A Chorus Line (1975 Original Broadway Cast)
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Free Music Notes for A Chorus Line (1975 Original Broadway Cast)
Free Music Review: The quintessential ensemble Broadway musical
Hit: 5 Stars
My actual and painful experience with theatrical auditions has been from both sides of stage and only once involved an actual musical. Still, I can relate to the desperation and urgency that propels the characters in "A Chorus Line" towards their respective fates. Yes, I might be rather sick and tired of hearing "One," not to mention "One (Reprise)-Finale," but for me the songs I can hear over and over again from this Broadway musical have always been the ensemble numbers: "I Hope I Get It," "At the Ballet" and "Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love." Not even "What I Did for Love" compares with those tracks as far as I am concerned.
What makes this musical works is that while it is about an ensemble, it is an ensemble of clearly defined characters. Even the "cute" songs, such as "I Can Do That" and "Sing!", are clearly character driven. I have always liked audition sequences in films (the openings of "All That Jazz" and "Fame" immediately spring to mind), and those moments when a person and a part become joined. Here the moment becomes a mixture of celebratory elation and funereal disappointment. In other words, exactly what it is like when you want to be a Broadway hoofer.
There are very few musicals that are actually about musicals, and given how successful "A Chorus Line" has been, there is little need for someone to try and come up with something new on the off chance it might be better. In a small collection of Broadway musicals, this is a necessary album to own. I have been listening to it again because I just discovered that Carole Bishop, who played Sheila and won the Tony award for Featured Actress in a Musical (While Donna McKechnie won for Leading Actress in a Musical), is now professionally known as Kelly Bishop and plays Emily on "Gilmore Girls."
Free Music Review: Worth Buying Again for this ReMastering!!
Hit: 5 Stars
You will hear instruments and vocals that you never heard before; the clarity of this mastering is much better than the "woofy", "muffled" original CD release, although many Broadway Cast recordings leave a lot to be desired.The added material in the MONTAGE segment is not limited to the one track marked with the (*). We now get to hear Connie's "Four-foot ten" bit, Judy's "That's why I shaved her head" bit and Greg's riotous "I'd be hard!" schtick where he talks about how he found out he was gay.
There is still a great deal missing from the score: the full "Opening - I Hope I Get It", the song "...And...", the "Tap Combination" and the full "Montage". (Oh, the days of trying to fit things on vinyl!) Perhaps someday someone will do a great studio version of the complete score and we'll get to hear the whole thing. Too bad the movie version sucked so bad and veered so far from the original score. What were they thinking?
(Michael Bennett said that the song "Sing!" never really worked for him. He had a fabulous idea for the movie called, "A Chorus Line 2" in which everyone from all the stage plays were auditioning for the movie version so that the seven or so Cassies and Marks and Pauls were all vying for the movie roles. We'd get to see various interpretations of the same characters. Unfortunately, Hollywood was not ready for Michael Bennett and he got out of his contract and headed back to New York.)
If you're a fan, buy this disc. It will help you live your Chorus Line experience anew - and it'll sound a lot better, too!
Free Music Review: great soundtrack for a great show.....
Hit: 5 Stars
I first heard this soundtrack on my cousin's CD player, back when she was pursuing musical theater, as a young teenager (at least ten years ago). Some of the greatest songs from the musical repertoire are here: "What I Did For Love," "One," and "Nothing." It's always a great sign when a score (in this case, by the talented duo of Hamlisch and Kleban) works so well that people don't have to see the musical to know what it's about from just a few musical numbers. That isn't to say that the show isn't wonderful, too. To make long stories [very] short for the sake of the increasingly decreasing attention spans of my readers who just want to know "Should I buy this," A CHORUS LINE is the story of a group of singer/dancers from diverse backgrounds, coming together on one Broadway stage for the same reason. They all want a crack at being a part of a dancing chorus line on The Great White Way, that could be their big break. There are other dramas going on, behind that, of course (and we hear all of their stories, complete with monologue, song and dance number). The drama is high, but so is the infectiousness. You really build attachments and interests in each of the characters, and the story is so well-written, you'll be compelled to stick through the songs and follow the stories, just to see who is "The One." This is truly a great example of storytelling in musical theater. There is a reason it was one of the longest running shows on Broadway.Free Music Review: Classic score of groundbreaking show
Hit: 5 Stars
An essential score for any Broadway fan. The expanded version is excellent with much better sound and the great extras already mentioned (Connie, Judy and Greg's solos). There is also a different sound to "Music and The Mirror" which is interesting. You can hear a lot more of the synthesizer.As for the score itself, it doesn't always make sense if you don't know the show, but it absolutely grows on you, even the now dated wah-wah guitars! Particular favorites are the driving opening instrumentals to "I Hope I Get It", the dixie-like "I Can Do That", the poignant and beautiful "At the Ballet", Montage 3, especially Richie's "Gimme the Ball" section which is cool early 70s rock/gospel, and of course "What I Did for Love" and "One (finale)".
Only critique is we are still missing some numbers, and others (Opening, Hello 12) are *severely* shortened.
Also worth checking out is the movie soundtrack. Although it has a lot of thin-sounding synthisized tracks, the Opening with lots of new music, Richie's "Surprise", and Cassie's "Let Me Dance for You" are interesting. I also like the salsa orchestrations for Diana's "Nothing".
Free Music Review: ABSOLUETELY WONDERFUL!
Hit: 5 Stars
When I had first seen the film, I spent hours searching different websites for the film soundtrack but came empty-handed. I thought there could be nothing better than the movie soundtrack...boy was I EVER WRONG! This CD is OUTSTANDING! The songs are cleverly written and are extremely moving! And believe it or not, many songs are actually BETTER than the movie soundtrack. For example: When "What I Did For Love" was sung in the movie, it was sung by a single person. But in the Broadway CD, the entire chorus comes on during a very climatic key change. It's incredible! The only thing I was dissappointed about the CD was the finale. It doesn't have a big ending to the song; the music just sort of fades out. But don't let that influence you buying this CD. After you listen to it, you won't regret buying it. So if you want to buy one of Broadway's greatest recordings, just pick up a copy of A Chorus Line. You WON'T be sorry!