Grease - New 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: Fun score, great performances, surprising arrangements
Disadvantages: BAD version of Beauty School Dropout

...Of the numerous recordings of Grease in my collection of stage and film music (five), this is the one I listen to the most often and the one ‘most deserving of wider recognition.’ There are so many opinions here on Ciao of the film soundtrack and I feel I’m being a bit strange and different by writing on any of the others… This is the most recent Broadway revival of the show, and they did some pretty radical things to the score for it. They didn’t write any new songs, nor did they incorporate any of the songs written for the film, which to me is a great relief. Don’t get me wrong, I love the four songs from the film, but they don’t fit in with the rest of the score. The original songs from the Grease stage show (six years before the film came out) are all pastiches of various kinds... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: A number of good songs, and interesting and inspiring versions of old classics
Disadvantages: There are a few songs that just pass you by without you really noticing

...CD: Broadway My Way Artist: Linda Eder Label: Atlantic Price: aprox £18.49 - cheapest is to order via amazon.com marketplace, where at time of writing it costs new $8 + postage $6.89 = £7.50 Brief description: A compilation of Broadway tunes by the singer Linda Eder, most famous for creating the role of Lucy in the musical Jekyll & Hyde. There are innumerous collections of Broadway music out there, of varying quality. This is one that stands out and makes a point. On Broadway My Way Lina Eder does present a number of famous, and some less well known, show tunes in her own way. Eder has in many of the recordings taken the music from it's original setting and given it a new musical context. If, for no other reason (and there are other reasons) than the jazz transcription of On The Street Were You Live (My Fair Lady) and the folk... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful