Unless I'm forgetting something, it was the first older musical to receive two virtually complete recordings on two CDs of the original score, even if it neither was perhaps quite truly complete (not sure about that) nor truly represented the score as originally heard on Broadway (perhaps because it was not realized at the time how many changes were made in the licensed version from what was heard on opening night on Broadway, but even if it was realized, at the time those original materials were not easily available).
Well, of course, in 1848, no one was really focused on archiving a full show score. But largely, what's there is faithful enough to the original given the era - it's certainly not chopped up like Follies or Carnival would be some years later.
Though the beginning is odd - the opening orchestral material is from the Entr'acte, not the Overture - and that music leads into "Another Op'nin" in a way that was absolutely different from the stage show, considering that song did not actually open the production. (One of the many demerits of the 1999 revival is that they changed the order of the opening scene so that the song could open the show - a far more ordinary and obvious choice than what was done in the 1948 production.)
But of course you knew all this...;-) |
