There was a cast recording of the 1973 Cryer-Ford musical Shelter that was never issued. The 1947 Comden-Green-Saul Chaplin musical Bonanza Bound received a cast recording made by RCA before it opened in Philadelphia. It may have been made while the show was still in New York rehearsals, although an orchestra is heard. This was done in anticipation of the upcoming Petrillo ban. Only nine songs were recorded, far from the whole score, but this was fairly common at the time. Look, Ma, I'm Dancin'! was also recorded prior to its out-of-town opening for the same reason, but since that one made it to Broadway, it was issued. Bonanza Bound was not.
A number of Off-Broadway musicals were privately recorded. These were studio recordings. Equity agreed that such recordings could happen as long as distribution was limited to members of cast, the writers and the production team, or at least that's what Sheldon Harnick said when discussing the recording of Smiling the Boy Fell Dead. Eventually a number of those, including Smiling the Boy Fell Dead, were issued on small labels, sometimes without permission. Among those were Kittiwake Island, The Sap of Life and Sing, Muse.
Two others, The Crystal Heart and Love and Let Love, may have been recorded pre-opening by the labels that had bought the rights but then chose not to issue them. |
