Rabbit Ears Treasury of Fables and Other Stories: The Three Little Pigs/The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Rumpelstiltskin, The Tiger and the Brahmin, The Ugly Duckling
Familiar fables find new meaning with celebrity performances. Holly Hunter and Art Lande perform "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" and "The Three Little Pigs" in an upbeat, playful style. Repeated tunes and the use of accents differentiate characters, and there's adult-pleasing humor in both stories. Tangerine Dream's dreamy strains are a melodic fit for the surreal "Rumpelstiltskin." Their score and Kathleen Turner's reading are measured and even until the climax, when the queen guesses Rumpelstiltskin's name. "The Tiger and the Brahmin" combines Ravi Shankar's sitar skills with a spicy reading by Ben Kinglsey. Patrick Ball begins with bright tones as Cher sets up the idyllic farmyard setting of "The Ugly Duckling." Musical and acting performances take on a sadder quality as the ugly duckling faces rejection and insults, sadder still when this soon-to-be swan faces a harsh winter alone. At story's happy end, the bright tones return.  S.W.   © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine--Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine