's criticisms seem to revolve around the fact that this is a failure as a Broadway musical -- and they're right. It's not hard to see why it folded early: for the simple reason that this piece was being marketed to entirely the wrong audience. As a purely musical, Sondheim piece, it's mediocre.

As an adaptation of Aristophanes, it's *inspired*.

Yeah, it's preachy. Yeah, it's juvenile. You know what? So was Aristophanes. People complain that the final confrontation -- a verbose battle between two poets -- bogs the play down. Sure, if you're hoping for a laugh-a-minute slapstick farce in the spirit of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." But Aristophanes isn't Plautus, and that more thoughtful, intellectual comic twist is exactly what he would have approved of -- this is the kind of comedy that you don't laugh at, but rather the kind of comedy that makes you step back and go "Wow. That's really *masterful*."

In other words, not the kind of comedy that's going to be a hit on Broadway. But also not something that deserves to dismissed.