Sondheim Evening: A Musical Tribute (1973 Concert Cast) [Cast Recording] [Live]

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Affectionately referred to as the "Scrabble album" for its playful cover art, Sondheim Evening: A Musical Tribute was the first of many tribute albums celebrating the music of Broadway's greatest modern composer, Stephen Sondheim. In 1973, however, he was still a relative newcomer whose work as a lyricist was more celebrated than his early efforts as a composer, which included Company and Follies. Accordingly, this tribute deviates from later efforts by including a few songs for which he only provided lyrics, but somewhat surprisingly, it also sets a trend by unearthing rarely heard selections--from Saturday Night and Evening Primrose--as well as songs cut from various shows, including A Little Night Music, which had just premiered a few weeks earlier). And that cast! Members of the original companies--including Angela Lansbury, Chita Rivera, Dorothy Collins, Alexis Smith, and Donna McKechnie, just to name a few--as well as Sondheim himself singing "Anyone Can Whistle" from the piano. Obviously, later tribute albums have more material to work with and similar all-star rosters (though they sometimes resort to gimmicks such as men singing women's songs), but this one has yet to be topped. --David Horiuchi

Tracks:

Act I: Ov - Paul Gemignani
Act I: Do I Hear a Waltz?: Do I Hear A Waltz? - Dorothy Collins
Act I: Gypsy: If Mama Was Married - Alice Playten/Virginia Sandifur
Act I: West Side Story: America - Chita Rivera
Act I: Follies: One More Kiss - Justine Johnston/Victoria Malloy
Act I: Follies: Broadway Baby - Ethel Shutta
Act I: Company: You Could Drive A Person Crazy - Donna McKechnie/Pamela Myers/Susan Browning
Act I: Evening Primrose: Take Me To The World - Marti Rolph
Act I: Evening Primrose: I Remember - Victoria Mallory
Act I: A Little Night Music: Silly People - George Lee Andrews
Act I: A Little Night Music: Two Fairy Tales - Mark Lambert/Victoria Mallory
Act I: A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum: Love Is In The Air - Larry Blyden/Susan Browning
Act I: A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum: Your Eyes Are Blue - Harvey Evans/Pamela Hall
Act I: Follies: Pleasant Little Kingdom - Dorothy Collins/John McMartin
Act I: Follies: Too Many Mornings - Dorothy Collins/John McMartin

Tracks:

Act II: Entr'acte - Paul Gemignani
Act II: Anyone Can Whistle: Me And My Town - Angela Lansbury/Harvey Evans/Tony Stevens
Act II: Company: The Little Things You Do Together - Mary McCarty
Act II: Company: Getting Married Today - Beth Howland/Teri Ralston/Steve Elmore
Act II: Follies: Buddy's Blues - Larry Blyden/Donna McKechnie/Chita Rivera
Act II: Saturday Night: So Many People - Susan Browning/Jack Cassidy
Act II: Company: Another Hundred People - Pamela Myers
Act II: Company: Happily Ever After - Larry Kert
Act II: Company: Being Alive - Larry Kert
Act II: Do I Hear A Waltz? We're Gonna Be All Right - Laurence Guittard/Teri Ralston
Act II: Follies: Beautiful Girls - Ron Holgate
Act II: Follies: I'm Still Here - Nancy Walker
Act II: Anyone Can Whistle: A Parade In Town - Angela Lansbury
Act II: Follies: Could I Leave You? - Alexis Smith
Act II: Follies: Losing My Mind - Dorothy Collins
Act II: Anyone Can Whistle: Anyone Can Whistle - Stephen Sondheim
Act II: Company: Side By Side By Side - Entire Company

Amazon.com

Affectionately referred to as the "Scrabble album" for its playful cover art, Sondheim Evening: A Musical Tribute was the first of many tribute albums celebrating the music of Broadway's greatest modern composer, Stephen Sondheim. In 1973, however, he was still a relative newcomer whose work as a lyricist was more celebrated than his early efforts as a composer, which included Company and Follies. Accordingly, this tribute deviates from later efforts by including a few songs for which he only provided lyrics, but somewhat surprisingly, it also sets a trend by unearthing rarely heard selections--from Saturday Night and Evening Primrose--as well as songs cut from various shows, including A Little Night Music, which had just premiered a few weeks earlier). And that cast! Members of the original companies--including Angela Lansbury, Chita Rivera, Dorothy Collins, Alexis Smith, and Donna McKechnie, just to name a few--as well as Sondheim himself singing "Anyone Can Whistle" from the piano. Obviously, later tribute albums have more material to work with and similar all-star rosters (though they sometimes resort to gimmicks such as men singing women's songs), but this one has yet to be topped. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews:

The BEST of Sondheim.......2006-07-22

The best Sondheim collection available. the live performances add greatly to the album. All the performances are fresh and fun, or heartfelt and lovely. Added bonus is the performance of unused songs from several shows. The wholething is wonderful. Only wish it had been done more recently to include the shows of the past 30 yrs. Could be quite an evening. The Carnegie Hall tribute album is glossier and more recent, but I like this better.

Marry Me a Little.......2005-08-15

This is an old favorite that I already had on LP, but decided to finally upgrade to CD. Obviously, I like it or I wouldn't have bothered.

One of the Best Sondheim Concerts ever.......2004-01-13

I bought this set used on vinyl when I was 17. Then again on cassette when I was 25. I'm now about to buy it on cd. Why? Hands down it is the best concert album of his works. Nothing gimimicky, just a great evening of song, most with the original performers recreating their moments. Also, there are more than a handful of cut songs and obscure lyrics. For you Sondheim buffs: the original lyrics to "We're Gonna Be All Right" which got sanitized during the tryout becuase Dorothy Rodgers thought the lyrics were too racy. And a previous reviewer complained that there were No performance of Night Music songs on the disc, Here's why. The Cast Album had just been recorded by Columbia and they held the rights to any of the original cast recording of the songs. During "Liasons" and "Send in the Clowns" the Engineers from Warner Brothers (the original Label) had to shut off the mics. A shame...written accounts of the evening state that Glynis Johns had the house in tears with Send in the Clowns. Still and all, a worthwhile album.

A must have for Sondheim fans!.......2002-01-01

Aside from featuring a song ("Two Fairy Tales") that appears on no other tribute/compilation CD that I'm aware of, and several other rarely performed tunes, this tribute has another significant feature: All the singers appeared in, or were intended to appear in, original Sondheim productions, so the net effect is to provide some tantalizing examples of how these songs sounded live on stage by their original singers.

There are so many treasures on this CD! Examples: If you doubted that Beth Howland owns "Getting Married Today," this rendition will put your doubts to rest; she actually sings it faster than on the OBR of Company! Similarly, while there have been plenty of decent renditions of "Broadway Baby," Ethel Shutta proves why she was the first (and best). Nancy Walker's "I'm Still Here" ranks with the greatest versions of this song. And what a joy it is to hear Angela Lansbury, by this time an experienced musical thespian, singing songs from Anyone Can Whistle with considerable assurance.

One small complaint I have is that while the cast of the then-current A Little Night Music appears, none of them sings any songs on their own; they merely provide part of the chorus (and Hermione Gingold was one of the "Beautiful Girls). As I am a Len Cariou fan, I was disappointed that I didn't get to hear him live. Still, this is a sensational collection that should delight both Sondheim fans and musical theatre fans in general.

I wish this CD would never end!.......2000-04-13

This is probably my favorite of the Sondheim compilation CDs I have. It's a live concert recorded in 1973, right in the middle of the "Golden Age" of Sondheim. It's got the great songs one would expect ("Being Alive", "America", "Broadway Baby") and it also has a good handful of songs that were cut from his shows...all of them on par or better with the ones that were kept in! It stars many of the members of "Company" and "Follies" along with biggies like Chita Rivera and Angela Lansbury, whose "Me and My Town" is a riot. My only complaint is the sound quality. But if anything, it just gives the recording more character! This is a great CD and I couldn't consider my Sondheim collection complete without it.

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