Kurtopia

In the world of musical theater, it’s certainly not uncommon for a song, or an entire show, to have several different recordings.  Between various casts, revivals, and Broadway stars’ albums, popular numbers get re-recorded ad nauseam.  I’m going to pick a couple well-known numbers, and tell you the best and worst recordings of them… in my humble opinion, of course.

• Memory (from Cats)
  Hits: My two favorite recordings of this best-known song from Cats are by Betty Buckley and Barbra Streisand.  Betty Buckley originated the role of Grizabella on Broadway, and won a Tony Award for her performance.  Barbra Streisand was never in Cats – she just recorded the song for her 1981 album Memories.
  Misses: Elaine Paige originated the role of Grizabella in London.  Her recording, which I first heard on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Premiere Collection, is whiney and, well… painful.  Sarah Brightman has recorded it at least twice (once in Italian!), and both make me cringe.
• Don’t Cry For Me Argentina (from Evita)
  Hits: I have yet to hear an Eva Peron better than Patti LuPone.  Patti originated the role of Evita on Broadway, and won a Tony Award for her performance.  Surprisingly, the Carpenters also recorded this song, with Karen giving an outstanding performance.  Madonna’s rendition for the movie gets an honorable mention.
  Misses: Also on the Premiere Collection is Julie Covington’s recording of this song.  All I have to say is ick — it feels completely lifeless and uninspired compared to Patti LuPone’s original recording.  Sarah Brightman also attempted this number.  That’s all I’ll say about that.

Don’t get me wrong, Sarah Brightman isn’t all bad — just more often than not.  I think she does a great job on the Phantom of the Opera recording, and I’ve never heard a better version of "Everything’s Alright" from Jesus Christ Superstar than hers (found on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Premiere Collection Encore).  But most of the time, she’s either far too operatic or simply light, airy, and annoying.  When it comes to Elaine Paige, however, I have yet to hear a recording of hers that I’ve enjoyed.  Patti LuPone is usually fantastic on recordings, but I thought she sounded pretty awful on the Patti LuPone Live! recording of a concert, especially on "I Dreamed A Dream" in which she literally sounds like she’s dying at the end.  Patti, Fantine doesn’t die until later in the show.  C’mon, girl.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008 at 6:00 pm and is filed under Music, Theater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.