973 stories by "Michael Portantiere"
Film Soundtrack, 1998 (Dreamworks) Like several other animated musical classics of the screen, from Snow White to the clutch of far more recent Disney films (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Bea…
Original Broadway Cast, 1964 (Columbia/Sony) The show was a flop, but virtually every number is a winner, and so is this recording. Broadway audiences were bored by Arthur Laurents' bizarre,…
Premiere Cast Recording, 2012 (Ghostlight) Based on the supernatural horror novel by Stephen King, which had previously been adapted as a highly successful film in 1976, Carrie is/was one of…
Music From Baz Luhrmann's Film, 2001 (Interscope) Here is the soundtrack recording (partly; see below) of what might be described as a movie musical that's perfect for the ADD generation in …
Original Off-Broadway Cast, 2017 (DRG) Of course, you knew Gerard Alessandrini wasn't going to leave Hamilton alone, but who would have predicted this? It's a whole evening of Revolutionary …
Original Broadway Cast, 2015 (Broadway Records) The Visit is an extraordinary late-career work by composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb, who enriched the American musical theater with m…
Original Broadway Cast, 2016 (Cirque du Soleil) Â With its spectacular entertainments showcasing nouveau-circus acts of all types, accessorized with top-drawer production values and very …
Original Broadway Cast, 2008 (Ghostlight) Passing Strange is the semi-autobiographical work of singer/songwriter Stew, co-written with his longtime collaborator Heidi Rodewald. The story fol…
Original Off-Broadway Cast, 2020 (Broadway Records) This recording represents the Off-Broadway production of Emojiland, a knowingly campy musical that proudly planted its digital freak flag …
Original Off-Broadway Cast, 2020 (Ghostlight) Here's a highly enjoyable cast album of a fun show with a fanciful, meta-theatrical concept, built around the dynamic singer-actress Annie Golde…
Original Cast, Two River Theater, 2015 (Ghostlight) Â Based on a novel by Ned Vizzini, Be More Chill is a cautionary tale about a loner teenager named Jeremy Heere who attempts to become …
Original Broadway Cast, 2019 (Sony Masterworks Broadway) First, a few words of explanation: The show that yielded this cast album opened Off-Broadway at the New York Theatre Workshop in Dece…
Original Off-Broadway Cast, 2019 (PS Classics) Maury Yeston is one of the finest and most versatile musical theater composer-lyricists of his era, so it's good to have this cast album of a v…
Film Soundtrack, 1964 (Buena Vista/Walt Disney Records) Disney's Mary Poppins has been beloved from the moment audiences first saw the film in 1964, permeating our culture and becoming a hal…
Film Soundtrack, 2013 (Walt Disney Records) One of the most popular titles in Disney's history, Frozen revolves around two royal sisters: Elsa, who has the power to conjure snow and ice but …
Film Soundtrack, 1992 (Walt Disney Records) Following the immense success of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, Disney Animation firmly solidified what is now known as "The Disney …
Original Broadway Cast, 1971 (RCA/Masterworks Broadway) Perhaps the source material was too obscure for audiences to really understand this show, which only ran on Broadway for 97 performanc…
Original Broadway Cast, 2018 (Atlantic) 0 stars; not recommended. Movies that were popular in the latter part of the 20th century have become the go-to source material for Broadway musicals …
Studio Cast, 2010 (Wilderland Records) Though indie singer/songwriter Anaïs Mitchell always meant for Hadestown to be a stage musical, its first incarnation was in the form of this concep…
Original London Cast, 2019 (Ghostlight) When experienced live in the theater, a "bio-musical" " like any other show " may be judged on several levels, including the production values and the…
Original Broadway Cast, 2019 (Universal Music) There's always a sense of déjà vu when a jukebox musical opens on Broadway, as most people walk in humming the tunes. If Ain't Too Prou…
Original Broadway Cast, 2017 (Ghostlight) Stranded in an Israeli desert town by mistake, an Egyptian band stays overnight with the locals before heading on to their engagement. Composer-lyri…
Original Broadway Cast, 2019 (Decca Broadway) Librettist Robert Horn and composer/lyricist David Yazbek made some wise moves in translating the popular 1982 comedy film Tootsie into a stage …
Original Off-Broadway Cast, 2018 (Masterworks Broadway) People have adapted Shakespeare's plays into musicals before, usually taking on the Bard's hits. Librettist/lyricist Peter Kellogg and…
Original Broadway Cast, 2019 (Ghostlight) How far will a musical go to give you a good time? In the case of Beetlejuice, all the way to the Netherworld and back. Based on Tim Burton's cult '…
