Best Foot Forward--Off-broadway Cast Album on CD

The liner notes are rather skimpy with the CD reissue of this 1963 off-Broadway remount of the 1941 show Best Foot Forward, so I may get a lot wrong in my assessment of this recording. Its difficult to tell who is singing when, as there is not printed libretto, as many recordings have.

I was intrigued by this recording for several reasons--primarily it was the New York stage debut of Liza Minnelli. Also, Christopher Walken is in this production, along with his brother Glenn. The Walken Bros.'s bios say they modeled for the Conover Agency. Sadly a google image search did not reveal a photo for my use with this entry.

According to the liner notes, composer Hugh Martin is credited with the wonderful three-part arrangement of "Sing for you Supper" from Rodgers and Hart's Boys From Syracuse. So I was looking forward to the women's trio "The Three B's" from this score. While the song is generally wonderful, and well sung by Minnelli, Kay Cole and Renee Winters, it doesn't contain a lot of the the tight, three-part Andrews Sisters-like harmonies I was expecting.

The act one "Ev'ry Time" should be a cabaret or big band standard. Maybe it it, although I had never heard it. Several songs form act two deserve some continued life: "You're Lucky is a great ballad tune that suffers from some pedestrian lyrics; "What Do You Think I Am?" and "A Raving Beauty" are both fun duets; "You are for Loving" is also a nice ballad in the big band style.

The score is performed on "twin" pianos--which seems like an odd phrase two me--giving the music a slight cabaret feel, which didn't bother me too much, although I'm certain some of the lusher songs suffered from this reduced instrumentation.

Two bonus tracks on the CD are songs from the score that Liza recorded on her debut 1963 album, which was released about the time of the stage production. While these versions of "You Are For Loving" and "What Do You Think I Am?" have a fuller accompaniment, their arrangements suffer from sounding rather dated at this point. In each case I prefer the version from the show.

Best Foot Forward

Music and lyrics by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane
Opened on Broadway in 1941
Off-Broadway remount opened in 1963
Cast: Liza Minnelli, Christopher Walken (billed as Ronald Walken), Paula Wayne, Glenn Walken, Karin Wolfe, Grant Walden, Kay Cole, Renee Winters,