The Best of Broadway, Vol. 2: The Sound of Music/Annie/On the Town (Original Broadway Casts) [Cast Recording]

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Sony's new series of remastered classic original cast recordings--each volume comes as a three pack--is an unbeatable bargain, bringing together legendary milestones from the rich history of Broadway. Most of the civilized world identifies Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic The Sound of Music with the Robert Wise film, one of the most successful movie musicals of all time. But not only does the original cast recording feature different tunes, but Captain Von Trapp is played by heavyset folksinger Theodore Bikel, a far cry from young Christopher Plummer, while Mary Martin was much older than the film's Julie Andrews. But the stage version is, in many ways, more faithful to the Von Trapp Family Singers' true story. The original Broadway cast recording of Annie still has as much charm as it did in 1977. Charles Strouse wrote the snappy music and Martin Charnin's clever lyrics capture the misery of the Great Depression, the glitter of the upper-crust life, and the character of the FDR administration. Andrea McArdle shines in the title role, most notably with the classic anthem "Tomorrow," while Tony-winner Dorothy Loudon and Reid Shelton provide support as the hag Miss Hannigan and the benevolent Daddy Warbucks, respectively. This remastered edition includes as bonus material 17 minutes of tape Strouse and Charnin recorded for backers' auditions in 1972. Since the original 1944 On the Town had never been properly recorded, original cast members Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Nancy Walker, and Chris Alexander finally got in a studio in 1960 while Bernstein himself conducted the New York Philharmonic. The Philharmonic can be a bit stiff at times, but this tale of three sailors on leave in New York is so full of energy and humor that it could be done by a string quartet and still blow the roof off.

Tracks:

Preludium - Barbara George, Joey Heatherton,
Sound of Music - Mary Martin
Maria - Elizabeth Howell, Patricia Neway, Muriel O'Malley, Karen Shepard
My Favorite Things - Cris Alexander, , Adolph Green, Michael Kermoyan, , John Reardon, Chorus, Orchestra
Do-Re-Mi - The Orchestra
Sixteen Going on Seventeen
Lonely Goatherd
How Can Love Survive?
Sound of Music (Reprise)
Laendler - The Orchestra
So Long, Farewell
Climb Ev'ry Mountain - Patricia Neway
No Way to Stop It - Theodore Bikel, Kurt Kasznar, Marion Marlowe
Ordinary Couple - Theodore Bikel, Mary Martin
Processional
Sixteen Going on Seventeen (Reprise) - Brian Davies, Lauri Peters
Edelweiss - Theodore Bikel, Children, Mary Martin
Climb Ev'ry Mountain (Reprise) - Patricia Neway, Company
Sound of Music [*] - Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Do-Re-Mi [*] - Children, Mitch Miller

Tracks:

Overture - The Orchestra
Maybe - Andrea McArdle, Orphans, Orphans
It's the Hard-Knock Life - Andrea McArdle, Orphans, Orphans
Tomorrow - Andrea McArdle
We'd Like to Thank You Herbert Hoover
Little Girls - Dorothy Loudon
I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here - Sandy Faison, Andrea McArdle
N.Y.C. - Sandy Faison, Andrea McArdle, Reid Shelton
Easy Street - Barbara Erwin, Robert Fitch, Dorothy Loudon
You Won't Be an Orphan for Long - Sandy Faison
You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile - Laurie Beechman, Edie Cowan, Donald Craig, Orphans, Orphans, Penny Worth
Tomorrow (Reprise) - The Cabinet, Andrea McArdle, Reid Shelton, Raymond Thorne
Something Was Missing - Reid Shelton
I Don't Need Anything But You - Sandy Faison, Andrea McArdle, Reid Shelton
Annie - Sandy Faison
New Deal for Christmas - Sandy Faison, Andrea McArdle, Orphans, Orphans, Reid Shelton, Raymond Thorne
Introductory Remarks [*]
Apples [*] - Mary Martin, Patricia Neway
Lead-In and Song: We Got Annie [*]
Lead-In [*] - Nancy Walker
Just Wait [*] - Children, Mary Martin
Lead-In [*] - Betty Comden, Adolph Green
That's the Way It Goes [*] - John Reardon, Orchestra
Lead-In [*] - Chorus
Parents [*] - Nancy Walker
Lead-In and Song: I've Never Been So Happy [*] - John Reardon, Chorus
Tomorrow [First Public Performance][*] - The Orchestra

Tracks:

Opening: New York, New York/Dance: Miss Turnstiles - Cris Alexander, , Betty Comden, George Gaynes, Adolph Green, , , Nancy Walker, Chorus, Orchestra
Come Up to My Place [Taxi Number] - George Gaynes
Carried Away - Cris Alexander, Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Nancy Walker
Lonely Town/Dance: Lonely Town - Brian Davies, Lauri Peters
Carnegie Hall (Do-Do-Re-Do) - Leonard Bernstein, , , Orchestra
I Can Hook, Too - Lehman Engel, New York Philharmonic, , Orchestra
Lucky to Be Me
Dance: Times Square - Children, Mary Martin
Nightclub Sequence: So Long Baby/I'm Blue/Ya Got Me - Kurt Kasznar, Marion Marlowe
I Understand - Theodore Bikel, , Mary Martin
Ballet: The Imaginary Coney Island/Subway Ride/Dance of the Great ...
Some Other Time
Dance: The Real Coney Island/Finale
Oveture/Three Dances Episodes From [On the Town][*]
I. The Great Lover [*]
II. Lonely Town: Pas de Deux [*]
III. Times Square: 1944 [*]

Amazon.com

Sony's new series of remastered classic original cast recordings--each volume comes as a three pack--is an unbeatable bargain, bringing together legendary milestones from the rich history of Broadway. Most of the civilized world identifies Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic The Sound of Music with the Robert Wise film, one of the most successful movie musicals of all time. But not only does the original cast recording feature different tunes, but Captain Von Trapp is played by heavyset folksinger Theodore Bikel, a far cry from young Christopher Plummer, while Mary Martin was much older than the film's Julie Andrews. But the stage version is, in many ways, more faithful to the Von Trapp Family Singers' true story. The original Broadway cast recording of Annie still has as much charm as it did in 1977. Charles Strouse wrote the snappy music and Martin Charnin's clever lyrics capture the misery of the Great Depression, the glitter of the upper-crust life, and the character of the FDR administration. Andrea McArdle shines in the title role, most notably with the classic anthem "Tomorrow," while Tony-winner Dorothy Loudon and Reid Shelton provide support as the hag Miss Hannigan and the benevolent Daddy Warbucks, respectively. This remastered edition includes as bonus material 17 minutes of tape Strouse and Charnin recorded for backers' auditions in 1972. Since the original 1944 On the Town had never been properly recorded, original cast members Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Nancy Walker, and Chris Alexander finally got in a studio in 1960 while Bernstein himself conducted the New York Philharmonic. The Philharmonic can be a bit stiff at times, but this tale of three sailors on leave in New York is so full of energy and humor that it could be done by a string quartet and still blow the roof off.

Customer Reviews:

A great deal.......2000-03-31

Once again this set is what I have been looking for and at a great price. I had the Sound of Music soundtrack (an album) when I was growing up. It brought back so many great memories. Annie is great and is so much different from the movie soundtrack. The true Annie fan needs to own both. I was unfamiliar with On The Town but it is an added treasure to my collection.

Music:

Music

Music