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Ladies and Gentlemen, you are about to see a story of murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery and treachery - all those things we hold dear to our hearts." Ten years ago, these opening lines launched a phenomenon: Chicago. Now Masterworks Broadway celebrates the "Six Merry Murderesses of the Cook County Jail" and their accomplices with this stunning 2-CD and DVD box set. FEATURING: *A Bonus CD with newly recorded songs from the show featuring Melanie Griffith, Brooke Shields, Lynda Carter and John O'Hurley, legendary performances by Chita Rivera, Gwen Verdon, Jerry Orbach Liza Minnelli and Ute Lemper, plus never before released demos by John Kander and Fred Ebb! *Special BONUS DVD includes performance footage and exclusive interviews with Bebe Neuwirth ("Velma"), Ann Reinking ("Roxie", choreographer), composer John Kander, director Walter Bobbie, producer Barry Weissler and music director Rob Fisher. *An Exclusive 68 page booklet featuring provocative photos from the ground-breaking CHICAGO advertising campaign and new essays by John Kander, Walter Bobbie, Ann Reinking, Rob Fisher and Barry Weissler. *The Grammy-winning® Complete Broadway Cast Recording, starring Bebe Neuwirth, Ann Reinking, James Naughton and Joel Grey Click here to visit the official Chicago The Musical website Click here to purchase tickets to experience CHICAGO live! Click here to purchase |
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Fiddler on the Roof Broadway Deluxe Edition In addition to the remastered version of the Original Broadway Cast Recording, this Broadway Deluxe edition features: - Spoken word interview with lyricist Sheldon Harnick - Fiddler on the Roof medley by Arthur Fiedler & The Boston Pops - "If I Were a Rich Man" performed by Vladimir Spivakov and the Moscow Virtuosi - Rare Recording Session Photos Fiddler on the Roof opened September 22, 1964 and ran for 3,242 performances winning nine Tony® Awards, including Best Musical, and along the way surpassed Hello, Dolly! to become Broadway’s longest-running show for the time. In 1998, the original cast album was inducted into the Grammy® Hall of Fame. Most of the bonus tracks on this Broadway Deluxe Collector’s Edition are taken from the 1971 concert album “An Evening with Sheldon Harnick” and a new interview with Harnick conducted this year. The lyricist performs two songs that were cut from the show before it opened and recalls how he and his collaborator, composer Jerry Bock, seldom created songs specifically for stars, but wrote one of the musical’s best known songs, “If I Were a Rich Man,” especially for Zero Mostel. To much laughter from the audience, Harnick explains that the hilarious song, “When Messiah Comes,” was cut because the Messiah admits to having a guilty conscience and that made preview audiences uncomfortable. The romantic ballad, “How Much Richer Could One Man Be,” was cut simply because the development of the romance between the penniless tailor Motel and Tevye’s eldest daughter Tzeitel was restructured so extensively that it was no longer necessary. In his new interview, Harnick shares some of the backstage politics, anecdotes about developing the show including the writing of “Sunrise, Sunset,” how the show affected him, and a heartwarming story of one example why Fiddler on the Roof has such universal and timeless appeal. At press time, a new production of Fiddler on the Roof, starring Alfred Molina, is planned for the 2003-04 Broadway season. Click to purchase |
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HAIR - Broadway Deluxe Edition This special priced 2-CD set features: - The 1968 Original Broadway Cast Recording and The 1967 Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording digitally remastered using 24/96 technology - A new interview with composer Galt MacDermot - Rare Recording Session Photos -Three Never Before Released Bonus Tracks! Hair, regarded as the rock musical that changed Broadway forever, was the rare show that dominated the airwaves on hit radio in the late 1960s. The Fifth Dimension’s medley of “Age of Aquarius” and “Let the Sunshine In” launched a string of Top 10 hits from the show that included “Easy to be Hard” by Three Dog Night, the late Oliver’s “Good Morning Starshine” and “Hair.” The last song turned everything upside down because it was the title tune of a controversial rock musical—with nudity and drug references, no less—recorded by a well-scrubbed family act, The Cowsills who became the inspiration for TV’s “Partridge Family.” The songs, including “Frank Mills,” “Manchester, England” and “What a Piece of Work is Man”, remain staples of oldies radio. Hair became the only runaway hit of the 1967-68 season and won the Grammy® Award in 1968 for Best Original Cast album. Before the “be-in” hit Broadway, however, Hair had already been a success off-Broadway. The Broadway Deluxe Collector’s Edition contains the complete Original Off-Broadway cast recording with three tracks never before released: “Opening,” “Red Blue and White” and “Sentimental Ending.” Recalling the two productions in a bonus track interview, Galt MacDermot, who composed the music for the lyrics written by James Rado and Gerome Regni, says, “The shows are quite different. The book was different. We added quite a few songs on Broadway. What changed the show a lot on Broadway was the type of people we hired. Vocally they were very creative and they added a terrific amount to the energy of the show.” Click to purchase |
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Hello, Dolly! Broadway Deluxe Edition Starring Carol Channing in the Role of a Lifetime! In addition to the remastered version of the Original Broadway Cast Recording, this Broadway Deluxe edition features: - Interview with Carol Channing - Tracks performed by Pearl Bailey and Mary Martin from other cast recordings of Hello, Dolly! - Two Ethel Merman tracks of songs she introduced into the show Hello, Dolly! won 10 Tony® Awards, a record that stood until The Producers topped it by two in 2001. Composer Jerry Herman won the Grammy® Award for Song of the Year for the title number, over “People,” “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Dear Heart” and “Who Can I Turn To?” In 2002, the original cast album was inducted into the Grammy® Hall of Fame. The bonus tracks on the Broadway Deluxe Collector’s Edition of Hello, Dolly! include six songs performed by three other notable “Dollys”. Two songs are drawn from Victor’s Hello, Dolly! cast albums with Mary Martin (“I Put My Hand In” and “So Long, Dearie”) and Pearl Bailey (“Before the Parade Passes By” and “Hello, Dolly!”); the Martin tracks have never been reissued on CD. The two songs by Ethel Merman (“Love, Look in My Window” and “World Take Me Back”), for whom the role was originally written, were inserted into the show especially for her, and were never recorded by Victor; these recordings were made at her own expense and sold as a 45-rpm record in the lobby of the St. James Theatre while she was appearing in the show. In an minute interview done earlier this year especially for this release, the first Dolly, Carol Channing, recalls the recording of the original cast album, rehearsals, and how the title song evolved, and shares her experiences playing Dolly more than 5,000 times over 30 years. Click to purchase |
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How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying Broadway Deluxe Edition Winner of 7 1962 Tony® Awards, including Best Musical! In addition to the beautifully remastered Original Broadway Cast Recording, this deluxe edition features: - Walter Cronkite narrations from 1995 revival cast - Two reprises with additional lyrics -Composer/lyricist Frank Loesser performing "Organization Man, a song cut from the from the show and an early version of "A Secretary is Not a Toy" - Jazz Versions of "I Believe in You" (performed by J.J. Johnson) and "Brotherhood of Man" (performed by Woody Herman) - Interviews with Tony® Award winning stars Robert Morse and Charles Nelson Reilly - Rare Recording Session Photos How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying was only the fourth musical to win the Pulitzer Prize. With a libretto co-written by the legendary Abe Burrows and music by Frank Loesser (his last show), it also won seven Tony® Awards including Best Musical in 1962. Playing an opportunistic window washer, J. Pierrepont Finch, who rises to Chairman of the Board was a star-making performance by Robert Morse. The cast also included Rudy Vallee as the president of the company, World Wide Wickets, while Charles Nelson Reilly played his nephew who works in the mailroom. “I Believe in You” and “A Secretary is Not a Toy” emerged as the show’s most popular songs. The Broadway Deluxe Collector’s Edition includes an early version of “A Secretary is Not a Toy,” plus Loesser performing “Organization Man”, a song that was cut from the show. Robert Morse also recalls how the part of Finch was written specifically for him, right down to one note Loesser wrote for him to sing in “I Believe in You,” which he performed to a mirror. Click to purchase |
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Oliver! Broadway Deluxe Edition In addition to the remastered Original Broadway Cast Recording, this Broadway Deluxe Edition Features: - Interview with Donald Pippin, musical director and conductor of the original cast album - Patti LuPone singing "As Long as He Needs Me" (Ms. LuPone appeared in the 1984 Broadway revival of Oliver!) - Three tracks from the Original London Cast Recording of 1960: "That's Your Funeral" (this song was not included on the RCA Cast Album), "You've Got to Pick a Pocket of Two" and "Reviewing the Situation", both performed by Ron Moody, who originated the role of Fagin) - Rare Recording Session Photos Oliver!, winner of Tony® Awards for score, scenic design and musical direction, is also one of those rare Broadway musicals whose original cast recording found success on the pop charts because it contained so many songs with memorable melodies, some of which have become standards—“Food, Glorious Food,” “Where Is Love,” “Consider Yourself,” “I’d Do Anything” and the beautiful love song, “As Long As He Needs Me.” Patti LuPone, who starred in a revival of Oliver! in 1986, performs the last song (taken from a live concert recording) as one of the bonus tracks included on the Broadway Deluxe Collector’s Edition. Also featured are “That’s Your Funeral,” “You’ve Got to Pick a Pocket or Two” and “Reviewing the Situation” from the Original London Cast Recording. That cast included Barry Humphries, the same Barry Humphries known to millions of fans today as “Dame Edna,” and Ron Moody, who starred in the film version of Oliver! Humphries, who recreated his role of the undertaker Sowerberry on Broadway, performs a song that was not included on the original Broadway cast recording, “That’s Your Funeral,” in which Oliver is sold to him as a “coffin follower.” Moody, who was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor, performs “You’ve Got to Pick a Pocket or Two” and “Reviewing the Situation.” Although he did not win, Oliver! did win six Academy® Awards in 1968 including Best Picture and Best Score of a Musical Picture. In the bonus interview tracks on the Broadway Deluxe Collector’s Edition, Donald Pippin, who conducted Lionel Bart’s melodious score, recalls getting the job as musical director from notorious Broadway producer David Merrick, recording the cast at the old NBC Radio studios at Hollywood and Vine, dealing with the kids—and their stage mothers—in the cast, differences in the London and Broadway productions, and winning the Tony® Award. Click to purchase |