New Broadway Cast – 2017 / Music by lyrics by Stephen
Sondheim
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Annaleigh
Ashford, Brooks Ashmanskas, Jenni Barber, Phillip Boykin, Mattea Conforti, Erin
Davie, Claybourne Elder, Penny Fuller, Jordan Gelber, Robert Sean Leonard, Liz
McCartney, Ruthie Ann Miles, Ashley Park, Jennifer Sanchez, David Turner, Max
Chernin, MaryAnn Hu, Michael McElroy, Jaime Rosenstein, Laura Irion, Julie
Foldesi, Andrew Kober
Rate: 8 (from 1 to 10) / Photos by Matthew Murphy
Review: This critically acclaimed score
by Stephen Sondheim isn’t among my favorite Sondheim’s work and I only began to
appreciate it after seeing the DVD release of the Broadway cast with Mandy
Patinkin and Bernadette Peters. Today, I love some of its songs, “Sunday” (that
gives me goosebumps), “Putting It Together”, “Move On” and “Finishing the Hat”;
I also enjoy “We Do Not Belong Together”, “Everybody Loves Louis”, “Beautiful”,
“It’s Hot Up Here” and the title song.
We already have more than one cast recording of this score,
but the star power of Jake Gyllenhaal was reason enough to release another one.
Surprisingly, he more than delivers the goods and his George is, at least for
me, the best I have ever heard. He may not have a very strong voice, but he
sings the songs with heart and emotion, like if they were written specially for
him. He is more than enough reason to buy this new recording, but there’s more.
At Gyllenhaal side, Annaleigh Ashford is a perfect Dot and
make her songs her own. The rest of the cast is a perfect ensemble and the
orchestrations by Michael Starobin never sounded better. Yes, you may call me a
heretic, but I prefer this recording to the original Broadway cast. Like they say,
it’s only a matter of opinion, but you should have this one on your Broadway
library.
Thanks for the review. This is one of my favorite Sondheim's, and I was doubtful if I needed a new recording. I'll give it a try!
ReplyDeleteThanks for you visit and comment. You can listen to this cast recording at Spotify.
ReplyDelete