Wonderful Town -- concert version on DVD

No offense to Maestro Simon Rattle, the Berlin Philharmonic, or the fine opera and musical theater performers involved in this concert of Bernstein's music, but why was this concert version of Wonderful Town presented? In English, in front of a German audience? So much of the wit of the lyrics must have been lost in translation, even with the supertitles flashing above the stage. The context of the songs and struggles of the characters is also lost, since not even a ghost of the book is presented to string together the songs.

That said, the music-making is very good. Audra McDonald proves her worth with "A Little Bit in Love." Kim Criswell is a wonderful character singer in "Conga" and "100 Ways to Lose a Man". Operatic baritone Thomas Hampson sings the surprise of the score for me, the beautiful "A Quiet Girl". Musical theater veteran Brent Barrett takes on what must be several roles in singing the opening "Christopher Street" and "I Could Pass that Football".

Even with this fine singing, though, I felt like I was missing too much.

Wonderful Town
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green

Book MIA
Concert by Berlin Philharmonic
Conducted by Simon Rattle
Released on DVD in 2002
Cast: Thomas Hampson, Audra McDonald, Kim Criswell, Brent Barrett

Brigadoon 1992 Studio Cast Recording

I take back everything I've written and thought about the value of studio cast recordings. This 1992 recording of Brigadoon--by the London Sinfonietta and an international cast of theater and opera singers conducted by John McGlinn-- is a treat. It's so nice to hear all the dance music included on the disc. While I love many of the songs from this show, the dance music is wonderful and really captures the character of the show for me (as you might be able to tell from this picture with me as Harry Beaton in 1984).

Broadway performers Brent Barrett and Rebecca Luker star as American Tommy Albright and Brigadoonian Fiona MacLaren. They would have qualified as young performers in 1992, and both continue to have good careers on stage; their singing here tells you why that is. Even if Mr. Barrett's baritone is not exactly as robust as some of my favorite singers, he handles Tommy's rangy songs with aplomb.

British tenor John Mark Ainsley takes the role of Charlie Dalrymple, who sings "I'll go Home with Bonnie Jean" and the beautiful "Come to Me, Bend to Me". His bright and easy tenor sound is exactly right for these songs, and he caresses the high note at the end of "Come to Me" beautifully. It is so nice to hear a true tenor in a musical theater work.

The extensive liner notes include the interesting story of how this show came about and some information on the backgrounds of Lerner and Loewe. I was particularly interested to read about Agnes de Mille's involvement in the creation of the original production. Thanks to her input (and the successes she had choreographing Oklahoma! and Carousel), Brigadoon tells a lot of it's story through dance. And that's where the real flavor of the show comes to me.

Brigadoon
Music by Frederick Loewe
Book and Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
1992 Studio Recording with the Ambrosia Chorus and the London Sinfonietta
Conducted by John McGlinn
Released by Broadway Angel Records
Cast: Brent Barrett, Rebecca Luker, Judy Kaye, John Mark Ainsley