All stories by Michael Portantiere on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Swinging on a Star by Michael Portantiere

Original Broadway Cast, 1996 (After 9) No stars; not recommended. Subtitled “The Johnny Burke Musical,” this show tried to avoid being just another composer tribute revue by placing the …

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 04:08PM

Swing! by Michael Portantiere

Original Broadway Cast, 1999 (Sony) No stars; not recommended. On Broadway, this revue’s main selling point was Lynne Taylor-Corbett’s ultra-strenuous choreography. What’s left on disc…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 03:57PM

Sweet Smell of Success by Michael Portantiere

Original Broadway Cast, 2002 (Sony) With a book by John Guare, this musical based on the dark film Sweet Smell of Success found few fans during its three-month Broadway run, but the cast rec…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 10:41AM

Sweet Charity by Michael Portantiere

Original Broadway Cast, 1966 (Columbia) This is a practically flawless recording of a Cy Coleman-Dorothy Fields score that ranks as one of the best of the 1960s. Bob Fosse’s adaptation of …

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 09:44AM

Sweeney Todd by Michael Portantiere

Original Broadway Cast, 1978 (RCA, 2CDs) Every musical theatre fan has a personal favorite Sondheim score, and the man’s oeuvre is so rich and diverse that it’s impossible to argue what …

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 09:10AM
Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Sunset Boulevard by Michael Portantiere

World Premiere Recording, 1993 (Polydor, 2CDs) Andrew Lloyd Webber heard a semi-operatic, sung-through musical in Billy Wilder’s 1950 melodrama film noir, but he made a mistake in choosing…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 11:22AM
Friday, August 21, 2015

Sunset by Michael Portantiere

Original Off-Broadway Cast, 1990 (TER-JAY) No stars; not recommended. In 1978, a musical titled Platinum had an extremely brief run on Broadway. It starred the stylish Alexis Smith in the ro…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 04:17PM

Sugar Babies by Michael Portantiere

Original Broadway Cast, 1983 (B’way Entertainment/Varèse Sarabande) Lavishly produced, beautifully designed, lovingly directed, Sugar Babies was a burlesque show featuring very funny old …

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 03:16PM

Sugar by Michael Portantiere

Original Broadway Cast, 1972 (United Artists/MGM) Sugar was a shocker, the first indication that the great David Merrick production machine of the 1950s-’60s was breaking down. Gower Champ…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 03:03PM

Subways Are for Sleeping by Michael Portantiere

Original Broadway Cast, 1961 (Columbia/Fynsworth Alley) A legendary title, if for no other reason than David Merrick’s scandalous marketing of the show: He looked in the phone book, found …

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 02:37PM

The Student Prince by Michael Portantiere

Studio Cast, 1950 (Decca) Operetta albums from decades ago often sound even more dated than the material itself, with white-bread orchestrations and stilted singing. You’d expect the 1924 …

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 11:11AM

Strike Up the Band by Michael Portantiere

Studio Cast, 1991 (Elektra, 2CDs) The “Roxbury Recordings” series of restored Gershwin scores was a mixed bag, but this double CD of Strike Up the Band, recorded here in its unsuccessful…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 10:53AM

The Streets of New York by Michael Portantiere

Original Off-Broadway Cast, 1964 (AEI) For a long time, this was an extremely rare recording, so AEI’s CD release was especially welcome. With music by Richard Chodosh and lyrics by Barry …

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 10:49AM

Street Scene by Michael Portantiere

Original Broadway Cast, 1947 (Columbia/Sony) Composer Kurt Weill and lyricist Langston Hughes set Elmer Rice’s 1929 Pulitzer Prize-winning play Street Scene to music as an opera, although …

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 09:40AM
Thursday, August 20, 2015

Stop the World — I Want to Get Off by Michael Portantiere

Original London Cast, 1961 (Decca/Hallmark) This may not be a great musical, but it has a great score by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. These are inventive, compelling songs. The lyrics…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 04:19PM

Steel Pier by Michael Portantiere

Original Broadway Cast, 1997 (RCA) The idea of a John Kander and Fred Ebb musical set during a 1930s dance marathon sounds like a natural; this milieu would seem to be an ideal backdrop for …

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 03:41PM

State Fair by Michael Portantiere

Selections From 1945 and 1962 Film Soundtracks (Varèse Sarabande) The Rodgers and Hammerstein score for the 1945 film version of State Fair is unlike any of the team’s other efforts in th…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 03:17PM

Starting Here, Starting Now by Michael Portantiere

Original Off-Broadway Cast, 1977 (RCA) Few cast recordings are as good as this one, made up of songs written by Richard Maltby, Jr. and David Shire for about 10 years’ worth of unsuccessfu…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 11:56AM

Stars in Your Eyes by Michael Portantiere

Ethel Merman With Studio Artists, 1939 (Liberty/AEI) The first musical with a score by composer Arthur Schwartz and lyricist Dorothy Fields, Stars in Your Eyes reunited Ethel Merman and Jimm…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 11:31AM

Starmites by Michael Portantiere

Studio Cast, 1998 (Original Cast Records) Starmites earned six Tony Award nominations in 1989, at the end of one of the leanest Broadway musical seasons in history. All about a shy teenager …

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 11:07AM

Starlight Express by Michael Portantiere

Original London Cast, 1984 (Really Useful Records, 2CDs) Starlight Express is the most enjoyable show  — or, to look at it from another perspective, the least objectionable —  that And…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 10:44AM

The Spitfire Grill by Michael Portantiere

Original Off-Broadway Cast, 2001 (Triangle Road) About a third of the way through The Spitfire Grill, wherein a troubled young woman wanders into a sad Wisconsin hamlet and instills new hope…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 10:12AM
Wednesday, August 19, 2015

South Pacific by Michael Portantiere

Original Broadway Cast, 1949 (Columbia/Sony) Romantic and durable, this great Rodgers and Hammerstein score ranges from operatic to 1940s swing to quasi-Polynesian to Americana, yet each son…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 04:11PM

The Sound of Music by Michael Portantiere

Original Broadway Cast, 1959 (Columbia/Sony) Although excellent, this recording of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic has been so overshadowed by the spectacularly popular film soundtrack a…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 01:19PM

Sophisticated Ladies by Michael Portantiere

Original Broadway Cast, 1981 (RCA) Duke Ellington classics were well served in the revue Sophisticated Ladies, which received 10 Tony Award nominations and ran on Broadway for nearly two yea…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 12:16PM

Songs for a New World by Michael Portantiere

Original Cast, 1997 (RCA) Songs for a New World documents composer-lyricist Jason Robert Brown’s superb musicianship and his knack for connecting with younger audiences who appreciate cont…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 11:10AM

Song of Singapore by Michael Portantiere

Original Off-Broadway Cast Members, 1992 (DRG) A tongue-in-cheek pastiche of 1940s pop culture, Song of Singapore had a substantial Off-Broadway run at a nightclub venue. It was whipped up b…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 10:57AM

Song of Norway by Michael Portantiere

Original Broadway Cast Members, 1944 (Decca) “Hurry, Countess! The boys’ names are in the cakes! They’re starting the drawing!” So runs a typical line of dialogue in this peerlessly …

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 10:24AM

Songbook by Michael Portantiere

Original London Cast, 1979 (Pye/DRG) The centerpiece of this show, a revue of songs written by a fictional Irish-Jewish composer named Moony Shapiro, is a seven-minute medley of “vocal gem…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 10:18AM

Song & Dance by Michael Portantiere

Original London Cast, 1982 (Really Useful Records, 2CDs) This two-disc album was recorded live during the show’s opening-night performance, and it has a definite theatrical snap to it. Son…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 09:49AM
Monday, August 17, 2015

Something for the Boys by Michael Portantiere

Ethel Merman and Original Cast Members, c. 1944 (AEI) Perhaps the definitive wartime musical, Something for the Boys was a hit for Cole Porter and Ethel Merman. It offers an enjoyable score,…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 03:25PM