Sondheim Forum

Other Artforms => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: Chris L on Jun 21, 2017, 11:53 AM

Title: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Chris L on Jun 21, 2017, 11:53 AM
The old board had a thread called "What's In Your CD Player Now?" The title hasn't aged well -- these days you're as likely to be listening to MP3s or streaming music off the Internet -- but the idea was a good one. And so...

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Somebody mentioned in another thread that this year is the 50th anniversary of this album and boy did that bring back memories, not so much of the album itself but of sitting in the back seat of my father's convertible (which we got rid of a year later, after he died) reading the full page review of the album in The New York Times. It was the longest, most gushing album review I'd ever read, not that I'd read many album reviews by 1967. It went into considerable detail about how this was a genuine concept album and a cohesive work that references itself in the songs. ("It's getting very near the end.") I couldn't wait to hear it.

Sgt. Pepper's never became my favorite Beatles album. That title would eventually go to Abbey Road, though I think I also prefer Revolver and Rubber Soul. Still, it has some of the Beatles' best songs on it (ironically, given that it's a cohesive work). "A Day in the Life" may be the greatest thing the Beatles ever did, Side 2 of Abbey Road excepted. For the record, I'm streaming it from Spotify on the Amazon Echo next to my desk, a remarkably good little talking speaker, never mind that Alexa occasionally garbles my song requests into bizarre Mondegreens. But she recognized the title of Sgt. Pepper's right away.

I wonder what she'd respond if I said, "Alexa, play side 2 of Abbey Road"? Probably "I can't find the song 'Side 2'."
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: KathyB on Jun 21, 2017, 01:32 PM
Come from Away and Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812. I went through my Dear Evan Hansen phase earlier in the year. But I'm thinking I want to listen to it right now. :)

Also, a whole bunch of mixes that people have sent me.

And Jason Isbell's and Steve Earle's new albums.
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: artscallion on Jun 22, 2017, 10:28 AM
Listening to Dear Evan Hansen. I think "For Forever" is up there with some of the best stuff out there. There's a video on youtube of Ben Platt's brilliant performance of it on Colbert's Late Show show. Makes me cry every time I watch/listen.

Also...Hi Kathy!!!
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: JustTheOneAnne on Jun 22, 2017, 12:37 PM
Honestly? Right now I'm listening to a lot of Elton John, Beatles and Billy Joel. I'm in Europe for the summer, so the old favorites are the order of the day. :)
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Chris L on Jun 22, 2017, 01:19 PM
Quote from: JustTheOneAnne on Jun 22, 2017, 12:37 PMHonestly? Right now I'm listening to a lot of Elton John, Beatles and Billy Joel. I'm in Europe for the summer, so the old favorites are the order of the day. :)

So that means I can play Elton John/Billy Joel songs in First Five Words and at least one person might know them. Good to know. ;)
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Bobster on Jun 22, 2017, 02:36 PM
Quote from: Chris L on Jun 22, 2017, 01:19 PM
Quote from: JustTheOneAnne on Jun 22, 2017, 12:37 PMHonestly? Right now I'm listening to a lot of Elton John, Beatles and Billy Joel. I'm in Europe for the summer, so the old favorites are the order of the day. :)

So that means I can play Elton John/Billy Joel songs in First Five Words and at least one person might know them. Good to know. ;)

Two.  Maybe Three (Kathy?)

Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Chris L on Jun 22, 2017, 02:42 PM
Quote from: Bobster on Jun 22, 2017, 02:36 PM
Quote from: Chris L on Jun 22, 2017, 01:19 PM
Quote from: JustTheOneAnne on Jun 22, 2017, 12:37 PMHonestly? Right now I'm listening to a lot of Elton John, Beatles and Billy Joel. I'm in Europe for the summer, so the old favorites are the order of the day. :)

So that means I can play Elton John/Billy Joel songs in First Five Words and at least one person might know them. Good to know. ;)

Two.  Maybe Three (Kathy?)


Terri, the 80s Queen, is around, but I don't know if she's playing the games. She'd probably know them too.

Kathy knows almost every obscure song ever recorded, but her tastes may skew away from the popular. Still, I think she'd get some.
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Gsavage14 on Jun 22, 2017, 02:53 PM
Quote from: Chris L on Jun 21, 2017, 11:53 AMThe old board had a thread called "What's In Your CD Player Now?" The title hasn't aged well -- these days you're as likely to be listening to MP3s or streaming music off the Internet -- but the idea was a good one. And so...

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Somebody mentioned in another thread that this year is the 50th anniversary of this album and boy did that bring back memories, not so much of the album itself but of sitting in the back seat of my father's convertible (which we got rid of a year later, after he died) reading the full page review of the album in The New York Times. It was the longest, most gushing album review I'd ever read, not that I'd read many album reviews by 1967. It went into considerable detail about how this was a genuine concept album and a cohesive work that references itself in the songs. ("It's getting very near the end.") I couldn't wait to hear it.

Sgt. Pepper's never became my favorite Beatles album. That title would eventually go to Abbey Road, though I think I also prefer Revolver and Rubber Soul. Still, it has some of the Beatles' best songs on it (ironically, given that it's a cohesive work). "A Day in the Life" may be the greatest thing the Beatles ever did, Side 2 of Abbey Road excepted. For the record, I'm streaming it from Spotify on the Amazon Echo next to my desk, a remarkably good little talking speaker, never mind that Alexa occasionally garbles my song requests into bizarre Mondegreens. But she recognized the title of Sgt. Pepper's right away.

I wonder what she'd respond if I said, "Alexa, play side 2 of Abbey Road"? Probably "I can't find the song 'Side 2'."

I agree with you Chris, about side 2 of Abbey Road - I would put it close to perfection. I also don't think Sgt. Pepper is their best album - personally I've always favoured Rubber Soul, although recently I think A Hard Days Night is actually the only Beatles album without a single weak track... (Discuss?!) But like Citizen Kane, Sgt Pepper has taken me a long time to realise that, even if it's not perfect, especially to modern eyes and ears, at the time it was utterly ground breaking in ways that we take for granted now (they invented DI boxes while recording this!!)

Thoughts on the remaster - loving the increased prominence of Paul's  bass work, for which I don't think he's ever received enough credit.
The key thing for me, listening to it with new ears, as it were, is the almost total absence of George's influence on this album - his guitar work was always a key feature, almost more so than his songwriting, on the earlier and later albums, but here, his one track feels almost like a gesture from the rest to a guest artist than one of the integral members. Without guitar breaks or the more 'Beatlish' harmonies with which to impose himself, he barely seems to register. Makes me sad...
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Chris L on Jun 22, 2017, 03:16 PM
I'm not sure which version of Sgt. Pepper's Alexa played for me, but it irked me because it included bonus tracks at the end. Ordinarily I wouldn't mind hearing early takes and chatter between the band members, but nothing should follow that long, final chord on "A Day in the Life." Nothing!
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Gsavage14 on Jun 22, 2017, 03:21 PM
Quote from: Chris L on Jun 22, 2017, 03:16 PMI'm not sure which version of Sgt. Pepper's Alexa played for me, but it irked me because it included bonus tracks at the end. Ordinarily I wouldn't mind hearing early takes and chatter between the band members, but nothing should follow that long, final chord on "A Day in the Life." Nothing!

Sounds like the 50th Anniversary Remaster, which is on Apple Music too.

Although there always was a hidden track on the original, I recall... a loop of Paul (I think) saying something like "I never could see any other way..." - the hidden track being something else they invented! And ended up being taken to extremes by World Party, hiding a complete song about 17 minutes after the end of 'Bang!'
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Gsavage14 on Jun 22, 2017, 03:22 PM
Quote from: Chris L on Jun 22, 2017, 03:16 PMI'm not sure which version of Sgt. Pepper's Alexa played for me, but it irked me because it included bonus tracks at the end. Ordinarily I wouldn't mind hearing early takes and chatter between the band members, but nothing should follow that long, final chord on "A Day in the Life." Nothing!

But I agree, that long final chord is wonderful...
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Chris L on Jun 22, 2017, 03:36 PM
Quote from: Gsavage14 on Jun 22, 2017, 02:53 PMalthough recently I think A Hard Days Night is actually the only Beatles album without a single weak track... (Discuss?!)

I've always been so enamored of the Beatles' later work that I've never focused much on the albums preceding Rubber Soul, just the singles. Rubber Soul feels to me like the transition from their early-to-mid-period sound to the more mature work of their later albums, but I've just asked Alexa to put on A Hard Day's Night and so far (sixth track, I think) so good. Of course, I already know most or all of the songs from having heard them on the radio (and in the movie); I've just never listened to them as an album before.
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Chris L on Jun 22, 2017, 03:42 PM
Quote from: Gsavage14 on Jun 22, 2017, 03:21 PMSounds like the 50th Anniversary Remaster, which is on Apple Music too.

Although there always was a hidden track on the original, I recall... a loop of Paul (I think) saying something like "I never could see any other way..." - the hidden track being something else they invented! And ended up being taken to extremes by World Party, hiding a complete song about 17 minutes after the end of 'Bang!'

Wow, I don't recall ever hearing that hidden track! How long after "A Day in the Life" does it come up? It's possible that my record changer (remember those?!) always lifted the needle before it got there. (It always played "Her Majesty" at the end of Abbey Road, though.)
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Gsavage14 on Jun 22, 2017, 03:46 PM
Quote from: Chris L on Jun 22, 2017, 03:42 PM
Quote from: Gsavage14 on Jun 22, 2017, 03:21 PMSounds like the 50th Anniversary Remaster, which is on Apple Music too.

Although there always was a hidden track on the original, I recall... a loop of Paul (I think) saying something like "I never could see any other way..." - the hidden track being something else they invented! And ended up being taken to extremes by World Party, hiding a complete song about 17 minutes after the end of 'Bang!'

Wow, I don't recall ever hearing that hidden track! How long after "A Day in the Life" does it come up? It's possible that my record changer (remember those?!) always lifted the needle before it got there. (It always played "Her Majesty" at the end of Abbey Road, though.)

About 20 seconds or so...? And it's only about 10 seconds itself.
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Gsavage14 on Jun 22, 2017, 03:49 PM
Quote from: Chris L on Jun 22, 2017, 03:36 PM
Quote from: Gsavage14 on Jun 22, 2017, 02:53 PMalthough recently I think A Hard Days Night is actually the only Beatles album without a single weak track... (Discuss?!)

I've always been so enamored of the Beatles' later work that I've never focused much on the albums preceding Rubber Soul, just the singles. Rubber Soul feels to me like the transition from their early-to-mid-period sound to the more mature work of their later albums, but I've just asked Alexa to put on A Hard Day's Night and so far (sixth track, I think) so good. Of course, I already know most or all of the songs from having heard them on the radio (and in the movie); I've just never listened to them as an album before.

I was the same, thinking of them as the pop years, but was listening to it a little while back and thought that there always seemed to be 'disposable' tracks on each album, that you wouldn't notice if they weren't there (or skipped over on the CD) but with Hard Day's Night, you'd be hard pushed to find two or three tracks to lose from it, I think. Even Ringo doesn't sound like a novelty!!
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: KathyB on Jun 22, 2017, 03:53 PM
Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Thile and Edgar Meyer, Bach Trios. My choice for best album so far this year.

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81pqXIx-h7L._SX425_.jpg)
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Chris L on Jun 22, 2017, 04:01 PM
Quote from: Gsavage14 on Jun 22, 2017, 03:49 PMI was the same, thinking of them as the pop years, but was listening to it a little while back and thought that there always seemed to be 'disposable' tracks on each album, that you wouldn't notice if they weren't there (or skipped over on the CD) but with Hard Day's Night, you'd be hard pushed to find two or three tracks to lose from it, I think. Even Ringo doesn't sound like a novelty!!

I've always thought of certain albums as "perfect albums," ones where every track was something you wanted to hear over and over again. A lot of albums only have one perfect side, usually the first, though now that "sides" no longer exist the whole album has to pull that weight. You're right that everything on A Hard Day's Night is strong. I still prefer the albums where they're pushing the edge of the envelope harder, but when you push the edge of the envelope, something inevitably tears. ;)
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Gsavage14 on Jun 22, 2017, 04:03 PM
Quote from: Chris L on Jun 22, 2017, 04:01 PM
Quote from: Gsavage14 on Jun 22, 2017, 03:49 PMI was the same, thinking of them as the pop years, but was listening to it a little while back and thought that there always seemed to be 'disposable' tracks on each album, that you wouldn't notice if they weren't there (or skipped over on the CD) but with Hard Day's Night, you'd be hard pushed to find two or three tracks to lose from it, I think. Even Ringo doesn't sound like a novelty!!

I've always thought of certain albums as "perfect albums," ones where every track was something you wanted to hear over and over again. A lot of albums only have one perfect side, usually the first, though now that "sides" no longer exist the whole album has to pull that weight. You're right that everything on A Hard Day's Night is strong. I still prefer the albums where they're pushing the edge of the envelope harder, but when you push the edge of the envelope, something inevitably tears. ;)

Agreed 🤗
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Leighton on Jun 23, 2017, 02:37 PM
I've been listening a lot to Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros albums.  Gloriously enjoyable and melodic
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: KathyB on Jun 23, 2017, 05:46 PM
The New Pornographers, Whiteout Conditions
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61ECN8xkXRL._AC_US218_.jpg)

I really wanna go home.   :-X
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: George on Jun 24, 2017, 09:59 AM
A bit late to the Sgt Pepper's discussion here. Did anyone see the recent PBS special about the record, Sgt Pepper's Musical Revolution? (http://www.pbs.org/program/sgt-peppers-musical-revolution/) I loved its analysis of the themes and investigation of the ground-breaking studio innovations. But then again, I love stuff like that. I'm sure it can be found somewhere online.
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Chris L on Jun 24, 2017, 10:47 AM
Quote from: George on Jun 24, 2017, 09:59 AMA bit late to the Sgt Pepper's discussion here. Did anyone see the recent PBS special about the record, Sgt Pepper's Musical Revolution? (http://www.pbs.org/program/sgt-peppers-musical-revolution/) I loved its analysis of the themes and investigation of the ground-breaking studio innovations. But then again, I love stuff like that. I'm sure it can be found somewhere online.

Not legally. ;)

I had hoped it would be on the Roku PBS app, but like their website, it only has the trailer.
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Leighton on Jun 25, 2017, 02:51 AM
I have been listening to John Grant and Skunk Anansie a lot this weekend; Grant's Queen of Denmark is probably one of my favourite albums, and I love Anansie's acoustic Greatest Hits live album.

Any other fans of these artists? 
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: KathyB on Jun 25, 2017, 07:29 AM
John Grant is great. He was originally one of The Czars, from Denver, Colorado. :) My favorite song is "GMF" from the Pale Green Ghosts album.

Thank you for letting me know about Skunk Anansie, who's now next on my "gotta find out more info on" list.
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Gordonb on Jun 25, 2017, 09:11 AM
Quote from: Leighton on Jun 25, 2017, 02:51 AMI have been listening to John Grant and Skunk Anansie a lot this weekend; Grant's Queen of Denmark is probably one of the my favourite albums, and I love Anansie's acoustic Greatest Hits live album.

Any other fans of these artists?  

I think the last "new" music I bought was when a friend told me that I might enjoy a new band called "Coldplay"; I did buy the cd but I am not sure that I have ever listened to it. I googled "Skunk Anansie" but somehow I get the feeling that they might not be my cup of tea.

I suppose I am a tad stuck in a rut musically;  I do buy new stuff by established artists and some new cast recordings, although a lot fewer than I used to and I do have the  Holy Trinity of "Hamilton" (meh), "Dear Evan Hansen" (less enthusiastic about it than @mamarose who "made" me get it), and "Natasha, Pierre etc" which on first hearing appealed somewhat.

Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Leighton on Jun 25, 2017, 09:53 AM
I like Skunk Anansie's acoustic greatest hits album more than their heavier, electronic stuff (though I do like that); I think the acoustic stuff is well worth listening to, even if you're not a fan of the heavier stuff they made their name with in the 90s.  Skin )the lead singer) is one of the most underrated British vocalists of the past three decades.
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Leighton on Jun 25, 2017, 09:54 AM
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Acoustic-Skunk-Anansie-CD-DVD/dp/B00DW8CZ46/ref=sr_1_9?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1498409623&sr=1-9&keywords=skunk+anansie

This is the album I would recommend :)
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Bobster on Jun 26, 2017, 10:15 PM
Quote from: Chris L on Jun 24, 2017, 10:47 AM
Quote from: George on Jun 24, 2017, 09:59 AMA bit late to the Sgt Pepper's discussion here. Did anyone see the recent PBS special about the record, Sgt Pepper's Musical Revolution? (http://www.pbs.org/program/sgt-peppers-musical-revolution/) I loved its analysis of the themes and investigation of the ground-breaking studio innovations. But then again, I love stuff like that. I'm sure it can be found somewhere online.

Not legally. ;)

I had hoped it would be on the Roku PBS app, but like their website, it only has the trailer.

I watch it but it was SO edited with and included Pledge breaks, dammit.  I may have to buy the darn DVD to hear/watch what was missed. 


Quote from: Gsavage14 on Jun 22, 2017, 03:46 PM
Quote from: Chris L on Jun 22, 2017, 03:42 PM
Quote from: Gsavage14 on Jun 22, 2017, 03:21 PMSounds like the 50th Anniversary Remaster, which is on Apple Music too.

Although there always was a hidden track on the original, I recall... a loop of Paul (I think) saying something like "I never could see any other way..." - the hidden track being something else they invented! And ended up being taken to extremes by World Party, hiding a complete song about 17 minutes after the end of 'Bang!'

Wow, I don't recall ever hearing that hidden track! How long after "A Day in the Life" does it come up? It's possible that my record changer (remember those?!) always lifted the needle before it got there. (It always played "Her Majesty" at the end of Abbey Road, though.)

About 20 seconds or so...? And it's only about 10 seconds itself.

THIS IS MAJOR, Chris!!!  It was designed for much older record players so that the needle would just keep going and going and going...I got to hear it only on my sister The Beatles Fan's player because there was a way to make the needle just keep going.  I could never do it again until the CD came out.

Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: George on Jun 27, 2017, 09:07 AM
Quote from: Bobster on Jun 26, 2017, 10:15 PMI watch it but it was SO edited with and included Pledge breaks, dammit.  I may have to buy the darn DVD to hear/watch what was missed. 



I don't think there was anything edited out (at least here on our PBS stations), but there were long Pledge breaks during the broadcasts. I did record it on all three of our PBS stations (Chicago, Milwaukee, Indiana) hoping one of them would air it without the breaks. No luck.
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Gsavage14 on Jun 29, 2017, 06:30 AM
How have I only just discovered Gregory Porter??

Been listening to TAKE ME TO THE ALLEY pretty much non-stop for the last three days!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlwceBF-2T4&list=PLR8yxhuQ2AVCyDnlUtlBjl3KiqYIT2l_q
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Leighton on Jul 02, 2017, 01:57 PM
Isn't he great?
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Leighton on Jul 09, 2017, 08:21 AM
I've spent a lot of today listening to Laura Nyro, and Carole King and James Taylor Live at the Troubadour.

Glorious summer music
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: KathyB on Aug 29, 2017, 01:24 PM
Anthony de Mare's Liaisons: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano. This is an insanely great album.
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Chris L on Aug 31, 2017, 02:39 AM
Serious Playground: The Songs of Laura Nyro - Judy Kuhn

I hated this album the first time I heard it, which must have been about a decade ago. I may even as said as much on the old FTC. I grew up with Laura Nyro's songs, losing myself in the most soulful musical interpretations I'd ever heard from a white woman. Something inside me must have changed, or maybe it's been a long time since I listened to Laura Nyro. Kuhn's versions don't sound bad now. They're different from Nyro and Kuhn doesn't even try for the soulful interpretations, which is a good thing, because I don't think she'd be capable of them. But now her versions make me smile, because the songs meant so much to me once and it's good to hear that they hold up on their own (not that, back in the day, the radio wasn't blanketed by covers of Nyro's songs).
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Leighton on Sep 01, 2017, 06:01 AM
I love a bit of Laura Nyro :)

I have been listen to the NBC of 'Promises, Promises', which, while not a patch on the OBC, has grown on me.
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: KathyB on Oct 27, 2017, 09:07 AM
City of Angels OBC. For some reason this has been stuck in my head (especially "The Tennis Song") even though it's been ages since I've listened to it.
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Chris L on Oct 27, 2017, 10:41 AM
Kathy: I recently went through a phase of listening to one of your favorite scores, The Full Monty, over and over on Spotify. I had "Big Ass Rock" stuck in my head for days!  8)
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: KathyB on Dec 11, 2017, 09:56 AM
XTC, Nonsuch.

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61ZiB1vT54L._SS500.jpg)

Happy 25th anniversary!
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Chris L on Dec 11, 2017, 06:54 PM
Simply Christmas by Leslie Odom, Jr. (who we saw in concert at Disney Hall over the weekend).
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Hester Jean on Dec 12, 2017, 09:52 AM
I saw him earlier this month.  He was funnier than I expect and he definitely is going for the Modern Nat King Cole sound!
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Chris L on Dec 12, 2017, 02:22 PM
Quote from: Hester Jean on Dec 12, 2017, 09:52 AMI saw him earlier this month.  He was funnier than I expect and he definitely is going for the Modern Nat King Cole sound!
Yes, I loved his Nat King Cole set ("Mona Lisa," "Straighten Up and Fly Right" and "Unforgettable," if I recall correctly). His wife, Nicolette Kloe Robinson, came out and joined him for a song, but I'm guessing that's just because they live locally. He seemed very nervous at first about appearing in LA, maybe because it's where he's lived since 2003 (according to Wikipedia), but he warmed to it pretty quickly.

He also did three songs from Hamilton, including a rapid-fire jazz version of "The Room Where It Happens" that would have been totally incomprehensible if I hadn't listened to the song a dozen times.
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Hester Jean on Dec 12, 2017, 07:10 PM
Quote from: Chris L on Dec 12, 2017, 02:22 PM
Quote from: Hester Jean on Dec 12, 2017, 09:52 AMI saw him earlier this month.  He was funnier than I expect and he definitely is going for the Modern Nat King Cole sound!
Yes, I loved his Nat King Cole set ("Mona Lisa," "Straighten Up and Fly Right" and "Unforgettable," if I recall correctly). His wife, Nicolette Kloe Robinson, came out and joined him for a song, but I'm guessing that's just because they live locally. He seemed very nervous at first about appearing in LA, maybe because it's where he's lived since 2003 (according to Wikipedia), but he warmed to it pretty quickly.

He also did three songs from Hamilton, including a rapid-fire jazz version of "The Room Where It Happens" that would have been totally incomprehensible if I hadn't listened to the song a dozen times.
His wife was at our show also. And yes,  "In the Room Where It Happens" was fast! And he did a very lovely "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" for his encore. 
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Chris L on Dec 12, 2017, 10:46 PM
Quote from: Hester Jean on Dec 12, 2017, 07:10 PM
Quote from: Chris L on Dec 12, 2017, 02:22 PMHis wife was at our show also. And yes,  "In the Room Where It Happens" was fast! And he did a very lovely "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" for his encore.
I guess he's traveling with her. Did she only do one song at the St. Louis concert? They must have brought their daughter along; if Nicolette isn't taking care of the kid it seems a bit odd that she'd come along on tour for just a single song.

He also closed his LA performance with "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." That's one of the songs on the Simply Christmas album.
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Gordonb on Dec 13, 2017, 10:39 AM
We're listening to the sound of Romans slurping on pasta! Did I mention we're in Rome. Tonight we are eating at la Nonna Betta in Testaccio, a Roman/Jewish kosher restaurant.

No idea what sounds to expect! Ciao!
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Gordonb on Dec 14, 2017, 10:29 PM
Quote from: Gordonb on Dec 13, 2017, 10:39 AMWe're listening to the sound of Romans slurping on pasta! Did I mention we're in Rome. Tonight we are eating at la Nonna Betta in Testaccio, a Roman/Jewish kosher restaurant.

No idea what sounds to expect! Ciao!
Well they were much like other Roman eating sounds. 
From our table there may also have been sounds of disgust (Rey) and pleasure (me) as I slurped on rigatoni alla pajata. Pajata is a Roman delicacy of poached baby veal intestines- I'm a bit of a believer in nose-to-tail eating and I am very much with the Romans with this dish. 
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: AmyG on Dec 15, 2017, 06:58 AM
I loved the concert. I expected more Christmas stuff given the date but what he did was wonderful. A great mix. I thought the sound mixing was a bit of a problem. His voice was periodically drowned out by his band. This has been a problem with amplified music at Disney Hall in the past.

He has performed in LA before at the Valley Performing Arts Center. He mentioned it at this concert. What he was nervous (and excited) about was appearing at Disney Hall specifically -- maybe because it is primarily a classical music venue and therefore might attract a more discerning audience, or because it is a rather daunting, if beautiful space.

Here he is doing The Who's "Christmas" in a new video.


Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: KathyB on Mar 20, 2018, 09:04 AM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/A1KEPeonC-L._SL1500_.jpg)

My opinion is that it isn't quite their best, but it's great to have this to listen to right now.
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Hester Jean on Mar 20, 2018, 06:45 PM
I agree,  Kathy.  If this was my first experience with the Decemberists, I don't think I would be the fan I am. I only listen to the whole album once so far, but I was underwhelmed.  

But I still love them!
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: KathyB on Mar 29, 2018, 09:10 AM
(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0496994449_16.jpg)

https://trummors.bandcamp.com/

My new obsession.

Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Leighton on Mar 29, 2018, 09:11 AM
Little Fish - such a great score!
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: KathyB on May 09, 2018, 04:08 PM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/518%2BPDj9sPL.jpg)

The man is brilliant, in my opinion.
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: KathyB on May 13, 2018, 02:51 PM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41i0mEFDK0L.jpg)

A friend sent this to me in digital files. I can't believe that this record is going for $200 at Amazon!
It's interesting. I normally wouldn't think of listening to something like this, but I'll listen again.
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: KathyB on May 25, 2018, 10:38 AM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51XgcbI8g4L._SS500.jpg)
This is my favorite recording of the score, even though the OBC is updated with a lot more music. It's also my favorite Evening Primrose out of the three I have.
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: KathyB on Jun 08, 2018, 11:18 AM
(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTkzW6ZaCdxpgNfdAu7hiNuXWtBKEjz5csTrwmY7mSkcjgrJQ7s)

Happy 25th Anniversary!
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: KathyB on Jun 22, 2018, 11:56 AM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/4108TS6PWEL.jpg)
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: KathyB on Sep 12, 2018, 12:30 PM
I guess nobody else ever listens to anything. ;)

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61R2ZrPEtYL._SS500.jpg)
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: KathyB on Oct 03, 2018, 05:43 PM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/516H%2Bkv7ZfL._SS500.jpg)

I'm really digging this one. It's got four songs from Big River on it, including John Goodman reprising his original "Guv'ment," which sounds no different than it did 32 years ago. Also, standout tracks from Lyle Lovett, Kacey Musgraves, Toad the Wet Sprocket and Brad Paisley. 
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Gordonb on Oct 04, 2018, 02:11 PM
I love(d)  Cheryl Bentyne as part of Manhattan Transfer, and I don't mind the couple of jazzy solo albums that I have, but her interpretations on her new cd 'reArrangements: the Music of Stephen Sondheim' are quite difficult to listen to. I know 'jazz' strays from the original but in this album she seems to be taking us so far away that we totally lose the original. >:(
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Jenniferlillian on Nov 19, 2018, 08:44 PM
I'm listening to the Decemberists. Particularly "Lake Song" from their terrific album What a Terrible World What a Beautiful World. The lyrics are so great I have to post them

"Down by the lake
We were overturning pebbles
And upending all the animals alight
And I took a drag
From your cigarette and pinched it
'Tween my finger and my thumb
Till it died
And the sun burned low on the radio

Say that you will
Say you will or will you won't
Or you whatever you prevaricate
Your whole life, don't you?

This much I can say:
I would've waited till the oceans
Fell Away and all the sunken cities
Would reveal themselves to you

But you won't, will you?
Because you never do
And the sun burned through
Sweet as honeydew

And I
Seventeen and terminally fey
I wrote it down and threw it all away
Never gave a thought to what I paid
And you
All sibylline, reclining in your pew
You tattered me, you tethered me to you
The things you would and wouldn't do
To tell the truth I never had a clue

Now we arise
To curse those young suburban villains
And their ill-begotten children from the lawn
Come to me now
And on this station wagon window
Set the ghost of your two footprints
That they might haunt me when you're gone
And when the light broke dawn
You were forever gone

But I remember you:
You were full
You were full and sweet as honeydew

And I
Seventeen and terminally fey
I wrote it down and threw it all away
And never gave a thought to what I paid
All sibylline, reclining in your pew
You tattered me, you tethered me to you
The things you would and wouldn't do
You noticed how I never had a clue
Never had a clue
You were full and sweet as honeydew
You were full and sweet as honeydew
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Chris L on Nov 20, 2018, 02:05 PM
I've loved The Decemberists since Amy and I saw them at the Greek several years ago. Of course, I've never uploaded videos these to YouTube.

Spoiler: ShowHide
Who'm I kidding? I uploaded a shitload of them to my YouTube channel. The group has never complained (YouTube has informed them of the existence of the videos and allowed them to post advertising on them), so they're still there.
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: scenicdesign71 on Dec 22, 2018, 01:26 AM
For some reason I put on the Grey Gardens OBCR the other night, and was reminded what a glorious score it is.  In particular, I was once again enamored of "Another Winter In A Summer Town" and ended up listening to it on repeat... several times.

Which I seem to recall having happened before, probably whenever my last Grey Gardens phase was.  The funny thing is, back in 2007 that song didn't altogether grab me at first; if anything, I thought it a bit limp and pedestrian for what's supposed to be not just a generic 11-o'clock number but the climax of its singer's overall emotional arc in the show.  I'm not sure how many listens it took for the song to grow on me -- but I'm glad it eventually did, with a vengeance.


Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: scenicdesign71 on Dec 22, 2018, 06:18 PM
...Speaking of:  this morning I discovered, to my great delight, that a very watchable full-length archival video of GG's original Off-B'way production can be viewed on YouTube.

I won't post the link here, but it's easy to find.  For Ebersole's and Wilson's performances alone -- beautifully captured, along with that of Sara Gettelfinger, whose Young "Little" Edie surpasses Erin Davie's Broadway portrayal, imho -- it's well worth two-plus hours of your time.

It also cleared, from some remote corner of my mind, one obscure design-geek cobweb that had been lingering there for the past decade.  Having managed to see GG only after it moved to Broadway, I had long harbored a tiny sliver of disappointment at never having gotten to witness one particular detail of Allan Moyer's brilliant set (http://allenmoyerdesign.com/greygardens.html) that, I had heard at the time, didn't survive the transfer.

(It's pretty obscure: keep reading only if you're as big a nerd as I am about this kind of thing.)

First of all, some background: Moyer's design smartly reflected the remarkable cleavage between the show's two acts rather than trying to knit them together.  (Doug Wright's book actually already makes the two halves reflect each other at every turn -- but in distorted form, as if in a fun-house mirror which, together with the cognitive dissonance elicited by Ebersole's double-casting, seemed to throw some viewers who sought a more conventional through-line between the Edies' halcyon prewar days and their astonishing later decline).

In both Off- and B'way venues, Moyer set the first act in a gorgeously-appointed box set so conventional it wouldn't have looked out of place in a domestic melodrama on the Broadway stage of 1941: square, frontal, with discreetly forced perspective and a number of flattish, laterally-sliding pieces (French windows, trellises, grey-shingled "show curtain" panels) downstage, which occasionally took us out of the parlor and onto GG's porch or grounds.  (They also allowed the house itself to reveal, conceal or "imprison" the older and younger Edies at several points, to compelling visual and dramatic effect).  By contrast, the second act placed the front hallway and upstairs bedroom  -- by this time, the house's only two still-functioning rooms -- on a central revolve, without any walls to speak of, isolated amid looming piles of empty cat-food cans and other debris, and often lit with fragmentary, flickering projections (including images from the Maysles' film itself).  The impression of fractured reality, dizzyingly augmented by this shift into purely sculptural movement and lighting (even the projections were often stretched and warped by the various moving surfaces onto which they were being cast) perfectly echoed the startling disjuncture between the polished, theatrical repartee of Act I and the "real" dialogue of Act II (largely collaged from verbatim snippets of the documentary, though in fact edited by Wright with the same lean precision as his faux-midcentury well-made-playwrighting in the first act).

Okay, so about that pesky cobweb in my brain: given my admiration for Moyer's strategy of presenting Act I in classic, even self-consciously "stage-y" pictorial style, and Act II as sculptural deconstruction -- a choice that I suspect may have cemented my overall appreciation of the show even more, or at least more quickly, than any other single factor -- I was tantalized to learn, a month or two after first seeing GG on Broadway, that there was one seemingly substantial element of the Act II set that was cut when the show transferred.  At the time, I was doing some work at the Vineyard Theatre, and the Production Manager who hired me had worked some months earlier on GG at Playwrights: specifically, engineering the Act II revolve with an internal elevator (!) which lowered Grey Gardens's front staircase into the floor -- an effect not seen on Broadway.

In both productions, the Act II staircase essentially divided the revolve into two main playing areas: the ground-floor entrance hall on one side, and the (ostensibly second-floor) bedroom on the other.  The set had no actual second story; both areas actually played "on the floor," at stage level, with the tall "stairway to nowhere" functioning as a kind of wall between them.  But apparently at Playwrights, one could climb the stairs from the front hall, as the revolve turned and the elevator sank -- and arrive back at stage level in the "upstairs" bedroom.

Lo and behold, when that moment finally arrived in the Playwrights video as I watched this morning -- it was actually only the top half of the staircase, and the sequence was reversed: near the end of "Choose To Be Happy," the upper stairs sank into the floor until the very top step was flush with the stage; Ebersole's Little Edie stepped on and began to descend them, and they immediately began to rise again, meeting the landing just in time to deposit her in the front hall, suitcase in hand, to begin her reprise of "Around The World".  (If you've made it this far and are curious: in the YouTube video, it occurs at exactly one minute past the two-hour mark).

Several thoughts occurred.  While the timing is such that Ebersole is being lifted up by the rising stairs just as Norman Vincent Peale and his gospel choir reach a hand-clapping crescendo, "Choose..." is still basically a transitional song, perhaps not worthy of a scenic flourish quite this grand (it's a striking one-off addition to an already lavish design, especially for Off Broadway).  The moment in question isn't exactly the pivotal one of (Older) Little Edie's choosing to leave Grey Gardens for good (or not), though Peale's hymn to positive thinking is clearly meant to supply her with some momentum in that direction.  (The more persuasive "moment," such as it is, sort of happens in stages, the most arresting of which occur directly before and after "Another Winter...", with no visual or choral support: Ebersole's performance is more-than-sufficiently spellbinding by itself).  It got me wondering whether this entire sequence might have changed at some point after Moyer completed his design, leaving his elevator effect without a really ideal moment to contribute to the staging.

Then again, for all of the money and engineering acumen (props to my Vineyard employer, Ben) this elevator-in-a-revolve must have cost Playwrights, judging by the video its deployment seemed neither as spectacular nor, conversely, as effortlessly-integrated an effect as Moyer and his collaborators may have intended.  In its single use here, the elevator never rises or sinks while the revolve is turning; I can't tell whether it would have been (or was intended to be) capable of doing so.  But elevating only half the staircase feels a tadbit clunky, especially when that portion only lowers shortly beforehand, to scoop Little Edie up, and then immediately rises again just so that she can descend four or five steps to the landing: it almost feels like too much automation, in too little space, occurring over too short a timespan, to be worth the considerable effort put into it.  It doesn't ruin the moment by any means, but I'm not sure it really enhances it all that much either. 

Meanwhile, the prominent gap between the landing platform and the upper steps reads to me, when seen from behind (above the two Edies' spindle headboards, in the bedroom where we spend quite a bit of Act II), more as scabbed-together stage scenery than as realistic architectural structure, even in a house that's supposed to be falling apart.  Not until the elevator finally does its thing can we infer why, in reality, the landing was built in two visibly-separate pieces -- by which time, that's the last thing we should be thinking about.

I seem to recall Ben saying the elevator was cut for Broadway simply because the Walter Kerr didn't have sufficient trap-room clearance under the stage.  Now that I've finally seen the effect on video, the upshot for me is that it wasn't actually that huge a loss.  But I'm still a fan of the idea, in principle, as a potentially gorgeous expansion on the sculptural/cinematic emphasis of the second-act design.  We go up- and downstairs often enough that the concept of both rotating and elevating the staircase feels right, and might not even need to be confined to just one, quasi-climactic moment.  With some refinement, I still think it could really drive home the idea of this house as a sort of monstrous puzzle-box.  But I suspect that Moyer's spot-on intentions may have been thwarted by limited tech time; by the sheer mechanical complexity of sinking even a portion of the stairs into a revolve, and -- as speculated above -- by the exigencies of a perhaps still-developing script and staging.

But at least I've finally seen what the effect looked like.  So that's one cobweb I can brush out of my brain.  Way off-topic, sorry.

For what it's worth, I am still listening to the GG OBCR; I put it back on this evening and have been scrolling around listening to bits and pieces and comparing some sections with the Off-Broadway cast recording.


Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Leighton on Dec 28, 2018, 05:12 AM
I absolutely adore this score; occasionally it drifts out of my memory but then I revisit it and remember it is just perfect.  I saw the London premiere, at the Southwark Playhouse, with Jenna Russell and Sheila Hancock (and one of my students playing Young Jackie), and I bawled throughout.  God, it was good.  I may look for the YouTube video.  Is the Off-Broadway recording you mention commercially available?
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: scenicdesign71 on Dec 28, 2018, 02:59 PM
To my knowledge, there's no (legally) commercially-available video recording of any production of Grey Gardens.*

In terms of cast albums (i.e. audio recordings), there were two releases in the U.S.: Off Broadway and Broadway.  The main cast change was Davie taking over for Gettelfinger as Young Little Edie, and indeed -- as with Fun Home substituting Emily Skeggs for Alexandra Socha as Medium Alison -- I believe they mostly reused the original tracks from the Off-Broadway cast album, re-recording only what was necessary to replace Gettelfinger's performance with Davie's.

Of course, beyond just its cast, Grey Gardens itself changed more during the move uptown than Fun Home did, and the recordings reflect those changes.  If you want to hear the songs that were cut or replaced for Broadway ("Toyland" by "The Girl Who Has Everything"; "Body Beautiful Beale" and "Better Fall Out Of Love" by "Goin' Places"; "Being Bouvier" by "Marry Well," with the girls' parts echoing lyrical ideas from the cut "Tomorrow's Woman"), the OOBCR can be heard on Pandora (https://www.pandora.com/artist/grey-gardens-original-off-broadway-cast-recording/grey-gardens-original-off-broadway-cast-recording/ALbjbvnxkt5zX2w), or found on CD (likely used (https://www.ebay.com/i/183446927123?chn=ps), as -- again like Fun Home -- I believe the Off-B'way cast album was taken out of print as soon as the B'way one was released).

In terms of finding a copy on CD, it doesn't help matters that, on American Amazon at least, its cover design -- a photo of a crumbling stone cherub, from the poster art for the Playwrights production (https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NP-W9Rh-YGg/Wxr-aML9_-I/AAAAAAAARz0/8NjGwUbVWHMegXs0MSOyoGr-wJUcRFKUACEwYBhgL/s1600/grey%252Bgardens-playwrights-01.jpg&imgrefurl=http://remembrancesofperformancespast.blogspot.com/2018/06/&h=1600&w=1028&tbnid=yG9yHCt0s0UjQM&tbnh=280&tbnw=180&usg=AI4_-kQq43M27XUZZRH540QNlV8t-MVYRw&vet=1&docid=u7Jezsu2nVWynM), alongside one of Ebersole's Little Edie in her winter furs -- appears (mistakenly) on the product page for the Broadway cast recording.  In the U.S., the furs-and-cherub cover was actually that of the Off-Broadway recording, while the Broadway version featured a completely revamped poster design (https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://assets.playbill.com/playbill-covers/5ff788a7b29e0cf7d36cba294530d769-grey-gardens-playbill-2006-10-03-web.jpg&imgrefurl=https://playbill.com/productions/grey-gardens-walter-kerr-theatre-vault-0000010036&tbnid=LPbZz2DpkGsEuM&vet=1&docid=2el7EAyCgCQvXM&w=649&h=1024&source=sh/x/im) based on this photo (https://images.app.goo.gl/aeRy3uYEdu3iPSnu9) of the real little Edie, in shoulder-baring summer attire including a wide-brimmed straw hat, peering at the camera over a hand mirror which obscures most of her face.  As much as the more-revealing outfit, the main difference between the two designs is color: broadly speaking, the wintry Off-B'way image reads as almost monochromatic grey (enlivened only slightly by Ebersole's face and her brown fur coat), while the summery B'way one features a striking velvety-green background echoing the dark grey-green of her hat and outfit.  (I assume the model in the Broadway image is also Ebersole, but we see so little of her face that I couldn't swear to it).

____________________
* The musical, that is.  The spiffy Criterion editions of both the original documentary and its 2006 "sequel" The Beales of Grey Gardens are both available on DVD and Blu Ray, separately or sold together as a set; both can also be streamed on Amazon Prime.  HBO's film dramatization, with Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange, is also available on DVD and streaming.  And for Christmas this year I received That Summer (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/that_summer_2018) on DVD (but it too can be streamed on Amazon), collected from footage taken at Grey Gardens two years prior (http://nymag.com/news/features/56102/) to the Maysles' documentary -- when Lee Radziwill (who's onscreen quite a bit) had been trying to persuade the brothers to make a film about her childhood summers in East Hampton, and got sidetracked by the cleanup operation in the wake of the local Health Department's intervention.  Andy Warhol, Truman Capote and Mick Jagger also apparently visited, though we see them only in brief glimpses.


Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Leighton on Jan 01, 2019, 02:40 PM
Thank you :)
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: valmont on Jan 05, 2019, 06:24 PM
I have always liked the Off-Broadway version of Grey Gardens much more than the Broadway version.  "Body Beautiful Beale" and "Better Fall Out of Love" are brilliant songs, far better than many other songs in the score, and they really nail the early 1940's style.  In addition they very subtly lay the groundwork for the catastrophe that will end the first act, dramatizing latent conflicts in Little Edie's relationships with her mother and with Joe.  The song that replaced them, "Going Places", does none of these things, and just is not a very good or interesting song.  And those cut songs give us a really clear picture of Little Edie's personality as a young woman; without them she rather recedes into the background, because Big Edie's larger-than-life presence dominates the whole act.  Likewise, "Being Bouvier" draws a clear portrait of the Major, which shows us exactly why he is so disdainful of Big Edie's cocktail-party singing, setting the stage for his outburst during "Hominy Grits" which sort of comes out of nowhere in the revised text.  "Marry Well", the song that replaced it, is rather inane, more of an answer to another cut song "Tomorrow's Woman" than an expression of the Major's character.  And it's a small thing but "The Girl Who Has Everything" is a too on-the-nose comment on Little Edie's character, whereas "Toyland" is just a harmless pastiche - which really is the right thing for the moment -- sounding like just the kind of song Big Edie would actually have sung and recorded.

Going hand in hand with all of this is the unavoidable evidence on the recordings that Gettelfinger is a stronger singer than Davie, and a much better actress.  Time after time Davie seems not to comprehend Little Edie's attitudes toward the other characters -- gushing in delight over Big Edie's recital song list when in fact she is meant to be MORTIFIED.

I am so glad I got the off-Broadway Cd when it was still available.  The only change in the Broadway version that I like is the addition of the reprise of "Mother Darling" as the telegram song, a nice touch.  But it's not worth the loss of everything else.
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: scenicdesign71 on Jan 06, 2019, 07:42 AM
In fairness, Davie wasn't actually "gushing in delight" over Big Edie's song list; gobsmacked by the surprise, her (or at least her Young Little Edie's) default in the face of such "mortification" was -- in keeping with the song's lyric -- to zoom in the opposite direction and try to pass off her shock as though it were that of delight and gratitude rather than of distress and resentment.

Which isn't to say that I don't agree (I very much do) with your preference for Gettelfinger's rendition, even of those specific lines. (Ben Brantley's preference for Davie in the role -- to the point of citing her ostensibly-unsatisfactory predecessor by name in his B'way review, which seemed uncalled-for -- always puzzled me).  But I feel compelled to defend Davie because, even though her casting here never struck me as ideal, she's neither untalented nor obtuse.

Self-serving as this sounds, I will say that I've never enjoyed her Broadway work as much as that in which I first encountered her: in a production of Jekyll & Hyde I designed a couple of years earlier, where her Emma actually elevated (so far as possible) a thankless role in a witless show.  By comparison, she's now been miscast (IMO) at least twice on Broadway -- in GG and, worse, in A Little Night Music as a mopey Charlotte ill-served by a leaden, half-tempo arrangement of "Every Day A Little Death".  Beyond that, I saw her as Jill Paice's replacement in Curtains near the end of its run (another relatively thankless role); as Violet in Side Show (a good performance in an unmemorable show); and as Yvonne/Naomi in Sunday in the Park With George (respectable, if again not ideally cast -- although, to be fair, Dana Ivey may never really relinquish her hold on those roles in my imagination).

About Grey Gardens in general, I agree that a lot of really great material got lost in the transfer.  I think the consensus at the time was that Act I was too long at Playwrights, so a lot of the changes were about compressing the 1941 material in order to get to Act II faster.  After seeing the video, I agree with you that the losses weren't necessarily worth it (though I do like "The Girl Who Has Everything" despite its being, as you say, a bit "on the nose").  And "The Telegram" wasn't even a net gain for the score itself: it was already in the Playwrights version, even though it didn't appear on the Off-B'way CD (cut for time, I assume: even without it, the disc is stuffed-unto-bursting in terms of its running length).

Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: KathyB on Jul 10, 2019, 11:10 AM
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81dDPuSmLlL._SS500_.jpg)
Happy 25th anniversary! (Gasp.)
I love this album. I don't know anybody else who has ever heard of it.
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: KathyB on Aug 12, 2019, 02:56 PM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41P0FQ41AFL.jpg)

Happy 19th anniversary!
Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: scenicdesign71 on Jul 30, 2022, 06:21 PM
I've been revisiting Queen of the Mist (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_of_the_Mist) lately, and I cannot get "There Is Greatness In Me" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9SvEc0gSj0) out of my head.

It is not the first time this particular song has lodged itself in my brain and refused to leave.

If asked to characterize the music of Michael John LaChiusa in a single word, "catchy" might not be the very first to spring to mind.  But, in addition to being a tour-de-force of dynamic exposition, a note-perfect introduction to LaChiusa's version of Anna Edson Taylor, and a thrilling bespoke vocal-dramatic vehicle (as is the whole show) for the incomparable Mary Testa, "...Greatness In Me" is also infernally sticky.

Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: scenicdesign71 on Feb 27, 2024, 02:25 AM
I'm listening to the new OCR of Adam Guettel's Days of Wine and Roses (https://daysofwineandrosesbroadway.com/) for the second or third (call it second-and-a-half) time since downloading it last week, and enjoying it more and more each time.  When last I checked, a few weeks ago, the show seemed not to be selling very briskly despite its good reviews, name (well, Broadway-name) cast and familiar, if hardly feel-good, title.  Brian D'Arcy James and Kelli O'Hara sound wonderful on the recording and are reportedly heartbreaking onstage.  And Guettel's score, wedding his distinctive harmonic sensibility to a midcentury jazz idiom, is quietly devastating on Apple Music, so I can only imagine its effect live.  I may have to scrape together the cost of a ticket before the show's limited B'way run ends on April 28.

(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81sONV5ft-L._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg)


Title: Re: What Are You Listening To?
Post by: Leighton on Feb 28, 2024, 01:53 PM
Lots of Evita - likely to be our next school musical.