977 stories by "Michael Portantiere"
Original Cast, 1976 (Take Home Tunes) This beautiful cast album continues to mystify listeners as to why The Baker's Wife was a huge flop. Based on the play and subsequent film La femme du b…
Original Broadway Cast, 1965 (MGM/Decca) One of the last in the cycle of My Fair Lady wannabes, Baker Street is complete with handsome Victorian settings, a misogynistic hero (Sherlock Holme…
Original Broadway Cast, 1964 (Columbia/Sony) No stars; not recommended. Some ethnic groups have all the luck " and some don't. The same year that Fiddler on the Roof so beautifully celebrate…
Original Broadway Cast, 1983 (Polydor/]AY) The too-busy opening sequence is a bumpy ride, with some smarmy humor about the conception of a child. Then Liz Callaway sings to Todd Graff, "Pict…
Studio Cast, 1951 (Columbia/Sony) Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's 1937 classic, the father of all those hey-kids-let's-put-on-a-show movies with Mickey and Judy, has an expendable book and…
Original Broadway Cast, 1965 (Kapp/Decca) This first recording of the Mitch Leigh-Joe Darion score for their musical inspired by Miguel de Cervantes' epic novel Don Quixote is definitive. Ri…
Original London Cast, 1999 (Decca) Die-hard musical theater fans love to hate this international mega-hit, which showcases two dozen songs by the hugely popular 1970s Swedish pop group ABBA.…
Original Broadway Cast, 1966 (Columbia/Sony) Seldom has a cast recording captured the thrill and excitement of a smash Broadway musical as well as this one does. From the spectacular opening…
Original Broadway Cast, 1973 (Bell/January Records) This musical got the worst reviews imaginable but ran five years, thanks to its star, who could not act, sing, or dance but was a magician…
Original Broadway Cast, 1968 (RCA/DRG) Hardly remembered today, this show has had only one small-scale revival. It marked the return of Shirley Jones to Broadway, where she began her career …
New York Concert Cast, 1988 (CBS) This is a musically adventurous, complex, and unruly Colombian stew by Heitor Villa-Lobos. The show was a flop on Broadway in 1948, but an admired one that …
Original Broadway Cast, 1966 (Columbia/DRG) Marshall Barer was an unsung genius lyricist of the musical theater; his output was slight in terms of quantity, but he could write a ballad or co…
Original Broadway Cast, 1974 (ABC/MCA) This beloved flop starred Robert Preston as silent-movie pioneer Mack Sennett and Bernadette Peters as his leading lady/lover, Mabel Normand. In spite …
Original Broadway Cast, 2003 (RCA) What a devilishly clever parody of Sesame Street this Tony Award-winning musical is! Robert Lopez and ]eff Marx's songs are mostly upbeat and catchy ("Ever…
Original Off-Broadway Cast, 1991 (RCA) There's no doubt that Stephen Sondheim's scores are brilliant. His lyrics are innovative; he's the master of intellectual argument in rhyme. His best m…
Original Cast, 1989 (Polydor) Beyond being one of Andrew Lloyd Webber's most inscrutable shows, Aspects of Love is also one of his most ridiculous " more soap opera than pop opera. Though th…
Original Broadway Cast, 1966 (Columbia/Sony) What could Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick do to follow Fiddler on the Roof? The team answered that question with an unconventional evening of thr…
Original Broadway Cast, 1970 (ABC/Decca) When librettists, composers, and lyricists take on a masterpiece, they rarely improve it. Such is the case with this musical version of the classic f…
Original Broadway Cast, 1946 (Decca) When this album was made, cast recordings were still a fairly new concept. It's a major disappointment that the classic Irving Berlin score for Annie Get…
Recordings by Original New York and London Cast Members, 1934 (various labels/Prism) While it wasn't Cole Porter's first success or biggest hit, Anything Goes has always seemed the quintesse…
Original Off-Broadway Cast, 1993 (Angel) Everyone's favorite redheaded orphan sparkles once more in this Off-Broadway sequel to the Broadway mega-smash Annie. After a prolonged gestation per…
Original Broadway Cast, 1977 (Columbia/Sony) Ironically, Charles Strouse's biggest hit is one of his less interesting efforts. Thomas Meehan's book capably adapts the adventures of comic-str…
Original Broadway Cast, 1955 (Decca) 0 Stars; not recommended.This is a four-alarm disgrace, even worse than its title implies. A tip-off is the description of the Guy Bolton-Eddie Davis lib…
Original Off-Broadway Cast, 1991 (RCA) The songs of John Kander and Fred Ebb, never lacking in entertainment value or theatricality, were a natural for the revue showcaseformat. This is a sp…
Original Broadway Cast, 2003 (Ghostlight) The English version of Michel Legrand's French smash hit Le passe-muraille, based on Marcel Ayme's short story about a man who gains the ability to …
