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What Cast Albums Give That Soundtracks Don't, Part II

MARCH 9, 2010, 5:02 am

You may recall that last week I listed 25 of the best songs that cast albums offer that soundtracks do not – because, more often than not, the film versions dropped these musical gems.

Although there are well more than a hundred that fit that category, I whittled my personal favorites list down to 50 and ranked my bottom 25 according to my own preference -- which, of course, will be different from yours.

Now I’m giving my 25 top selections. How much do we agree – or disagree? Let me know!

My top 25:

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What Cast Albums Give That Soundtracks Don't

MARCH 2, 2010, 5:05 am

So the film version of Nine didn’t do so well, did it? For many of us, the biggest problem was that so much of the score was cut. “Only with You, “The Grand Canal,” “Simple,” “Not since Chaplin,” “The Bells of St. Sebastian,” “Be on Your Own,” “The Germans at the Spa,” “Getting Tall” and – Good Lord! -- even the title song. It wasn’t much of a musical once all that music was dropped – and it wasn’t much of a soundtrack album, either.

The Broadway Sports Quiz

FEBRUARY 23, 2010, 2:59 pm

Spring training has just begun for all 30 major league’s baseball teams. And why does this concern a musical theater enthusiast? Because baseball – as well as many other sports – wend their way into our minds, thanks to many lines and lyrics.

So even if you don’t know a balk from a walk, or the one-point difference between a field goal in basketball and football, you could still do well on this test if you know musicals. Identify the song and musical that sports each of these sports lines and lyrics.

Happy Mardi Gras!

FEBRUARY 16, 2010, 5:21 am

All right, you promised yourself last year that this year you’d finally go way down yonder to New Orleans to celebrate Mardi Gras.

And now, this year and Mardi Gras are here, and once again, you didn’t make it.

Well, as Cyril Ritchard sings in The Roar of the Greasepaint – the Smell of the Crowd (yes, you read that title right), “There are so many things to remember as we travel the highway of life.” Or as Glynis Johns sings in A Little Night Music, “Well, maybe next year.”

Hello, Hazel!

FEBRUARY 9, 2010, 5:11 am

Of course you know the song, "Hello, Dolly!" But do you know the song, "Hello, Hazel?"

It comes midway through the first act of Hazel Flagg, the musical adaptation of the 1936 movie Nothing Sacred. (And you thought making musicals from movies was a recent development!) That's the film where New York Morning Star reporter Wallace "Wally" Cook convinces his editor Oliver Stone (yes, Oliver Stone!) that they should make a big story of Hazel's plight.

Willkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome!

FEBRUARY 3, 2010, 5:36 pm

Hello!

Welcome to MasterworksBroadway!

I’m Peter Filichia. I’ve been an original cast aficionado for quite some time. For those of you who share my passion for show albums – be they original cast, revival cast or even studio cast – this is the site for us.

While Masterworks Broadway doesn’t quite have an inventory of 1,776 original, revival, or studio cast albums, it does have quite a few. Right now, scores of scores are available, ranging from Ain’t Misbehavin’ to Zorba.