977 stories by "Michael Portantiere"
Original Off-Broadway Cast, 1960 (DRG) Following the success of My Fair Lady, it seemed that witty and teddibly literate entertainment was what the theatergoing public craved, so lots of son…
Original London Cast, 1993 (First Night) An alternately heartbreaking, cathartic, and wonderfully humorous program of songs and monologues about AIDS victims and their loved ones, this show …
Original Off-Broadway Cast, 2003 (Fynsworth Alley) In his songs for the theater, William Finn is often pointedly autobiographical; he seems happiest when dissecting his own thoughts with a s…
Ohio Light Opera Cast, 1997 (Newport Classics, 2CDs) Victor Herbert's 1917 "romantic comic opera" is a beauty, every bar of it suffused with the master's love of his native Ireland. Although…
Original Off-Broadway Cast, 2003 (Sh-K-Boom) The stage musical version of Debbie Does Dallas was conceived by Susan L. Schwartz and adapted by Erica Schmidt from the porno flick about a high…
Original Broadway Cast, 1969 (Columbia/Sony) Jerry Herman would seem to be the least likely composer to musicalize Jean Giraudoux's The Madwoman of Chaillot, but he took on the challenge. Th…
Original Off-Broadway Cast, 1992 (Bay Cities/Original Cast Records) Paul Bartel wrote the book for this musicalization of his cult-classic film, and he found ideal collaborators in lyricist …
Original Cast Members, 1972 (Kilmarnock/Original Cast) Here's one of Broadway's legendary disasters, described by Otis Guernsey, Jr. in the Burns Mantle Yearbook as "an ardent questing for e…
Original Broadway Cast, 1982 (Geffen/Decca Broadway) What were they thinking? The most exciting Broadway score of the 1980s was carved up to fit on one disc, and thereby was stripped of its …
Original Broadway Cast, 1965 (Blue Pearl/no CD) It's a cliché among cast album collectors to hear a good score of a flop musical and ponder, "Why wasn't this a hit?" But the recording of th…
Original Broadway Cast, 1960 (RCA) Right after Gypsy, you'd have expected composer Jule Styne to test his powers in another meaty Broadway project. Instead, he regressed to formula musical c…
Original Broadway Cast, 1983 (MCA) For the stage musical version of his political-satire comic strip, Garry Trudeau fashioned his own book and lyrics, proving himself to be a surprisingly ad…
Original Broadway Cast, 1972 (Polydorl/no CD) Here's an example of the sort of show that's much more effective onstage than on record. It was easy to get caught up in a live performance of t…
Original Broadway Cast, 1972 (Stax, 2LPs) This Melvin Van Peebles musical is as different from his earlier Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death as it could be. Though plotless, the earlier …
Original Broadway Cast, 1961 (Kapp) This musical based on the movie The Quiet Man was a spirited but unsuccessful show. Donnybrook! did boast an excellent cast that included Susan Johnson, E…
Original Broadway Cast, 1982 (Original Cast Records! Bay Cities) A Doll's Life is about what happened to Henrik Ibsen's Nora after she slammed the door at the end of A Doll's House. Betty Co…
Original Broadway Cast, 1965 (Columbia/Sony) Stephen Sondheim has often bad-mouthed Do I Hear a Waltz? " perhaps because it can't compare to his trail-blazing hits, and also because Sondheim…
Original Broadway Cast Members, 1985 (Bay Cities/Original Cast) No stars; not recommended. No matter how "informed" the writer of a review is, the critique is largely a matter of opinion. Or…
Anyone who knows the work of the Hungarian playwright Ferenc Molnár only through his beautiful, deeply moving drama Lilliom or his elegant, thoughtful comedy The Guardsman may be taken ab…
Original Broadway Cast, 1964 (Capitol/Angel) It's rare that we have concrete recorded proof of the exact moment when a performer became a legend, but that's the case with the original Broadw…
Original Broadway Cast, 1990 (Columbia/Sony) Cy Coleman's blending of 1940s musical styles " swing, blues, film noir soundtrack, and more " with David Zippel's deft and witty lyrics helped m…
Original Broadway Cast, 1975 (Columbia/Masterworks Broadway) In 1975, A Chorus Line was a phenomenon. The conception of the show began with Broadway wunderkind Michael Bennett's idea tha…
Original Stage Cast, 1993 (Columbia/Sony) The Alan Menken-Lynn Ahrens musical version of A Christmas Carol lit up Madison Square Garden for 10 seasons, and though the production's spectacle …
Original London Cast, 1981 (Geffen) Before it became a joke, Cats was a true phenomenon. While Trevor Nunn's direction placed spectacle above emotion and story, the show has a better score t…
Original Broadway Cast, 2004 (Hollywood Records, 2CDs) Tony Kushner writing the book and lyrics for a musical full of inanimate objects? If you did not see Caroline, or Change onstage, you m…
