All tagged Ghostlight Records
Any score by David Yazbek is an exciting event. We have witnessed his ever-evolving talents for years, reveling in the delicious character development brought forth in musicals such as The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Women in the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. It is then, that I have eagerly anticipated Yazbek’s score for the newly opened The Band’s Visit. Proving that his musical styles vary and he can incorporate and blend a wide range of musical styles, I am thrilled to report that the original cast album for The Band’s Visit is an account of a sublimely unique score that reveals a whole new side of Yazbek. The new recording from Ghostlight Records is a haunting revelation of musical complexity that Broadway fans will want to own and absorb over repeated listenings.
Rarely do I see a show more than twice. Usually, two-times is sufficient for me to drink in its music, its characterizations, its staging and its score. The Roundabout Theatre Company’s Off-Broadway revival of The Robber Bridegroom is one of the rare times where I returned to a show, again and again, delighted each time by something new or that I had missed the first time around. In all, I saw The Robber Bridegroom seven times before the production shuttered at the Laura Pels Theatre. Now, we have a new cast recording courtesy of Ghostlight Records and it has made me fall in love with the production all over again
The definitive cast recording of any Broadway musical is always a matter of personal preference, so it is really hard to state that one particular recording supersedes all others. One person might make an argument for a particular performer, others might prefer a certain sound quality, while still others are attracted to the perfect packaging. Since I will not assert that personal preferences are wrong (what's that? It's okay to have differing opinions?), I won't call the new cast recording of the 2016 revival of She Loves Me “definitive”. I will, however, call it “MY definitive” and I am certain that it will be my go-to recording of the show for decades to come.
It seems to me that we have some exciting cast recordings to look forward to in the coming weeks (and months), and I thought I’d spend today musing over the ones that I am particularly poised to listen to. A few of these scores are already available for digital download, but since I am one of those people who like to have the CD in hand (or LP), I hold out for the tangible version.
