You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (1999 Broadway Revival Cast)
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Free Music Notes for You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (1999 Broadway Revival Cast)
Free Music Review: Awesome sounds from an apparent awesome show!
Hit: 5 Stars
This c.d. is great! I laugh myself silly whenever I hear the songs, and I think of how easy and affective it would be to perform it! You would be getting a fun c.d. if you purchased this one.Free Music Review: Don't bother, or buy the original
Hit: 2 Stars
This new version is over-orchestrated and too PC with the deliberately diverse casting. It adds bits to the original songs that imply the audience is too dumb to figure out what happened (note the Kite song and Book Report). These additions do nothing to enhance the songs, and in fact hurt them significantly. The original has a much more innocent feel to it. You can almost believe that these ARE kids, with the simple orchestration and singing. The revival comes off as a Hollywood version, with additions and "enhancements" added simply because "we can do that now". Bigger is not always better, and it shows here. I can see why the composer did not want to revive it, and it's easy to see why it failed on Broadway.
The only good portions of this version (and the reason it's two stars and not just one) are the new songs, both of which are faithful to the cartoon strips from which they came, much as the original sketches and songs are. But if you really want to enjoy the musical as it was intended, buy the original.
Free Music Review: Fun music that will make you want to sing along!
Hit: 5 Stars
After being in a local production of Charlie Brown, I just had to buy the CD. The songs are fun and upbeat and really bring hte characters to life. The catchy sound of the songs really makes them stick, and you just can't help singing a long.Free Music Review: It's a Great Show, Charlie Brown!
Hit: 5 Stars
Sorry about the dumb title. I love this show! The songs are catchy and cute, they voices are bubbly and spunky, and I just love it. The only thing I didn't really like about this CD, is that at times (as directed) Lucy screams and it makes your ear drums want to shrivel. Snoopy is perfect. He's just great. I think I'd know, I've listened to this CD at least a hundred times to prepare for the part of Snoopy that I got in a School show. Believe me it helped me learn it. Charlie Brown is very Charlie Brownish, and very innocent and child like. Linus is sung as cute as a button with a lisp. Sally is spunky and cute! BUY THIS RIGHT NOW!Free Music Review: Get the Original Cast!
Hit: 1 Stars
This is a re-review. When the CD was first released I gave it one star because I found it sorely lacking in comparison with the original cast recording (which I still had on tape).Now the original cast recording is out on CD (check Amazon). And my report is that my first review was dead-on. This clean, sweet, heartfelt performance (and excellent CD transfer, by the way) is what a true tribute should be. The singing of the original cast is more leisurely, more confident, and more emotionally expressive song by song than those of THIS revival cast.
Lest my own bias be the basis of my feelings, I tried an experiment. My wife is familiar was familiar with neither. I asked her to sit and listen to each performance of single tracks of each, randomly choosing which CD went first.
On every song, she chose the original cast. Sometimes she could explain her choice: The singing was cleaner, the mood was more expressive. Other times, she was unable to articulate it: "I don't know why; I just like it better."
Songs on the revival (this recording) that sound merely interesting suddenly make sense when heard on the original. Book Report will make you laugh out loud, will remind you of your schooldays. Schroeder is a gem, touching and funny. Little Known Facts has Lucy down to a delightful T.
The revival treats the characters only as cartoons, and much simpler than Charles Schulz made them. The revival Lucy is whiny and shrill. Period. The original Lucy is prissy, aware, selfish, mannered, arrogant -- a world of character. Sad to say, one can see why the revival failed on Broadway.
If only one recording were available, I would say get the revival because everyone should know this delightful and simple musical. But given a choice, there is no choice: Get the real thing.