Editorial Reviews

This anthology of show music is RCA Victor's attempt to cash in on the success of the 2001 Broadway musical adaptation of The Producers. In 1968, RCA released the original soundtrack album of the film on which the musical is based, and the collection leads off with five selections from that record, including "Springtime for Hitler" and "Prisoners of Love," two songs that were held over for the stage version, as well as several dialogue excerpts featuring Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder. The rest of the compilation consists, as a back cover note puts it, of "hits from shows about shows." All are taken from cast recordings in the RCA catalog, but only two feature original Broadway casts, those of 1980's 42nd Street (its songs, of course, dating back to the 1933 movie) and the 2000 tribute to songwriter Edward Kleban, A Class Act. For show music fans, the most interesting inclusions are two tracks from the 1959 studio cast recording of Kiss Me, Kate starring Howard Keel and Gogi Grant. Other selections, which feature such performers as Jason Alexander, Alan Cumming, Angela Lansbury, Ethel Merman, Bebe Neuwirth, Jerry Orbach, and Faith Prince, come from the 1966 Broadway revival of Annie Get Your Gun, the 1973 London revival of Gypsy, the 1989 Broadway anthology show Jerome Robbins' Broadway, the 1992 Broadway revival of Guys and Dolls, the 1996 Broadway revival of Chicago, and the 1998 Broadway revival of Cabaret. Despite the suspect motives that generated this album, its tracks are well-chosen, showing off Broadway's continuing interest in celebrating and examining theater itself. William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

Customer Reviews

• Listener Rating: