Disney CD's: Broadway Shows |
Highlights From Disney On Broadway |
Disney has been a relatively late comer on Broadway, but it's been hitting pay dirt since the stage version of Beauty and the Beast opened to critical acclaim and commercial success in 1994, followed by The Lion King and Aida. While Aida was the only original stage creation, the other two featured new songs that were not in the movies. In addition, Disney worked with some of New York's finest theatrical talent. In hindsight, hiring Julie Taymor to stage The Lion King was a stroke of genius, but it really was a daring gamble at the time. Likewise, Beauty and the Beast gave talented theater singers like Terrence Mann and Susan Egan a chance to shine in meaty roles. Disney groomed talent as well: Heather Headley was cast in a supporting part in The Lion King before moving on to the title role in Aida. All three shows are represented on this CD (with a companion book due in October 2002), making for a perfect introduction to their best-known songs.
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Beauty And The Beast: The Broadway Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording) |
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The Lion King (Original Broadway Cast Recording) |
An Oscar win might suggest a score that would need a miracle to be bettered--but this colorful stage adaptation of Disney's The Lion King does so with flair. Composers Mark Mancina and Lebo M worked closely together to fuse the movie's many disparate elements. Where there was a veritable army exercising creative influences for the animated tale, this brings it all under the wings of a like-minded few. This is genuinely apparent as one track flows into the next. The African rhythms--both vocal and in instrumentation--come across as authentic and original all at once. No doubt this is largely through Mancina's passion for peculiar instruments and the possibilities suggested from nightly live performances. "Grasslands Chant" is a good place to hear this. The hit favorites are here of course, but both "Circle of Life" and "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" are pleasingly unrecognizable with chorus and shifting beats. Better still is the likelihood they will now be eclipsed by some of the new numbers. Mancina's own "He Lives in You" being a strong contender. With a sound mix as crisp as you'd hope to find, this is rousing stuff.
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Mary Poppins (Original London Cast Recording) |
Mary Poppins may be one of the most beloved film musicals of all time, but it took 30 long years for it to transfer to the stage. This recording of the original London cast shows the wait was worthwhile though. The new version mixes in elements from both the original books by P.L. Travers (which she started publishing in 1934) and the Disney movie starring Julie Andrews, from 1964. (Mary seems to take 30 years to do anything.) Most of the original songs by brothers Richard and Robert Sherman (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) are present--Mary Poppins is so associated with "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," "A Spoonful of Sugar," and "Chim Chim Cher-ee," her Oscar-winning duet with Bert, that starting from scratch would have been unthinkable. But then George Stiles and Anthony Drewe came in and dusted off some of these songs, and wrote entirely new numbers as well. Miraculous, these are wonderful and blend in seamlessly with the 1960s tunes, thanks in no small to William David Brohn's lovely orchestrations. As the titular super-nanny, Laura Michelle Kelly is so warm and scrumptious that she might as well be referring to herself when she sings "I'm practically perfect in every way." The rest of the cast is equally adept, making this Mary Poppins sweet but not treacly, and the rare show to upstage its source.
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Tarzan : The Broadway Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording) |
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On the Record : A New Musical Revue (2004 Original Cast) |
Following a now-familiar recipe, this musical revue uses a new narrative to string together a series of classic tunes. This time, they are culled from Disney's ample vaults. The material is impressively comprehensive. The oldest song originated in The Shindig (1930) and the newest are from Toy Story 2 and Disney's Tarzan (both 1999). Many of the numbers are grouped in likeminded "sessions." Some focus on a single movie, like Dumbo or The Little Mermaid, while the session dubbed "Silly Symphony" is pulled from nine different flicks. Kids will be delighted by the evergreen classics, while music-minded parents will get a kick out of nuggets written by 20th-century pop titans such as Peggy Lee (cowriter of the tunes from Lady and the Tramp) and Carl Stalling ("Minnie's Yoo-Hoo"). The cast is adept, the plot is--oh, who cares? This is all about the songs, and it's almost scary to realize just how many of them have become part of the American collective unconscious.
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Mary Poppins (Original London Cast 2005) |
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Aida (2000 Original Broadway Cast) |
For his second Broadway musical (and first time out writing a full show directly for the stage), Elton John certainly set his sights high by turning to one of the grandest of all operas as a source. His continued collaboration with lyricist Tim Rice has produced a work far closer to the agreeable pop style and formula of the team's Disney musical, The Lion King, than to the majesty and tragic passion of Verdi's opera. But the compelling tale of conflicting loyalties and star-crossed lovers--retooled in part by acclaimed playwright David Henry Hwang--inspires some of John's signature melodic felicity, as in "Elaborate Lives" and "Every Story Is a Love Story." And the original cast recording marks a dramatic leap forward from 1999's dreary mishmash studio concept album, thanks to the heat generated by Heather Headley and Rent star Adam Pascal as the forbidden lovers. Sherie René Scott can turn on a dime from a parodic stance ("My Strongest Suit") to sad resignation ("I Know the Truth"), while the three get to blend in the ensemble "A Step Too Far"--a pop counterpart to the intensity of operatic ensemble. The score touches on reggae and gospel, and on all-out rock balladry (where it's fun to hear Pascal clearly imitating John's characteristic vocal inflections), but it's most touching in the more reflective moments given to Headley's dignified Nubian princess.
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Aida (1999 Concept Album) |
Following hot on the heels of their enormously successful collaboration for The Lion King, Elton John and Tim Rice have once again culled their talents to create another Disney contemporary musical, based this time on Verdi's opera Aida. The album, recorded by some of the biggest talents of pop, country, and R&B, features songs from the stage show, which recounts the well-known tale of a love triangle further complicated by slavery, royalty, and the armed forces. John duets to great effect with country crooner LeAnn Rimes, the enchanting Janet Jackson, and the lovely Lulu of To Sir with Love fame. Lush and lively, the soundtrack hits a hoot of a (decidedly not highbrow) high point with the infectious pop of the Spice Girls warbling the merits of undergarments on "My Strongest Suit" ("Always wear underwear/Anytime, anywhere"). Lenny Kravitz funks things up with "Like Father Like Son." Shania Twain's husky emoting makes a fine pop ballad of the brief "Amneris' Letter." "Not Me" chronicles the goodness of love as Boyz II Men coo dreamily, their harmonies nestling into John's sumptuous score.
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Disney's Der Gloeckner Von Notre Dame (1999 German Stage Version) |
Music is so subjective. When I saw the animated movie, I didn't think it was that great; but I did enjoy the music. As I watched the movie again (and again), both the movie and the music grew on me. I bought the CD of the German production and immediately loved it. The new songs "Top of the World" and "Esmeralda" are marvelous. And, now I know how "Someday" was meant to sound. I've seen the 35-minute Walt Disney World Hunchback stage production over 25 times. It is outstanding. I love "Out There" and "God Help the Outcasts". Also, "A Guy Likes You" is a real winner and fits wonderfully into the show.
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