Magic_Of_The_Musicals

Magic Of The Musicals

Louise Gold starred on Disc Two – The Best Of West End as Reno Sweeney from Anything Goes and featured on Disc Three – The Best Of Broadway as Maria a Kit Kat Klub girl from Cabaret.

Catalogue number: DECTV015

STOP PRESS: Louise Gold has two nominations in the Broadway World West End Awards: http://www.broadwayworld.com/westend/vote2015region.cfm

In particular she has been nominated for Understudy of The Year Female: http://www.broadwayworld.com/westend/liveupdate2015region.cfm?btype=4338&region=UK%20/%20West%20End#sthash.2TIlL8gx.dpbs (for her performance as Momma Rose – she understudied Imelda Staunton)

Cast

Irfan Ahmed (as The Artful Dodger from Oliver!)

Thomas Allen (as Fred Graham from Kiss Me Kate)

Rosemary Ashe (as Hortense from The Boyfriend)

John Barrowman (as Danny from Grease, and, Joseph from Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat)

Josephine Barstow (as Nancy from Oliver!)

Gillian Bevan (as Dorothy Gale from The Wizard Of Oz)

Graham Bickley (as Chris from Miss Saigon, and, Gaston Lachailles from Gigi)

Matt Bogart

Bonaventura Bottone ( as Detlof from The Student Prince)

Simon Bowman (as Caractacus Potts from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)

Clare Burt (as Frenchie a Kit Kat Klub girl from Cabaret – uncredited, and, Rizzo from Grease)

Danielle Carson (as Linda from Pal Joey)

Carol Channing (as Dolly Levi from Hello Dolly)

Dean Collinson

Kim Criswell (as Grizelbella from Cats, Norma Desmond from Sunset Boulevard, Kim from Miss Saigon, Mary Magdelene from Jesus Christ Superstar, and, Eva Peron from Evita)

Jacqueline Dankworth (as Fritzi a Kit Kat Klub girl from Cabaret – uncredited)

Muriel Dickinson

Tim Flavin (as Brad Majors from The Rocky Horror Show)

Julian Forsyth (as Fagin from Oliver!)

Hal Fowler (as Adam Pontipee from Seven Brides For Seven Brothers)

Louise Gold (as Reno Sweeney from Anything Goes, and, Maria a Kit Kat Klub girl from Cabaret - uncredited)

James Graeme (as Bert from Mary Poppins, and others)

Debbie Gravitte (as Annie Oakley from Annie Get Your Gun, and, Calamity Jane from Calamity Jane)

Michael Gruber (as Billy Lawlor from 42^nd Street)

Andrew Halliday (as The Phantom from The Phantom Of The Opera, and others)

Lindsay Hamilton (as Gigi from Gigi)

Richard Harris (as King Arthur from Camelot)

James Head (as Tom Jenkins from Scrooge)

Jan Hovath (as Velma Kelly from Chicago)

Paulette Ivory

Vanessa A Jones

Megan Kelly (as Bet from Oliver!)

Doug LaBrecque

Jerry Lanning (as Tervye from Fiddler On The Roof)

Denis Lawson (as Joey from Pal Joey)

Shona Lindsay (as Sandy from Grease, and, Maria from The Sound Of Music)

Michael Maguire

Valerie Masterson (as Marsinah from Kismet, and, Anna Leonowens from The King And I)

Sean McDermott

J. Mark McVey (as Tony from West Side Story)

William Michals (as Emil De Becque from South Pacific)

Max Milner (as Jeremy Potts from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)

Diana Montague (as Lilli Vanessi from Kiss Me Kate)

Ron Moody (as Alfred P Doolittle from My Fair Lady)

Claire Moore (as Rosie a Kit Kat Klub girl from Cabaret – uncredited)

Katrina Murphy (as Christine from The Phantom Of The Opera, and others)

Deborah Myers (as Desiree from A Little Night Music, Mary Poppins from Mary Poppins)

Caroline O’Connor (as Donna Sheridan from Mamma Mia, Texas a Kit Kat Klub girl from Cabaret – uncredited, and others)

Sian Phillips (as (Mamita) Inez Alvarez from Gigi)

Jonathan Pryce (as The MC from Cabaret)

Ron Raines (as Sky Masterson from Guys And Dolls)

David Rendell (as Prince Karl Franz from The Student Prince, and, The Caliph from Kismet, and others)

Grania Renihan

Paul Robinson (as Don Lockwood from Singin’ In The Rain)

Howard Samuels (as Frank ‘n’ Furter from The Rocky Horror Show)

Jacqui Scott

David Shannon

Gay Soper (as Lulu a Kit Kat Klub girl from Cabaret - uncredited

Richard South (as Oliver Twist from Oliver!)

Sally Ann Triplett (as Truly Scrumptious from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and others)

Richard Van Allan (as Joe from Showboat)

Sal Viviano (as Curly from Oklahoma!)

Hayley Wareham (as Jemima Potts from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)

Elisabeth Welch

Jacinta Whyte

Production Team

Conductors – Gerry Allison, Craig Barna, Jonathan Cohen, Janet Glazner, Julian Kelly, John Owen Edwards, Stuart Pedlar, Patrick Vaccariello, Chris Walker, Martin Yates, and, Trevor York

Orchestra – The company orchestra from The Boyfriend, The Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, The National Symphony Orchestra/NSO/NSO Ensemble, The Philharmonia Orchestra

Produced by John Yap from JAY Productions, for Decadence Recordings

Project Managed by Duncan Collins

Track Listing

Disc One – The Best Of Today

1. All That Jazz (from Chicago) – Jan Horvath and company with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Julian Kelly

2. Dancing Queen (from Mamma Mia!) – Caroline O’Connor with the NSO Ensemble conducted by Julian Kelly

3. Shakalaka Baby (from Bombay Dreams) – Jacinta Whyte, and, David Shannon with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates

4. The Circle Of Life (from The Lion King) – Paulette Ivory, Andrew Halliday and company with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates

5. Only You (from Starlight Express) – Grania Renihan with the NSO Ensemble conducted by John Owen Edwards

6. Summer Nights (from Grease) – John Barrowman, Shona Lindsay, and company with the NSO Ensemble conducted by Martin Yates

7. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) – Simon Bowman, Sally Ann Triplett, Max Milner, and, Hayley Wareham with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates

8. You Walk With Me (from The Fully Monty) – Sean McDermott, and, Matt Bogart with the NSO Ensemble conducted by Craig Barna

9. We Are The Champions (from We Will Rock You) – Dean Collinson, James Graeme, Paulette Ivory, Sally Ann Triplett and chorus with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates.

10. What Kind Of Fool (from Saturday Night Fever) – Caroline O’Connor with the NSO Ensemble conducted by Julian Kelly

11. Elaborate Lives (from Aida) – Sean McDermott, and, Vanessa A Jones with the NSO Ensemble conducted by Patrick Vaccariello

12. Our Kind Of Love (from The Beautiful Game) – Sally Ann Triplett with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates

13. Whistle Down The Wind (from Whistle Down The Wind) – James Graeme and the NSO Ensemble conducted by Martin Yates

14. Ruby Baby (from Smokey Joe’s Cafe) – Matt Bogart and boys with the NSO Ensemble conducted by Patrick Vaccariello

15. If I Can’t Love Her (from Beauty And The Beast) – James Graeme with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates

Disc 2 – The Best Of The West End

1. All I Ask Of You (from The Phantom Of The Opera) – Andrew Halliday, and, Katrina Murphy with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates

2. Memory (from Cats) – Kim Criswell with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates

3. Any Dream Will Do (from Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat) – John Barrowman with the NSO Ensemble conducted by John Owen Edwards

4. I’d Do Anything (from Oliver!) – Irfan Ahmed, Josephine Barstow, Richard South, Megan Kelly, Julian Forsyth and boys with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards

5. Anything Goes (from Anything Goes) – Louise Gold and company with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards

6. I Know Him So Well (from Chess) – Sally Ann Triplett, and, Katrina Murphy with the NSO Ensemble conducted by Martin Yates

7. With One Look (from Sunset Boulevard) – Kim Criswell with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates

8. The People’s Song (from Les Miserables) – the Company from the JAY/TER cast recording with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates

9. The Last Night Of The World (from Miss Saigon) – Graham Bickley, and, Kim Criswell with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates

10. Thoroughly Modern Millie (from Thoroughly Modern Mille) – Jacqui Scott with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates

11. I Don’t Know How To Love Him (from Jesus Christ Superstar) – Kim Criswell with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards

12. It’s Nicer In Nice (from The Boyfriend) – Rosemary Ashe and company orchestra conducted by Chris Walker

13. One Song Glory (from Rent) – Sean McDermott with the NSO Ensemble conducted by Martin Yates

14. Rainbow High (from Evita) – Kim Criswell and men with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates

15. Sweet Transvestite (from The Rocky Horror Show) – Howard Samuels, and, Tim Flavin with the NSO Ensemble conducted by Martin Yates

Disc 3 – The Best Of Broadway

1. Do Re Mi (from The Sound Of Music) – Shona Lindsay and Children with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards

2. Willkommen (from Cabaret) – Jonathan Pryce and company (including: Louise Gold, Gay Soper, Claire Moore, Jacqueline Dankworth, Caroline O’Connor, and, Clare Burt) with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards

3. Oh, What A Beautiful Morning (from Oklahoma!) – Sal Viviano with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards

4. Maria (from West Side Story) – J. Mark McVey with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards

5. If I Were A Rich Man (from Fiddler On The Roof) – Jerry Lanning with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards

6. Luck Be A Lady (from Guys And Dolls) – Ron Raines with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates

7. You’ll Never Walk Alone (from Carousel) – Muriel Dickinson with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards

8. Stranger In Paradise (from Kismet) – Valerie Masterson and David Rendall with The Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards

9. Get Me To The Church On Time (from My Fair Lady) – Ron Moody and company with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards

10. Send In The Clowns (from A Little Night Music) – Deborah Myers with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates

11. Some Enchanted Evening (from South Pacific) – William Michals with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards

12. Ole Man River (from Showboat) – Richard Van Allan and chorus with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards

13. Hello Young Lovers (from The King And I) – Valerie Masterson with The Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards

14. Wunderbar (from Kiss Me Kate) – Thomas Allen, and, Diana Montague with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards

15. There’s No Business Like Showbusiness (from Annie Get Your Gun) - Michael Maguire, Doug LaBreque, Debbie Gravitte and company with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards

Disc 4 – The Best Of Hollywood

1. Singin’ In The Rain (from Singin’ In The Rain) – Paul Robinson with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Craig Barna

2. Over The Rainbow (from The Wizard Of Oz) – Gillian Bevan with orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards

3. There Are Worse Things I Could Do (from Grease) – Clare Burt with the NSO Ensemble conducted by Martin Yates

4. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (from Mary Poppins) – Deborah Myers, and, James Graeme with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates

5. Dames (from 42^nd Street (originally from Dames)) – Michael Gruber and company with the NSO Ensemble conducted by Craig Barna

6. Bless Your Beautiful Hide (from Seven Brides For Seven Brothers) – Hal Fowler with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates

7. The Night They Invented Champagne (from Gigi) – Sian Phillips, Graham Bickley, and, Lindsay Hamilton with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates

8. Big Spender (from Sweet Charity) – Caroline O’Connor and girls with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates

9. Before The Parade Passes By (from Hello Dolly) – Carol Channing with orchestra conducted by Janet Glazner

10. Drinking Song (from The Student Prince) – David Rendall, Bonaventura Bottone and company with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards

11. How To Handle A Woman (from Camelot) – Richard Harris with orchestra conducted by Gerry Allison

12. Secret Love (from Calamity Jane) – Debbie Gravitte with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards

13. I Could Write A Book (from Pal Joey) – Denis Lawson, and, Danielle Carson with an orchestra conducted by Trevor York

14. True Love (from High Society) – Elisabeth Welch with orchestra conducted by Jonathan Cohen

15. Thank You Very Much (from Scrooge)- James Head and company with orchestra conducted by Stuart Pedlar

The Sleeve notes give the song Summer Nights from the musical Grease as having music and lyrics by John Barrowman, this is of course a mistake, the music and lyrics are actually by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, while John Barrowman simply happens to be singing the role of Danny on this recording.

The Sleeve Notes give David Randall as appearing in the Student Prince, that entry should have been the tenor David Rendall.

The Sleeve Notes give Gerry Anderson as conducting How To Handle A Woman, that entry should have been the conductor Gerry Allison.

Jonathan Pryce (along with: Clare Burt, Jacqueline Dankworth, Louise Gold, Claire Moore, Caroline O’Connor, and, Gay Soper)’s performance of Wilkommen comes from the JAY/TER recording of Cabaret, on which Megan Kelly, and, Howard Samuels also performs, and which also features the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards.

Louise Gold and company’s performance of Anything Goes comes from the JAY/TER recording Anything Goes (Recording) – Website Recommended Album, on which Katrina Murphy can also be heard, and which also features the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards. In addition Louise Gold also sang that song when she appeared in a West End revival of Anything Goes (Stage Production). Furthermore she has also parodied it as Anyone’s Nose on Sesame Street.

Irfan Ahamed, John Barrowman, Clare Burt, Jacqueline Dankworth, Richard Harris, Shona Lindsay, Valerie Masterson, Claire Moore, Caroline O’Connor, Jonathan Pryce, Gay Soper, and, Richard South can also be heard on Centre Stage Showtime!, which also features the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gerry Allison, John Owen Edwards, and, Martin Yates. That album contains the same recordings of: Summer Nights, Willkommen, Over The Rainbow, and, How To Handle A Woman.

Thomas Allen, Graham Bickley, Carol Channing, Michael Gruber, and, Valerie Masterson can also be heard on The Best Of Broadway Musicals, which also features the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Craig Barna, Janet Glazener, John Owen Edwards, and, Martin Yates. That album contains the same recording of Before The Parade Passes By.

Thomas Allen, Graham Bickley, Clare Burt, Kim Criswell, Tim Flavin, Hal Fowler, James Graeme, Michael Gruber, Lindsay Hamilton, Richard Harris, Valerie Masterson, Claire Moore, Katrina Murphy, Sian Phillips, Jonathan Pryce, David Rendell, Howard Samuels, and, Richard Van Allan can also be heard on Encore The Very Best From The Musicals, which also features the National Symphony Orchestra, and, The Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Gerry Allison, Craig Barna, Janet Glazener, John Owen Edwards, and, Martin Yates. That album contains the same recordings of: Sweet Transvestite, Ole Man River, There Are Worse Things I Could Do, Bless Your Beautiful Hide, The Night They Invented Champagne, and, How To Handle A Woman.

Thomas Allen, Graham Bickley, Valerie Masterson, Ron Moody, Katrina Murphy, Sian Phillips, and, David Rendell can also be heard on Great Duets From The Musicals, which also features the National Symphony Orchestra, and, the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards, and, Martin Yates. That album contains the same recordings of Stranger In Paradise.

Thomas Allen, Graham Bickley, Clare Burt, Diana Montague, Katrina Murphy, and, Elisabeth Welch can also be heard on Cole Porter – Night And Day, which also features the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jonathan Cohen, John Owen Edwards, Chris Walker, and, Martin Yates. That album also contains the same recordings of: Anything Goes, and, Wunderbar.

Thomas Allen, John Barrowman, Kim Criswell, Tim Flavin, Julian Forsyth, Michael Gruber, Jerry Lanning, Shona Lindsay, Valerie Masterson, Ron Moody, Caroline O’Connor, Sian Phillips, Jonathan Pryce, Ron Raines, David Rendell, Grania Renihan, Howard Samuels, and, Richard Van Allan can also be heard on The History Of The Musical; which also features the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Craig Barna, John Owen Edwards, and, Martin Yates. That album also contains excerpts of the same recordings that can be heard on this album of: Memory, The People’s Song, Sweet Transvestite, Doe Re Me, and, If I Were A Rich Man.

Thomas Allen appeared on television on The Ghost Of Faffner Hall.

Thomas Allen, Graham Bickley, Matt Bogart, Kim Criswell, Michael Gruber, Lindsay Hamilton, Richard Harris, Vanessa A. Jones, Denis Lawson, Valerie Masterson, Sean McDermott, and, Diana Montague can also be heard on The Great Musicals – Glamour And Majesty, which also features the National Symphony Orchestra, and, The Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Gerry Allison, Craig Barna, John Owen Edwards, Patrick Vaccariello (uncredited), and, Martin Yates. That album contains the same recordings of: Elaborate Lives, Wunderbar, Dames, and, The Night They Invented Champagne.

Thomas Allen, Graham Bickley, Danielle Carson, Lindsay Hamilton, Doug LaBreque, Caroline O’Connor, Ron Raines, and, Elisabeth Welch can also be heard on The Great Musicals – Dashing Heroes, Blushing Maidens, which also features the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gerry Allison, Julian Kelly, John Owen Edwards, and, Martin Yates.

Rosemary Ashe, and, Sally Ann Triplett appeared in The Metropolitan Mikado, where the orchestra was conducted by John Owen Edwards.

Rosemary Ashe, and, Gay Soper appeared in a concert of Highlights from the Ratepayers’ Iolanthe & Metropolitan Mikado, for which the orchestra was conducted by John Owen Edwards.

Rosemary Ashe, and, Gay Soper appeared in The Soap Opera, which was written by Martin Yates.

John Barrowman has appeared on stage in the musical Anything Goes (Stage production) in two productions (one with Louise Gold and one with Sally-Ann Triplett as Reno), in the former Danielle Carson also appeared.

John Barrowman, and, James Graeme appeared in Chicago & Company, on which Stuart Pedlar also worked.

John Barrowman, Graham Bickley, Simon Bowman, Clare Burt, Dean Collinson, Kim Criswell, Muriel Dickinson, James Graeme, Debbie Gravitte, Michael Gruber, Andrew Halliday, Jan Hovarth, Paulette Ivory, Vanessa A. Jones, Doug LaBreque, Jerry Lanning, Shona Lindsay, Michael Maguire, Sean McDermott, Max Milner, Claire Moore, Deborah Myers, Caroline O’Connor, Grania Renihan, Jacqui Scott, David Shannon, Sally Ann Triplett, Hayley Wareham, and, Jacinta Whyte can also be heard on Simply Musicals, which also features the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Craig Barna, Julian Kelly, John Owen Edwards, Patrick Vaccariello, and, Martin Yates. That album contains the same recordings of: All That Jazz, Dancing Queen, Only You, Summer Nights, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, We Are The Champions, What Kind Of Fool, Elaborate Lives, Our Kind Of Love, Whistle Down The Wind, All I Ask Of You, Anything Goes, With One Look, The People’s Song, If I Were A Rich Man, You’ll Never Walk Alone, and, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

Gillian Bevan, and, Claire Moore may have appeared in Comedy Tonight.

Gillian Bevan, and, Claire Moore appeared in Kids At Heart, which Elisabeth Welch may have appeared in, and on which Stuart Pedlar also worked.

Gillian Bevan appeared in Blood Brothers, and, The Boys From Syracuse.

Gillian Bevan, and, Gay Soper appeared in the Regent’s Park 70^th Anniversary Gala.

Graham Bickley appeared in The Pirates Of Penzance (Stage Production), The Pirates Of Penzance (Gala Performance), The Pirates Of Penzance (Royal Gala Preview), and, The Pirates Of Penzance (Benefit Preview). He has since appeared in Mexican Hayride.

Graham Bickley, and, Richard Harris appeared in The Royal Variety Performance (1982).

Graham Bickley, Kim Criswell, James Graeme, Richard Harris, Valerie Masterson, Ron Moody, Deborah Myers, Caroline O’Connor, and, Jonathan Pryce can also be heard on The Great Musicals – Wonderful Tales, which also features the National Symphony Orchestra, and, the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Gerry Allison, Julian Kelly, John Owen Edwards, and. Martin Yates. That album contains the same recordings of Anything Goes.

Clare Burt, Kim Criswell, Richard Harris, Michael Maguire, and, Ron Moody can also be heard on The Greatest Musicals Of The 20^th Century, which also features the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gerry Allison, John Owen Edwards, and, Martin Yates. That album contains the same recording of How To Handle A Woman.

Clare Burt, Denis Lawson, Gay Soper, and, Sally Ann Triplett appeared in A Love Letter To Dan.

Clare Burt, Kim Criswell, Jacqueline Dankworth, James Graeme, Doug LaBreque, Valerie Masterson, and, Ron Raines can also be heard on The Great Musicals – Laughter And Tears, which also features the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Craig Barna, John Owen Edwards, Chris Walker, and, Martin Yates. That album contains the same recording of There Are Worse Things I Could Do.

Danielle Carson appeared in By Jupiter, Du Barry Was A Lady (1993 Production), and, Red Hot And Blue.

Danielle Carson, Lindsay Hamilton, and, Katrina Murphy can also be heard on Stop The World I Want To Get Off, which also features the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates.

Carol Channing was a Guest Star on The Muppet Show.

Kim Criswell appeared in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and on the radio in Let ‘Em Eat Cake.

Kim Criswell, Tim Flavin, Valerie Masterson, and, Katrina Murphy can also be heard on On The Town, which also featured the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards.

Jacqueline Dankworth appeared in Merrily We Roll Along (Stage Production) and can be heard on the associated album Merrily We Roll Along (Recording), both of which were conducted by Julian Kelly.

Tim Flavin, James Graeme, and, Paul Robinson appeared in Broadway To Brighton, on which Stuart Pedlar also worked.

Tim Flavin, and, Jonathan Pryce appeared on television in A Week In The West End.

Hal Fowler, and, James Head appeared in Calamity Jane, which was conducted by Julian Kelly.

Claire Moore, and, Elisabeth Welch appeared in A Time To Start Living, which James Graeme may have taken part in.

Claire Moore may have appeared in Will Aid, which Jonathan Cohen may have conducted on.

Grania Renihan, and, Gay Soper appeared at Dress Circle Grand Reopening.

Howard Samuels may have appeared in Dear Ralph.

Gay Soper, and, Sally Ann Triplett appeared in the Side By Side By Sondheim 30^th Anniversary Gala.

Sally Ann Triplett appeared in Happily Ever After, and, on television in Rita Rudner.

Sally Ann Triplett appeared in the Side By Side By Sondheim 25^th Anniversary Gala, for which Stuart Pedlar was a pianist.

Julian Kelly conducted Follies.

Chris Walker did orchestrations for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

John Barrowman, Simon Bowman, Dean Collinson, Kim Criswell, Louise Gold, James Graeme, Andrew Halliday, Richard Harris, Paulette Ivory, Vanessa A. Jones, Doug LaBreque, Jerry Lanning, Michael Maguire, Sean McDermott, William Michals, Max Milner, Katrina Murphy, Deborah Myers, Caroline O’Connor, Ron Raines, Jacqui Scott, David Shannon, Sally Ann Triplett, Hayley Wareham, and, Jacinta Whyte’s recording credits include The Best Of The Musicals, this also involved the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, and, the National Symphony Orchestra / NSO Ensemble, with maestros Gerry Allison, Craig Barna, Julian Kelly, John Owen Edwards, Patrick Varricello, and, Martin Yates. That album also includes the same recordings of: Big Spender, Elaborate Lives, Any Dream Will Do, If I Can’t Love Her, Some Enchanted Evening, How To Handle A Woman, Thoroughly Modern Millie, One Song Glory, Dancing Queen, What Kind Of Fool, Shakalaka Baby, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, All I Ask Of You, Anything Goes, and, We Are The Champions.

Clare Burt, Jacqueline Dankworth, Jonathan Cohen, Claire Moore, Grainne Renihan, Trevor York, Gillian Bevan, and, Sally Ann Triplett may have taken part in Thing A Thon.

Sian Phillips, and, Gay Soper went on to take part in Shopping With The Stars 2009.

John Barrowman, Gillian Bevan, Matt Bogart, Simon Bowman, Danielle Carson, Kim Criswell, Jacqueline Dankworth, Louise Gold, James Graeme, Debbie Gravitte, Andrew Halliday, Paulette Ivory, Vanessa A. Jones, Shona Lindsay, Valerie Masterson, Sean McDermott, J. Mark McVey, Max Milner, Claire Moore, Caroline O’Connor, Jonathan Pryce, Ron Raines, Sally Ann Triplett, Hayley Wareham, and, Elisabeth Welch can also be heard on 100 Hits Musicals; accompanied by The Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, and, The National Symphony Orchestra, with maestros Craig Barna, Jonathan Cohen, Janet Glazener, Julian Kelly, John Owen Edwards, Patrick Varricello, and, Martin Yates. This album includes the same recordings of: Any Dream Will Do, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Circle Of Life, Dancing Queen, Elaborate Lives, Over The Rainbow, Secret Love, Summer Nights, There’s No Business Like Showbusiness, True Love, and, With One Look.

Thomas Allen, Boneventura Bottone, Clare Burt, Jacqueline Dankworth, Muriel Dickinson, Louise Gold, Richard Harris, Valerie Masterson, Diana Montague, Claire Moore, Caroline O’Connor, Sian Phillips, Jonathan Pryce, David Rendall, and, Gay Soper can also be heard on Let’s Go On With The Show – Hit Songs From The West End & Broadway; accompanied by The National Symphony Orchestra, with maestros Gerry Allison, Janet Glazener, and, John Owen Edwards. This album includes the same recordings of Wilkommen, Wunderbar, You’ll Never Walk Alone, Stranger In Paradise, and, The Drinking Song.

Irfan Ahmad, Gillian Bevan, Graham Bickley, Clare Burt, Kim Criswell, Jacqueline Dankworth, Julian Forsyth, Doug LaBrecque, Claire Moore, Katrina Murphy, Caroline O’Connor, Paul Robinson, Gay Soper, and, Elisabeth Welch’s recording credits include The Great Musicals - From Broadway to Hollywood; This also involved The National Symphony Orchestra, with maestros Craig Barna, John Owen Edwards, Stuart Pedlar, and, Martin Yates.

Review

Yet another compilation album from the JAY/TER catalogue, even if this time it is on the Decadence label. At first glance much of it seems to be material already present on other JAY/TER compilations, particularly Simply Musicals. Nevertheless on closer inspection the album does turn up a few surprising gems.

As with any compilation album of this nature it is a very mixed bunch of songs, some of which any given listener will like and some one won’t. That doesn’t necessarily mean they are bad songs or bad performances, just that we don’t all have the same taste.

Overall I was not much taken with Disc 1 – The Best Of Today, but then I’m not so keen on many of “today’s” musicals, with their strong pop focus. Nevertheless the first half of the disc was performed with a good deal of verve; and contained may numbers one would want to sing a long too; in particular Jan Hovath’s All That Jazz, John Barrowman and Shona Lindsay’s Summer Nights, and most especially Simon Bowman, Sally Ann Triplett, Max Milner and Hayley Wareham’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Meanwhile Jacinta Whyte and David Shannon performed Shakalaka Baby well, although I don’t like the song, and likewise Andrew Halliday and Paulette Ivory did a good job with Circle Of Life but again I’m not too keen on the song. Similarly Grania Renihan did a fine job with Only You, but once again the song is not to my taste. Meanwhile Caroline O’Connor singings that great standard Dancing Queen, she does a satisfactory job with it, and it too is something of a sing a long. The only problem with it is, that having heard Louise Plowright sing it, I find it hard to envisage anyone else quite making it their own.

Among the four discs my favourite was Disc 2 – The Best Of The West End, possibly largely because of the strong presence of Kim Criswell, along with one splendid performance from Louise Gold. As with the whole album even this disc was a mixed bunch. Kim Criswell’s performances were generally among the best, it being particularly splendid to have her famous ‘haunting’ rendition of Memory, along with her expert rendition of With One Look (which is one of my favourite Andrew Lloyd-Webber songs – and I’m not that keen Lloyd-Webber’s work). She also does a good job with I Don’t Know How To Love Him, although in my opinion that isn’t as great a song. While her Rainbow High is a surprise, I don’t think the song in general and her recording of it in particular finds it’s way onto compilation albums that much, in fact although I had heard the song on her Back To Before solo album I had totally forgotten all about it, so hearing it here was like hearing it anew, quite a treat. Not perhaps one of her greatest performances (and yes I think there might be singers who could make this even more their own), but nevertheless nice to hear her do something fresh. I was rather less keen on the extract of Kim’s performance from Miss Saigon, but that’s probably just because I don’t really like Bournbille ad Schoneberg. That said this disc does happen to feature the one song of theirs that I do like, The People’s Song, which is given a typically rousing performance. Another rousing performance, and a song I hadn’t heard before is the title song from Thoroughly Modern Millie, which I was delighted to hear. As for It’s Nicer In Nice, another new one to me, well it’s a nice song, but I would’ve preferred to hear it sung in a more straightforward manner. I felt that Rosemary Ashe’s performance was too over-the-top. I’d like to hear someone like Belinda Lang attempt this (not a great singer, but with a good arranger I think she might be able to do it decently). I think this song could do with a bit more simplicity and less messing around with accents. Another song which I felt would have benefited from different singers is I Know Him So Well. Sally Ann Triplett is a fairly accomplished performer, but she has her limitations. There are some songs which she can interpret brilliantly, but I’ve also come across a number of instances where her talents are stretched, perhaps a little too far. Listening to this song, I couldn’t help wondering what a singer such as Louise Plowright would be like were she ever to sing this. Worth a try, perhaps? (especially given her experience with the musical Mamma Mia!). And then there’s All I Ask Of You, Andrew Halliday and Katrina Murphy sing it reasonably well, although I can’t help thinking that Andrew Halliday came across rather better on the CD of George Posford & Eric Maschwitz’s Zip Goes A Million (when he teamed up with Louise Davidson). This disc also includes a surprisingly decent performance of the Lionel Bart classic I’d Do Anything. The only time I’ve heard a performance from Josephine Barstow that I actually thought not bad. While it’s a pleasure to have, even briefly, the excellent Julian Forsyth. This rousing classic of Bart’s is followed, perhaps appropriately, by a terrific performance, that of Louise Gold belting Cole Porter’s Anything Goes. Where, even down to intonation on any given note, she manages to sound uncannily like a certain Muppet-Girl-Monster, on Sesame Street. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing the marvellous Monsterpiece Theatre sketch Anyone’s Nose you will recognise the similarity instantly. Pure brilliance.

While I liked the songs on Disc 3 – The Best Of Broadway, most of the performances were while perfectly pleasant, I have heard better in most cases. The exceptions to this were: Jonathan Pyrce (and a bunch of uncredited West End actresses)’s Wilkommen, Richard Van Allan’s Ole Man River, and, Thomas Allen & Diana Montague’s Wunderbar. The latter was perhaps not the liveliest version of this song, but nevertheless worked pretty well. Similarly Muriel Dickinson’s You’ll Never Walk Alone might not be as moving as Michael Ball, but it was pretty good, as was Ron Moody’s Get Me To The Church On Time. As for William Michals’s Some Enchanted Evening, well for me he failed to make it his own, mainly because I couldn’t stop thinking of Kevin Clash’s parody of that song on Sesame Street. While as for There’s No Business Like Showbusiness, well thee was nothing wrong with Debbie Gravitte’s performance, but no one can do Annie Oakley quite like Kim Criswell can. However none of the performances on this disc were actually bad, and they made very good background music, even if few of them really made the songs their own.

I was pleasantly surprised by the standard of the performances on Disc 4 – The Best Of Hollywood, where a bunch of contemporary, singers stood up vocally surprisingly well to some legendary film stars. Paul Robinson sounded surprisingly like Gene Kelly, and likewise Michael Gruber like Dick Powell. Gillian Bevan had the hardest job of all, and while she was clearly not Judy Garland, she nevertheless made a surprisingly good attempt at making Somewhere Over The Rainbow her own; and likewise Hal Fowler was never going to quite be Howard Keel but he too succeeded in getting on very well with Bless Your Beautiful Hide. Debbite Gravitte certainly wasn’t Doris Day, and Denis Lawson never quite managed to be Frank Sinatra, but nevertheless they both did passable jobs with Secret Love and I Could Write A Book respectively, didn’t quite make them their own, but didn’t spoil them either. Caroline O’Connor was on far better ground with Big Spender, which she made very much her own, and in doing so showed another side to her talents. David Rendall and Bonaventura Bottone sounded like they were having a good time with the Drinking Song from The Student Prince, although the song kept making me think of Jim Henson’s Muppets throwing sauerkraut, was that song ever done on The Muppet Show? The most fun numbers on this disc are of course The Night They Invented Champagne (possibly as good as the film version), and Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, which is terrific fun and Deborah Meyers and James Graeme do it pretty well, although in their case it’s not so much a question of standing up to the performances of Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke in the film, and whether they can quite compete with the various stage show performances, I’m not sure they’d quite compare to the likes of Scarlett Strallen and Gavin Lee or Gavin Creel, but the song is such good fun that when listening to it one is more likely to just have fun than even be thinking about comparisons, but now when I hear this song, I find myself reminded of a certain late night gala. Most of the songs are classics, Thank You Very Much was one of the few unfamiliar ones here, and the only one on this disc to be slightly disappointing. It’s a perfectly respectable decent song, but somehow it doesn’t have quite the same zing as Paul Willams’s Thankful Heart which performed the same function in a different film version of the same story.

Overall as very mixed set of discs. The sort of thing that mostly makes pretty good background music, and might be quite good for playing on a long car journey, or in the background at a party. Not necessarily that worth buying for the individual performances, as most of these can be obtained elsewhere, on albums relating to specific shows or performers. Nevertheless some of the performances are certainly eye-openers, either to shows one might not have thought of listening to, or sometimes different sides to talents of performers one thought one knew about. An interesting album yes, not necessarily a must have, one could do without it, but, like so many compilation albums one might consider it as a possibly useful acquisition. Oh yes, and if you are a fan of Kim Criswell’s then this is definitely worth considering (although if you are that much of a fan you may well already have all the tracks she sings on it on other albums).

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