Finian's Rainbow - Original Broadway Cast

Advantages: First Broadway Rocky since the early 80s
Disadvantages: Only really for collectors, acquired taste

...I was lucky enough to see this production with this cast on Broadway - I say lucky in that many Brits wouldn't have got that chance and because I saw it for free. However, if I had had to pay the $80 or something the tickets were selling for, I'd have been very disappointed indeed. I am also reviewing from a promotional only copy, which I believe is simply a pre-release rather than markedly changed as it contains the same cast. I also got it free! The album contains all the regular stage show songs, including Once In A While, with the occasional introductory speech before a song. This would not be an album I would recommend to those who have never heard either the Picture Show album or the Roxy Cast album as the songs are treated somewhat differently and might put you off the stage version in the UK if you hadn't already heard... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Richard Burton, Julie Andrews, Robert Goulet, Alan Jay Lerner's lyrics, Frederick Loewe's music-most of it.
Disadvantages: Some shopworn, predictable tunes and weak orchestrations.

..., 'What Do the Simple Folk Do?' in which they wonder how non-royals deal with marital ennui such as theirs. It's deceptively lighthearted in tone, ends on a sombre note, and suggests the beginning of the end for Arthur and Guenevere. My fondness for 'Camelot,' especially this original Broadway cast recording, may stem from my childhood exposure to it. Having now understood many of the situations portrayed in the play, I've come to appreciate the plot more. Yet, I've grown more critical of the music, too, beautiful as some of it remains. The spare and skeletal orchestrations serve only to shadow the singing lines, without offering any interesting emotional or musical counterpoint in the harmony, unlike the music of that towering genius on Broadway, Richard Rodgers ('The Sound of Music,' 'Carousel,' etc.). My final assessment... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Fun songs, great cast
Disadvantages: Not for children or the easily offended

..., definitely not to everyone's tastes, due to the 'strong language and sexual content'. There are a couple of tracks which I really dislike, but they are essential from a plot point of view. This really isn't a CD for everyone, but it might appeal to some people who don't like the traditional musical. You will either enter into the spirit of it and love it for its unique charm, or you won't, and will probably find it the oddest, most disturbing thing you've ever heard. I, in case you hadn't worked it out, love it. The show is so very American that I don't think it would be likely to come over to the West End, which would obviously increase its availability (and possibly decrease the cost), but it is well worth getting even when there is little or no prospect of seeing the show. - - - - - The facts. The CD 'Avenue Q – Original Broadway... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful