Cats: Complete Original Broadway Cast Recording (1982 Original Broadway Cast)
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Music CD Cover
Edition: Music CDFormat: Soundtrack
CD Release Date: 1990-10-25
Music Label: Geffen Records
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
- Overture
- Prologue: Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats
- The Naming of Cats
- The Invitation to the Jellicle Ball
- The Old Gumbie Cat
- The Rum Tum Tugger
- Grizabella, the Glamour Cat
- Bustopher Jones
- Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer
- Old Deuteronomy
- The Jellicle Ball
- Grizabella
- The Moments of Happiness
- Gus: The Theatre Cat
- Growltiger's Last Stand/The Ballad of Billy McCaw
- Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat
- Macavity: The Mystery Cat
- Mr. Mistoffolees
- Memory
- The Journey to the Heaviside Layer
- The Ad-Dressing of Cats
- Cats, musical: The Journey to the Heaviside Layer
- Cats, musical: The Ad-Dressing of Cats
Free Music Notes for Cats: Complete Original Broadway Cast Recording (1982 Original Broadway Cast)
Free Music Review: Finest of all official English-language recordings of CATS.
Hit: 5 Stars
This recording of CATS is what I consider the finest of all the official English recordings of the score of this Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. Compared to its London cast predecessor, I find this recording more spirited in nature, and better able to keep in tune with its quintisential Britishness. Notwithstanding revisions and rewrites, this cast does an excellent job at this, even with American accents that do not seriously jar the ear. And the recording quality, despite having a sense of theatrical atmosphere, tends to be a little too thick-textured, and sometimes clouded.
This fine performance boosts the stalwart Betty Buckley as Grizabella. Buckley is able to adopt the right kind of gorgeous voice in her portrayal of the fallen glamour cat, and she really is able to use this to great effect with her rendition of Memory. Elaine Paige may be regarded as the foremost interpreter of the role, but here Buckley is able to prove that she can hold her own against her arch-rival from the original London cast. Ken Page's portrayal of Old Deuteronomy is on the same high plain as Buckley's Grizabella, as he uses his sonorous voice to great effect in his solos. In particular, he gives a firm and commanding performance of The Ad-Dressing of Cats, and is warm, open and expansive, even during the short Moments of Happiness sequence. The rest of the cast is no less strong, especially the lower-level principals Timothy Scott, Harry Groener and Terrence Mann. Timothy Scott does a splendid job not only in his standout number but also on Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer, and Terrence Mann is a more forward and perhaps more humorous Rum Tum Tugger than Paul Nicholas of the London cast.Anyway, they both characterise their cat characters with as much slickness as you could hope for. But special mention should also go to Harry Groener's Munkustrap, who can hold his own with Michael Gruber due to his immediacy, warmth and engaging nature. It is a pity that this recording omitted the Pekes and the Pollicles, otherwise we could hear him in superb voice.
The rest of the cast proves that it is as strong as the major cast. All the cats prove that they can shine not only individually but also as a group, except for a small number that I will not mention here. Anna McNeely's Jennyanydots, Bonnie Simmons' Jellylorum and Donna King's Bombalurina all show each cat shining vocally in this musical, and the choral contributions from all the cats are done with fervour and energy. But perhaps the standout cat is Stephen Hanan as Bustopher Jones and Gus: the Theatre Cat. His Bustopher Jones has an astute and truly aristocratic air about it, and his Gus and Growltiger are both superbly done. Gus has a melancholic air about him when Hanan relishes the nostalgaic past of Gus when he sings the solos in his standout number. And his Growltiger is particularly fearsome and ferocious, with a laugh that could rival Satan and a powerful operatic voice in the Italian opera parody. The supporting orchestral accompaniment is nicely done too, and Stanley Lebowsky adopts near-perfect tempi that could perhaps have a little bit more spring and be a little more sprightly in some points.
Like the London recording, this CATS recording omits The Pekes and the Pollicles due to the need to accomodate space on record. Plus, there are also cuts in other sections of the score, such as the Mistoffelees dance, which could have been included with the time available.
On the whole, I find this CATS recording an enjoyable experience and I feel more than prepared to recommend it to anyone who is just venturing out into the score. The nicely-done booklet contains a cast list, credits and an adequately-produced libretto. For those who don't want to spend too much money on this 2-CD set, there is also an abridged version available. But, I would say that because the music is so infectuous, this 2-CD set is rather compulsive.
As these comments apply as much to this original Geffen issue of the recording as the Polydor reissue, I feel it is worth mentioning that even though the packaging is uneconomical, with each CD in a separate jewel case and its own individual booklet, the libretto is easier to read than on the Polydor reissue. It sometimes has spelling errors, but I don't think it hinders the delight of this superb version of CATS.
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