Each presents an eclectic repertoire. As they sing their love songs, it's interesting to know that it was in theatrical settings that both Ball and Bell met their very musical wives with who…
One of the music world's oddest real-life stories became one of the musical theatre world's more intriguing biographical pieces, with an Off-Broadway cast album preserving emotionally charge…
This album sampling the output of young composer/lyricist Michael Mott has a lot of pop influences, and the selections from two of his musicals suggest he doesn't long for the long-lined, sw…
The homeland of Anna in The King and I, which she described as "a civilized land called Wales," with a side trip to Venice are the settings for a little-known, never-recorded score that dese…
The gentle, low-key A Second Chance brings us a nice enough later-in-life man and woman who meet at a party and soon begin dating ... the "concept album" of the British entry Swan Esther, f…
Here are two Off-Broadway shows with new cast albums. Each has its own devilish humor and talented cast.
McDonald is equally adept at capturing the insouciance of chipper pieces or the resigned role of needy romantic. Her struggle through "Easy Living," with much help from the pianist, and the …
"Love's Labour's Lost," ... freshly musicalized ... And the not-so-classic lost-in-the-shuffle Kern.
You might have heard the Lynn Ahrens/Stephen Flaherty songs for the musical "Rocky" are upstaged by the show's downstage boxing match finale ... ["Nice Fighting You" is] a nice reminder of …
We haven't heard the last of "The Last Session," as there's a new recording from a London production.
It's never been seen in the United States, despite its score having been written by one of the giants of musical theatre: Cole Porter.
It's June, traditionally a wedding-heavy month, so let's consider three very different married couples for whom a career in creative endeavors was also central to the relationship.
For broad Broadway panache, and sublime silliness, it's tough to top the well-aimed Bullets cast recording.
A musical from long ago that never had a complete recording (till now) and a just-closed show from the current season look at love quite differently. Besides debuting pre-Broadway in Massach…
I found Here Lies Love's cast album capable of casting a spell with its surprising effectiveness and lurking drama of slinky propaganda and the human desire to glorify/deify leaders and eter…
... nice songs and nice singing from the Carole King musical Beautiful and Beautiful Dreamer from Broadway-experienced Donna Vivino.
Two singers, different as night and day: One is grand and stylized, full of flamboyant flourishes, recording with a sizeable orchestra; the other is singing simply in a minimalist setting, w…
"Going Up" studio cast recording and "Andy Capp" original London cast recording.
Here they are—a collection paired up for your musical inspection—a formidable musical theatre actress well matched to songs favored by one of our greatest playwrights; lovers from thousa…
Not so gentle the touch in the rollicking A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, a new Broadway musical, or an old show about a show's troupe—Privates on Parade—transferred to CD for th…
They've made their names on Broadway—as, respectively, a Jersey Boy, a Dreamgirl, and a girl who dreams of life above sea level. The heroes and musical American idols for each are numerous…
March is "Cabaret Month" in New York and other cities ... Here are some cabaret-related CDs that came out in 2013, whose artists are nominees.
Taking place in earlier decades, two shows with characters dealing with their homosexuality have new cast albums which have come out from the PS Classics label. These are two powerful and to…
Here are two contrasting how-do-you-do scenes taking place in a single night, where memories and imagination take over. One is a new show about a date that recently visited Broadway and the …
Over the top, don't hold back .... The two have something in common.