Jennie original cast album on CD

One of the best perks of checking out cast albums from the library is that you can take a chance on a failed show to see if it offers anything worthwhile. That was my thinking when I selected the Schwartz & Dietz show Jennie from the bin. I had never heard of the show and I don't really know much about the songwriting team. But it was a star vehicle for Mary Martin, and she has yet to appear in my Year, so bring on the flop.

This show ran for only 82 performances in 1963, and I can tell why thanks to the informative liner notes. The story takes place in the early 1900s, following the career of an actress as she performs both in New York and on the road. Only one of the songs is from a show-within-a-show, though; the rest of the score is sung by the actress character and her "real life" family and friends.

The music is uniformly listenable, although I found it all very similar. The many upbeat songs are upbeat but not unique. The ballads are lush, but non-specific. Despite the liner notes waxing rhapsodic about the underappreciated score, I have to say much of didn't move me. The big ballad, or "I want" song for Ms. Martin is "Before I kiss the World Goodbye" and it's a likeable enough song, but not very specific to the anything. One very nice song literally sings the praises of Seattle, and I'm surprised it hasn't been taken up by the tourist board of that city. There's a nice duet for two men called "I Believe in Takin' a Chance". There's a sort of funny (odd) religious song "The Night May Be Dark" that has the feel of some of the religious songs that Gordon MacRae recorded with Jo Stafford.

The cast were unknowns to me, except for Ms. Martin. George Wallace has a fine baritone voice. Robin Bailey is best when he sings character stuff, like the funny "Over Here" where the lyrics compare England and the US. Jack De Lon has a nice tenor ring to his voice. Ms. Martin sings admirably and I must make a point of finding a recording of her doing better stuff.

I'm curious as to why this got transfered to CD; is there such a cry for recordings of Mary Martin?

Jenny
Music by Arthur Schwartz
Lyrics by Howard Dietz
Book by Arnold Schulman
Original cast album recorded in 1963. Released on CD in 1993
Cast: Mary Martin, George Wallace, Jack De Lon, Robin Bailey, Ethel Shutta