West Side Story--the New Broadway Cast album

The city is sweltering in early summer heat. The news last night reported that hospital blood supplies are low due to an increase in gang activity. And my apartment has been without electricity since early this morning. What better time to put fresh batteries into the Discman (yes, I still have one of those) and listen to West Side Story? (And then go to the library that does have power to post this entry.)

This is another show where the film version is tattooed to my retina, so I was glad to find a recording of the 2009 Broadway cast for my listening. I am ecstatic to find that this is a thrilling (let me say it again) thrilling new recording of a great score.

The "hook" to this production is that the Puerto Rican characters speak in Spanish when they are among themselves. I have to say, I found more exceptions to that rule than I expected. Even though it is sung just among the Sharks crowd, the song "America" is sung in English, undoubtedly to communicate the funny lyrics to the wider audience. In Act Two, "I Feel Pretty" and "A Boy Like That" are sung in Spanish.

All of the singing is of the first order. Matt Cavanaugh handles the challenges of Tony's songs and their operatic high notes with only a slight nasality in his otherwise lovely voice. Josefina Scaglione has a pretty, light soprano that lacks the "spin" needed to sustain some of the final high notes. Karen Olivo's belt singing of Anita is right on the mark.

The best aspect of this new recording is the orchestral playing of the score. The liner notes list an orchestra of 30 players. It sounds like 50. The playing of the dance sections of the show are exciting and fresh-sounding even though they are 50 years old. I was particularly taken with an instrumental section in "Somewhere". With a lot of open sixths and fourths, this section sounded like Aaron Copland music.

I was disappointed with the liner notes for this recording. In 34 pages it has all of the lyrics (which would really only be important for the Spanish sections, I would think), only four photos (most of which don't identify the performers) and no essay. I would like to know something about the history of this show or the development of this production.


West Side Story
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by Arthur Laurents
Opened originally in 1957, this production opened in 2009
Cast: Matt Cavanaugh, Josefina Scaglione, Karen Olivo

A Catered Affair Original Broadway Cast on CD

Well, they say the wedding is never really about the bride or groom, but rather about the bride's mother, and that seems to hold true in this musical story, where the primary character is the Mother-of-the-Bride at A Catered Affair.

There is a nostalgia that is very attractive about this score, even if the music falls into the category of tuneful passages that never really make melodies. Faith Prince as mother Aggie adds much to the reflective nature of the story of a working class Bronx family learning that their only daughter is getting married. Ms. Prince gives a nuanced musical performance.

Set in 1953, the story tries to bridge a couple of generations in the changing and expanding world of the 50s. Daughter Janey (Leslie Kritzer) is anxious to start her new life with fiance Ralph (Matt Cavenaugh), while Aggie and her husband (Tom Wopat) look back on the course of their marriage. "Bachelor" Uncle Winston, who is a family fixture, is portrayed by Harvey Fierstein.

There are some likable moments in this score, coming more often from the lyrics than the music. "Immediate Family" has funny lines about how we all have to put up with our families. "I Stayed" captures the frustration of a working man's life feeling unappreciated. The big number from the score is "Coney Island" which offers a poetic comparison between riding the roller coaster and embracing life. Musically, the number never reaches it's full bloom, and that may be due to Mr. Fierstein's presentation; while I can be a fan of some voices outside the norm, Mr. Fierstein's musical abilities are lost on me.

This is another show that feels very intimate to me, and I wonder if that may be the reason it only lasted three months on Broadway. In a 200-300 seat theater, this could be a lovely show. Perhaps a local Chicago company will produce it soon, so I can see if that assessment is true.

A Catered Affair
Music and Lyrics by John Bucchino
Book by Harvey Fierstein
Cast: Faith Prince, Tom Wopat, Matt Cavanaugh, Leslie Kritzer, Harvey Fierstein

Grey Gardens original Broadway cast album on CD

This story, the musical telling it, the documentary film the musical is based on, and the Tony Award-winning performance of Christine Ebersole all drove me to pick this cast album out of the bin at the library. While I knew some of the story and had heard one song (which Ms. Ebersole had performed on the Tonys), I was unprepared to be so taken with Grey Gardens. The story, score, and lyrics are all compelling and very well written. Ms. Ebersole's singing ability is tremendous, and I'm only sorry that I didn't see her performance; I suspect her acting was as good as her singing.

The story surrounds Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter "Little" Edie, of the socially prominent Bouvier family--as in Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onasis, who was Edie's younger cousin. Most of Act One takes place in 1941, as Edie is set to marry Joseph Kennedy, Jr. before he is sent off to battle in WWII. Edie is desperate to escape from her attention-demanding and extrovert mother, Edith (played by Ebersole). The marriage does not happen and Edie becomes trapped in the Hampton's home she and her mother share, called Grey Gardens.

Act Two takes place in 1973 as Edith and Edie are in jeopardy of being homeless as Grey Gardens has become very run-down and overrun by cats, and is about to be condemned. Mother Edith is still attention-demanding and now bed-ridden. Edie, now in her 50s, has spent her life in isolation at Grey Gardens, tending to (and always in the shadow of) her mother. Act Two Edie is played by Ebersole.

The music for this show is particularly wonderful, offering pastiche big band and Gershwin-like songs (appropriate to the 40s era) along with character songs that have a slightly Sondheim-esque feel to them. My favorite song of the score has to be "Another Winter in a Summer Town" which Edie sings near the end of the show. If there is another song which so completely captures longing, disappointment, and resignation I can't think of it now. The music, lyrics, and primarily Ms. Ebersole's singing of it, combine to make a very poignant and touching close to the show.

The credits on the Internet Broadway Database differ from the credits on the cast album for the role of the Act One younger "Little" Edie. The album lists Sara Gettelfinger, while the database lists Erin Davie. Inquiring minds want to know why.

This was composer Scott Frankel's first musical to be mounted on Broadway. I'm certain it won't be his last. I don't know if there are plans for Grey Gardens to tour. It closed on Broadway after only 308 performances. Whether it tours or is allowed to be mounted by a Chicago-based company, I look forward to having the opportunity to see this show.

Grey Gardens
Music by Scott Frankel
Lyrics by Michael Korie
Book by Doug Wright
Cast: Christine Ebersole, Mary Louise Wilson, Matt Cavanaugh, John McMartin, Sara Gettelfinger