9 to 5 Original Broadway Cast album

I remember the musical version of 9 to 5 making the talk-show splash when it opened a year or so ago. Between having music and lyrics by Dolly Parton and starring unlikely musical theater performer Allison Janney, bits of the show made rounds on The View, Regis and Kelly, etc. I must have heard a song or two from one of those appearances, but I don't recall which.

In listening to the cast album, I was struck that the accompaniments for many of the songs are guitar-based, not piano-based. I supposed that's fitting given the composer is a country singer/songwriter. I don't bring that up as a dis, just an observation--a score sounds different when composed on a guitar rather than a keyboard. I had the same observation with Spring Awakening, which is also by a singer/songwriter/guitarist--Duncan Sheik. That may be the only thing Duncan Sheik and Dolly Parton, and these two shows have in common.

The capabilities of the cast seems to be the primary strength of this album. The songs feel uneven to me at times, and several don't have a strong-enough sense of what they want to be to create a positive impression.

The two songs I was drawn to the most are both sung by Stephanie J. Block as Judy. I have seen Ms. Block perform live and know that she is a powerhouse singer, and fortunately is given two good songs to showcase her abilities. Unfortunately for Ms. Block this show and the previous show where she originated a lead role (Pirate Queen--I saw it, don't ask) have closed within a couple of months. I'm certain she is well-respected in the musical theater world, but Ms. Block need a good vehicle to find herself well-known among audiences.

Allison Janney as singer doesn't completely embarrass herself. She's fine when she's not in her head voice and has enough legato and hutzspa (sp?) to sell her songs. Megan Hilty as Dolly doppelganger Doralee has a nice, versatile voice (I was surprised to learn she was a replacement Glinda in Wicked--very different styles of music) although I didn't care for the music she is given. Marc Kudish as devil-boss again impresses me with his voice, but his one front-and-center number didn't reach me.

9 to 5
Music and lyrics by Dolly Parton
Book by Patricia Resnick
opened in 2009
Cast: Allison Janney, Stephanie J. Block, Marc Kudish, Megan Hilty

Assassins--2004 Broadway Cast Album

With the recent release from prison of Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme it seems as good a time as any to dig into the stack of albums waiting for my Thinking and put Sondheim's Assassins on the player.

This is the only Broadway cast album of this show, because the original 1990 incarnation was produced by Playwrights Horizons and never produced on Broadway, although that cast was recorded.

I have heard bits and pieces of this show before--I have a vague recollection of a video clip of Patrick Cassidy (from the Playwrights production) singing "The Ballad of Booth"--but that was all I knew of the show. Given that musical snippet I was hoping for a show with some pastiche musical styles fitting the eras of the various assassins, and while there is quite a bit of that, there was not enough to keep my ears riveted.

Neil Patrick Harris is the vocal stand-out of this vocally good cast. Besides singing more than anyone as he portrayed both the Balladeer and Lee Harvey Oswald, NPH has the right vocal tone to sing Sondheim's music well. By that I mean he has a lightish, forward-placed voice that can hopscotch around the turns in Sondheim's melodies.

My problem with this show is probably more thematic than musical; I don't find the exploration of the mind of a killer to be interesting. At first I thought the show was exploring how Presidential assassins are really just footnotes to history, but the end of the show with Lee Harvey Oswald and the reprise of the opening "Everybody's Got a Right" were too creepy for that interpretation. Whether you believe guns kill people or people kill people, there are lots of both on display.

This is the first appearance of one of my favorite actresses, though, Becky Ann Baker. I've never seen Ms. Baker live (and don't actually know if she's been in other musicals besides this production), but I loved, Loved, LOVED her in the television series Freaks and Geeks from the late 1990s. The whole series is one of my favs, but I digress...

Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by John Weidman
Originally produced in 1990
Opened on Broadway in 2004
This cast: Neil Patrick Harris, Becky Ann Baker, Michael Cerveris, Marc Kudisch, Denis O'Hare, Mario Cantone

Thoroughly Modern Millie--Original Broadway Cast Album on CD

Add Thoroughly Modern Millie to the growing list of shows I have not seen in live performance, but need to. Based on this original cast album, I will love this show. This is a good old fashioned type book musical, with a lot of variety in its music. And this recording shows that the original cast was top-notch.

Sutton Foster had been on Broadway before, but only as a ensemble player or understudy, but here she is coming out from the chorus to play the lead and she is fantastic! I don't hear a note of Ms. Foster's singing that I have any quarrel with--it's a bright, forward sound that is typically American for the typically American Millie Dilmount.

The male leads are equally good. Baritone Marc Kudisch nearly floored me with the Gilbert and Sullivan re-work as "The Speed Test". The tap-dancing for the typing segment is brilliant, and I need to see it live. Tenor Gavin Creel has a nice light, flexible voice that I always want to hear from my Broadway tenors.

The other women in the cast vary in experience and success. Sheryl Lee Ralph was the original Deena in Dream Girls; her club act numbers in Millie are wonderful. Harriet Harris is a character actress with a familiar face, but neither the Broadway database nor imdb.com give me any clue where I've seen her before. Angela Christian has several musical Broadway credits, but I found her soprano voice a little forced.

It's the music in this show that is the real star. Incorporating themes from the 1969 film with new music by Jeanine Tesori along with the afore-mentioned Sullivan number, a couple of Victor Herbert tunes, and a fantastic jazz arrangement of the Nutcracker, this score is delightful--evoking the 20s era without ever descending into stereotypes or blandness. I do wonder if the Chinese jokes were an issue in our proto-proper inclusive environment.

None of these performers nor the music and lyric team have appeared previously in my Year. Again, I'm amazed at the number of composers who have written musicals. I'm going to shoot for 100 composers before the 12 months are up at the end of May.

Thoroughly Modern Millie
Music by Jeanine Tesori (with some help from James Van Heusen, Victor Herbert and Arthur Sullivan)
Lyrics by Dick Scanlan (with some help from Sammy Cahn)
Book by Richard Morris and Dick Scanlon
Opened in 2002
Cast: Marc Kudisch, Sutton Foster, Gavin Creel, Angela Christian, Sheryl Lee Ralph