Sunday, April 22, 2012

CD OF THE WEEK: SWEET BYE AND BYE


One of the most interesting CD releases of 2011, was this forgotten musical by Vernon Duke and Ogden Nash. Written in 1946, the show never made it to Broadway, but at least a few songs survived through the ages; two unforgettable ballads (“Born Too Late” and “Round About”), a delicious comic song “The Sea-Gull and the Ea-Gull” and, probably the most famous of all, “Just Like a Man”.

Now, thanks to the guys at PS Classics, we can discover the treasures that were buried in this score, here sung by an all-talented cast. Marin Mazzie has the best of times with the funny “Diana” and she duets with Philip Chaffin in the beautiful “Too Enchanting”; later, Mazzie delivers a strong “Just Like a Man”. As for Chaffin, he brilliantly sings “Born Too Late” and “Round About”. Graham Rowat leads the cast in the entertaining “My Broker Told Me So” and Sara Jean Ford and Michele Ragusa give us an amusing “I Says to Him”.

There’s more to discover here, like the inspiring titled “Our Parents Forgot to Get Married”. But not all of the songs are winners, for example, I don’t care much for any of the Danny Burnstein songs and it’s not his fault. But I enjoyed the “sci-fi” sounds and I wish they had given some song to Rebecca Luker. Anyway, this is great fun and my kind of score. Surely, a must have!

Listen at iTunes.

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