(Thank you to all you who have reached out to me over the last year. I hope to get this blog back up and running soon! There are almost 20 unfinished posts siting in my drafts folder!)

Sondheim’s intricate, gay, and sometimes confusing score comes to life after 20 absent years from Broadway. With an All-Star cast and the complete (I think?) 14 minute Prologue, the album brings to life some nuances and moments that are absent from previous revivals/recordings.

Phillipa Soo, Sara Bareilles and Patina Miller hold down the roles of Cinderella, Baker’s Wife and the Witch. Bareilles entered the Broadway scene in a lateral move from Composer (Waitress 2015) to Actress (Waitress 2015, Jesus Christ Superstar 2018). Bareilles’ talent and acting skills are of top quality and she channels a bit of Joanna Gleason from the original Broadway cast. Her background is not in Sondheim musicals and as such she might not seem like an obvious casting choice. She brings velvety and pitch perfect tone to the role’s more melodic moments (listen to Children Will Listen). However, it is noticeable that she wavers slightly on note placement during some more complicated vocals runs (It Takes Two, Any Moment). In my opinion her take on the role adds a fresh, almost outsider, take and her lack of experience in Sondheim music does not detract from the quality of the performance.

Soo is perfection and I have nothing further to say about her. Soo as Cinderella is probably the best casting choice of the decade and it’s SUCH a gem to have the Prologue in it’s entirety with Soo singing the opening. Very nice.

Patina Miller is not a bad casting choice, but her dedication to the original vocalization of the Witch faulters, especially in Act II. Instead of letting the flow of Sondheim’s esoteric melodies lead her, it feels like she is being held back by their complexities. Like she wants to jump around and sing notes that were never meant to be improvised. The middle section of Last Midnight does not feel articulated in a precise way that I expect on a studio recording of a Sondheim score and, at times, I feel as if Miller is yelling at me. Or scolding me. The song seems to overpower her. Maybe that was the director’s decision. But relistening to Peters and Streep sing it I assume that Sondheim envisioned a little more control for the piece. Not sure. Miller is definitely a vocal powerhouse and there’s no denying her talent. Perhaps I need to open my mind to a different interpretation of the role.

This production marks one of the first major productions of a Sondheim musical following the composer’s death. Studio recordings of Sondheim musicals provide the audience with an uninterrupted and unobscured view into the madness of Sondheim’s musicality. As we continue to mourn his death, we look forward to future generations interpretations of his works. This album marks just the beginning of that journey.