Simply Musicals
Louise
Gold starred on Volume 2 Track 9 as Reno Sweeney from Anything Goes
Catalogue number: SIMPLYCD004
Cast
Mark
Adams (as Frank
Butler from Annie Get Your Gun)
John
Barrowman (as Danny
from Grease, and Joseph from Joseph And The Amazing
Technicolor Dreamcoat)
Aiden
Bell
Graham
Bickley (as
Lieutenant Cable from South Pacific, The Phantom Of The
Opera and others)
Christopher
Biggins (as King
Herod from Jesus Christ Superstar)
Simon
Bowman (as
Caractacus Potts from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
Clare
Burt
Dean
Collinson
Kim
Criswell (as Norma
Desmond from Sunset Boulevard)
Carman
Cusack
Muriel
Dickenson
Gregg
Edelman (as Sky
Masterson from Guys And Dolls)
The A
Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum Company
Louise
Gold (as Reno Sweeney from Anything
Goes)
James
Graeme (as Bert
from Mary Poppins, The Phantom from The Phantom Of The
Opera and others)
Debbie
Gravitte (as
Calamity Jane from Calamity Jane)
Michael
Gruber (as Don
Lockwood from Singin’ In The Rain)
Andrew
Halliday (as The
Phantom from The Phantom Of The Opera and others)
Teri
Hansen (as Magnolia
Hawks Ravenal from Showboat)
Mike
Holoway (as
Littlechap from Stop The World I Want To Get Off)
Jan
Hovarth (as Velma
Kelly from Chicago)
Paulette
Ivory
Vanessa
A. Jones
Doug
LaBrecque (as
Gaylord Ravenal from Showboat)
Jerry
Lanning (as Teryve
from Fiddler On The Roof)
The Les
Miserables Company
Shona
Lindsay (as Sandy from Grease)
Emily
Losser (as Sergeant
Sarah Brown from Guys And Dolls)
Michael
Maguire (as Don
Quixote from Man Of La Mancha)
Paul
Manuel (as Tony
from West Side Story)
Gary
Mauer (as Freddie
from My Fair Lady)
Shaun
McDermott
Robert
Meadmore
Max
Milner (as Jeremy
Potts from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
Claire
Moore (as Christine
from The Phantom Of The Opera)
Katrina
Murphy (as
Christine from The Phantom Of The Opera and others)
The Company
from The Music Man
Deborah
Myers (as Mary
Poppins from Mary Poppins)
Caroline
O’Connor (as Annie
Oakley from Annie Get Your Gun, Donna Sheridan from Mamma
Mia, Anita from West Side Story and others)
The Oklahoma!
Company
Tinuke
Olafimihan (as
Maria from West Side Story)
Catherine
Porter
Grania
Renihan (as Eva
Peron from Evita and others)
Randy
Rogel (as Cosmo
from Singin’ In The Rain)
Christina
Saffran (as Kathy
Seldon from Singin’ In The Rain)
Jacqui
Scott (as Demeter
or Bombalurina from Cats, and, Norma Desmond from Sunset
Boulevard)
David
Shannon
Sally Ann
Triplett (as Truly
Scrumptious from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Nancy from Oliver,
Sally Bowles from Cabaret and others)
Hayley
Wareham (as Jemima
Potts from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
Jacinta
Whyte (as
Grizalbella from Cats)
Production Team
Conductors -
Gerry Anderson, Craig Barna, Julian Kelly, John Owen
Edwards. Patrick Vaccariello, Martin Yates
Produced by
- John Yap
Track Listing
Broadway SIMPLYCD004-1
1. Comedy Tonight (from A Funny Thing Happened On
The Way To The Forum) - The A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To
The Forum Company with the NSO conducted by Martin Yates
2. The Circle Of Life
(from The Lion King) - Carman Cusack, David Shannon
and Company with the NSO conducted by Martin Yates
3. Elaborate Lives
(from Aida) - Sean McDermott and Vanessa A. Jones
with the NSO Ensemble conducted by Patrick Vaccariello
4. All That Jazz
(from Chicago)
- Jan Hovath and the Company with the NSO conducted by Julian
Kelly
5. If I Were A Rich Man
(from Fiddler On The Roof) - Jerry Lanning with the NSO
conducted by John Owen Edwards
6. On The Street Where You Live
(from My Fair Lady) - Gary Mauer with the NSO
conducted by John Owen Edwards
7. Luck Be A Lady (from
Guys And Dolls) - Gregg Edelman and Men with the NSO
conducted by John Owen Edwards
8. Younger Than Springtime
(from South Pacific) - Graham Bickley with the NSO
conducted by John Owen Edwards
9. What I Did For Love
(from A Chorus Line) - Catherine Porter and Chorus with
the NSO conducted by Martin Yates
10. Anything You Can Do
(from Annie Get Your Gun) - Caroline O’Connor and Mark
Adams with the NSO conducted by John Owen Edwards
11. The Impossible Dream
(from Man Of La Mancha) - Michael Maguire with the NSO
conducted by John Owen Edwards
12. Try To Remember
(from The Fantasticks) - Graham Bickley and Chorus with
the NSO Ensemble conducted by Martin Yates
13. Oklahoma! (from Oklahoma!)
- The Company with the NSO conducted by John Owen Edwards
London SIMPLYCD004-2
1. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
(from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) - Simon Bowman, Sally
Ann Triplett, Max Milner, and, Hayley Wareham with the NSO
conducted by Martin Yates
2. What Kind Of Fool
(from Saturday Night Fever) - Caroline O’Connor with the NSO
Ensemble conducted by Julian Kelly
3. Memory (from Cats)
- Jacinta Whyte with the NSO conducted by John Owen Edwards
4. Anthem (from Chess)
- Andrew Halliday with the NSO conducted by Martin Yates
5. The Phantom Of The Opera
(from The Phantom Of The Opera) - Graham Bickley and Claire
Moore with the NSO conducted by Martin Yates
6. What Kind Of Fool Am I?
(from Stop The World I Want To Get Off) - Mike Holoway
with the NSO conducted by Martin Yates
7. Dancing Queen
(from Mamma Mia) - Caroline O’Connor with the NSO
Ensemble conducted by Julian Kelly
8. Sun And Moon
(from Miss Saigon) - Katrina Murphy and Graham Bickley
with the NSO conducted by Martin Yates
9. Anything Goes (from
Anything Goes) - Louise Gold and Company with the NSO
conducted by John Owen Edwards
10. As Long As He Needs Me
(from Oliver!) - Sally Ann Triplett with the NSO
conducted by John Owen Edwards
11. The People’s Song
(from Les Miserables) - The Company with the NSO conducted
by Martin Yates
12. The Time Warp
(from The Rocky Horror Show) - Aidan Bell and Company with
the NSO Ensemble conducted by Martin Yates
13. We Are The Champions
(from We Will Rock You) - Dean Collinson, James Graeme,
Paulette Ivory, Sally Ann Triplett and Chorus with the Estonian
National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates
Hollywood SIMPLYCD004-3
1. Tonight (Quintet)
(from West Side Story) - Paul Manuel, Tinuke Olafimihan,
Caroline O’Connor and Company with the NSO conducted by John
Owen Edwards
2. Good Mornin’
(from Singin’ In The Rain) - Michael Gruber, Christina
Saffran, and, Randy Rogel with the NSO conducted by Craig
Barna
3. Summer Nights
(from Grease) - John Barrowman, Shona Lindsay and
Company with the NSO Ensemble conducted by Martin Yates
4. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
(from Mary Poppins) - Deborah Myers and James Graeme
with the NSO conducted by Martin Yates
5. Make Believe
(from Showboat) - Doug LaBrecque and Teri Hansen
with the NSO conducted by John Owen Edwards
6. You’ll Never Walk Alone
(from Carousel) - Muriel Dickenson with the NSO
conducted by John Owen Edwards
7. A Woman In Love
(from Guys And Dolls) - Gregg Edelman, and, Emily
Losser with the NSO conducted by John Owen Edwards
8. The Deadwood Stage
(from Calamity Jane) - Debbie Gravitte and Company with
the NSO conducted by John Owen Edwards
9. Maybe This Time
(from Cabaret) - Sally Ann Triplett with the NSO
conducted by Martin Yates
10. New
York New York
(from New York New York) - Seam McDermott with the NSO
conducted by Craig Barna
11. If Ever I Would Leave You
(from Camelot) - Robert Meadmore with an orchestra
conducted by Gerry Anderson
12. Nowadays (from Chicago) - Caroline
O’Connor with the NSO conducted by Julian Kelly
13. 76 Trombones
(from The Music Man) - The Company with the NSO conducted
by Martin Yates
Andrew Lloyd Webber SIMPLY004-4
1. Macavity (from Cats)
- Jacqui Scott with the NSO conducted by Martin Yates
2. With One Look (from
Sunset Boulevard) - Kim Criswell with the NSO
conducted by Martin Yates
3. Whistle Down The Wind
(from Whistle Down The Wind) - James Graeme with the NSO
Ensemble conducted by Martin Yates
4. All I Ask Of You
(from The Phantom Of The Opera) - Andrew Halliday and Katrina
Murphy with the NSO conducted by Martin Yates
5. Only You (from Starlight
Express) - Grania Renihan with the NSO Ensemble conducted
by John Owen Edwards
6. Another Suitcase In Another Hall
(from Evita) - Grania Renihan with the NSO
conducted by John Owen Edwards
7. King Herod’s Song
(from Jesus Christ Superstar) - Christopher Biggins with
the NSO conducted by Martin Yates
8. Music Of The Night
(from The Phantom Of The Opera) - James Graeme with the NSO
conducted by John Owen Edwards
9. Buenos
Aires (from Evita) - Caroline
O’Connor with the NSO conducted by Julian Kelly
10. As If We Never Said Goodbye
(from Sunset Boulevard) - Jacqui Scott with the NSO
conducted by Martin Yates
11. Unexpected Song
(from Song And Dance) - Clare Burt with the NSO
conducted by Martin Yates
12. Close Every Door
(from Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat) - John
Barrowman with the NSO conducted by John Owen Edwards
13. Our Kind Of Love
(from The Beautiful Game) - Sally Ann Triplett with the NSO
conducted by Martin Yates
Louise Gold’s performance comes from JAY/TER’s
of Anything Goes (recording), which Gregg
Edelman, Paul Manuel, and, Katrina Murphy also appear on, and
which also features the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by John
Owen Edwards.
Mike Holoway’s performance comes from JAY/TER’s
recording of Stop The World I
Want To Get Off, which Katrina Murphy also appears on, which also
features the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates.
Besides Anything
Goes (Recording), Louise Gold has appeared at one time or another in
productions (including concerts) or on recordings of quite a number of the
musicals featured on this album, namely: Joseph And The Amazing
Technicolor Dreamcoat (Joseph and the
Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (York Production), Joseph and the
Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Touring Production) & Joseph And The
Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Norwich Production)), My Fair Lady, Anything
Goes (Stage production), Chicago (Chicago & Company), Calamity Jane, Stop The World I Want To Get Off,
Man Of La Mancha, Mamma
Mia, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,
and, Mary Poppins.
Mark Adams (sometimes incorrectly
billed as Mark Adam), John Barrowman, Kim Criswell (as narrator),
Michael Gruber, Mike Holoway, Jerry :Lanning, Paul
Manuel, Caroline O’Connor, Tinuke Olafimihan, Catherine
Porter, and, Grania Renihan can be heard on The History Of The Musical, which
also features the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Craig
Barna, John Owen Edwards, and, Martin Yates (who was
uncredited on the sleeve note). That album also contains brief excerpt of the
same recordings that can be heard on this album of: If I Were A Rich Man,
What I Did For Love, Anything You Can Do, The
Phantom Of The Opera (song), What Kind Of Fool Am I?, The
People Song, and, Another Suitcase In Another Hall.
John Barrowman has appeared on stage in
the musical Anything Goes (Stage production)
in two productions (one with Louise Gold and one with Sally-Ann Triplett
as Reno).
John Barrowman, and, James Graeme
(as Jim Graeme) had appeared in Chicago
& Company.
Graham Bickley, and, Mike Holoway
had previously appeared on stage in The
Pirates Of Penzance (Stage production), and with that company in The Pirates Of Penzance
(Gala Preview).
Graham Bickley
had also appeared with The Pirates Of Penzance company in The Royal Variety Performance (1982)
Graham Bickley,
and, Michael
Gruber can also be heard on The Best Of Broadway Musicals, which also
features the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Craig Barna,
John
Owen Edwards, and, Martin Yates. That album
contains the same recordings of: Younger Than Springtime Are You,
and, Try To Remember.
Graham Bickley,
Clare
Burt, Kim Criswell, James Graeme,
Michael
Gruber, Claire Moore, Katrina Murphy,
and, Tinuke
Olafimihan can also be heard on Encore The Very Best From The Musicals,
which also features the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Craig Barna,
John
Owen Edwards, and, Martin Yates. It is possible
that album may contain the same recording of Seventy Six Trombones.
Graham Bickley,
Gregg
Edelman, Emily Losser, Paul Manuel,
Katrina
Murphy, Catherine Porter and, Tinuke Olafimihan
can also be heard on Great Duets From The Musicals, which also
features the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards,
and, Martin
Yates. That album also contains the same recordings of Sun And Moon,
and, A Woman In Love.
Graham Bickley,
Clare
Burt, Gregg Edelman, and, Katrina Murphy
can also be heard on Cole Porter - Night And Day, which also
features the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards,
and, Martin
Yates. That album also contains the same recording of Anything Goes
(sung by Louise Gold).
Christopher
Biggins, and, Robert Meadmore had previously
appeared on stage in The Soap Opera, for which Martin Yates
wrote the score.
Christopher Biggins,
Robert
Meadmore, Claire Moore had previously
appeared on stage in Kids At Heart.
Christopher Biggins
appeared on stage in the Regents Park 70th Anniversary Gala.
He may have appeared in Dear Ralph.
Clare Burt,
Gregg
Edelman, Claire Moore, and, Caroline O’Connor
can also be heard on Cabaret, which also features the National Symphony
Orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards.
Kim Criswell
had previously appeared on the radio in Let ‘Em Eat Cake, and on stage in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
Kim Criswell,
Gregg
Edelman, Katrina Murphy, and, Tinuke Olafimihan
can also be heard on On The Town, which also features the National Symphony
Orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards.
James Graeme
had appeared (as Jim Graeme) in Broadway
To Brighton.
James Graeme (as Jim Graeme),
and, Claire
Moore, had appeared in A Time To Start Living.
Robert Meadmore
and Sally
Ann Triplett had previously appeared on stage in the Metropolitan Mikado, where the orchestra
was also conducted by John Owen Edwards.
Robert Meadmore
had also appeared in a concert of highlights from the Ratepayers’ Iolanthe & Metropolitan Mikado,
where the orchestra was also conducted by John Owen Edwards.
Robert Meadmore
had previously appeared on television in Julia And Company, and, on stage in Side By Side By Sondheim. He also took
part in Hubert Gregg’s Memorial Service.
Robert Meadmore
and Sally
Ann Triplett had appeared on stage in the Side
By Side By Sondheim 25th Anniversary Gala.
Claire Moore,
and, Robert
Meadmore may have appeared in Will Aid.
Claire Moore
may have appeared in Comedy Tonight.
Grania Renihan
appeared at Dress Circle Grand Reopening.
Julian Kelly
has conducted the orchestra for many Leicester Haymarket productions (in
Leicester and in London): including: Merrily We Roll Along (Stage Production), Calamity Jane, and, Follies, his work can be heard on Merrily We Roll Along (Recording).
Christopher Biggins’s has appeared (along with Louise Gold) in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Clare Burt,
Kim
Criswell, Michael Maguire, and, Tinuke Olafimihan
along with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards and
Martin
Yates can also be heard on The Greatest Musicals of the 20th Century.
Sally Ann Triplett has appeared in Happily Ever After. Her television credits
include Rita Rudner.
Robert Meadmore, Sally Ann Triplett,
and, Christopher
Biggins have appeared in Side By Side By Sondheim 30th Anniversary Gala.
Clare Burt, Robert Meadmore,
and, Sally
Ann Triplett have gone on to appear in A
Love Letter To Dan.
Graham Bickley, Kim Criswell,
Louise
Gold, James Graeme, Claire Moore,
Deborah
Myers, Caroline O’Connor, and, Tinuke Olafimihan,
along with The National Symphony Orchestra can be heard on The Great Musicals - Wonderful Tales, for
which Julian
Kelly, John Owen Edwards, and, Martin Yates
also conducted. The album also includes the same versions of Anything Goes, and, Nowadays.
Graham Bickley, Kim Criswell, Michael Gruber, Vanessa A.
Jones, and, Katrina Murphy’s
recording credits include The Great Musicals
– Glamour And Majesty, which Shaun
McDermott may have sung on. This also involved the NSO, with maestros Craig
Barna, John Owen Edwards, Patrick Vaccariello, and, Martin Yates. It also includes a
version of Elaborate Lives with the same singers and orchestra, so it
probably is the same recording.
John Barrowman, Clare Burt, Shona Lindsay, Caroline
O’Connor, and, Tinuke Olafimihan’s
recording credits include Centre Stage Showtime!, which features The National Symphony Orchestra, along
with the maestros John Owen Edwards,
and, Martin Yates. This includes the
same recordings of Summer Nights, and, Quintet (Tonight).
Graham Bickley, Mike Holoway, Doug LeBreque, Emily Losser,
Robert Meadmore, Katrina Murphy, Caroline O’Connor, and, Catherine
Porter’s recording credits include The Great Musicals – Dashing Heroes,
Blushing Maidens; This also involved The
National Symphony Orchestra; with maestros Julian Kelly, John Owen
Edwards, and, Martin Yates.
Clare Burt, Kim Criswell, Gregg Edelman, James Graeme,
Doug LaBreque, Emily Losser, Catherine
Porter, and, Randy Rogel’s
recording credits include The Great Musicals –
Laughter And Tears; This also involved
The National Symphony Orchestra; with maestros Craig Barna, John Owen
Edwards, and, Martin Yates.
Review
by Emma Shane
My first reaction to this album was “Do we need another
compilation album containing a miscellaneous collection of bits of the
JAY/TER catalogue”. However, on listening
to it, I found that the selection of material on this one is rather good. Some
of the better pieces in that record company’s catalogue.
As has, I think happened before with JAY/TER
compilations, some of the track selections may well originate from solo albums
rather than actual cast album recordings of shows, and that may well account
for some of the problems (detailed later, with performances which don’t seem to
quite represent their performances in shows they come from). Although the four
discs are nominally divided into ‘Broadway’,. ‘London’,
‘Hollywood’, and, ‘Andrew Lloyd-Webber’ the
designations given to some of the songs seem a little arbitrary, with songs
from the same shows (and sometimes the same album of that show) turning up in
different categories. Chicago and Guys And Dolls
both appear as ‘Broadway’ and ‘Hollywood’ musicals.
There are also several musicals which originated in a category other than the
one in which they have actually been placed (West Side Story, Anything
Goes, and, Showboat all started on Broadway, while
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang started as a film). I was also initially
disappointed to find that despite the provision of a separate disc for his
work, two Andrew Lloyd-Webber songs had found their way onto the ‘London’
disc, but fortunately, when I came to hear them they turned out to be rather
well sung.
Indeed it is the quality of some of the performances which
make this album a bit more than “just another compilation album”. I was
struck on several occasions by some of these outstanding performances,
notably: Jacinta Whyte, Kim
Criswell, and Clare Burt. I was particularly impressed by Clare
Burt’s performance of Unexpected Song, it sounded beautiful!
In fact as soon as I heard it I found myself thinking “This woman’s a
brilliant singer, she should be doing roles like Sally Bowles in Cabaret
and Fosca in Passion”, then I read the sleeve-notes and realised who it
was! (In fact Ms Burt has played both roles: Sally Bowles in the BBC Radio
broadcast of Cabaret, and Fosca in Passion for the
much missed Bridewell Theatre Company). I was also very impressed by Jacinta Whyte’s
Memory, which had something of a haunting quality to it that came
close to matching Kim Criswell’s wonderful recording of that song.
Meanwhile, Ms Criswell herself performs a splendid version of With One
Look, both of which demonstrate (as do many other tracks in this
collection) that Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s work can actually sound rather good
(even to someone who isn’t a Lloyd-Webber fan) if it is well performed. Of
course that is true of many notable composers, not just Lloyd-Webber; For
example Ulvaeus and Anderson. Speaking of the latter, I was a little
disappointed by Caroline O’Connor’s performance of Dancing Queen.
It is an excellent song, one TV poll named it Ulvaeus and Anderson’s
greatest hit, like Irving Berlin’s Anything You Can Do, it
is the kind of song which stands up to varying interpretations, and may be
almost singer-proof (I say almost, having on at least one occasion seen it
nearly half-wrecked by being badly performed). Not that Caroline O’Connor
does the song badly by any means. Indeed her performance of it is more than
adequate. The trouble is that after hearing Louise Plowright do rather
too good a job with that song in the musical Mamma Mia (and on
half a track of that show’s Cast Album), its difficult to hear anyone else’s
version, without making comparisons, and her rendition of that song is rather a
hard act to follow.
Dancing Queen
is not the only number, to suffer from the fact that while it is perfectly
adequate there are known performances (and sometimes recordings) which were
just that bit better. Anything You Can Do,
Make
Believe, and, Deadwood Stage all suffer similarly: Anything You Can Do suffers the least, for (like Dancing Queen) it is almost performance-proof, and actually comes
across quite well. It’s just more playful than actual rivalry. Make Believe suffers terribly from the fact that in the 1951 film
version it was sung exceptionally well by Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel, and unfortunately while Teri Hansen and Doug LaBrecque may be good singers in their own way, they are not
Grayson and Keel (or for that matter Frederica Von Stade and Jerry Hadley). Deadwood Stage’s main
problem is a strange arrangement, which is most definitely not the Ray
Heindorf one we all know. How well Debbie Gravitte compared to Doris Day, I couldn’t really tell. The peculiar arrangement might
work alright in a stage production (especially an Am Dram one), but it just
doesn’t sound right on a compilation album.
There are however, some numbers on this album, which do
stand up to the famous performances that have gone before, For example Michael
Gruber, Christina Saffron and Randy Rogel do a fine job with Good
Mornin’ from Singin’ In The Rain. For shear energy,
enthusiasm, high quality and great ensemble performances other tracks which
stand out include: Comedy Tonight, Oklahoma!, Chitty
Chitty Bang Bang, and of course Anything Goes.
From an American musical (by Cole Porter) of the
same title Anything Goes is one of those tracks which doesn’t
seem to have any particular reason for being designated as ‘London’,
other than the fact that on this particular recording it is sung by a British
performer, Louise Gold, sometimes referred to as ‘An English Ethel
Merman’. (Who incidentally played the role or Reno Sweeney for the last
month of the last-but-one London revival of the show, in 1990). However, it
doesn’t really matter why the track is where it is. Because its such a joy to
hear anyway. It is my belief that this is one of the best recordings of this
song that there is. Ms Gold makes a wonderful Merman-Style singer, however,
there is much more to her vocal prowess than just that, for even on this track,
you can hear her indulge in the kind of vocal acrobatics, and innovative
delivery of different lyrics, which Ethel Merman would never not have
even approved of let alone dared do. She has the power of Merman, a style that
is very much her own. And this is just the right kind of number to show her off
her shining talents. Something she does all too little of on widely circulated
compilation albums. The only other easily available compilation album where she
features in a comparable performance is JAY/TER’s Encore - The Very
Best From The Musicals.
Indeed fans for specific performers featured on this album
(particularly: Graham Bickley, James Graeme, Caroline O’Connor,
and, Sally Ann Triplett) will almost certainly find something to enjoy
here. Although, such fans will probably already have the original albums from
which these recordings come. While I myself didn’t particularly take to Caroline
O’Connor’s various contributions to the compilation, I must say in all
fairness that her performances were not bad, and am sure many people would
enjoy them (they just didn’t do anything for me). On this occasion, however, I
was quite impressed by Sally Ann Triplett’s performance, particularly
with As Long As He Needs Me and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Even fans of some of the less prominent performers on this album will find some
good stuff (though again there’s probably recordings that such fans already
have): Christopher Biggins, Clare Burt, Kim Criswell, Louise
Gold, Mike Holoway, Emily Losser Grania Renihan and Jacinta
Whyte all give of their best, even though each is only on a single track.
So all in all this album makes very pleasant background
listening. It would be excellent background music for a party (where jazz and
music theatre may be an appropriately neutral background sound), or in a shop,
and could also be very useful to Radio D-J’s
as giving a good selection of some quite decent recordings of popular
showtunes (and at least one hit pop song). Would I recommend it to musical
theatre buffs? Well, that might depend on what else you have in your collection.
This is a compilation album, and so if you’ve already got a large number of the
tracks on other CDs (such as the ones they originate from), then perhaps not,
unless of course you are one of those people who collects every album for a
favourite performer (this album does after all include several performers who
have their fan followings), or of course, if you think the album would come in
useful as background music. It’s a fun album, some performances are brilliant,
some merely adequate, but none are actually bad. However, a lot of the tracks
are probably available elsewhere, on the albums from whence they really came).
Critics Comments
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Links about Simply
Musicals

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