CD OF THE WEEK: SHINE!

This is how the Broadway hit NEWSIES should sound; unfortunately, SHINE!, based on the works by Horatio Alger, never made it to Broadway. It began its life in 1982, but it was only in 2001 that someone decided to make a cast recording of this melodious and old fashioned score, that sometimes reminds me of OLIVER!.

So, what we have here is the National Musical Theatre Network showcase, which featured Jeremiah Miller in the leading role and Carole Shelley, Harvey Evans, Brooks Ashmanskas and Andrea Burns in other roles.

I confess I’m not a fan of the cold synthesizer musical arrangements that we hear in this recording, but the songs by Roger Anderson and Lee Goldsmith are really good and deserved a full orchestra recording.

This score sounds better than most of the new ones that opened on Broadway in the last years and it sure is more enjoyable and hummable than most of those. Among the songs, my favorites are “Wall Street Lament”, “Maybe Today” (beautifully sung by Andrea Burns), the possible big production numbers “Put Your Money In” and “Keeping Up With The Times”, the delicious “Partners”, “The Room” (Carole Shelley has a good time with it) and the title song.

On the official site of this musical, you can listen to full orchestrate tracks and it makes all the difference. But even in this “small” recording, the score has plenty to be please us and it’s a must for fans of traditional musicals like me. It’s really a show that deserves to be discovered!

To listen to some of the songs go to www.shinethemusical.com