From: chu@acsu.buffalo.edu (John C. Chu)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.theatre
Subject: The new recording of Lady, Be Good! on Nonesuch (long)
Date: 23 Nov 92 16:06:05 GMT
Organization: UB

(Yes, this is a blatant attempt to get something else in this
newsgroup other than a potential religious flame war about the merits
(or lack thereof) of ALW. However, the CD and liner notes are at home,
so I'll inevitably be posting corrections tonight or tomorrow.)

The latest recording in the series of recordings of Gershwin shows
produced by Tommy Krasker and Roxbury Records and released by Nonesuch
is Lady, Be Good! (The previous two were Girl Crazy and Strike Up the
Band.) As is typical (perhaps now expected) with Roxbury recordings,
it is excellently cast, excellent produced, filled with great music
and contains generous liner notes. With three well written essays which
draws the reader into the 20's and give insight into the creation of
Lady, Be Good, perhaps it is a little greedy of me to have wished for
one more. The saga involving the orchestrations in LBG were just
hinted at and could have used an essay to themselves including some
biography on the 6(!) original orchestrators of the show (perhaps
written by "Our Very Own" Jon Conrad?)

Ann Morrison, who gave barely any indication of the range of her voice
in Merrily We Roll Along, turns out to be an amazingly good 20's style
Broadway Soprano, singing the Adele Astaire role, Susie Trevor. Her
top is small, but it's definitely there and she hits those high G's
seemingly without vocal difficulty. This was very unexpected coming
from the woman who at one point sings in unison with Frank in Merrily
We Roll Along. Her only vocal difficulty is a slight wobble in parts
of her first song, a duet with Lara Teeter, "Hang on to Me". Other
than that small quibble, she sings the part wonderfully capturing the
flavor of the part.

Lara Teeter (whom I wish I could have seen in Most Happy Fella at
NYCO, which I wish had gotten preserved on videotape) is also
wonderful in the Fred Astaire role, Dick Trevor (although I couldn't
help thinking that except for the dancing, this role seemed almost
tailor made for Jason Graae). He and Ann have this chemistry as a
"brother and sister team" that would be very difficult to fake and all
the money in the world couldn't buy. Their rapport is one of the best
things about this album and an excellent casting job by Tommy Krasker.
It keeps you from realizing what a silly song "Swiss Miss" (which I'll
admit to liking) is until its owner. He also pulls off a very
impressive tap sequence in "Half of It Dearie Blues", a recreation of
Fred's choreography.

Jason Alexander (another alumnus of MWRA, he also did The Rink, and of
course won a Tony for Jerome Robbin's Broadway, did a stint as the
hospital administrator on E/R and currently plays George on Seinfeld)
was absolutely hilarious in the dialogue and sings the title song
excellently (which takes his voice up higher than I thought it could
go, to an F#). The only disappointing aspect, I suppose, is that there
really isn't more of him on the disc, just the title song and the two
finales. 

John Pizzarelli, playing the "Ukelele Ike" character, sings what are
probably among the best versions of Fascinating Rhythm and Little Jazz
Bird I've heard. It's true that they aren't exactly in a 20's style
(40's is more like it) but he does marvelous work here and the role
calls for a ukelele playing crooner. It would seem silly to cast the
genuine article and then ruin the point of hiring him in the first
place.

The two other names on the recording I can remember off-hand are
Michael Maguire (who played Carl-Magnus in the recent NYCO A Little
Night Music) and Ivy Austin (who did/does(?) Garrison Keillor's
American Radio Company and was a sheep in the now not so recent NYCO
Candide). He is Jack Robinson, Susie Trevor's love interest. Ivy plays
a socialite who sings a "song and dance" type duet ("We're Here
Because") and is never heard of again (except at the finales). Both of
them sound here much better than I have ever heard them sound before.

In general, the cast, including those whose names I can't remember, is
superb. 

The score, as usual, is fabulous. Lady, Be Good has always had its
share of standards, but the songs that I didn't know about were
wonderful too. The only bit on disc which I didn't think was top-notch
was maybe the first six lines in the Act I Finale which were a little
too cute (however, perhaps that was parody?). Also, great work by
Tommy Krasker and company in coming up with a "definitive version" for
a work which really didn't have one as it was in a constant state of
change. The amalgamation of best parts of the variants really works
well. Also, the orchestrations, partly an expansion of the reduced
rental orchestrations, partly new are most satisfying.

Eric Stern does a job conducting Lady, Be Good that I feel is equal to
John Mauceri's conducting in Girl Crazy and Strike Up the Band. His
tempo choices work for me and he knows when to be loose.

Also impressive is the piano duo, one of whom is Steve Blier (forgot
the name of the other pianist), who has done Gershwin work before.  He
put together some wonderful piano arrangements and accompanied Judy
Kaye and William Sharp in a set of Gershwin tunes, in an album called
He Loves and She Loves (released on Koch International). His work was
impeccable there and it is impeccable here.

The singing, acting, conducting and the piano duo all combine to
create feel to this records that, at least, to me seems genuinely in
the spirit of the 20's and has the ensemble feel of a cast that has
rehearsed together for weeks or months, not days.

It's too bad that most of the Gershwin shows predate the concept of
the original cast album. However, the Roxbury recordings are more than
an adequate substitute and this time, with Lady, Be Good! again, they
don't disappoint. (Yes, I liked it a lot. BTW, go get He Loves and She
Loves too. While you're at it, get the new recording of Nine too. If
you're in an area that gets TER recordings, Ken Mandelbaum in
TheatreWeek says that there is a 2 CD version on TER.)

					john
				chu@acsu.buffalo.edu