Saturday, June 10, 2006
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Broadway on CD 2
THE PAJAMA GAME
Kelli O'Hara is worlds away from her outstanding performance in THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA, and this is a sincere complement. Her voice and presence on the recording is one to be reckoned with. She has a clear, powerful vocal quality and successfully delivers every nuance of the character as well.
With a voice as handsome as he is, Harry Connick, Jr. more than pleases as well, and the two of them work great together.
Overall, this is a very enjoyable recording, and fortunately, is not as campy as it was originally written. The dance numbers are lively, and all of the characters are a pleasure to listen to. A-
THE WEDDING SINGER
If any songs from the 1980's sound cheesy by today's standards, it's only because the producers and artists took themselves so seriously back then. But the bottom line is that most of the songs were good in the first place.
The same cannot be said here. Creating instant nostalgia has proven to be an undaunting task for the songwriters. Instead of penning a collection of tunes that sound like they were actually written during the 1980's, the listeners are left to endure an entire soundtrack of cheap knock-offs of the sounds of said decade, which is just too demanding for a sophisticated Broadway audience.
On the flip side, the performers are quite good, and there seems to be a vague indication that these numbers need the visuals to accompany them.
Otherwise, these songs should have been left to be altered. D+
Kelli O'Hara is worlds away from her outstanding performance in THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA, and this is a sincere complement. Her voice and presence on the recording is one to be reckoned with. She has a clear, powerful vocal quality and successfully delivers every nuance of the character as well.
With a voice as handsome as he is, Harry Connick, Jr. more than pleases as well, and the two of them work great together.
Overall, this is a very enjoyable recording, and fortunately, is not as campy as it was originally written. The dance numbers are lively, and all of the characters are a pleasure to listen to. A-
THE WEDDING SINGER
If any songs from the 1980's sound cheesy by today's standards, it's only because the producers and artists took themselves so seriously back then. But the bottom line is that most of the songs were good in the first place.
The same cannot be said here. Creating instant nostalgia has proven to be an undaunting task for the songwriters. Instead of penning a collection of tunes that sound like they were actually written during the 1980's, the listeners are left to endure an entire soundtrack of cheap knock-offs of the sounds of said decade, which is just too demanding for a sophisticated Broadway audience.
On the flip side, the performers are quite good, and there seems to be a vague indication that these numbers need the visuals to accompany them.
Otherwise, these songs should have been left to be altered. D+
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