February 2, 2010

Canvas Falcons: Live At the Orpheum
(new mp3)
Troy Gleeson musical, stage at the Orpheum Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona (the film of the production was awarded Best Feature Length Musical by the New York International Independent Film & Video Festival).

Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines
(Albany Records - on 2 CDs)
Reissue of long out of print 1976 Columbia label, Kansas City Lyric Theatre cast recording of Jack Beeson/Sheldon Harnick operetta. Based on the play by Clyde Fitch.

Erin Shields: I'd Rather Be Lonely
(new on CD)
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"You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To," "All Or Nothing At All," "Never Let Me Go/When Your Lover Has Gone," "Bill," "Someone To Watch Over Me," "Love Me Or Leave Me," "My Funny Valentine," "The Boy Next Door," "I'll Be Seeing You." Released 12/11/09.

Julian Yeo: Deep Purple Dreams
(Yeomo Productions - new on CD)
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"No Moon at all," "Close Your Eyes," "Whatever Lola Wants," "How Insensitive," "Deep Purple," "Love for Sale," "Quizas, Quizas, Quizas," "Anything Goes," "Let Yourself Go," "Too Darn Hot," "On a Slow Boat to China," "September Song."

Finian's Rainbow
(PS Classics - new on CD) 
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2009 Broadway revival cast recording. Burton Lane/Yip Harburg score. Cast includes Jim Norton, Kate Baldwin, Cheyenne Jackson, Christopher Fitzgerald and Chuck Cooper. Produced by Tommy Krasker. Recorded December 7.

Liza's at the Palace
(MPI - new on DVD)
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Liza Minnelli's show, filmed during September 30 and October performances at Las Vegas' Hollywood Theater in the MGM Grand. Directed by Matthew Diamond. With Billy Stritch, Cortes Alexander, Jim Caruso, Johnny Rodgers and Tiger Martina. To air on PBS. 120 minutes.

The Music Man
(Warner - on Blu-Ray)
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New transfer of 1962 musical version of Meredith Willson musical. Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, Buddy Hackett, Ron Howard. Same bonuses as most recent DVD.

Raise the Curtain: Caroline Sheen
(new on CD)
Debut album by European and West End actress (Mary Poppins, Witches of Eastwick, The Light in the Piazza, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang). "Carrie Makes A Decision" (Grant Olding) *, "A Part Of Me" (Maltby & Shire), "Isn´t This What Every Woman Wants? (Dempsey & Rowe) *, "Higher (Richard Taylor) *, "Will You? (Frankel & Korie), "What Did You Want From Love?" (Conor Mitchell) *, "I Lay My Armor Down" (Stitt & Greenberg), "Wait A Bit" (Stiles & Drewe, "Mr Hopalong Heartbreak" (Jason Robert Brown), "Miss Hardcastle´s Wedding" (Goodall & Hart) *, "The Light In The Piazza" (Adam Guettel), "Anything Can Happen" (Stiles & Drewe), "Bonus Track: "Nothing Is Too Wonderful To Be True" (David Yazbek - duet with Michael Jibson). * = Previously unrecorded. Available at Dress Circle.

Rooms: A Rock Romance
(Time Life - new on CD) 
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Off-Broadway cast recording of Paul Scott Goodman and Miriam Gordon Score. Leslie Kritzer and Doug Kreeger. Recorded May 12. Already available on iTunes.

A Steady Rain: A Play
(Faber & Faber - Paperback Book)
Keith Huff's play. Broadway production featured Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig.

Vanities
(Ghostlight - new on CD) 
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Recording of Off-Broadway musical score by David Kirshenbaum. Lauren Kennedy, Sarah Stiles and Anneliese van der Pol. Produced by Joel Moss. Eight-piece led by music director Bryan Perri. Orchestrations by Lynne Shankel. "Setting Your Sights (Reflections)," "I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing," "An Organized Life," "I Can’t Imagine," "Setting Your Sights (City Limits)," "An Organized Life (1968)," "Fly Into The Future," "Cute Boys With Short Haircuts," "Let Life Happen," "Setting Your Sights (What You Wanted)," "The Same Old Music," "An Organized Life (1974)," "The Argument," "Friendship Isn’t What It Used To Be," "Looking Good." Already available in mp3 format at Amazon. Store date. Recorded August 21, 2009.

January 26, 2010

Fame
(WHV - on Blu-Ray)
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Original 1980 musical film featuring Irene Cara, Eddie Barth, Meg Tilly, Richard Belzer, Barry Miller, Lee Curreri, Paul McCrane, Billy Hufsey, Maureen Teefy.

Leonard Bernstein: Omnibus - The Historic TV Broadcasts
(Koch - on 4 DVDs)
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Hosted by Alastair Cooke, the Omnibus series feature diverse live broadcasts on science, the arts and the humanities. This historic collection includes seven episodes featuring lectures, performances and master classes from the legendary conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein. Includes: Beethoven's Fifth Symphony (1954), The World of Jazz (1955), The Art of Conducting (1955), American Musical Comedy (1956), Introduction to Modern Music (1957), The Music of Johann Sebastian Bach (1957) and What Makes Opera Grand? (1958).

Torch: Lina Koutrakos
(LML Music - new on CD)
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"Lush Life," "Come Rain or Come Shine," "You Don't Know Me," "How Long Has This Been Going On," "It Had To Be You," "Stormy Weather," "You Fascinate Me," "My Foolish Heart," "Night Moves," "Don't Explain," "What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life," "Joan Of Arc," "Man That Got Away, The," "One For My Baby."

Two Shows Nightly Deluxe Edition: Peggy Lee
(Collector's Choice - new on CD)
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Culled from three nights of a three-week April run at the Copa during which Peggy played two shows per night (and three on Saturday), Two Shows Nightly was pressed and ready to go to retail in November 1968 when Peggy, unhappy with the mix, pulled the release on the eve of its street date. 41 years later, Peggy's estate has consented to the release of this long-lost album - with a dozen bonus tracks. From the original album: "Do I Hear a Waltz," "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," "Reason to Believe," "Didn't Want to Have to Do It," "Personal Property," "Hand on the Plow," "Until It's Time for You to Go," "Something Stupid," "What Is a Woman," "Alright, Okay, You Win," "Here's to You" and "Come Back to Me." Bonus tracks include the unreleased "Money" and "I Wound It Up" as well as nine rare single sides and the the obscure "Make Believe." New liner notes from Peggy Lee discographer Ivan Santiago.

You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown
(WHB - new on DVD)
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Remastered 1985 animated TV special. 50 minute feature plus "Animating A Charlie Brown Musical" documentary featurette that explores the twenty-year journey of the Clark Gesner concept album that became a 1967 Off-Broadway hit and finally an animated TV special.

January 19, 2010

A Changing World
(new on CD)
The words, the music and the wisdom of Noel Coward delivered with fresh, modern arrangements. Sung by West End star Simon Green and piano by composer/arranger David Shrubsole. Played at New York’s 59E59 theaters under the title Coward at Christmas. "There Have Been Songs In England/You Were There," "Couldn't We Keep On Dancing," "Where Are The Songs We Sung/A Room With A View/I'll Follow My Secret Heart," "What's Going To Happen To The Tots," "Time And Again/Wait A Bit Joe," "On Leaving England/London Pride/I Travel Alone/Sail Away," "Three Theatrical Dames," "Why Must The Show Go On?," "Twentieth Century Blues," "I'm Old Fashioned/Let's Do It," "Alice Is At It Again," "I'll See You Again/This Is A Changing World," "Someday I'll Find You," "Come The Wild, Wild Weather."

Chuck Wagner
(Wagner Dreams Unlimited - mp3 album)
mp3 version of Chuck Wagner album. "I Need To Know," "Stars," "Hello Little Girl," "This Is The Moment," "Dangerous Game," "Brother, My Brother," "If I Can't Love Her," "Agony," "Take Me As I Am," "If Ever I Would Leave You."

Colm Wilkinson: Broadway and Beyond The Concert Songs
(new on CD)
Recording of the songs from Wilkinson's concert tour. Mix of Broadway, pop, Irish ballads and more. "The Music of the Night," "Tennessee Waltz," "The Wind Beneath My Wings," "Bring Him Home," "This is the Moment," "Runaway," "Some Enchanted Evening," "Country Roads," "Somewhere," "Hallelujah," "The House of the Rising Sun," "If I Ever Would Leave You," "Old Man River," "Whiskey in the Jar," "Danny Boy," "Anthem," "Imagine/Peace Will Come."

The Cranford Collection
(BBC Warner - new on 3 DVDs)
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Includes complete five episode BBC series adapted from Elizabeth Gaskell's novels.

Cranford: Return To Cranford
(BBC Warner - new on DVD)
Order at CD UniversePart of BBC's Cranford series. Judi Dench, Jonathan Pryce, Imelda Staunton, Francesca Annis, Julia McKenzie.

Giddy On Up
(new digital download) 
Laura Bell Bundy single from upcoming album Achin' and Shakin'.

The Great American Songbook - The Composers: Volume 2
(Hal Leonard - Paperback Book)
Nearly 100 more classics from the American repertoire of classics, including: "Always," "But Beautiful," "Caravan," "Falling in Love with Love," "I Concentrate on You," "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)," "Long Ago (And Far Away)," "My Romance," "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'," "Ol' Man River," "Once in Love with Amy," "So in Love," "Some Enchanted Evening," "Wedding Bells (Are Breaking up That Old Gang of Mine)," "Yesterdays," "You're the Cream in My Coffee" and more.

Green Sneakers
(Blue Griffin - new on CD/mp3) 
World premiere recording of Ricky Ian Gordon mini-opera, sung by Jesse Blumberg with the Miami String Quartet.

Reading the Plays of Wendy Wasserstein
(Applause - Paperback Book)
By Jan Balakin. Essays which place Wendy Wasserstein's seven major plays, in a historical context, showing a connection between the evolution of the women's movement in America and the conflicts within her plays. Interviews with the playwright before her death in 2006, and with Wasserstein's close friends, playwright Chris Durang and director Dan Sullivan, lend further insight into Wasserstein's political concerns. The author's access to handwritten pages from Wasserstein's notebooks at the Wasserstein archives at Mount Holyoke also provides readers a window into the playwright's creative process. Features 50 black-and-white illustrations, including handwritten pages from Wendy Wasserstein's notebooks.

Salaam. Peace: An Anthology of Middle Eastern-American Drama
(TCG - Paperback Book)
Holly Hill and Dina Amin, editors. Collection of new plays by American writers of a variety of Middle Eastern backgrounds, from artists born in Egypt and Iran, to Israeli and Palestinian Americans. Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith by Yussef el-Guindi; Between Our Lips by Nathalie Handal; Nine Parts of Desire by Heather Raffo; The Black Eyed by Betty Shamieh; Call Me Mehdi by Torange Yeghiazarian; Browntown by Samir Younis; Desert Sunrise by Misha Shulman.

Shakespeare and the American Musical
(Indiana Univ Press - Hardcover/Paperback Book)
Irene G. Dash explores the influence of Shakespeare on American musical theater through analyses of five important productions from 1938 through 1971 - The Boys from Syracuse, Kiss Me, Kate, West Side Story, Your Own Thing and Two Gentlemen of Verona. Dash argues that adaptations of Shakespeare were instrumental in the alteration of the musical theater formula from the stock plots and song forms of the 1930s musical comedy to the more organic "integrated musical" ...

Streamers
(Shout! Factory - new on DVD)
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1983 Robert Altan film version of David Rabe play. Matthew Modine, Michael Wright, Mitchell Lichtenstein, and David Alan Grier.

Toronto Sings the Breithaupt Brothers Songbook
(GDM - new on CD) 
Live album tribute to songs of Don Breithaupt and Jeff Breithaupt (Seeing Stars). Denzal Sinclaire, Adi Braun, Brent Carver, Patricia O'Callaghan, Wendy Lands.

Turning Thirty, The Musical Live Debut
(new on mp3) 
Live recording of Atlanta benefit performance of Tom Willner musical, based on his personal experience with cancer. Tom Willner, Kristi Budd, Pam Duncan, Jose Cordero.

January 12, 2010

8 1/2
(Criterion - new on Blu-Ray)
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Federico Fellini's 1963 film that was the basis for the musical Nine. Marcello Mastroianni, Claudia Cardinale, Barbara Steele, Anouk Aimée, Sandra Milo, Mario Pisu, Rosella Falk. Black and white; 138 minutes. High-definition digital transfer of restored film elements plus extras: introduction by filmmaker Terry Gilliam; audio commentary w/ Gideon Bachmann and NYU film professor Antonio Monda; A Director's Notebook 52-minute Fellini film by Federico Fellini; The Last Sequence 52-minute documentary on alternate ending; Nino Rota: Between Cinema and Concert 48-minute documentary; interviews with actress Sandra Milo, Lina Wertmuller & Vittorio Storaro; rare photographs from Bachmann's collection; behind-the-scenes and production photos; trailers; improved English subtitle translation; booklet featuring writings by Fellini and essays by critics.

Fame Extended Dance Edition
(MGM - new on DVD & Blu-Ray 2 discs)
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2009 film remake featuring Thomas Dekker, Paul Iacono, Kristy Flores, Charles S. Dutton, Kelsey Grammer, Bebe Neuwirth, Debbie Allen, Megan Mullally, Naturi Naughton, Anna Maria Perez de Tagles, Paul McGill, Kay Panabaker, Kherington Payne, Collins Pennie, Walter Perez. 15 deleted scenes, Fame National Talent Search Contest Winner, and a music video.

Fame: Season Two
(MGM - on 5 DVDs)
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Second season (1982-3) of TV show. Erica Gimpel, Debbie Allen, Gene Anthony Ray, Lee Curreri, Valerie Landsburg, Carlo Imperato, Lori Singer, Albert Hague, Carol Mayo Jenkins. Guests include Marge Champion, Bruno Kirby, Betty White, Nancy Walker, Arte Johnson, Brenda Vaccaro, Milton Berle, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Previously available in combination pack with season one.

The Lion King On Broadway Special 2-Disc Edition
(Disney - new on CD + DVD)
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OBC album plus bonus DVD with all-new addition behind the scenes material of the London production of The Lion King.

Passing Strange
(IFC - new on DVD)
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2009 Spike Lee film of Stew's musical. Filmed live. Eisa Davis, de'Adre Aziza, Daniel Breaker, Colman Domingo, Stew.

Road Show
(TCG - Paperback Book)
Libretto for Sondheim/John Weidman musical about Addison Mizner and Wilson Mizner.

January 5, 2010

All the Things You Are: Transcriptions and In-Depth Analysis of Solos by Jazz Pianists Playing Jerome Kern's Classic Songs
(Hal Leonard - Paperback Book & CD)
By Gene Rizzo and Jerome Kern. In-depth analysis of how a variety of jazz musicians have handled the Kern standard "All the Things You Are." Artists include Oscar Peterson, Andre Previn, Ahmad Jamal, Hampton Hawes, Ralph Sharon, Dave Brubeck, Phineas Newborn, Marian McPartland, and many more. The book includes details and transcriptions of key passages from each artist's version along with references to the specific recording being discussed. The CD includes sound-alike examples of each of the passages to aid in the study and analysis.

Broadway: An Encyclopedia of Theater and American Culture
(Greenwood - 2 Hardcover Volumes)
Thomas A. Greenfield. Explores just how much the "Great White Way" illuminates our national character. In two volumes spanning the era from the mid-19th century to the present, it offers nearly 200 entries on a variety of topics, including spotlights on 30 landmark productions — from Shuffle Along to Oklahoma! to Oh Calcutta! to The Producers — that not only changed American theater but American culture as well. Plus, thirty extended thematic essays gauging the powerful impact of theater on American life, with entries on race relations, women in society, sexuality, film, media, technology, tourism, and off-Broadway and noncommercial theater. Also, 110 profile entries on key persons and institutions — from the famous to the infamous to the all but forgotten — whose unique careers and contributions impacted Broadway and its place in the American landscape.

Conversations with Peter Brook
(TCG - Paperback Book)
Margaret Croyden (editor). Director Peter Brook shares his most insightful thoughts and deepest feelings about theater with Margaret Croyden, who has followed his career for thirty years, gaining an unparalleled perspective on the evolution of his work. In these interchanges from 1970 to 2000, Brook freely discusses major works, the establishment of the Paris Center, his work in the Middle East and Africa and more.

The Director's Voice, Volume Two
(TCG - Paperback Book)
A cross-section of stage directors defining today's American theater, in conversation with director/producer Jason Loewith. Interviews include: Anne Bogart, Mark Brokaw, Peter Brosius, Ping Chong, David Esbjornson, Oskar Eustis, Frank Galati, Michael Kahn, Moisés Kaufman, James Lapine, Elizabeth LeCompte, Emily Mann, Michael Mayer, Marion McClinton, Bill Rauch, Bartlett Sher, Julie Taymor, Theatre de la Jeune Lune (Barbra Berlovitz, Steven Epps, Vincent Gracieux, Robert Rosen, and Dominique Serrand), George C. Wolfe, and Mary Zimmerman.

Speak Low: Ashley Brown
(Ghostlight/Razor & Tie - new on CD) 
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Jazz album of American Songbook songs by star of Mary Poppins. To include "Smile," "Make Someone Happy," "My Funny Valentine," "I'll Be Seeing You," "My Only Love” and "The Very Thought of You."  Produced by David Lai.

-- Sound Advice Staff

Additional information provided by
Max O. Preeo