This section lists recordings and also “Scores the Scores.” Virtually all show scores available in recorded format were reviewed. The following information is provided for each score:
•Title of musical.
•Date first presented on Broadway, followed by number of performances, when available. (OB indicates Off Broadway.)
•1 to 5 star rating.
•M = composer; L= lyricist.
•One-sentence critique taking into consideration every song reviewed, the overall quality of music and lyrics, and other factors including thematic unity, variety of material, inclusion of comedy numbers, and story relevance. Every effort was made to listen to as many songs as possible, which sometimes necessitated drawing from more than one recording. Only songs known to have reached opening night on Broadway were considered; carefully excluded were any numbers cut out of town or during previews, or added to subsequent productions or film versions of the work. Generally, only scores containing a clear majority of the songs (as of opening night) were considered. The exceptions are treated as follows: In lieu of a starred rating, which for these exceptions is omitted, the number of songs reviewed is listed. These comments on the scores in recorded format should not in any way be construed as reviews of the musicals themselves.
•Record label and record number (all are vinyl unless otherwise noted), followed by identity of singing ensemble: OC = original cast; LC = later cast, with date given; SC = studio recording; AC = archival reconstruction.
STARRED RATINGS
***** Most honored achievement includes some twenty-five scores from over three hundred reviewed.
**** Highly distinguished work.
*** Quality score offers definite pleasure.
** Serviceable to mediocre; most albums in this category contain a fair number of musical and/or lyrical assets.
* Not all these shows are turkeys, and many contain at least one or two fine numbers. All, however, are on balance chronically weak.
_________________
Ain’t Misbehavin’ (1978 / 1,604p) *** M: Fats Waller. L: various. Zingiest batch of uptempo numbers since Gershwin days, with raucous humor and second-rate blues ballads. (CD RCA 2965-2-RC OC)
All American (1962 / 80p) *** M: Charles Strouse. L: Lee Adams. Warm graceful tunes and spunky humor, lushly orchestrated in filmland style. (Columbia KOS2160 OC)
Allegro (1947 / 315p) **** M: Richard Rodgers. L: Oscar Hammerstein II. Finely wrought work referencing simplistic conflict fails to flesh out dramatic implications. (RCA LOC-1099 OC)
Annie (1977 / 2,377p) **** M: Charles Strouse. L: Martin Charnin. Delightful tour-de-hummer brims with relentless optimism, Depression-era wit, and crackling Broadway pizazz. (Columbia 34712 OC)
Annie Get Your Gun (1946 / 1,147p) ***** M/L: Irving Berlin. Blockbuster songfest whose captivating on-point lyrics lead the way. (RCA LSO-1124 LC-1966, with Ethel Merman)
Anya (1965 / 16p) *** M/L: Robert Wright and George Forrest adapting themes of Rachmaninoff. Nice lyrics fail to give wonderful music much dramatic specificity. (United Artists UAL4133 OC)
Anyone Can Whistle (1964 / 9p) *** M/L: Stephen Sondheim. Early Sondheim fascinates with unique voice. (Columbia AS32608 OC)
Anything Goes (1934 / 420p) ***** M/L: Cole Porter. Breathtaking Porter-perfect songwriting on relentless parade. (Epic FLS15100 LC-1962)
Applause (1970 / 896p) ** M: Charles Strouse. L: Lee Adams. Enough talent, especially in the lyrics, to make this acceptably mediocre. (ABC-OCS-11 OC)
The Apple Tree (1966 / 463p) * M: Jerry Bock. L: Sheldon Harnick. No apples under this one. (Columbia KOL6620 OC)
Arms and the Girl (1950 / 134p) ** M: Morton Gould. L: Dorothy Fields. A nice little discovery of tender charms, engaging voices and pleasantly uneven songs. (Columbia reissue of Decca X 14879 OC)
Aspects of Love (1990 / 377p) * M: Andrew Lloyd Webber. L: Don Black and Charles Hart. One of the worst scores ever to reach Broadway demonstrates the pitfalls of recitative (sung dialogue) overkill. (Polydor CD 841 126-2)
Assassins (1990 / 30p) *** M/L: Stephen Sondheim. Sondheim’s daring artistry on the side of angry losers and outcasts is good for a few savagely subversive turns. (RCA tape 60737-4 RC OC)
At Home Abroad (1935 / 198p) **** M: Arthur Schwartz. L: Howard Dietz. Witty, worldly, and melodic—second-drawer Schwartz and Dietz sampler is fine enough. (Monmouth-Evergreen)
Babes in Arms (1937 / 289p) ***** M: Richard Rodgers. L: Lorenz Hart. Rodgers and Hart masterpiece. (Columbia OL7070 SC-Mary Martin)
Babes in Toyland (1903 / 192p) *** M: Victor Herbert. L: Glen MacDonough. Charming old confection evokes the joys of a once-simpler childhood. (Decca DPL7004 SC).
Baby (1984 / 241p) ** M: David Shire. L: Richard Maltby, Jr. Babyhood versus therapy in the key of smug, slavishly Sondheim, too much of it still in diapers. (TER1089 OC)
Bajour (1964) ** M/L: Walter Marks. Some rousing dance music and bawdy humor can’t quite camouflage the insipid lyrics. (Columbia KOS2700 OC)
Baker Street (1965 / 313p) * M/L: Martin Grudeff and Raymond Jessel; also, Bock and Harnick. Triteness overcomes wit in overly generic effort. (MGM E7000 OC)
Ballroom (1978 / 116p) **** M: Billy Goldenberg. L: Alan and Marilyn Bergman. Such wonderful songs, no ballroom was ever better scored or more lyrically understood—even if the drama is late-arriving. (Columbia JS35762 OC)
Bandwagon (1931 / 260p) ***** M: Arthur Schwartz. L: Howard Dietz. Classic ’30s highlight, both lush and jazzful, well supported by articulate lyrics. (RCA/Camden INT.1937 OC)
Barnum (1980 / 854p) **** M: Cy Coleman. L: Michael Stewart. Dazzling, lyrically clever slice of Americana set rousingly to period music, perfectly in tune with subject matter. (CBS JS36576 OC)
Beauty and the Beast (1994 / still running) *** M: Alan Menken. L: Howard Ashman and Tim Rice. Vibrantly relevant tracks convey affecting little tale in classic musical theatre language. (Walt Disney tape 60861-0 OC)
Beggar’s Holiday (1946 / 108p) *** M: Duke Ellington. L: John Latouche. Graphic songs of hopeless ghetto ironies produce an interesting if downbeat listen. (Blue Pear BP1013 AC-cast demo, piano only arrangements)
Bells Are Ringing (1956 / 924p) *** M: Jule Styne. L: Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Sturdy, well constructed work fondly remembered for a pair of pop standards. (Columbia OL5170 OC)
Ben Franklin in Paris (1964 / 215p) *** M: Mark Sandrich, Jr. L: Sidney Michales. A splendid set of warmly engaging songs in the key of romance. (Capitol VAS 2191 OC)
Best Foot Forward (1941 / 326p) *** M/L: Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane. As bright, eager and frivolous as youth itself once was. (Cadence CLP4012 LC-1963, Stage 73)
Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1978 / 1,584p) ** M/L: Carol Hall. Beyond a fresh premise treated with engaging humor in a country and western format, not much melody to enjoy. (MCA-3049 OC)
Big River (1985 / 1,005p) ** M/L: Roger Miller. Pleasant to rarely exciting country and western ditties provide authentic atmosphere, if little drama. (MCA-6147 OC)
Blackbirds of 1928 (1928 / 518p) *** M: Jimmy McHugh. L: Dorothy Fields. Rollicking romp high on sass and snap comes with a few tepid blues numbers. (Columbia OL6770 AC)
Bloomer Girl (1944 / 657p) *** M: Harold Arlen. L: E.Y. Harburg. Lush romantic refrains dance frivolously around the central dramatic issues. (Decca DL9126 OC)
Boy Friend (1954 / 485p) ***** M/L: Sandy Wilson. Exuberant non-stop words, music and rhythm triumph. (RCA LOC-1018 OC)
The Boys from Syracuse (1938 / 235p) **** M: Richard Rodgers. L: Lorenz Hart. Rodgers tops Hart in high-octane originals. (Capitol TAO1933 LC-1963)
Brigadoon (1947 / 581p) **** M: Frederick Loewe. L: Alan Jay Lerner. Rhapsodic collaboration conveys Scottish setting with authentic charm. (RCA AYL1-3901(e) OC)
Bring in ’Da Noise, Bring in ’Da Funk (1996 / 1,130p) ** M: Daryl Waters, Zane Mark and Ann Duquesnay. L: Reg E. Gaines. The black experience in America from slave ships to evasive taxis—a rare, musically indifferent bird full of its own intriguing dramatic nuances and atmosphere chronicled through tap, percussion, and hip hop. (RCA CD 09026-65565-2)
By Jeeves (1996, Goodspeed) **** M: Andrew Lloyd Webber. L: Alan Ayckbourn. Utterly enchanting repertoire of freshly wrought old fashioned type show songs. (Polydor tape 314353 7184-4 OC-London, 1996)
By Jupiter (1942 / 427p) *** M: Richard Rodgers. L: Lorenz Hart. An almost tragic reflection of two giants at the end of their collaborative journey, the result lurches from sheer brilliance to utter banalities, “Careless Rhapsody” being one of the greatest unknown ballads ever written. (RCA LSO-1137 LC-1967)
By the Beautiful Sea (1954 / 270p) *** M: Arthur Schwartz. L: Dorothy Fields. Bright tunes and a couple of fine ballads prevail despite meager lyrics. (Capitol T-11652 OC)
Bye Bye Birdie (1960 / 607p) ** M: Charles Strouse. L: Lee Adams. Borderline work nonetheless offers some big payoffs, including early rock songs in a stage show. (Columbia OS2025 OC)
Cabaret (1966 / 1,165p) *** M: John Kander. L: Fred Ebb. Variable words and music skillfully capture glib cynicism and mounting despair in the face of rising Nazi power. (Columbia KOL6640 OC)
Cabin in the Sky (1940 / 156p) **** M: Vernon Duke. L: John Latouche. From blues to swing to gospel, a modest tour-de-force rich in melody, funk and sentiment nearly ever beat of the way. (Broadway Angel CD 2DM 0777 7 64892 23 OC)
Call Me Madam (1950 / 644p) **** M/L: Irving Berlin. Zesty, pop-driven powerhouse bristles with sock and levity. (Decca DL9022 SC-Ethel Merman)
Call Me Mister (1946 / 734p) **** M/L: Harold Rome. Wonderfully honest work captures ambivalent emotions of Americans facing adjustment to life after World War II. (Columbia X14877 reissue of Decca DPL7005 OC)
Camelot (1960 / 873p) **** M: Frederick Loewe. L: Alan Jay Lerner. Almost too romantic in toto, these excellent songs both animate and smother the rather ponderous tale they serve. (Columbia KOL5620 OC)
Can Can (1953 / 892p) *** M/L: Cole Porter. Moderately appealing work offers occasional flashes of the old Porter passion. (Capitol W452 OC)
Candide (1956 / 73p) *** M: Leonard Bernstein. L: Richard Wilbur; additional by John Latouche and Dorothy Parker. Bernstein excels when spectacularly inventive, falters when merely mimicking old operetta traditions.
Capeman (1998 / 68p) * M/L: Paul Simon. If there is a venue for such second- and third-rate songs so persistently undramatic, surely it is not a Broadway stage. (“Songs from the Capeman” Warner CD 46814 SC) (Simon told the Los Angeles Times, October 1, 2000, “the best songs” were not included on this pre–Broadway, non-cast album.)
Carmelina (1979 / 17p) *** M: Burton Lane. L: Alan Jay Lerner. Touching and humorous Italian tale, intimately wrought in fine underrated score, contains a few ready-made standards waiting to be discovered. (Original Cast OC8019 OC)
Carmen Jones (1943 / 502p) ** M: George Bizet. L: Oscar Hammerstein II. Sporadically affecting adaptation conveys sensual atmosphere in staid terms. (RCA LM-1881 ST)
Carnival (1961 / 719p) ** M/L: Bob Merrill. A pity such charming numbers share the stage with such clinkers. (MGM E39460C OC)
Carousel (1945 / 890p) ***** M: Richard Rodgers. L: Oscar Hammerstein. Towering craftsmanship and magic wrapped around a dark tale constitutes about as good a score as was ever conceived. (MCA-37093 OC)
Cats (1982 / 7,397p) *** M: Andrew Lloyd Webber. L: T.S. Eliot; additional words by Trevor Nunn. Ingenious musicalization of Eliot’s verse, full of mysterious enchantment and old British musical hall charm. (Polydor CATX001 OC-London)
Celebration (1969 / 110p) *** M: Harvey Schmidt. L: Tom Jones. Compelling creativity in modern jazz-oriented songwriting generates fertile excitement. (Capitol SW198 OC)
Chess (1988 / 68p) *** M: Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus. L: Tim Rice. Strongly crafted pop-rock tracks of pragmatism pack a chilly existential wallop. (RCA/CAS 7700-4 RC OC)
Chicago (1975 / 923p) *** M: John Kander. L: Fred Ebb. Glibly cynical, the underworld struts in smug guilt-free syncopation and outrageous levity across the boards. (Arista AL9005 OC)
A Chorus Line (1975 / 6,137p) *** M: Marvin Hamlisch. L: Edward Kleban. Average, hardworking numbers soar down the final stretch. (Columbia 33581 OC)
City of Angels (1989 / 878p) *** M: Cy Coleman. L: David Zippel. Winning mixed bag charts a sultry ’40s big band agenda. (Columbia C46067 OC)
Coco (1969 / 332p) * M: Andre Previn. L: Alan Jay Lerner. One fine ballad and two funny numbers can’t save a sadly pathetic collaboration, in which a very average composer brings down a great lyricist. (Paramount PMS-1002 OC)
The Cocoanuts (1925 / 276p) (5 songs heard) M/L: Irving Berlin. A winning set of contemporary songs. (Box Office/JJA 19744 AC)
Company (1970 / 706p) ***** M/L: Stephen Sondheim. Brilliant ground-breaking achievement evokes the age of ambivalence with unsparing realism. (Columbia OS3550 OC)
Cradle Will Rock (1937 / 14p) *** M/L: Marc Blitzstein. Arresting new song forms, brutally realistic, wasted on a biased anti-business polemic parading as Broadwayized opera. (MGM SE-4289 LC-1964)
Dames at Sea (1968, OB 575p) *** M: Jim Wise. L: George Haimsohn and Robin Miller. Old-fashioned Times Square tunefulness aplenty warms the heart. (Columbia OS3330 OC)
Damn Yankees (1955 / 1,019p) *** M/L: Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. Well crafted, formula-driven songs strong on beat, short on unity. (RCA LOC-1021 OC)
Darling of the Day (1968 / 32p) ** M: Jule Styne. L: E.Y. Harburg. Styne and Harburg sustain graceful, witty collaboration for only half the distance. (RCA CD 09026-63334-2)
The Day Before Spring (1945 / 165p) (5 songs heard) M: Frederick Loewe. M: Alan Jay Lerner. Lovely, thoughtful, and perhaps too reflective. (Bagley Revisited PS1337 SC)
A Day in Hollywood, A Night in the Ukraine (1980 / 588p) *** M: Frank Lazarus. L: Dick Vosburgh; additional music and lyrics by Jerry Herman. Incredibly uneven offering, for which all share blame, delivers big wonderful tunes and hilarious verse. (DRG SBL12580 OC)
Dear World (1969 / 132p) *** M/L: Jerry Herman. A plethora of rousing refrains vaguely addresses the intriguing premise. (Columbia ABOS3260 OC)
The Desert Song (1926 / 471p) ** M: Sigmund Romberg. L: Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II and Frank Mandel. Fluttering, mushy operetta too true to staid traditions. (Columbia CL831 SC)
Destry Rides Again (1959 / 472p) **** M/L: Harold Rome. Excellent, torridly paced songwriting tribute to old West mythology. (Decca DL9075 OC)
Do I Hear a Waltz? (1965 / 220p) *** M: Richard Rodgers. L: Stephen Sondheim. Sharp lyrics, superb music, and nothing much seems to happen. (Columbia KOL6370)
Do Re Mi (1960 / 400p) *** M: Jule Styne. L: Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Typical mixed bag from Styne, Comden and Green offers plenty to enjoy. (RCA LSOD-2002 OC)
Donnybrook (1961 / 68p) * M/L: Johnny Burke. Bland lyrics and melodies soon turn good-natured pleasantries to boredom. (Kapp KD-8500-S OC)
Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope (1972 / 1,065) * M/L: Micki Grant. Neither can we with songs like these. (Polydor PD6013 OC)
Dreamgirls (1981 / 1,522p) ** M: Henry Krieger. L: Tom Eyen. Tough muscular numbers of contemporary black angst turn redundantly gloomy. (Geffen GHSP2007 OC)
Dubarry Was a Lady (1939 / 408p) (6 songs heard) M/L: Cole Porter. Another winning Porter entry in which he strains to load his lyrics with humor. (Bagley Revisited: Crewe CR 1340; and Columbia OS 2810 SC)
Evita (1979 / 1,567p) **** M: Andrew Lloyd Webber. L: Tim Rice. Seductive existential pop opera builds like a symphony on Latin rhythms and compelling lyrical honesty. (MCA MCA2-11007 SC-1979)
Fade Out Fade In (1964 / 271p) ** M: Jule Styne. L: Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Wonderful opening numbers collapse into lazy let’s-get-the-job-done songwriting. (ABC-Paramount ABC-OC-3 OC)
Fanny (1954 / 888p) ** M/L: Harold Rome. Long-winded arias fail to achieve dramatic liftoff. (RCA LOC-1015 OC)
The Fantasticks (1960 / still running) *** M: Harvey Schmidt. L: Tom Jones. Historic collaboration wanders a little too sprawlingly from the rhapsodic to the cynical. (MGM SE38720C OC)
Fiddler on the Roof (1964 / 3,242p) **** M: Jerry Bock. L: Sheldon Harnick. Rhapsodically enchanting—almost to the sagging end. (Columbia SX30742 OC-London)
Finian’s Rainbow (1947 / 725p) ***** M: Burton Lane. L: E.Y. Harburg. From musical theatre heaven, a golden age landmark. (Columbia OS2080 OC)
Fiorello! (1959 / 795p) ***** M: Jerry Bock. L: Sheldon Harnick. Tough, tender, rousing and relevant gems sparkle with lyrical perfection. (Capitol WAO1321 OC)
First Impressions (1959 / 84p) * M/L: Robert Goldman, Glenn Paxton and George Weiss. A perfect partnership features equally dreadful words and music. (Columbia AOS2014 OC)
Flahooley (1951 / 40p) **** M: Sammy Fain. L: E.Y. Harburg. Joyful collaboration flies high on witty verse and wonderful music before running low on its own unique magic. (Capitol T-11649 OC)
Flora the Red Menace (1965 / 87p) ** M: John Kander. L: Fred Ebb. A few early nuggets from a fine new team seeking a voice of its own. (RCA LSO-1111 OC)
Flower Drum Song (1958 / 602p) **** M: Richard Rodgers. L: Oscar Hammerstein II. Vibrant, well shaded opus evokes the color and conflict of San Francisco’s Chinatown at odds with its younger generations. (Columbia OS2009 OC)
Follies (1971 / 522p) **** M/L: Stephen Sondheim. Fascinating amalgam of old Broadway, ’40s blues and Sondheim ambivalence sweeps dreamily across the stage. (Capitol SO-761 OC)
Forty-Second Street (1980 / 3,486p) **** M: Harry Warren. L: Al Dubin. One blockbuster follows another in this loaded compilation of songs by Warren and Dubin, the deftly clever lyrics a brilliant match for the roof-raising notes of old Broadway. (RCA CBL1-3891 OC)
Funny Face (1927 / 244p) *** M: George Gershwin. L: Ira Gershwin. The Gershwins in very good form. (Monmouth-Evergreen MES7037 AC)
Funny Girl (1964 / 1,348) *** M: Jule Styne. L: Bob Merrill. Nicely crafted numbers recycle appealing showbiz clichés to tell a rather depressing yarn. (Capitol VAS2059 OC)
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962 / 964p) *** M/L: Stephen Sondheim. Sondheim’s singular young genius is undeniably on the rise in this generally engaging album. (Capitol SWA01717 OC)
Gay Life (1961 / 113p) ** M/L Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz. The once-prolific collaborators resume in promising style, but run short of inspiration long before an embarrassing reunion runs its ragged course. (Capitol WAO1560 OC)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1949 / 740p) *** M: Jule Styne. L: Leo Robin. Reliably good melodies and delightful verse convey a warm movie-musical feel. (Columbia OL4290 OC)
Gigi (1973 / 103p) **** M: Frederick Loewe. L: Alan Jay Lerner. Fractured, stillborn stage adaptation of their movie masterpiece supplies two new delights, “The Earth and Other Minor Things” and “Paris Is Paris Again,” and one gigantic dud which nearly consumes an entire act, “The Contract.” (RCA ABL1-0404 OC)
Girl Crazy (1930 / 272p) *** M: George Gershwin. L: Ira Gershwin. From this bright, breezy outing, the world got “I Got Rhythm” and a few other Gershwin gifts. (Columbia COS2560 SC)
Girl in Pink Tights (1954 / 115p) *** M: Sigmund Romberg; incomplete melodies at time of Romberg’s death further developed and completed by orchestrator Don Walker. L: Leo Robin. Amusing blend of old operetta romanticism and contemporary Broadway idioms make this a surprisingly good catch. (Columbia ML4890 OC)
The Girl Who Came to Supper (1963 / 113p) * M/L: Noel Coward. A few good numbers lost in a slough of premature achievement. (Columbia KOS2420 OC)
Godspell (1971 / 527p) ** M/L: Stephen Schwartz. The Jesus story reduced to feel-goodness by harmless light rock derivations. (Arista ALB6-8304 OC)
Golden Apple (1954 / 173p) * M: Jerome Moross. L: John Latouche. From one of the weakest scores ever to reach Broadway came one of the finest songs ever to reach the radio, “Lazy Afternoon.” (Elektra EKL-5000 OC)
Golden Boy (1964 / 569p) *** M: Charles Strouse. L: Lee Adams. Strong resilient collaboration tells a difficult story in a likable, pop-centered style. (Capitol SVAS2124 OC)
Golden Rainbow (1968 / 385p) ** M/L: Walter Marks. Strong, pulsing songs of theatrical import become redundant in slick jazz-repetitive voice. (RCA/Calendar KOS-1001 OC)
Goldilocks (1958 / 161p) ** M: Leroy Anderson. L: John Ford, Walter and Jean Kerr. A few top Anderson tunes distinguish an empty-headed work of reigning unoriginality. (Columbia COS2007 OC)
Goodtime Charley (1975 / 104p) ** M: Larry Grossman. L: Hal Hackady. Fine talent evident in the exceptional numbers makes the mediocre outcome doubly disappointing. (RCA ARL1-1011 OC)
Grand Hotel (1989 / 1,018) **** M/L: Robert Wright and George Forrest; additional M/L: Maury Yeston. Exciting work combines ’30s sophistication and modern stage sounds to capture offbeat story with suitable flair. (RCA tape 09026 61327-4 OC)
Grease (1972 / 3,388p) ** M/L: Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Beguiling sense of humor keeps droll ’50s rock and roll numbers on life-support. (MGM 1SE-34 OC)
Greenwillow (1960 / 95p) ** M/L: Frank Loesser. For all their lovely intentions, these gentle, sometimes haunting numbers are numbingly similar in virtuous design. (Columbia P13974 OC)
Grind (1985 / 79p) ** M: Larry Grossman. L: Ellen Fitzhugh. Promising material fails to mature through narratively weak series of downbeat ruminations. (Polydor 827072-1 Y-1 OC)
Guys and Dolls (1950 / 1,200p) ***** M/L: Frank Loesser. Loesser captures offbeat subject matter with incisive poetry and humor. (Decca DL9023 OC)
Gypsy (1959 / 702p) **** M: Jule Styne. L: Stephen Sondheim. Anger, ego and alienation inform anti-romantic songs with raw cold excitement, allowing Mama Rose (Ethel Merman) to triumph while daughter Gypsy Rose Lee remains a faceless stripper. (Columbia OL5420 OC)
Hair (1968 / 1,750p) *** M: Galt MacDermot. L: Gerome Ragni and James Rado. Funky, funny, even eloquent evocation of ’60s hippie culture. (RCA LSO-1150 OC)
Half a Sixpence (1965 / 512p) ** M/L: David Heneker. Briskly superficial enterprise stars one charming hit, “If the Rain’s Got to Fall.” (RCA LSO-1110 OC)
Hallelujah, Baby (1967 / 293p) *** M: Jule Styne. L: Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Stylish and sensual entertainment steers smartly clear of then typical black musical gloom. (Columbia KOS3090 OC)
Happy Hunting (1956 / 412p) **** M: Harold Karr. L: Matt Dubey. Lively deck of pop-informed numbers charge the quirky proceedings with fresh energy and humor. (RCA LOC-1026 OC)
Happy Time (1968 / 286p) *** M: John Kander. L: Fred Ebb. Vexingly uneven delight steeped in vanishing ’50s sentiments. (RCA LSO-1144 OC)
Hazel Flagg (1953 / 190p) * M: Jule Styne. L: Bob Hilliard. Recycled swing dressed in threadbare music and words. (RCA CBM1-2207 OC)
Hello, Dolly (1964 / 2,844p) **** M/L: Jerry Herman; additional songs by Robert Merrill, Charles Strouse and Lee Adams. Big razzmatazz express loaded with melody pushes good will and hoopla to the hilt. (RCA AYL1-3814 OC)
Here’s Love (1963 / 338p) ** M/L: Meredith Willson. Warm and lyrical, Willson’s good nature at holiday time falls modestly short of fulfilling. (Columbia KOL6000 OC)
High Button Shoes (1947 / 727p) *** M: Jule Styne. L: Sammy Cahn. Half wonderful, half forgettable. (RCA LOC-1107 OC)
High Spirits (1964 / 375p) *** M/L: Hugh Martin and Timothy Gray. Cleverly relevant score, by turns romantic and whimsical, rewards the enchanted listener. (ABC-Paramount ABCS-OC-1)
Hit the Deck (1927 / 352p) *** M: Vincent Youmans. L: Clifford Grey, Leo Robin, Irving Caesar. Carelessly realized amusement offers some fine melodies ill-served by lackluster verse. (MGM MCA25033 ST)
House of Flowers (1954 / 165p) ** M: Harold Arlen. L: Truman Capote Lazy, lovely refrains, like poetry set earnestly to music, sleep in the shade of the banana drama. (Columbia OL4969 OC)
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1961 / 1,417p) **** M/L: Frank Loesser. Very funny, very polished, very Loesser. (RCA LSO-1066 OC)
I Can Get It for You Wholesale (1962 / 300p) ** M/L: Harold Rome. And wholesale it is—a disjointed mishmash whose better songs, some inventive, merit respect. (Columbia KOS2180 OC)
I Do! I Do! (1966 / 561p) **** M: Harvey Schmidt. L: Tom Jones. Rich sentimental collaboration explores the changing moods and faces of a long-lasting marriage. (RCA LOC-1128 OC)
I Had a Ball (1964 / 199p) ** M/L: Jack Lawrence and Stan Freeman. High-energy blast of ’40s-era big band clichés, flashy and fun and agreeably shallow. (Mercury OCM2210 OC)
I Love My Wife (1977 / 872p) *** M: Cy Coleman. L: Michael Stewart. Eclectically sprawling lineup delivers ample pleasures. (Atlantic SD19107 OC)
I Remember Mama (1979 / 108p) *** M: Richard Rodgers. L: Martin Charnin. Famed composer’s final work is a warm and fuzzy valentine, the generally agreeable tunes bearing paltry lyrical goods. (Polydor 411-827-336-1 Y-1 OC)
Illya, Darling (1967 / 320p) * M: Manos Hadjidakis. L: Joe Darion. Swaggering, flamingo-intense one-note bore. (United Artists UAS9901 OC)
I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road (1978 / 1,165p) ** M: Nancy Ford. L: Gretchen Cryer. Laid-back ’60s feminist protest and self-discovery, stronger on words than music. (CBS/C SP X14885 OC)
Inside U.S.A. (1948 / 399p) *** M: Arthur Schwartz. L: Howard Dietz. Moderately delightful portrait of mid–American values in the ever-melodious ’40s. (Box Office 19733B AC)
Into the Woods (1987 / 764p) *** M/L: Stephen Sondheim. Out-of-control self-help musical offers bewildering smorgasbord of radiantly sung ideas, some hauntingly realized. (RCA 6796-1-RC OC)
Irene (1919 / 670p) *** M: Harry Tierney. L: Joseph McCarthy. Smartly entertaining score for its day merges traditional and pop styles. (Monmouth-Evergreen MES/7057 LC-London)
Irma la Douce (1960 / 524p) *** M: Marguerite Monnot. L: Alexandre Breffort. Boldly inventive work addresses red-light tale with gritty attitude and ambiance. (Columbia OL5560 OC)
Jamaica (1957 / 557p) *** M: Harold Arlen. L: E.Y. Harburg. Generously stocked mixed bag is strong on sensual poetry, listlessly weak on labored anti-consumer satire. (RCA LOC-1036 OC)
Jekyll and Hyde (1997, still running) *** M: Frank Wildhorn. L: Leslie Bricusse. Bizarre tale compellingly told with direct melodic force and lyrical flair. (Atlantic tape 82976-4 OC)
Jelly’s Last Jam (1992 / 569p) *** M: Jelly Roll Morton; additional music by Luther Henderson. L: Susan Birkenhead. Designed to showcase the music and life of jazz man Jelly Roll Morton, who shunned his own race, this jumping black revue sustains a red hot pulse with grizzle, humor and cool sophistication. (Polygram CD 314510846-2 OC)
Jesus Christ Superstar (1971 / 711p) *** M: Andrew Lloyd Webber. L: Tim Rice. Remarkable rock opera, stylishly spare, builds to harrowing climax. (MCA DL7-1503 OC)
Jimmy (1969 / 84p) * M/L: Bill and Patti Jacob. A few affecting ballads offer scarce relief from overactive, cliché-intense outing. (RCA OSO-1162 OC)
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1981 / 757p) *** M: Andrew Lloyd Webber. L: Tim Rice. Agreeably eclectic numbers, full of graceful light-rock melodies and hip lyrics, embrace the soul. (MCA-399 SC)
A Joyful Noise (1966 / 12p) ** M/L: Oscar Brand and Paul Nassau. A joyful beginning—show songs enriched with folk influences—before losing luster in literal pursuit of real Nashville sounds. (Blue Pear BP1018/bootleg live audio from theatre sound system OC)
Jumbo (1935 / 233p) (5 songs heard) M: Richard Rodgers. L: Lorenz Hart. Top drawer Rodgers and Hart.
Juno (1959 / 16p) * M/L: Marc Blitzstein. Rarely do the numbers transcend a slavish unmelodic devotion to simple Irish folk tunes. (Columbia OS2013 OC)
Kean (1961 / 92p) ** M/L: Robert Wright and George Forrest. Morosely heavy-handed retro operetta frames some lovely melodies and rousing choruses in a claustrophobic context. (Columbia KOL5720 OC)
The King and I (1951 / 1,246p) ***** M: Richard Rodgers. L: Oscar Hammerstein II. Tightly integrated songs of quiet, painful enchantment adhere brilliantly to overriding theme of love forbidden or unexpressed. (Decca DL9008 OC)
Kismet (1953 / 583p) **** M: Alexander Borodin. L: (adapting) Robert Wright and George Forrest. Exotic tale set in Baghdad, gloriously evoked through fine lyric adaptations of the Borodin melodies. (Columbia ML4850 OC)
Kiss Me Kate (1948 / 1,077p) **** M/L: Cole Porter. Top drawer Porter only lacks his clever comedic hand. Columbia WS32609 OC)
Kiss of the Spider Woman (1993 / 906p) ** M: John Kander. L: Fred Ebb. Downbeat premise of limited dramatic scope reaps plodding, undisciplined work more sullen than seductive. (RCA 09026 61579-4 OC)
Knickerbocker Holiday (1938 / 168p) * M: Kurt Weill. L: Maxwell Anderson. From the show that gave the world “September Song,” a tepid mishmash of operetta and pre–’40s romanticism set to vacuous verse—on an album consisting largely of plodding dialogue scenes. (AEI 1148 OC)
Kwamina (1961 / 32p) * M/L: Richard Adler. Adler, without Ross, stumbles onto a few decent tunes down the final stretch for which he can’t, unfortunately, find the words. (Capitol W1645 OC)
La Cage aux Folles (1983 / 1,761p) ***** M/L: Jerry Herman. Courageous, life-affirming story inspires Herman’s finest score. (RCA HBC-1-4824 OC)
Lady Be Good (1924 / 330p) *** M: George Gershwin. L: Ira Gershwin and others. A modest handful of Gershwin & Gershwin delights. (Smithsonian P 14271 AC)
Lady in the Dark (1941 / 467p) ** M: Kurt Weill. L: Ira Gershwin. Variable music and passable lyrics only skim the intriguing premise. (Columbia COS2390 SC)
Last Sweet Days of Isaac (1970 / OB) ** M: Nancy Ford. L: Gretchen Cryer. Some pleasant ’60s rock songs, now and then enlivened by inventive ideas and affecting music. (RCA LSO-1169 OC)
Leader of the Pack (1985) ** M/L: Ellie Greenwich “and friends.” Likably fun numbers of pre-hippie innocence form a limited one-note revue. (Elektra 9 60420-1 OC)
Leave It to Jane (1917 / 167p) **** M: Jerome Kern. L: P.G. Wodehouse. Wonderfully upbeat; the zesty melodies are superior, the amusing lyrics distinguished. (Stet dS15002 LC)
Leave It to Me! (1938 / 291p) (6 songs heard) M/L: Cole Porter. Sounds like a top drawer Porter party. (Smithsonian P14944 AC; Bagley Revisited, Crewe CR 1340 SC; and Columbia OS 2810 SC)
Les Misérables (1987, still running) ** M: Claude-Michel Schonberg. L: Herbert Kretzmer (from original French text by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel). Deceptively simple numbers carved from primary colors, old operetta style, effectively convey revolutionary struggles of French underclass. (Geffen[cas] M5624151 OC)
Let ’Em Eat Cake (1933 / 90p) ** M: George Gershwin. L: Ira Gershwin. Some glorious show tunes soar over and around proficiently wordy lyrics and silly satire in a vastly meandering opus. (CBS SM42639 LC)
Let It Ride! (1961 / 68p) * M/L: Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. Lots of spirit, lots of comedy, little music. (RCA LSO-1064 OC)
Let’s Face It (1941 / 547p) (7 songs heard) M/L: Cole Porter. Sporadic Porter brilliance in pleasing context. (Smithsonian P14944 AC)
The Life (1997 / 465p) *** M: Cy Coleman. L: Ira Gasman. Clever, candid refrains daringly mine the grizzly underside of old Times Square prostitution, pre–Disney. (Sony tape ST 63312 OC)
Li’l Abner (1956 / 693p) *** M: Gene De Paul. L: Johnny Mercer. Dandy little package combines sentiment and satire. (Columbia OL5150 OC)
The Lion King (1997, still running) ** M: Elton John. L: Tim Rice; additional songs by Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, Julie Taymor, Hans Zimmer. Fairly humdrum hodgepodge stays synthetically fresh with ersatz African chants, jungle drums, exotic laments and, best of all, retro ’60s rock. (Walt Disney tape 60802-0 OC)
Little Mary Sunshine (1959, OB 1,143p) ** M/L: Rick Besoyan. The better numbers in this harmless little intermittently amusing parody recall the early Jerome Kern bounce. (Capitol WAO1240 OC)
Little Me (1962 / 275p) *** M: Cy Coleman. L: Carolyn Lee. Engaging parade of songs both intimate and theatrical. (RCA LOC-1078 OC)
A Little Night Music (1973 / 600p) **** M/L: Stephen Sondheim. Richly relevant score, all in 4/4 time, captures jaded European upper class romanticism. (Columbia KS32265 OC)
Little Shop of Horrors (1982 / 2,209p) *** M: Alan Menken. L: Howard Ashman. Brilliant, witty lyrics wryly served by funky ’50s-’60s light rock tunes. (Geffen GHSP2020 OC)
The Littlest Revue (1956 / 32p) ** M/L: “mostly by” Vernon Duke and Ogden Nash; also by John Latouche, Sheldon Harnick, Lee Adams, Charles Strouse, John Strauss, Sidney Shaw, Sammy Cahn and Michael Brown. Thank mostly to Duke and Nash for the major moments in a minor offering. (Epic LN3275 OC)
Look Ma, I’m Dancin’! (1948 / 188p) ** M/L: Hugh Martin. A pair of gems from the gifted Martin, the rest routine. (Columbia reissue of Decca X 14879 OC)
Lost in the Stars (1949 / 273p) ** M: Kurt Weill. L: Maxwell Anderson. Stridently religious argument in simplistic free-form verse and ponderous music. (Decca DL79120 OC)
Louisiana Purchase (1940 / 444p) ** M/L: Irving Berlin. Moderately appealing, lyrically forgettable sellout to pop trends of the day. (Box Office JJA19746 AC)
Love Life (1948 / 252p) (5 songs heard) M: Kurt Weill. M: Alan Jay Lerner. First draft forgettable. (Bagley Revisited PS1337 SC)
Mack and Mabel (1974 / 65p) *** M/L: Jerry Herman. Rousing, rollicking Herman songfest short on lyrical relief. (ABC ABCH830 OC)
Make a Wish (1951 / 102p) *** M/L: Hugh Martin. Glorious catalog of uptempo delights borders on excess. (RCA LOC1002 OC)
Mame (1966 / 1,508p) *** M/L: Jerry Herman. More stirring feel-good numbers and a pair of nice ballads from the master of rouse. (Columbia KOL6600 OC)
Man of La Mancha (1965 / 2,328p) *** M: Mitch Leigh. L: Joe Darion. Sufficient soaring melody and idealism carry the spotty ingredients. (Kapp KRS-5505 OC)
March of the Falsettos (1981, OB 128p) ** M/L: William Finn. The notes don’t sing as well as the words in a sporadically interesting, overly cerebral work. (DRG SBL12581 OC)
Marie Christine (1999 / 44p) * M/L: Michael John LaChuisa. Straining for operatic lyricism, this rarely melodic exercise flounders in narrative minutiae before bringing down a sad, embarrassing curtain on the last musical to open on Broadway during the twentieth century. (RCA CD 09026-63593-2 OC)
Me and Juliet (1953 / 358p) *** M: Richard Rodgers. L: Oscar Hammerstein II. Five excellent numbers give this pleasantly underdeveloped work a certain definite pleasure. (RCA LSO-1098(e) OC)
Me and My Girl (1986 / 1,412p) **** M: Noel Gay. L: Noel Gay, L. Arthur Rose and Douglas Furber. Utterly delightful revised version of 1936 British musical, with additional Gay tunes from the era, bubbles with melodious charm, its interpolated “Leaning on a Lamppost” nearly as enchanting as Gene Kelly’s classic movie-musical number, “Singing in the Rain.” (MCA-6196 OC)
The Me Nobody Knows (1970 / 385p) *** M: Gary William Friedman. L: Will Holt. Fresh, thoughtful songs in tender, melodically affecting early ’70s rock vein. (Atlantic SD1566 OC)
Merrily We Roll Along (1981 / 16p) *** M/L: Stephen Sondheim. As exciting and alienated as the stereotypical Hollywood it ridicules. (RCA CBL1-4197)
Merry Widow (1907 / 416p) *** M: Franz Lehar. L(English): Adrian Ross. Grand, sweeping, floridly eclectic and long-winded at times. (Capitol CL838 SC)
Mexican Hayride (1944 / 481p) *** M/L: Cole Porter. From major to modest Porter, a spirited, fun-filled diversion. (CBS release of Decca DL5232 OC)
Milk and Honey (1961 / 543p) **** M/L: Jerry Herman. Exhilarating, deeply wrought work. (RCA LSO-1065 OC)
Minnie’s Boys (1970 / 76p) **** M: Larry Grossman. L: Hal Hackady. Fine, fine opus includes fabulous comedy numbers and stirring anthems. (Project 3 TS6002SD OC)
Miss Liberty (1949 / 308p) *** M/L: Irving Berlin. A frustratingly uneven listen—the good songs are so good. (Columbia AOL4220 OC)
Miss Saigon (1991 / 4,078p) **** M: Claude-Michel Schonberg. L: Alain Boublil, adapted by Richard Maltby, Jr. Impressive, powerfully wrought refrains, sensitive every step of the way to the unfolding drama, comprise the most dramatically compelling work since West Side Story. (Geffen GHS24271 OC-London)
Mr. President (1962 / 265p) * M/L: Irving Berlin. Nearly dead on arrival, though a few good chords animate the corpse. (Columbia KOL 5870 OC)
Mr. Wonderful (1956 / 383p) ** M/L: Jerry Bock, Larry Holofcener and George Weiss. Pleasant mediocre hodgepodge offers hit and miss fun, some laughs, a beat, possibly the first real rock and roll ditty in a Broadway show, likable voices and three decent hit parade contenders. (Decca DL9032 OC)
Most Happy Fella (1956 / 676p) **** M/L: Frank Loesser. Plethora of lovely atmospheric numbers create haunting tone-poem operetta, sans musical comedy. (Columbia OL5118 OC)
The Music Man (1957 / 1,375p) *** M/L: Meredith Willson. Affectionate, tuneful postcard from small-town America at turn of the century charmed by a traveling salesman. (Capitol WA/0990 OC)
My Fair Lady (1956 / 2,717p) ***** M: Frederick Loewe. L: Alan Jay Lerner. Brilliantly integrated score whose witty verse and elegant tunes serve the story with impeccable taste and integrity. (Columbia AOL5090 OC)
The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1985 / 608p) ** M/L: Rupert Holmes. Crowded, cumbersome score too wordy for its own good sails downhill after boffo beginning. (Polydor 827 969-1 Y-1 OC)
Naughty Marietta (1910 / 136p) ** M: Victor Herbert. L: Rida Johnson Young. Lushly sentimental, the pleasant sum is less than its parts. (Capitol T551 SC)
New Faces of ’52 (1952 / 365p) ***** M/L: Ronny Graham, Sheldon Harnick, Arthur Siegel, June Carroll, Michael Brown. Murray Grand, E. Boyd, P. De Vries, H. Farjeon, F. Lemarque. Fresh wonderful numbers wisely cover the many twists and turns of love with wry forgiving innocence. (RCA LOC-1008 OC)
New Faces of ’56 (1956 / 220p) *** M/L: “mostly by” Ronny Graham, Marshall Barer, June Carroll, Arthur Siegel, Dean Fuller, Murray Grand, Matt Dubey, Harold Karr, Irvin Graham, Paul Nassau, John Rox and Michael Brown. Another suave blend of romance, sophistication and hilarity (including five knock-out comedy numbers) from producer Leonard Sillman. (RCA LOC-1025 OC)
New Faces of ’68 (1968 / 52p) *** M/L: Ronny Graham, June Carroll, Arthur Siegel, Clark Gesner, Sam Pottle, David Axelrod, Jerry Powell, David Shire, Richard Maltby, Jr., Murray Grand, Paul Nassau, Hal Hackady, Alonzo Levister, Kenny Solms, Gail Parent, Gene P. Bissell, Carl Friberg, Fred Hellerman, Fran Minkoff, Michael McWhinney, Michael Cohen, Tony Geiss, Sidney Shaw. Marvelous potpourri of comedy gems, possibly the most ever contained in a single show, spoof the subversive do-your-own-thing ’60s. (Warner BS255/OC)
New Girl in Town (1957 / 431p) *** M/L: Bob Merrill. Quietly winsome numbers underscore the sad, quirky tale of a prostitute finding true love outside the brothel. (RCA LOC-1027 OC)
New Moon (1928 / 509p) *** M: Sigmund Romberg. L: Oscar Hammerstein II. A durable workhorse in the older, stiffer tradition, top-heavy with brooding ballads. (Monmouth-Evergreen MES/7051 AC)
Nine (1982 / 739p) ** M/L: Maury Yeston. Dreadful lyrics sabotage some excellent music. (CBS JS38325 OC)
No, No, Nanette (1925 / 321p) **** M: Vincent Youmans. L: Frank Mandel, Otto Harbach, Irving Caesar. Old Broadway charmer overflows with fundamental melodies and emotions. (Stanyan SR16035 OC-London and Columbia S30563 LC-1971)
No Strings (1962 / 580p) *** M/L: Richard Rodgers. Slick package features nice Richard Rodgers melodies skimpily attired in the composer’s own simple-minded words. (Capitol SO1695 OC)
Of Thee I Sing (1931 / 441p) *** M: George Gershwin. L: Ira Gershwin. George’s music bolts undeniably ahead despite so-so verse and inflated satire from brother Ira. (Capitol T-11651 LC-1952)
Oh, Calcutta! (1969 / 1,314) *** M/L: The Open Window’s Peter Schickele, Stanley Walden, and Robert Dennis. Surprisingly diversified work, expertly fashioned, supplies every sort of pleasure from old Broadway to Richard Rodgers to the Doors and Santana. (Aidart AID 9903 OC)
Oh, Captain! (1958 / 192p) * M:/L: Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. A few friendly choruses and a few funny lyrics can’t overcome tired patchwork mediocrity. (Columbia OL5280 OC)
Oh, Kay! (1926 / 256p) ***** M: George Gershwin. L: Ira Gershwin and Howard Dietz. Finger-snapping, ballad-soaring George Gershwin at his popular Broadway best. (Columbia CL1050 SC)
Oklahoma! (1943 / 2,248p) ***** M: Richard Rodgers. L: Oscar Hammerstein II. Astonishing use of music and poetry to convey setting, character and conflict. (MCA-2030 OC)
Oliver! (1963 / 774p) **** M/L: Lionel Bart. Hard-working integrated score embraces subject matter with admirable fidelity and inspiration. (RCA LOCD-2004)
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1965 / 280p) ***** M: Burton Lane. L: Alan Jay Lerner. Blockbuster collaboration mines reincarnation theme for outstanding results. (RCA LOCD-2006 OC)
On the Town (1944 / 463p) ***** M: Leonard Bernstein. L: Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Inspired collaboration merges humor and lyricism to capture quirky New York City night life during the war years. (Columbia OL5540 OC)
On the Twentieth Century (1978 / 449p) * M: Cy Coleman. L: Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Amazingly awful. (Columbia 35330 OC)
On Your Toes (1936 / 315p) **** M: Richard Rodgers. L: Lorenz Hart. Second-drawer Rodgers and Hart is plenty fine at that, just a bit quieter. (Columbia COS2590 SC)
Once on This Island (1990 / 469p) * M: Stephen Flaherty. L: Lynn Ahrens. Among the earnest offerings, a few take passionate flight. (RCA CD 60595-2-RC OC)
Once Upon a Mattress (1959 / 460p) * M: Mary Rodgers. L: Marshall Barer. Composer Mary Rodgers, daughter of famed Richard, shows fleeting moments of promise in a pervasively undistinguished effort stood up by vacant by-the-number lyrics. The best tune, “Spanish Panic,” goes it instrumentally alone. (Kapp KDL-7004 OC)
110 in the Shade (1963 / 330p) **** M: Harvey Schmidt. L: Tom Jones. Strong, straightforward songs, lyrically unified, vividly convey taut dramatic premise of spinster aching for love. (RCA LSO-1085 OC)
One Touch of Venus (1943 / 567p) *** M: Kurt Weill. L: Ogden Nash. Its most remarkable numbers crown a fascinating tale with enchantment and wit. (Decca DL9122 SC-Mary Martin; and bootleg of five additional unrecorded songs.)
Out of This World (1950 / 157p) **** M/L: Cole Porter. Racy, brassy romp loaded with Porter’s fascinating gifts. (Columbia CML4390 OC)
Pacific Overtures (1976 / 193p) **** M/L: Stephen Sondheim. A brilliant sung essay, devoid of empathetic characters or community, about Westernization of Japan. (RCA ARL1-1367 OC)
Paint Your Wagon (1951 / 289p) **** M: Frederick Loewe. L: Alan Jay Lerner. Stirringly good recreation of the old west during gold rush days, laden with the romance and lore of those turbulent times. (RCA LOC-1006 OC)
Pajama Game (1954 / 1,063p) **** M/L: Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. Refreshing blend of theatre and pop songwriting paces the story with rare energy and humor. (Columbia OL4840 OC)
Pal Joey (1940 / 374p) ***** M: Richard Rodgers. L: Lorenz Hart. In a class all its own: a rueful witty portrait about a gigolo’s nightclub dreams and affairs, told by two musical theatre giants in top form. (Columbia ML54364 SC)
Parade (1998 / 84p) ** M/L: Jason Robert Brown. Plenty of sensitive numbers, full of promising talent, spiral off into somber overkill, calling more attention to themselves than to the grim tale they were meant to serve. (RCA CD 09026-63378-2 OC)
Passion (1994 / 280p) ** M/L: Stephen Sondheim. Achingly romantic yarn, stretched thin by maudlin, repetitiously philosophical treatment. (Angel tape 4dQ 7243555251 OC)
Peter Pan (1954 / 149p) ** M: Mark Charlap and Jule Styne. L: Carolyn Leigh, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. More manufactured than inspired, the serviceable ditties seem stunted by the questionable premise that children do not want to grow up. (RCA LSO-1019(e) OC)
The Phantom of the Opera (1988, still running) ***** M: Andrew Lloyd Webber. L: Charles Hart; additional lyrics, Richard Stilgoe. Undeniably thrilling music destined to last the ages, combined with deft lyrics, lifts sad, bizarre tale to light-opera rapture. (Polygram 831273-1 Y-2 OC-London)
Pins and Needles (1937 / 1,108p) *** M/L: Harold Rome. Reliably cheerful opus intimately in tune with the story of striking garment workers. (Columbia OL5810 SC)
Pipe Dream (1955 / 246p) **** M: Richard Rodgers. L: Oscar Hammerstein II. Fascinating music and colorful lyrics create a vivid sense of place, while failing to flesh out brothel activities at the heart of implicitly daring across-the-tracks tale. (RCA LOC-1023 OC)
Pippin (1972 / 1,944p) ** M/L: Stephen Schwartz. Pleasant light-rock originals, more thoughtful than forceful. (Motown 5243ML OC)
Plain and Fancy (1955 / 461p) *** M: Albert Hague. L: Arnold Horwitt. A warm romantic spirit and gracefully amusing verse merge in satisfying balance. (Capitol S603 OC)
Porgy and Bess (1935 / 124p) **** M: George Gershwin. L: Ira Gershwin and Dubose Heyward. Sad, dreary tale transformed by the power of Gershwin’s finest arias. (Columbia OL5410 ST)
Promenade (1969, OB) ** M: Al Carmines. L: Maria Irene Fornes. More Brecht on Broadway, wickedly satiric numbers sing themselves into predictable social protest and dumb self-pity. (RCA LSO-1161 OC)
Promises, Promises (1968 / 1,281p) **** M: Burt Bacharach. L: Hal David. Exciting set of hard-edged originals from pop masters of the day address amoral tale of extramarital affairs with sizzling sophistication. (United Artists UAS 9902 OC)
Pump Boys and Dinettes (1982) * M/L: John Schimmel, Cass Morgan, Jim Wann, Debra Monk, John Foley and Mark Hardwick. Fine fresh lyrics get little lift from yawningly undramatic C&W tunes. (CBS 37790 OC)
Purlie (1970 / 688p) * M: Gary Geld. L: Peter Udell. Naggingly unoriginal work recycles blues and gospel idioms to tiresome degree. (Ampex A40101 OC)
Ragtime (1998, 861p) ** M: Stephen Flaherty. L: Lynn Ahrens. Synthetic refrains dance high on ragtime appropriations, stumble simple-mindedly over preachy red-white-and-blue anthems. (RCA CD 09026-68629-2. pre-Broadway cast)
Raisin (1973 / 847p) * M: Judd Woldin. L: Robert Brittan. Oppressive dabbling in African and blues rhythms up a long slow road to one big number. (Columbia KS32754 OC)
Red, Hot and Blue (1936 / 183p) (6 songs heard) M/L: Cole Porter. Mostly top drawer Porter to cheer about. (Smithsonian R016 AC and Bagley CR1340 SC)
Red Mill (1906 / 274p) *** M: Victor Herbert. L: Henry Blossom. Stolidly crafted old songs, tangy and agreeable. (Capitol T551 SC)
Redhead (1959 / 455p) ** M: Albert Hague. L: Dorothy Fields. Irritatingly inconsistent, yet its best offerings cannot be denied. (RCA LOC-1048 OC)
Rent (1996 / still running) ** M/L: Jonathan Larson. Erratically fine but overloaded rock concert about struggling young East Village artists on the cusp of adulthood who specialize in good looks, free love and free rent. (CD Dreamworks DRMD2-50003 OC)
Rex (1976 / 48p) * M: Richard Rodgers. L: Sheldon Harnick. Remarkable how Rodgers gave lovely singing voice to a few bankrupt lyrics. (RCA ABL1-1683 OC)
The Rink (1984 / 204p) *** M: John Kander. L: Fred Ebb. Character and place come vividly alive through variable entries, some nicely inventive. (Polydor 823 125-1 Y-1 OC)
Roar of the Greasepaint, Smell of the Crowd (1965 / 232p) **** M/L: Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. Bundle of theatrical charmers high on melody, pizazz and life-affirming rhetoric. (RCA LSO-1109 OC)
Roberta (1933 / 295p) ** M: Jerome Kern. L: Otto Harbach. A monotonous rueful loveliness soon sets in, not offset by uneventful verse or the momentarily epic “Yesterdays.” (Columbia COS2530 SC)
Rose Marie (1924 / 557p) ** M: Rudolf Friml and Herbert Stothart. L: Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II. Excessive prettiness wears thin. (RCA Lop-1001 SC)
The Rothschilds (1970 / 505p) * M: Jerry Bock. L: Sheldon Harnick. Bock and Harnick end a wildly inconsistent 12-year collaboration on a somewhat barren note. (Columbia S30337 OC)
Sail Away (1961 / 167p) *** M/L: Noel Coward. Glib, bright, ruefully sentimental work worthy of solid respect. (Stanyan SR10027 OC-London)
St. Louis Woman (1946 / 113p) **** M: Harold Arlen. M: Johnny Mercer. Ambitiously sensual work contains a handful of jewels. (Capitol DW2742 OC)
Sally (1920 / 570p) **** M: Jerome Kern. L: P.G. Wodehouse, B.G. DeSylva, Clifford Grey, Anne Caldwell. Ingratiating chords aplenty weave an enchanting spell. (Monmouth-Evergreen MES7053 OC-London)
Salvation (1969 / OB) *** M/L: Peter Link and C.C. Courtney. Full of youthful passion, a well-realized rock score noteworthy for its atypically positive attitudes. (Capitol SO-337 OC)
Saratoga (1959 / 80p) *** M: Harold Arlen. L: Johnny Mercer. Captivating uptempo charmers make for a fine listen. (RCA LSO-1051)
Say Darling (1958 / 332p) * M/L: Jule Styne, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Say “no” to humdrum verse set to bland melodies rooted in square dance, big band swing, church hymns and a Patty Page waltz, all adding down to generic light. (RCA LOC-1045 OC)
Scarlet Pimpernel (1997 / 772p) *** M: Frank Wildhorn. L: Nan Knighton. Memorable if redundantly romantic work thrills with swashbuckling choruses and haunting ballads. (Broadway Angel CD CDC7543972; highlights, pre–Broadway)
Secret Garden (1991 / 706p) * M: Lucy Simon. L: Marsha Norman. Bundle of marginally appealing folk tunes fall short of scoredom. (Columbia tape CT48817 OC)
Seesaw (1973 / 296p) *** M: Cy Coleman. L: Dorothy Fields. High-voltage, dazzlingly orchestrated music rich in syncopation, weak on unity and lyrical support. (CSPI/CBS X15563 OC)
1776 (1969 / 1,217p) ** M/L: Sherman Edwards. Authentic, serviceably engaging numbers more introspective than theatrical. (Columbia BOS3310 OC)
Seventh Heaven (1955 / 44p) *** M: Victor Young. L: Stella Unger. Dogged by first-side weaknesses, otherwise ultra uplifting outing delivers pure ’50s Broadway magic. (Decca OC)
70 Girls 70 (1971 / 35p) *** M: John Kander. L: Fred Ebb. The big toe-tapping charmers at the head of the parade carry a spotty enterprise successfully forward. (Columbia S30589 OC)
She Loves Me (1963 / 320p) **** M: Jerry Bock. L: Sheldon Harnick. Exquisitely detailed songs etch out a lovely little romantic tale with unforgettable enchantment. (MGM E41180C-2 OC)
Shenandoah (1975 / 1,050p) ** M: Gary Geld. L: Peter Udell. Quietly enchanting work portrays Southern resistance to impending Civil War with more poetry than drama. (RCA ARL1-1019 OC)
Show Boat (1927 / 575p) ***** M: Jerome Kern. L: Oscar Hammerstein II. A feast of melodic riches rooted in America’s two greatest themes—race and show business. (RCA AUM1-1741 AC)
Shuffle Along (1921 / 484p) *** M: Eubie Blake. L: Noble Sissle and others. Loaded with gutsy, foot-tapping gems. (Heard from Eubie!, Warner HS 3267 LC-revue, 1978)
Sideshow (1997 / approx. 91p) ** M: Henry Krieger. L: Bill Russell. Sensitive on-target lyrics compel interest, although the variable music veers between stock show tunes and floridly overwrought ballads. (Sony tape ST60258 OC)
Silk Stockings (1955 / 478p) **** M/L: Cole Porter. Amply Porter, amply wonderful. (RCA CBM1-2208 OC)
Skyscraper (1965 / 241p) * M: James Van Heusen. L: Sammy Cahn. Two good songs, the rest not. (Capitol SVAS2422 OC)
Something for the Boys (1943 / 422p) *** M/L: Cole Porter. Atypically schmaltzy offering from bon vivant composer warms the heart. (AEI 1157 AC)
Song of Norway (1944 / 860p) ** M: Edvard Grieg. L: Robert Wright and George Forrest. Evidently the late Grieg, whose music was here adapted, was good for but half an album. (Decca DL9019 OC)
Sophie (1963 / 8p) * M/L: Steve Allen. Slick superficial contrivance, not without a few shining refrains though oddly devoid of the composer’s expected humor, at least proves that he was, indeed, something more than a one-song songwriter. (AEI 1130 OC)
The Sound of Music (1959 / 1,433) **** M: Richard Rodgers. L: Oscar Hammerstein II. Another high-flying collaboration from the masters, however biased in the affirmative, affirms their gut-grabbing showmanship to the very end. (Columbia KOL5450 OC)
South Pacific (1949 / 1,925p) ***** M: Richard Rodgers. L: Oscar Hammerstein II. Breathtaking craftsmanship and magic from a collaboration made in heaven. (Columbia OL4180 OC)
Starlight Express (1987 / 761p) *** M: Andrew Lloyd Webber. L: Richard Stilgoe. Flamboyant parade of funky tunes cleverly references touching little steam-engine versus diesel locomotive saga. (MCA-5972 SC-1987)
Starting Here, Starting Now (1977 / OB) ** M: David Shire. L: Richard Maltby, Jr. When they rip loose from the yoke of Sondheim, especially through the elevating final tracks, Maltby and Shire demonstrate first-rate gifts. (RCA ABL1-2360 OC)
Steel Pier (1997 / 76p) *** M/L: John Kander and Fred Ebb. Irresistibly romantic opus full of the dreams of a Depression-era dance floor between two lonely strangers. (RCA tape 90926 68878-4 OC)
Stop the World, I Want to Get Off (1962 / 556p) ** M/L: Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. Abundant if redundant energy and comedy drive the mostly average numbers. (London AMS88001 OC)
Street Scene (1947 / 148p) ** M: Kurt Weill. L: Langston Hughes. Tragic uncompromising tale of adultery in a black ghetto, honestly evoked in brooding arias. (Columbia OL4139 OC)
Strike Up the Band (1930 / 191p) *** M: George Gershwin. L: Ira Gershwin. Gershwin goes gloriously Kern and Ira tags along for the ride, creating here warmer, more romantic melodies in the likely shadow of Show Boat, while leaving behind four blockbuster numbers from the musically superior 1927 version of the show which folded out of town. (Elektra CD 9 79273-2)
Student Prince (1924 / 608p) *** M: Sigmund Romberg. L: Dorothy Donnelly. Young love irretrievably lost, told stirringly in rich, comforting old-world refrains. (Columbia ML4592 SC)
Subways Are for Sleeping (1961 / 205p) ** M: Jule Styne. L: Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Half-baked, carelessly conceived grab bag offers a trio of big redeeming moments. (Columbia AKOS2130 OC)
Sugar (1972 / 505p) ** M: Jule Styne. L: Robert Merrill. A few knockout entries enliven booringly serviceable effort. (United Artists UAS-9905 OC)
Sunday in the Park with George (1984 / 604p) * M/L: Stephen Sondheim. Cerebrally inclined listeners will find stimulating moments strewn through a repetitively abstract, grand Sondheim drought. (RCA HBC1-5042 OC)
Sunny (1925 / 517p) (5 songs heard) M: Jerome Kern. L: Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II. Syncopated Kern at his best produces a razzmatazz delight. (Stanyon 10035 OC)
Sunset Boulevard (1995 / 977p) ** M: Andrew Lloyd Webber. L: Don Black and Christopher Hampton. Undeveloped patchwork offers ersatz American jazz, old operetta flourishes and soaring modern ballads to keep the listener effectively awake. (Polydor tape 314.52 3507-4 OC)
Superman (1966 / 129p) *** M: Charles Strouse. L: Lee Adams. Grossly uneven work is half loaded with captivating quirky numbers well suited to comic strip culture. (Columbia AKOS2970)
Sweeney Todd (1979 / 558p) *** M/L: Stephen Sondheim. Powerful sung-through tale offers workable recitative and intermittent Sondheim brilliance. (RCA CBL2-3379)
Sweet Charity (1966 / 608p) *** M: Cy Coleman. L: Dorothy Fields. Audience-pandering materials rarely capture the tale’s deeper pathos. (Columbia PS2900 OC)
Take Me Along (1959 / 448p) ** M/L: Robert Merrill. Modestly appealing tuner conveys warm small-town sentiments. (RCA LOC-1050 OC)
Tap Dance Kid (1983 / 669p) ** M: Henry Krieger. L: Robert Lorick. Numbing, Motown-heavy succession of interchangeable dream-and-make-it-better! anthems. (Polydor 820210-1Y-1 OC)
Tell Me on a Sunday (1985 / 474p) **** M: Andrew Lloyd Webber. L: Don Black. Intelligent lyrics combine with fresh, pop-powered music to create memorable modern-day tale about U.S. singles scene from Brit point of view. (Polydor PODVA OC-London, 1982)
Tenderloin (1960 / 216p) ** M: Jerry Bock. L: Sheldon Harnick. Naggingly half-baked venture redeems itself with several bravura highlights. (Capitol WAO1492 OC0)
Texas Lil Darlin’ (1949 / 300p) **** M: Robert Emmett Dolan. L: Johnny Mercer. Unsung golden-age treasure evokes the wide-open spaces of the state in which it is set with radiant humor and charm. (CBS reissue of Decca DL5188 OC)
They’re Playing Our Song (1979 / 1,082p) *** M: Marvin Hamlisch. L: Carole Bayer Sager. Fresh, attractive score favors pop market in winning fashion. (Casablanca NBLP 7141BS OC)
This Is the Army (1942 / 113p) *** M/L: Irving Berlin. Routinely uplifting patriot ditties. (MCA X14877 release of Decca DL 5108 OC)
Threepenny Opera (1933 / 12p) ** M: Kurt Weill. L: Bertold Brecht (trans. by Marc Blitzstein). Gritty trailblazing work is more theatre than musical theatre. (MGM ES3121 LC-1954)
Three Wishes for Jamie (1952 / 94p) * M/L: Ralph Blane. Strange split-personality score of buoyant showtunes and deadly pious ballads. (Capitol STET DS 15012 OC)
Titanic (1997 / 804p) * M/L: Maury Yeston. Ponderously self-important numbers are best when imitating Sondheim, worst when patterned after folk music, 1776 chatter, Elgar and Romberg. (RCA 09026 6834-4)
Too Many Girls (1939 / 249p) **** M: Richard Rodgers. L: Lorenz Hart. Top drawer Rodgers & Hart creations surprisingly mine swing and Latin rhythms. (Bagley Revisited PS1368 SC)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1951 / 267p) **** M: Arthur Schwartz. L: Dorothy Fields. Wonderful music well served by sensitive words. (Columbia AML4405 OC)
Two by Two (1970 / 343p) * M: Richard Rodgers. L: Martin Charnin. Strained, claustrophobic collaboration suffers from tortured lyrics, though the music is adequate. (Columbia S30338 OC)
Two Gentlemen of Verona (1971 / 627p) * M: Galt MacDermot. L: John Guare. Lyrically limp onslaught of laid-back ’60s funk, the exceptions being exceptions. (ABC BCSY-1001 OC)
Two on the Aisle (1951 / 276p) ** M: Jule Styne. L: Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Mildly engaging (and quite funny) to mildly mediocre. (Decca DL 8040 OC)
Two’s Company (1952 / 90p) *** M: Vernon Duke. L: Ogden Nash. (Additional song by Sheldon Harnick; additional lyrics by Sammy Cahn.) Even with Bette Davis singing like Bette Davis, featured here—sometimes charmingly—in the only Broadway song and dancer in which she would ever appear, there can be no denying the memorable highlights of a score built on smart verse and beguiling melody. (RCA CBM1-2757 OC)
Unsinkable Molly Brown (1960 / 532p) ** M/L: Meredith Willson. Sub-mediocre effort winningly high on spirit. (Capitol WAO1509 OC)
Very Good Eddie (1915 / 341p) **** M: Jerome Kern. L: Schuyler Greene and others. Snazzy, snappy, and infinitely melodious—as charming as a precocious child in tap shoes. (DRG 6100 LC-Goodspeed)
Very Warm for May (1939 / 59p) (5 songs heard) M: Jerome Kern. L: Oscar Hammerstein II. Very warm off the piano, these numbers fail to deliver much drama or comedy. (AEI 1156 OC)
Walking Happy (1966 / 161p) * M: James Van Heusen. L: Sammy Cahn. Memorable refrains are the extreme exception in cliché-heavy work. (Capitol VAS2631 OC)
West Side Story (1957 / 734p) ***** M: Leonard Bernstein. L: Stephen Sondheim. Breathtaking musical masterpiece, as powerful, scary, sensually compelling and sadly doomed as the racially divided world it wraps its dancing feet around. (Columbia OL5230 OC)
What Makes Sammy Run? (1964 / 540p) * M/L: Ervin Drake. Not much, judging by a surfeit of pedestrian numbers. (Columbia KOS-2440 OC)
Where’s Charley? (1948 / 792p) ** M/L: Frank Loesser. Pleasant rag bag collection reveals scarce traces of the Loesser genius to follow. (Monmouth-Evergreen MES/7029 LC-1958, London)
Whoop Up (1958 / 56p) * M: Moose Charlap. L: Norman Gimbel. A few funny numbers keep this turkey barely off the table. (MGM E3745 OC)
Whoopee (1928 / 379p) **** M/L: Gush Kahn, Walter Donaldson and others. Chock full of keen humor and crackling ’20s syncopation. (Smithsonian/RCA AC)
Wildcat (1960 / 171p) *** M: Cy Coleman. L: Carolyn Leigh. Buoyantly ingratiating work rides obliviously high over rough and tumble subject matter. (RCA LOC1060 OC)
Will Rogers Follies (1991 / 983p) *** M: Cy Coleman. L: Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Welcome parade of stirring show tunes and thoughtful ballads, lushly presented in old movie musical style. (Columbia CD CK 48606)
Wish You Were Here (1952 / 598p) * M/L: Harold Rome. Four fine end numbers arrive too late to rescue lyric-deficient dog. (RCA LSO-1108(e) OC)
The Wiz (1975 / 1,672p) *** M/L: Charles Smalls. Generally amusing adaptation of classic movie dances on black humor to a funky Motown beat. (Atlantic SD18137 OC)
Woman of the Year (1981 / 770p) *** M: John Kander. L: Fred Ebb. Carelessly mixed bag contains ample delights. (Arista AL8303 OC)
Wonderful Town (1953 / 559p) **** M: Leonard Bernstein. L: Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Hot jazzy choruses and hilarious verse conjure one whale of a party, if not exactly a well made singing play. (MCA-2050 reissue of Decca 9-391 OC)
Working (1978 / 25p) ** M/L: Craig Carnelia, Micki Grant, Mary Rodgers, Susan Birkenhead, Stephen Schwartz, James Taylor. Great revue premise haphazardly realized through disparate contributions stressing beat over content, the outstanding exceptions virtually all composed by dark horse contributor to-the-rescue, Craig Carnelia. (Columbia 35411 OC)
Your Arms Too Short to Box with God (1976, OB) ** M: Alex Bradford. L: Bradford and Micki Grant. Gospel version of the Jesus story no better or more original than a Sunday morning revival service. (ABC AB1004 OC)
Your Own Thing (1968 / 933p) * M/L: Hal Hester and Danny Apolinar. Pleasantly marginal effort in the early key of rock. (RCA LSO-1148)
You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown (1967 / 1,597p) ** M/L: Clark Gesner. Half delightful, half humdrum. (MGM 1E/S1E-90C OC)
Ziegfeld Follies of 1919 (1919 / 171p) *** M: Irving Berlin and others. L: Irving Berlin and others. Full of tasteful, topical humor, surprisingly short on big chorus numbers. (Smithsonian P 14272 AC)
Zorba (1968 / 305p) *** M: John Kander. L: Fred Ebb. Beguiling musicalization of the exotic folk culture at its center. (Capitol SO118 OC)