Two Gentlemen of Verona--Original Broadway Cast Album

I happened across the CD release of this show in a bin at the library and knowing absolutely nothing about it (except assuming the story was at least based on the Shakespeare of the same title) I thought I'd give it a whirl. I hadn't realized that Galt MacDermot had written another musical besides Hair, but he did and it is Two Gentlemen of Verona.

Well, this one is going back to the library as soon as possible. I have no desire to hear any of it again, nor to investigate the show or its score any further. I find it remarkable that this show beat out Sondheim's Follies for the Best Musical Tony Award for 1972. Well, Follies has been revived often, and Two Gentlemen, never (at least on Broadway), so I guess Sondheim has the last laugh.

There was only one song of the 34 on the CD that I wanted to listen closely to, or hear again; the funny and satirical "Bring All the Boys Back Home" is still surprisingly timely given that it was written almost 40 years ago. But then, world leaders have been hiding behind and capitalizing on war since the Greeks ransacked Troy.

I was sorry that none of the singing voices captured my attention, either. Clifton Davis has a pleasant enough voice, but doesn't sing any songs that really lets it shine. Raul Julia may have been a mega-wattage stage presence (as the very good liner notes to this recording say), but it is not obvious from the cast album.

My primary problem with the score is that it seems to lack the infectious fun of Hair, as well as the singability.

Two Gentlemen of Verona

Music by Galt MacDermot

Lyrics by John Guare

Book adapted from Shakespeare by John Guare and Mel Shapiro

Opened 1971

Cast: Raul Julia, Clifton Davis, Diana Davila, Jonelle Allen, John Bottoms

Sweet Smell of Success

In reading the long, complicated synopsis of this show in the cast album booklet, I can't help but wonder if the story of Sweet Smell of Success just didn't lend itself to being a musical. Certainly, it's not a musical comedy. I can imagine that a brass-knuckle type of story wouldn't appeal to a New York audience less than 6 months after the World Trade Tower attacks.

Too bad, because I really like the score to this show, with its strong supper club/jazz club-infused music. The voices, too, are all first-rate as I suspected they would be with talents like Brian d'Arcy James and Kelli O'Hara in the cast. Jack Noseworthy is a new name to me, and I must try to find out more about him, because he has a lovely tenor voice that seems to caress his songs in just the right way. His song "I cannot hear the City" deserves a life outside the show.

I do have a problem with the chorus music in this score--they seem to comment more on the action than to be part of it. And while there is some lively, syncopated rhythms for the chorus, it's all in unison.

Can't we all get get along in harmony?

Sweet Smell of Success
Music by Marvin Hamlisch
Lyrics by Craig Carnelia
Book by John Guare
Cast: John Lithgow, Kelli O'Hara, Brian d'Arcy James, Jack Noseworth, Stacey Logan