| In case you want to know about The Cradle Will Rock, it is the music only, extremely limited dialogue that is underscored. Far more complete is the version last on Composers Recordings , originally a 2 lp MGM release. The cast is excellent all the way through, major off Broadway and minor Broadway performers including Jerry Orbach in the lead. The problem with that version is it is accompanied by one piano as it was on opening night after the Government shut down the WPA production. Jay version from John Housman's Actors Company has a little more by way of accompaniment, but with the exception of Ms. Lupone the cast is unremarkable. Flash forward and about a year ago John Mauceri did a production with the full original orchestral parts at Opera Saratoga (not to be confused with Sarasota where I'm from, LOL). The singing is good if a little gooey, sometimes a little hard to understand words, but...............it takes the piece to a whole new level of intensity. Where the MGM version can seem a bit polemic, this version has a grandeur that sweeps those problems away. |
