It's always nice to have a new cast recording of a show just to hear a fresh "spin" on the material, but I haven't come across any information regarding a recording for the current Broadway revival.
Are they selling a previous cast album at the merch table already? Just curious. If not, I would think that might indicate that they will...
I'm sure they're still trying to determine if enough of the audience is willing to buy the album to justify the expense of recording. I hear it is a stellar production of the material, so I would think that they might. I guess, unless they are not doing new/innovative with the music at all. If its just a complete rehash of the music they may not feel the need to preserve new voices with the same orchestrations already recorded.
I do agree about the OCR, but I would love an updated recording with Lilla. I actually think she's been the best Annie since McArdle. I would enjoy hearing her recording.
The original cast is pretty much unbeatable, but the Time-Life 2 CD set of the 30th anniversary production + the score of the notorious ANNIE 2 is a must-have...and here is a head's up: Time-Life has reissued the first disc (ANNIE) as a stand alone, and it appears that once the current batch of 2-disc sets is gone there will be no more. Grab it while you can! ANNIE + ANNIE 2
It would be a great opportunity for the girl playing Annie, but no recording has come close to the original. It would be difficult for the producers to justify the funding of another recording after the original and the 2-disc Time-Life set (which I found brand new among several still sealed copies at Half Price Books for $2).
Probably unlikely to happen but perhaps they could do a live cast recording? I know in London, the 2009 production of Oliver!, Legally Blonde and Betty Blue Eyes were recorded live rather in the studio.
Has there ever been a LIVE cast album of a Broadway show? I know they are doing it a lot in London and Australia (and they can now easily do it at Encores! and 54 Below)
The performances on stage usually don't come across well in live albums, and most theatres are not acoustically "tuned" to give live recordings the sound they need...lyrics are lost and audience noises are distracting. (A digital watch going off just before Barbara Cook sails into the first line of "Losing My Mind" on RCA's FOLLIES IN CONCERT album has always taken me out of the moment.)
Editing would be a problem. How do you correct one note or phrase from two different live recordings? Also some numbers are way too long on stage and need to be abridged.
In a proper recording studio the singers and orchestra can be adjusted, tempos can be modified, and the performers can tone down performances when not having to shout lines to reach the back of the balcony.
Financially, I doubt there is much to gain from a live recording as the cast and orchestra would still have to be paid their full fees (one weeks salary) and all other fees associated with making cast albums (to orchestrators, copyists, etc.) would still apply.
"Has there ever been a LIVE cast album of a Broadway show?"
The Ziegfeld Follies of 1934 was recorded live and complete on 78's during a performance on the road. I have no idea whether the purpose was archival or commercial but in the end it never appeared publicly until a highlights CD was issued in the late '90s. The R&H Archives used to have it complete, transferred to tape, but I have no idea of its current status.
I've also heard that the Follies of '36 was similarly recorded but I couldn't find anything during a quick search on the net to back that up.
^Woman in White wasn't a Broadway cast recording and Brooklyn was recorded in a studio with a live audience. It's not a recording of a live stage performance.
Another thing I don't like about the live recordings, which have been quite common for London cast recordings for several years now, is that you can hear how the cast gets winded from choreography. The Oliver revival recording proves this in a most distracting way during Consider Yourself. It's understandable that it happens when you see the show live because you can see everything going on, but in just an audio recording, it's a real nuisance.
goldenboy - So do you believe Annie was deliberately halted or simply miscarried?
Here is the cover for the latest Australian recording with the AMAZINGLY AWESOME WONDERFUL Anthony Warlow. I would love to hear it but amazon.com has it for $54. No Bueno!
An Evening With Marcel Marceau was recorded live, too. And I might add, captured that riveting performance like no other live recording before or since.
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joined:11/23/05
Posted: 1/4/13 at 08:41am