The Broadway musical that no one thought could possibly be any good has made
quite a splash by exceeding expectations. Now the original Broadway cast
recording is out, and, while it doesn't get the benefit of the outlandishly
low expectations that greeted the show when it opened at the smallest of all
Broadway houses, the 597-seat Helen Hayes Theatre, it makes a fine souvenir
for those who have fallen for its seductive charms in person, and makes a
pretty enjoyable listen all by itself. As we reported in
our review of the show itself, this
show is an outlandishly entertaining, outrageously ingratiating and absurdly
enjoyable little entertainment which, at a top ticket price of $110,
probably has no place in the high priced real estate of Broadway. After all,
that is over a dollar a minute. The disc, on the other hand, runs only 45
cents a minute and you can play it over and over again! |
Storyline: The musical version of the 1980 flop of a movie tells the
story of
Clio, one of the daughters of Zeus,
whose duty is to visit Earth to stimulate the arts, lands not in Venice,
Italy in 1780 but in Venice, California in 1980 (euhhh!) where
she helps a street artist achieve his dream. He wants
to open a combination art gallery, night club and roller disco. In the
process, she falls in love with the young man. That is a violation of Zeus'
absolute rule - no goddess may love a mortal.
The movie was an attempt to capitalize on the
success of Grease to establish Olivia Newton-John as a star of the
first order. The effort failed because the movie failed at the
box office, but its score made a highly successful soundtrack
album. That score was the work of John Farrar who had written and produced
some of Newton-John's earlier hits, and Jeff Lynne who had been responsible
for some of the hits of The
Electric Light Orchestra. Their work seemed to mix well. Xanadu was Gene Kelley's last dancing role in a movie and he brought
charm to the piece, especially in the old-style dance sequence with
Newton-John to the tune of "Whenever You're Away From Me." For the Broadway
show, Douglas Carter Beane's book keeps its tongue very firmly planted in
its own cheek. Some of the flippancy of Beane's script is captured in the
recording.
The opening night cast of Cheyenne Jackson and Kerry Butler
as the street artist and his muse and the over-the-top Mary Testa and the
absolutely hysterical Jackie Hoffman as fellow muses with their own mission document their contributions, while Tony Roberts
sings the role Gene Kelley had in the movie. Roberts is better in live
performance than on this disc, if only because his persona is more visual
than aural. His singing is a bit wobbly, something that simply didn't
register in person. Of course, it helped that he
doesn't have to cope with the demands of roller skating on stage as everyone
else did.
Record producers Jeffrey Lesser and Philip Chaffin
resisted the temptation to augment the small combo used in the theater.
There are but two synthesizer players, a drummer and a guitarist. All four players
from the show perform on the disc. The sound that they produce is effective
in the small space of the Helen Hayes and is acceptable on the disc. A
larger group might have been a kick for the big-band, jazz-toned "Whenever
You're Away From Me," but, then, we might never have had a chance to hear
how much conductor/arranger/lead synthesizer player and veteran Broadway
musical director Eric
Stern can actually swing. Who knew? (Well, actually, owners of his Gershwin
score recordings on Roxbury/Nonesuch knew very well.
Click here to buy the CD "Oh, Kay!"
Click here to buy the CD "Lady, Be Good!"
Click here to buy the CD "Pardon My English")
Why he is only credited with "arrangements" and not "orchestrations" is a
mystery. One wonders if he will be eligible for consideration in the
orchestration category in this year's round for the Tony Award.
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