Merrily We Roll Along (Recording)
Louise
Gold starred as Gussie, on the Leicester
Haymarket Cast album recording, recorded on 28, 29 and 30 April 1993 at
Abbey Road Studios in
Catalogue number: (Double CD) CDJAY2 1245,
(Single CD) CDTER 1225, (Cassette) ZCTER 1225
Cast
Mary - Maria
Freidman
Frank
Sheppard - Michael Cantwell
Gussie - Louise
Gold
Charley - Evan
Pappas
Joe - Gareth
Snook
Beth - Jacqueline
Dankworth
Waitress
& Evelyn - Julie Armstrong
Terry &
Minister - Jon Clairmonte
Meg - Lucy
Dixon
K.T. -
Kate Copstick
Ru - Phillip
Day
Mrs Spencer
- Michelle Fine
Bunker - Daniel
Gillingwater
Make-up
Artiste & Reporter - Deirdre Forrest
Scotty &
Mr Spencer - Matthew White
Dory - Dwan
Kastelle
Jerome - Phillip
Wrigley
Dresser
& Secretary - Karen Skinns
Tyler - Alan
Mosley
Frank Jnr - Scott
Bradley, Dominic Burr, Matthew Fraser
Party
Guests, reporters, TV crew etc - played by members of the company.
Production Team
Music and
Lyrics - Stephen Sondheim
Book - George
Furth
Based on the
original play by George S Kaufman and Moss Hart.
Directed and
Staged by - Paul Kerryson
Designed by
- Martin Johns
Orchestrations
by - Jonathan Tunick
Musical
Direction by - Julian Kelly
Executive
Producer - John Yap for JAY/TER records
Recording
and mixing engineer - John Kurlander
Track Listing
Double CD: CDJAY2 1245
CD1/Act One
1. Overture - Orchestra [238]
2. Merrily We Roll Along - Company (The Cast) [350]
3. That Frank - Company (The Cast) [534]
4. Scene - Gussie with Company (Louise Gold with The Cast) [031]
5. Transition 1 - Company (The Cast) [113]
6. Old Friends/Like It Was - Mary and Charley (Maria Friedman and Evan
Pappas) [408]
7. Franklin Sheppard Inc. - Charley (Evan Pappas) [549]
8. Transition 2 - Company (The Cast) [050]
9. Old Friends - Frank, Charley, and, Mary (Michael Cantwell,
Evan Pappas, and, Maria Friedman) [405]
10. Growing Up Part One - Frank with Gussie (Michael Cantwell with Louise
Gold) [359]
11. Growing Up part Two - Gussie (Louise Gold) [259]
12. Transition 3 - Company (The Cast) [057]
13. Not A Day Goes By Act One - Frank and Beth (Michael Cantwell and Jacqueline
Dankworth) [215]
14. Now you Know - Scotty, Mary, Tyler, Frank, and Company (Matthew
White, Maria Friedman, Alan Mosley, Michael Cantwell,
and The Cast) [425]
CD2/Act Two
1.
Entraacte - Orchestra [131]
2. Act Two Opening (Good Thing Going) - Gussie (Louise Gold) [200]
3. Its A Hit! - Frank, Charley, Mary, Joe, Beth, Theatregoers (Michael
Cantwell, Evan Pappas, Maria Friedman, Gareth Snook, Jacqueline
Dankworth, and the chorus) [405]
4. Transition 4 - Company (The Cast) [054]
5. The Blob - Gussie and Guests (Louise Gold and The Company) [235]
6. Growing Up Act Two - Gussie and Frank (Louise Gold and Michael
Cantwell) [306]
7. Good Thing Going - Charley and Frank (Evan Pappas and Michael
Cantwell) [221]
8. The Blob Conclusion - Company (The Cast) [139]
9. Transition 5 - Company (The Cast) [103]
10. Bobby And Jackie And Jack - Charley, Frank, and, Mary (Evan Pappas, Michael
Cantwell, and, Maria Friedman) [444]
11. Not A Day Goes By Act Two - Frank, Beth, and, Mary (Michael Cantwell, Jacqueline
Dankworth, and, Maria Friedman) [219]
12. Transition 6 - Company (The Cast) [035]
13. Opening Doors - Charley, Frank, Mary, and, Joe (Evan Pappas,
Michael Cantwell, Maria Friedman, and, Gareth Snook)
[713]
14. Our Time Part One - Frank (Michael Cantwell) [359]
15. Our Time Part Two - Frank, Charley, Mary, and Company (Michael
Cantwell, Evan Pappas, Maria Friedman, and, The Cast) [341]
16. Bows - Company (The Cast) [133]
17. Exit Music - Company (The Cast) [144]
Single CD: CDTER1225
1. Overture - Orchestra [238]
2. Merrily We Roll Along - Company (The Cast) [346]
3. That Frank - Company (The Cast) [342]
4. Transition 1 - Company (The Cast) [113]
5. Old Friends/Like It Was - Mary and Charley (Maria Friedman and Evan
Pappas) [321]
6. Franklin Sheppard Inc. - Charley (Evan Pappas) [512]
7. Transition 2 - Company (The Cast) [052]
8. Old Friends - Frank, Charley, and, Mary (Michael Cantwell,
Evan Pappas, and, Maria Friedman) [353]
9. Growing Up Part One - Frank (Michael Cantwell) [334]
10. Growing Up part Two - Gussie (Louise Gold) [246]
11. Transition 3 - Company (The Cast) [047]
12. Not A Day Goes By Act One - Frank and Beth (Michael Cantwell and Jacqueline
Dankworth) [145]
13. Now you Know - Scotty, Mary, Tyler, Frank, and Company (Matthew
White, Maria Friedman, Alan Mosley, Michael Cantwell,
and The Cast) [407]
14.
Entraacte - Orchestra [131]
15. Act Two Opening (Good Thing Going) - Gussie (Louise Gold) [200]
16. Its A Hit! - Frank, Charley, Mary, Joe, Beth, Theatregoers (Michael
Cantwell, Evan Pappas, Maria Friedman, Gareth Snook, Jacqueline
Dankworth, and the chorus) [405]
17. Transition 4 - Company (The Cast) [054]
18. The Blob - Gussie and Guests (Louise Gold and The Company) [148]
19. Growing Up Act Two - Gussie and Frank (Louise Gold and Michael
Cantwell) [253]
20. Good Thing Going - Charley and Frank (Evan Pappas and Michael
Cantwell) [152]
21. The Blob Conclusion - Company (The Cast) [132]
22. Transition 5 - Company (The Cast) [045]
23. Bobby And Jackie And Jack - Charley, Frank, and, Beth (Evan Pappas, Michael
Cantwell, and, Jacqueline Dankworth) [444]
24. Not A Day Goes By Act Two - Frank, Beth, and, Mary (Michael Cantwell, Jacqueline
Dankworth, and, Maria Friedman) [200]
25. Transition 6 - Company (The Cast) [035]
26. Opening Doors - Charley, Frank, Mary, and, Joe (Evan Pappas,
Michael Cantwell, Maria Friedman, and, Gareth Snook)
[713]
27. Our Time (Parts One & Two) - Frank, Charley, Mary, and Company (Michael
Cantwell, Evan Pappas, Maria Friedman, and, The Cast) [525]
The Cassette ZCTER, follows
the same listing as the Single CD CDTER1245,
with tracks 1 to 14 on Side A, and tracks 15 to 27 on Side B.
According
to the sleeve notes the only additional items included on Double
CD: CDJAY2 1245 that are not on Single CD CDTER1245 are: the scene at the party where
Gussie attacks Meg and tells Frank they are finished, Michael Cantwells
Our Time solo,
and the Bows and Exit Music
at the very end. However, in actual fact, there is also around a further 7
minutes on the double CD that is not on the single CD. This has been arrived at
by cutting the lengths of various tracks on the single CD. Although the sleeve
notes give the track lengths on the single CD as being the same as the double
CD this is in fact not the case. For example, on the track Growing Up part one, the
dialog scene between Michael Cantwell and Louise Gold (when
Gussie announces that she has done it - left Joe) is omitted from the single
CD version, as is the spoken dialogue by both Louise Gold and Michael
Cantwell on the track Growing Up part two.
Although the sleeve notes for the single CD still list Louise Golds
Gussie as featured on the Growing Up part one
track, her part on that track is omitted altogether from the single CD version.
Similarly on the track where Evan Pappas and Michael Cantwell
sing Good Thing Going,
part of Louise Golds introductory dialogue, involving the line You
are going to be able to say I was there when... is cut. . It should also
be mentioned that on the single CD the two parts of the number Our Time are
merged and cut. In the track listing above an attempt has been made to give the
actual lengths of the tracks on the single CD (which in around half the cases
are not those stated on the sleeve notes).
It is perhaps worth noting that in Merrily We Roll
Along, Gareth Snooks character, Joe is that of a producer of
Broadway Musicals. It turns out that in the same year that he played Joe in
MWRA, Gareth Snook (along with the Queen of West End Musical Directors, Kate
Young) produced a charity production of The Hired Man at The Palace
Theatre in London, and more recently he has been working as a
producer on a production of The King Of Comedy.
Michael Cantwell, Louise Gold, Gareth
Snook and Michelle Fine would be reunited later that year in another
Stephen Sondheim musical Assassins.
Maria Friedman and Louise Gold
had previously appeared together in: Kids At Heart,
they have gone on to appear together in A
Time To Start Living, and, Sondheim
At The Barbican. They also appeared separately in Chicago & Company, and may have appeared
together in Will-Aid
Louise Gold and Michelle Fine were
also reunited on the JAY/TER recording of Stop
The World I Want To Get Off.
Louise Gold and Gareth Snook
later appeared on the JAY/TER recording of On The Town and Anything
Goes (recording) - Website Recommended Album.
Michael Cantwell, Louise Gold and Daniel
Gillingwater were reunited several years later in One Touch
Of Venus.
Louise Gold returned to The
Leicester Haymarket theatre two and a half years later to head the cast
(which included Alan Mosley) in Calamity Jane.
Louise Gold, Maria Friedman, Jacqueline
Dankworth, Michael Cantwell, Kate Copstick, Lucy Dixon,
and, Gareth Snook subsequently appeared on the JAY/TER recording of Cabaret .
Maria Friedman is also featured on The History Of The Musical
John Kurlander was also the engineer on Nunsense (recording)
Julian Kelly was also the conductor on
some of the tracks on Simply Musicals, The Great Musicals - Wonderful Tales, and, The Great Musicals Dashing Heroes,
Blushing Maidens.
Louise Gold under the direction of
Paul Kerryson and the musical direction of Julian Kelly went on to
appear in the Sondheim musical Follies
Orchestrator Jonathan Tunicks own conducting
can be found on The
Greatest Musicals of the 20th Century.
Lucy Dixon, and, Michelle Fine may have gone on to
appear in Dear Ralph.
Jacqueline
Dankworth, Maria Friedman, and, Louise Golds recording credits include
Centre Stage Showtime!.
Michael
Cantwell, and, Louise Gold went on to
appear in Mary Poppins, and as part of The Company Of Mary Poppins in a
late night FUNdraising special.
Jacqueline
Dankworths recording credits include The Great
Musicals Laughter And Tears.
.
Review
by Emma Shane
This
is one of those Sondheim albums where you either love it, or you hate it,
and for those of us who love it, it has often been a case of having grown to
love it, once one has got accustomed to it. For me this is best illustrated by
my own reaction to the song Good Thing Going. The first time I
heard Good Thing Going as sung by Louise Gold on the track
Act Two Opening, I hated it. The second time I heard it, thought
(to borrow a stock phrase from The Muppet Show) Well it
wasnt that bad. The third time I heard it, I could appreciate that the
song, and in particular Ms Golds interpretation of it was very clever, even
though it was not to my taste. The fourth time I heard the song (to borrow a
phrase from Statler and Waldorf) I kinda liked it. And by the
time I had heard it five times, I had come right round to admiring and liking
the song very much indeed, and to thinking it is one of the most effective
pieces of sheer performance on the entire CD. The truth of the matter is Stephen
Sondheim is such an extraordinary subtle sophisticated song writer, and
similarly Louise Gold is such an extraordinary subtle sophisticated
singer that sometimes it can take a while for a listener to acquire the insight
and understanding, necessary to appreciate the ingenious complex artistry of an
individual piece of their work, especially when their incredible talents are
combined.
Not
all the interpretations on the album, are quite as complicated as that. The
three ladies in particular each have their own moment at expressing sweet
sincerity combined with potent frustration: Jacqueline Dankworth with
the powerful Not A Day Goes By. Maria Friedman does an
incredible job with Like It Was sounding as if she really does
want it the way that it was, and who, after all hasnt sometimes felt such a
longing. While Louise Golds Gussie shows an unexpectedly tender side
and sweet voice singing Growing Up, which, besides being a
wonderfully deep and meaningful song in its own right, is one of the most
beautifully sung pieces on this recording.
There
is much more to this album, though, than moving lyricalness, Stephen
Sondheim is one of those very versatile songwriters, capable of writing
many different sorts of songs, and this album also abounds with some really
good, though sometimes quite dark, comedy numbers, such as: That Frank,
Franklin Shepard Inc, Now You Know, Its A
Hit, The Blob, Opening Doors, and one of my
favourites Bobby And Jackie And Jack. All of these seven stand
out in their own individual ways. That Frank is basically a
hilarious envious riot about a successful man. Sondheim describes the same
character in a much more sophisticated manner in Franklin Shepard Inc.
Brilliantly performed by Evan Pappas (it would be hard to find anyone
who could equal that performance of the song) it is a great number about the
frustrations of trying to work in partnership with an entrepreneur who is
always on the go with other projects. There is also an amount of sophistication
in Opening Doors, although mainly a hopeful song about young
people setting out to make their way in the world, they do encounter problems
and do not necessarily overcome them. Similarly Its A Hit,
although a cheerful upbeat number celebrating a successful opening night, also
reminds us of the down side to show business failure. It is put across by Michael
Cantwell, Evan Pappas, Maria Friedman, Gareth Snook, Jacqueline
Dankworth and the company with much heartfelt feeling. Darker humour can
also be found in the deceptively upbeat Now You Know. The tune is
upbeat, and this is basically a song about making a fresh start and moving on
in life after a trauma (such as divorce).
Clearly it is quite an album, especially if you admire
the sophisticated satire of Sondheims lyrics, and want to hear them
performed by sophisticated talented performers. That said, some people may
prefer to hear even Sondheims satire sung more directly, than some of
the artistes on this album do it. Louise Gold is a particularly good
example here, of a performer whos clever interpretations of Sondheims
highly intelligent work, may be too subtle and sophisticated for some listeners.
It is also the case that when listening to the album one may need to persevere
for a while, you will not necessarily get it the first time, or even the
second or third time. That said, if you admire the kind of performers who
appear on this album, especially either: Maria Friedman, Louise Gold,
or Evan Pappas, then it is certainly an album well worth getting,
because they have some terrific material to display their talents with.
This leaves one with the important question, when
considering the CD, of whether it is worth getting the Double CD or if the
Single will suffice. By and large the single CD does give a very good summary
of recording, and of all the great performances. Of the four tracks that are
cut completely I think that 3 of them one can certainly do without. The only
one which I really miss on the single CD is the half a minute scene from the
party, where Gussie tells Frank they are finished. If one of your main reasons
for choosing this CD is that you are a fan of Louise Golds, then this
scene makes the double CD something of a must, as she has a superb half a
minute displaying her dramatic acting skills as Gussie gets her revenge on Meg,
and Frank. Then there is the matter of the 7 minutes made up of cuts from
various tracks, most of these are dialog bits, and the songs are certainly
listenable and understandable without them. However, this is a cast album
recording of songs from an actual show, made by a group of actors who were
actually in the production, and personally I think the dialog excerpts help to
give one an idea of what it must have been like to see them perform this show.
In addition some of these actors, such as Evan Pappas, Michael
Cantwell, and Louise Gold, really do speak good dialog rather well,
with much feeling, so it is a shame not to hear them do so. Therefore although
the single CD is certainly satisfactory in giving a good summary and flavour of
the show, it is much more than a mere highlights album; if you can afford it,
then the double CD is just that bit better and well worth having; especially if
you are a fan of either Louise Gold or Michael Cantwell, in
particular. But the single version is certainly better than not buying it at
all.
Critics Comments
"Well
mostly Louise Gold sings the hell out of
Good Thing Going as Gussie in Merrily doing the stage version of Good
Thing Going, which is mostly not a good thing, but it is very very funny, as
you see this nice sensitive song sung at the piano by these two guys becoming
anything but sensitive in her approach to it" Gordon Carruthers
(Castrecal List Member)
Links about Merrily
We Roll Along (Recording)
JAY Records page for this recording: http://www.jayrecords.com/jay/site/pages/recordings/merrilyweroll/recording.htm
Eur.Com Musicals listing for this
recording: http://www.eur.com/musicals/rec.cfm?TNumber=407&RNumber=1496
Sondheim Guide page for Merrily We Roll
Along: http://www.geocities.com/sondheimguide/merrily.html
About Maria page for Merrily We Roll
Along: http://www.aboutmaria.com/merrilywerollalong.html
Cast Album.org
databases entry for this album: http://www.castalbums.org/recordings/1624
Hit That CDs review
including one for this album: http://www.germanbooks88.com/music61/hit_that_cd_single_import.html
FYE.coms page for the
album: http://www.fye.com/Merrily-We-Roll-Along--1992-Leicester-Haymarket-Theatre-Cast---Complete--Front-Page_stcVVproductId1083858VVcatId455366VVviewprod.htm
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