Yeston-Kopit’s Phantom (2016 Korean Cast Recording)

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This post refers specifically to the Park Eun Tae Version of this production.

Remember back in 2000 when Lippa and LaChuisa both had shows based on the same source material, both in NY, and both named Wild Party? Weird that it happened right? I also remember the Yeston’s Titanic coming out the same year as the blockbuster film. Also somewhat akward. Well, a kind-of similar thing happened about 15 years prior with Gaston Leroux’s Phantom of the Opera. This is not totally unheard of; think about A Christmas Carol adaptations, any musical about the last days of Jesus, The Little Prince adapations, modern adaptations of Shakespeare, and on and on. In the mid 1980s, three shows based on Leroux’s Phantom were in works. One by Ken Hill, one by Maury Yeston, and obviously, the big one: Andew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera. It would be an understatement to say Webber’s production “won the race,” as, not only did it win the race, it is literally still in it’s original run on Broadway. a staggering 30 years later and Webber’s musical remains intact, successful, and extremely well recieved by theatergoers. Myself included. Hill’s and Yeston’s Phantom typically go unnoticed, and are seldom mentioned in theater small-talk in my circles.

When I learned about Yeston’s Phantom in high school, even though I was a fan of Nine and Titanic, I didn’t have much interest in listening to the recording because I knew it would be hard for me to seperate the two shows in my mind. And indeed it was hard for me to listen through the American recording as there was too much conflict in visualizations.

I came to this realization very recently, actually, and decided to try listening to a non-English version as to break the connection. And much to my delight, it worked. The 2016 Korean recording is exhilerating and, for me, something fresh and new from one of my, if not my absolute, favorite composers.

With the exception with the use of the name Christine, I do not hear anything in the Korean translation of Kopits libretto that reminds me of Webbers. Also worth mentioning I am a native English speaker and speak no Korean except for what I learned from playing Starcraft back in the day. The two shows are drastically different in terms of music, and it would be completely useless to try to compare the two. IfI had to dig for similarities, I would point out that Webber’s “Play within a play” music (Hannibal, Think of Me (sort of), Don Juan Triumphant, etc.) retains a 1880s Creepy Opera House feel, while the rest of the show is overtly 1980s Creepy Rock-Opera feel. Yeston’s score is the former version of creepy, for the entire show. Even the melody melody melody melody major chord song(s) are creepy.

Yeston’s score has so many complexities and nuanced features and everytime you listen, you hear something new, it is one of those scores that grows and grows on you. With Webber, you can see the show twice and have all the songs memorized and stuck in your head for 30 years.



Bjork’s Vespertine: A Pop Album as an Opera

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If you were an akward stoner teenager like me in the early 2000s, you probably listened to the original Vespertine, alone with headphones, while watching the snow fall or looking up at the cold, starry night. Even if the snow and stars weren’t literal, it’s impossible not to feel the crunching of the snow under your feet and the twinkle of stars above you in Bjork’s 2001 pop masterpiece Vespertine. An album revolving around micro electronic beats into an opera? How can this work? Bjork’s Vespertine is an electronic pointillistic completely surreal audio experince. Georges Seurat would have loved this album. Every micro beat and boop beep boop sound adds to a growing painting of winter, love, lust, and with the album ending with “Unison,” harmony. But to translate these electropopcorn bites into an opera setting? I had to hear it to believe it.

By the time Pagan Poetry plays, my heart is melting and I realize what a beautiful template Bjork has created for storytelling. Bjork has a history of making weird futuristic concept albums, and this album confirms that Bjork is probably a time traveler, finding melodies out of reach from the normal mind, and bringing it into our lives. The songwriting is something with which nothing can compare. No words can presicely describe the nuances that define Vespertine.

Bjork’s Vespertine as an opera is an earful of magic and wonder. The original lyrics and song order are mostly unchanged, save for a few additions to fill in gaps. The orchestrations and chorus keep your brain fully engaged for the duration of the album.

For me, it’s a time travel back to Aug 2001, a month before the US and world fell to its knees in despair. And we all sought solace in music, art, and prayer. This album is full of hope, dreams, and the artistic vision is clear and present. I highly, highly recommend this album.

“An Echo, A Stain” is my favorite from the opera. It took me years to understand the melody of this song. The baritone/soprano duet version here just… makes the melody soar even higher.

The Woman in White (2004 London Unofficial Highlights)

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Poor, poor Woman in White. After her lukewarm Broadway run she disappeared into the shadows for over a decade. My impression is that US audiences found it boring and UK audiences found it… acceptable? I was a teenager when I bought the CD in 2005 and I was truly, deeply, madly in love with the score. I don’t know why, and I know my teenage hormotional rollercoaster adds a nostalgia bias. But damn, the music in this show is just gorgeous. I would like to point out that I’ve never seen this show and its visuals (which I’ve heard were at least good) are only in my imagination.

In highschool, this is what I assumed: Woman in White was never given was a proper, solid cast recording. The budget for the album was definitely 45ish$ that went to the soundboard guy to press the record button at the beginning of the show and the stop button at the end of the show. The album is, literally, a full unabridged recording of the show with no edits, cuts, or adjustments. Oh, except for a bonus track which is identical to a track we just heard near the end of Act II. The album finishes with a clunky, bumpy song that follows a beautiful finale. This album is so beautiful but much too complete and full of dialouge for me to recommend it to a present-day theater enthusiast. As a result, I made an abridged version for my own personal use and to share with friends.

Act 1: We begin with a dark frightning encounter between our protagonist(?) and the epynomous woman in white. I actually love this opening; it starts with the sound of fast moris code style clicking contrasted against an slower, offtempo sounding brass/woodwind that continues to build. And then suddenly a man screams “Oh my God!” and this driving 4/4 ascending piano bit starts and the two characters have a songversation. We are then introduced to the woman in white’s signiture theme (“You see I am no ghost” melody) with Angela Christian belting a tune so haunting it will give you goosebumps.

Following the prolouge, the tunes become uplifted as the characters are introduced and the score moves towards an almost “pastoral” 1850s painting vibe. Despite a somewhat slow to build beginning and ALWs absolute refusal to include any harmony in the duet “I believe my heart,” I am eager to hear more.

After two rousing renditions of Lammastide, a song which is creepy, repetative, and, entirely forgettable. It sounds like Andrew forgot how to write pop music momentarily as the chorus singing (again, no harmony) a robotic melody with a flute-accented downbeat so heavy, it kind of makes you motion sick.

Good news is that following Lammastide, the real beauty begins with the Holly and Ivy songversation into Maria Friedman’s tragic All For Laura. And then finally, the 3rd or 4th reprise of You See I Am No Ghost as the finale. In the edited recording I posted, the finale is cut a milli-second too short to breathe between Acts, but honestly, the actual final seconds are not noteworthy. When I remake this edit with a FLAC rip, I will change the akwardness of this track, and add a couple seconds to breathe before Act 2, and add back in the church bells indicating the beginning of Act 2.

[Intermission]
Wow. I don’t know why harmony-less duets bother me so much. Am I missing something? Why wouldn’t you harmonize in a 4 minute love-ish song? What is it exactly about this melody that allows it to be acceptable without harmony? Am I over-reacting? Probably.

Act 2 begins with churchbells, which I edited out originally, oops. We get a few great solos, notably Evermore Without You, All For Laura Reprise, and You Can Get Away With Anything. And we also get treated with Lost Souls, a personal favorite of mine. It’s a fast paced choral number in 7/8 time, a catchy melody, and, thank you Jesus, harmonies galore.

The Finale is dialog driven, but there’s a nice medley of tunes from the show to underscore the creepy ending. At the very end, we get, the 18th reprise of You See I Am No Ghost (Okay, 5th?) and we finish the show with a ton of grunting and groaning and slapping from what is clearly a 2-minute fight onstage that we cannot see. The 12 minute finale I only cut down to 9 minutes, and it’s still awfully long. Especially with all the noisy stage fighting, it doesn’t make for a great listen.

But. Woman in White will always be one of my favorite broadway “flops” and I hope to see it return someday. (Worth noting, I know there was a 2017 West End revival, but there is little media from it and I never saw it). Maybe next time with a well produced cast album 😀






Ghost (2011 London Cast Recording)

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Full disclosure: this recording is not my favorite. Don’t let my grumpyness disuade you from eating up what Cassie has to offer though.

Enough time has passed since seeing the original Ghost film that I don’t remember anything except for Demi Moore’s haircut, which was unforgivable. The broadway production somehow went unnoticed by me during the early 2010s “Movie-turned-musical but only lasting a few months on broadway” situation. And Ghost was never a movie I ever considered for a stage adaptation, as I believed it to be locked in the 1990s vault for all time. I didn’t know who Cassie Levy was, nor did I know that Glen Ballard (of Jagged Little Pill fame) and Dave Stewart (of Eurythmics fame) composed the show. After obsessing over Cassie’s Elphaba, Elsa, and Fantine performances in recent years, I finally decided to give the album a new listen. After all, Cassie’s hair is much prettier than Demi Moores, so maybe there’s hope.

Act 1 – The show starts with characters Molly and Sam singing some cheesy pop songs (including a non-favorite song of mine, Unchained Melody) and suddenly Sam gets by a random Mexicann mugger, and then there’s a seemingly out of place song-and-dance tap number “Ball of Wax” set in a hospital and by this point in the album, I’m not sure where to put my emotions. Following this confusing number, a gospel number comes out of nowhere asking Molly and the audience “Are you a believer?” Am I sad? Confused? Cringing? Am I a believer? I’m not sure yet.

Finally near the end of Act 1, Cassie blesses us with the ballad “With You.” This is beautifully belting fantastic Cassie Levy in all her glory singing a great pop song with a haunting minor lift in the chorus (With youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-oooooooooh). And finally the Act one finale comes and Molly “suspends her disbelief” with a 10 minute rock track with so much overlapping dialog and singing and another mexican bad guy? I’m not sure. Now I realize that I have no idea what the heck this musical is about. I’m hoping the second act is… less… confusing.

[Intermission]
(You know how in A L Webber’s Joseph/Dreamcoat, every scene is a new music genre? Country line dancing into French accordian cliche ballad into calypso jam into 1970s disco jam “go go go joseph” into a sad ballad, into 1980s megamix. By the end, your brain is like “what is happening what universe does this story take place in and I feel lost” Ghost is – not as intense – but I wouldn’t say the score “flows” well. And I’m not sure why so many genres are being represented or what the writers “want” me to feel.

Act 2 takes us through ballad after ballad after ongoing dialogs about psychics and ghosts and love. Okay. This is fine. I’ve now read the synopsis and kind of get the gist, but near the end of the album, the not-so rockin’ rock song “I’m outta here” bleeds into an incredibly long dialog track / unchained melody reprise. It’s not until this track is over that I realize we’ve reached the actual finale of the show. Sam stops following around Molly and says goodbye in what is a very quiet anti-climatic ending. And now she has closure? I’m not sure. Do I have closure?! Even less sure.

The album concludes, after the finale, with a pop duet version of “With You” which is enjoyable. It remains the only track I can remember the melody of – everything else is a confusing blur.

Now, with all that being said, I will be keeping my eye out for future productions to see how the show has evolved as it seems to be staying alive somewhat across the pond in the European market. I actually do recommend the recording, dispite what looks like a long list of complaints (Sorry Glen Ballard) simply for Cassie Levy’s vocal performance. She could sing happy birthday backwards, drunk and with a pillow case over her head and I would probably still enjoy listening to it.

Ghost the Musical in its 2011 form is definitely a clunky mess of a musical. Fairly empty with brief moments of quality. Kudos to Cassie and Richard Fleeshman for trying to hold this erratic score together. I think I’ll stick to Jagged Little Pill or Frozen if I need to scratch my Glenn Ballard or Cassie Levy itch.

Nine (1982 Original Broadway Cast Recording)

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Maury Yeston’s Nine (1982 Original Broadway Cast Recording)

Act 1:
I was introduced to Nine around 2003 when the revival cast recording was released. As a teenager, I bought the CD on a whim, having never seen the show, but Yeston had an impressive reputation, and he had two major league shows win Best Musical at the tony’s by this point, and Jane Krakowski had some press coverage with her descending-from-the-ceiling-upside-down knockout performance of “A Call From The Vatican” (seen here if interested: https://youtu.be/UvhMAw6gCDw. Hearing Anita Morris’s version of the showstopper is a treat. Her almost manic finale combining belting, crying, high soprano notes, and vocal shivers, is really something else.

I did pause my listen-through of the 1982 Broadway Recording to reminisce on Jane Krakowski’s variation from the 2003 Revival, and I will admit, there is something almost perfect about Jane’s vocal rendition. I also, for the sake of objectivism(?), listened to the London (Becky Norman), Australian, Movie (P Cruz) and “Maury Yeston Songbook” (Alice Ripley) versions of the track as well.

The second half of act one unfolds with lush orchestrations and theatrical vocals with an obvious attention to the loony-ness and psychosis of some of the characters. Even in longer numbers like “Follies Bergeres”, and long song-and-dance-and-drama number sung in Franglais, where I literally don’t understand what’s happening for 8 minutes, Yeston’s score pulls me in deep regardless. It’s actually memorizing to hear the complexities of the overlays of vocals and orchestrations in this number. It reminds me of how good Les Miserable’s showstopper “One Day More”, or Rent’s “Christmas Bells” can be, even though it’s impossible to understand what anyone is saying.

The eponymous lullaby/choral number “Nine” sounds like it was written for his show Titanic, with a soaring melody and never a missed opportunity for flute heavy orchestration. Titanic, premiering in 1997 around 15 years after Nine, feels more like one long orchestral work turned into a musical, rather than a play with songs. (Also worth noting that Titanic is one of my favorite musicals and won the 1997 Best Musical Tony). The song “Nine” is later recorded as more of a solo number in the 2003 revival, where it loses some of his angelic, lullaby-esque feel.

By the time the Act 1 Finale track comes, I realize that every track so far has been extremely diverse in its musicality, while also maintaining a very classic Maury Yeston feel.

[Intermission]
A, very opinionated, side note: Maury Yeston’s Compilation album “Maury Yeston Songbook” is an essential album that belongs in every theatergoer’s collection. If for nothing else but Betty Buckley’s insane interpretation of Nine’s “Be On Your Own”

Act 2
Act 2’s favorite numbers for me include Be On Your Own and Unusual Way, but the Broadway recording doesn’t have the same oomph for these numbers as future recordings will. It might be worth it for me to compile the entire score as a playlist with my favorite versions from each recording, as it seems to vary widely among the songs. As well there are songs added from the motion picture soundtrack. Maury Yeston’s Nine was chosen to listen-through today because I haven’t given it a proper listen in years, and I’ve been on a Maury Yeston kick, having recently obtaining his Tom Sawyer ballet, as well as re listening to Titanic.

Concluding Thoughts
In short, this musical is amazing, and the score is enough to keep you enthralled, even if you know nothing of the story-line. The second act is stronger in future recordings, but nevertheless a fantastic album. Maury Yeston is an American treasure, I hope his works live until forever.

Lion King, The (2007 Paris Cast Recording)

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Lion King (2007 Paris Cast Recording)

Ladies and Gentlemen,
a first time listen-through I am truly excited about. Elton John, Lemo M, Zimmer, and Julie Taymor’s masterpiece Lion King from 1997 took over internationally in the late 90s, much to the pleasure of everyone everywhere. In 1998, Lion King beat out Stephen Flaherty’s Ragtime for Best Musical, which most people say was a given, but let’s not forget that Lion King lost to Ragtime and Honk(!) in the Drama Desk and Oliver awards, respectively. In retrospect Julie Taymor and co were probably robbed of those. This is biased of course because I’ve never seen a professional production of Ragtime. And don’t worry everyone, Flaherty’s “Once on this Island” will go on to win the 2018 Tony for Best Revival.

I can’t believe Honk beat Lion King for the Olivier Award … 😦

Anyway, Act 1:
The Paris recording captures the perfect Circle of Life energy during it’s opening number. Rafikii is slightly more articulate with story telling diction than her American counterpart, but it’s a near flawless representation of the original production. Literally my only annoyance is the added syllable count in the French translation of “Circle of Life” (4) to Cercle De La Vie (5). I am not an expert in libretto translations though, so don’t mind me. The African chants of the first 10 minutes of the show come to an end with the ever annoying, and now cut, “Morning Report” or “L’Echo Du Matin.” We then remember that the first act of Lion King is more happy and G-Rated and the songs are catchy and silly and the Adults in the audience are awaiting the drama of Act 2.

Although some liberties were taken with various vocal lines, as well as syllables, the underlying score remains faithful to it’s original incarnation. The Paris cast does it’s duty well in preparing us for the overwhelming Act that is to follow.

[Intermission] (Only thoughts so far is: I can’t wait for He Lives in You, Shadowlands, and Endless Night)

Act 2
The African chanting at the beginning of act 2 remind me that there are some great songs are ahead after not understanding the jokes in Morning Report, Can’t Wait to be King, Hakuna, Hyneas songs, etc. In fact, we begin act two with Scar’s slightly creepy, slightly rape-y song Madness of Scar, where Scar tries to “Wed(!?)” Nala and our French actor does a great job convincing us that he, and his little hyena servants, are completely nuts and obviously pose a threat to the protagonists. Hearing it in French makes me equally uncomfortable and intrigued by this song, musically, and lyrically. After this nightmare (in a good way?) opening number, the show ascends into adult ballads with haunting African tribal chants interwoven with the melodies. Shadowlands and Endless night hit me hard back to back, and they really did well with these ballads. Adult Simba deliver’s Jason Raize’s (the original Simba on Broadway) emotional and desperate cry for help in a very beautiful way. After Raize’s unexpected passing in 2004 at the age of 28, this song has a deeper meaning for a lot of theater enthusiasts, as the song speaks so many words to so many people’s spiritual journey. I am pleased with this recording, so far, and I think Raize would be proud of this production.

A french sounding accordion leads us into Can You Feel the Love Tonight and I’m left wondering if there was an accordion in non-French productions. Cheesy a little bit, but Timon and Pumba are supposed to be, so it’s fitting I think. As we come to the end of the show we are left with one last song before the finale: Il Vie En Toi!, or He Lives in You, a song that even atheist theatergoers will attest to it bringing them closer to God. I’m being hyperbolic, of course, but I can’t emphasize enough the beauty and almost perfection of this song. The reprised version of the Act 1 “They Live In You” brings Rafikii in to offer some encouraging (French) words to our protagonist, and soon the chorus joins in and Simba finally exclaims “Il Vie En Moi!” indicating the spiritual song has done its duties in helping Simba understand his role.

As “Simba Se Confronte A Scar” plays a couple minutes of intense instrumental battle music, I can’t help but appreciate the quality of musicianship put into this recording. Everything sounds very tight, well rehearsed, and the electric guitar solo in the Confrontation is a nice little showcase of this.

Our last moment of triumph is celebrated with a mixture of African chanting, French words, and the famous Lebo M/Zimmer/John sound. The harmonies are on point in this finale as Simba ascends to the top of Pride Rock.

Concluding Thoughts
Worth noting that this production ran for almost 3 years and won the 2008 Molière Award (French Tony) for Best Musical. It is absolutely one of my favorite foreign cast recordings and will always bring me back with its almost incalculably gorgeous second Act and beautiful translation.

9/10 without doubt and if a bootleg of this production ever comes up, I would pay money for it.

Glorious indeed! xoxo -a.b.

Dracula (2008 Original Graz Cast Recording) [Wildhorn]

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Ladies and Gentlemen,
First and foremost, it’s been a while since reading, watching, or listening to anything related to Dracula, so this review is a long time coming. I am slightly familiar with the English language concept album that was released two years prior to this productions. I usually prefer Wildhorn’s “international” casts over West End or Broadway-bound albums. Maybe because the lyrics are not one of the major reasons I listen to a Wildhorn album (for contrast, I find listening to Sondheim or Bernstein shows in foreign languages as I am so in love with the libretto.) I usually describe Wildhorn shows as page turners, in that each love duet and baritone solo leaves you wanting just a little more, and, for me, he often delivers (minus his attempt at his musical Wonderland.)

Act I
I tend to be a harsh critic of opening numbers, so I tried to be objective in my review of the beginning parts. It begins with some whispers and minor violin riff into a decent baritone/tenor solo, mirroring Wildhorn’s pièce de résistance Jekyll and Hyde from 1997. After a soaring love duet, Wildhorn starts throwing some rhythmic curve balls to the listener. I expect a Wildhorn score to be a “page-turner-edge-of-you-seat,” as it is a genre or style he is best at. His constant back and forth between 6/8 and 4/4 is always a treat. I will admit, as we start to hear quite a few fast 6/8 waltz bits near the end of act 1, I’m left curious if the second act will mimic the first. The show draws its listeners in similar to Jekyll in its beautiful and sad duets. The first act takes a couple songs to draw me in completely, but it succeeds by track 4 or so.

The Act 1 finale: we are met once again with a powerful duet between Dracula and Lucy. I enjoy it enough to give the Act 1 Finale a second listen before “intermission.” What I like most about the finale is the electric guitar tap-tap-tapping that draws you into a brass, drumset, electric guitar soundscape. It begins a Dracula solo, the chorus moves into 4/4, of course, and keeps us on our toes, and Lucy enters about a minute before the last note. Just in time to wrap up this Act and give us some juicy Wildhorn harmonies with rhythmic changes throughout. A page turner indeed!

[Intermission]
(I had no idea if that was the Act 1 finale, as this is a one disc recording, by the way, and took time to figure it out, only to remember my German is bad enough to not be able to figure it out. Oops. But what I assume is the finale most definitely left me “hanging” (musically.) and eager to hear the second act.)

Act 2 (maybe…)
The act opens with a female solo this time around. It could very well be a reprise of another song, as some of Wildhorn’s melodious solos “have a certain sound to them.” Not bad by any means, but sometimes his songs blend together in my mind. The standout female led solo “Wär ich der Wind” (English: “I would be the wind”) tells me by this time that we are definitely in the second act and the drama is heating up. And I know my favorite number Before The Summer Ends is around the corner, as it’s near the end of the show. Immediately prior to my favorite song, a song called “Deep in the Darkest Night,” is heard. It’s a semi-jolly, Scarlet Pimpernel sounding 4/4 march that I believe originated as one of the opening numbers of the show. But, true to Wildhorn’s Producers: if it doesn’t work, try something else and see if it works. In this case, put the song somewhere else. The show comes to an end with couple of Dracula power ballads, include my aforementioned favorite. After a 15-20 minute run of ballads, the finale starts.

The Act 2 Finale: Same minor strings as the very beginning of the show, followed by(, surprise,) a male/female belting power ballad duet. The ending, which I won’t spoil, is slow and somber, and we are left with two voices sadly singing acapella before a sudden resounding burst of trumpets and electric guitars give us the final taste (pun) of devastation and tragedy as the music comes to a end.
Concluding Thoughts & TL;DR
All in all, the orchestrations tend to be easy on the ears and string heavy, which makes the album feel more relaxed, chill, or even somber. It has moments of tension, usually with an electric guitar doings its proper role. It’s no lie that if I am choosing an cast album to listen to quietly while I fall asleep, Frank Wildhorn’s shows usually cross my mind. There is always drama though.

Unlike Andrew Lloyd Webber, Disney Productions, or Kander and Ebb shows, which present internationally true to their original Broadway/London production, Wildhorn productions typically adapt and change through revision after revision and constantly improve over time. It’s fun to watch his shows evolve over my lifetime, as I’ve been listening to his musicals since I was a child.

I’ve been impressed with Austria’s productions over the last 20 years, at least with regards to music production and quality of artists involved. I find Wildhorn’s shows tend to age quite well, by which I mean the productions and revivals have improved following it’s initial run. Also worth mentioning that Wildhorn’s Jekyll & Hyde spent something like 10 years in pre-broadway productions before the show existed as it does today.

Much better than the earlier English concept album. This is my first full listen of the album, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. 7 or 8/10

xoxo – a.b.