The Solid Gold Collection:
The Best Of The Musicals
Louise Gold starred on CD 2 Track 17 as Reno Sweeney from Anything Goes
Catalogue
number: SGDCD2012
Cast
Mark Adams - as Frank Butler (from Annie Get Your Gun)
John Barrowman - as Joseph (from Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat), and, The Engineer (from Miss Saigon)
Simon Bowman - as Caractacus Potts (from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
Len Cariou – as Tevye (from Fiddler On The Roof)
Dean Collinson
Kim Criswell – as Mother (from Ragtime)
Carmen Cusack
Louise Gold – as
James Graeme - as The Beast (from Beauty And The Beast), and, Bert (from Mary Poppins), and others
Andrew Halliday
Richard Harris - as King Arthur( from Camelot)
Vanessa A. Jones
Sara Kestleman – as Golde (from Fiddler On The Roof)
Doug LaBreque – as Sky Masterson (from Guys And Dolls), and others
Jerry Lanning
Gary Mauer – as Freddy Enysford-Hill (from My Fair Lady)
Sean McDermott
William
Max Milner – as Jeremy Potts (from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
Katrina Murphy
Deborah Myers – as Mary Poppins (from Mary Poppins)
Caroline O’Connor – as Charity Hope Valentine (from Sweet Charity), Annie Oakley (from Annie Get Your Gun), and, Donna Sheridan (from Mamma Mia), and others
Ron Raines – as Karen O’Kane (from Jubilee)
Jacqui Scott
David Shannon
Charles Shivell -
as Amos Hart (from
Sally Ann Triplett – as Sally Bowles (from Cabaret), Truly Scrumptious (from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), Nancy (from Oliver!), and others
Hayley Wareham – as Jemima Potts (from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
Jacinta Whyte - as Grizalbella (from Cats), and others
Production Team
Conductors – Gerry Allison, Craig Barna, Kevin Ferrell, Julian Kelly, John Owen Edwards, Patrick Vaccariello, Gareth Valentine, Martin Yates
Orchestras – Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra / NSO Ensemble, Theatre Orchestra
Produced by John Yap, JAY Productions Ltd
Track Listing
CD1
1. The Circle Of
Life (from The
Lion King) – Carmen Cusack, David Shannon, and Company, with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted
by Martin Yates
2.
3. The Impossible
Dream (from Man
Of La Mancha) –
4. Big Spender (from Sweet Charity) – Caroline O’Connor and Girls, with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted
by Martin Yates
5. Elaborate Lives (from Aida) – Sean McDermott, and Vanessa A. Jones, with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted
by Patrick Vaccariello
6. Any Dream Will Do (from Joseph And The Amazing
Technicolor Dreamcoat) – John
Barrowman, and Chorus, with the NSO
Ensemble conducted by John Owen
Edwards
7. Mr Cellophane (from
8. If I Can’t Love
Her (from Beauty
And The Beast) – James Graeme,
with the National Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Martin Yates
9. Some Enchanted
Evening (from South
Pacific) – William Michals,
with the National Symphony Orchestra
conducted by John Owen Edwards
10. Something’s
Coming (from West
Side Story) – Doug LaBrecque,
with the National Symphony Orchestra
conducted by John Owen Edwards
11. Anything You Can
Do (from Annie
Get Your Gun) – Caroline
O’Connor, and, Mark Adams, with
the National Symphony Orchestra
conducted by John Owen Edwards
12. How To handle A
Woman (from Camelot)
– Richard Harris, with Theatre Orchestra conducted by Gerry Allison
13. Thoroughly
Modern Millie
(from Thoroughly Modern Millie) – Jacqui Scott, with the National
Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martin
Yates
14. Memory (from Cats) – Jacinta Whyte, with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted
by Martin Yates
15. Maybe This Time (from Cabaret) – Sally Ann Triplett, with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted
by Martin Yates
16. One Song Glory (from Rent) – Sean McDermott, with the NSO Ensemble conducted by Martin Yates
17. Back To Before (from Ragtime) – Kim Criswell, and Girls, with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted
by Kevin Ferrell
18. Mame (from Mame) – Jerry Lanning, and company, with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted
by Martin Yates
CD2
All That Jazz (from
2. 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
3. Dancing Queen (from Mamma Mia) – Caroline O’Connor, with the NSO Ensemble conducted by Julian Kelly
4. On The Street
Where You Live
(from My Fair Lady) – Gary
Mauer, with the National Symphony
Orchestra conducted by John Owen
Edwards
5. Anthem (from Chess) – Andrew Halliday, with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted
by Martin Yates
6. Begin The Beguine (from Jubilee) – Ron Raines, with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted
by Craig Barna
7. Masquerade (from The Phantom Of The Opera)
– The Company, with the National
Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martin
Yates
8. What Kind of Fool (from Saturday Night Fever) – Caroline O’Connor, with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted
by Julian Kelly
9. Why God Why? (from Miss Saigon) – John Barrowman, with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted
by Martin Yates
10. Shakalaka Baby (from Bombay Dreams) – Jacinta Whyte, and, David Shannon, with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted
by Martin Yates
11. Luck Be A Lady (from Guys And Dolls) – Doug LaBrecque and men, with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted
by John Owen Edwards
12. Can You Feel The
Love Tonight
(from The Lion King) – Sean
McDermott, with the National
Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martin
Yates
13. I Dreamed A
Dream (from Les
Miserables) – Jacqui Scott,
with the National Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Martin Yates
14.
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (from Mary Poppins) – Deborah Myers, and, James
Graeme, with the National Symphony
Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates
15. 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
16. As Long As He
Needs Me (from Oliver!)
– Sally Ann Triplett, with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted
by John Owen Edwards
17. Anything Goes (from Anything Goes) – Louise Gold, and company, with the
National Symphony Orchestra conducted by John
Owen Edwards
18. We Are The
Champions (from We
Will Rock You) – Dean Collinson,
James Graeme,
.
The Sleeve
Notes give Gerry Anderson as
conducting How To Handle A Woman, that entry should have been the conductor
Gerry Allison. They also give Martin Yates as conducting The
Impossible Dream, that entry should almost certainly have been John Owen Edwards; and they give Julian Kelly as conducting Anthem,
that entry should almost certainly have been Martin Yates.
Louise Gold’s recording comes from Anything Goes (recording) – Website Recommended album,
on which Katrina Murphy can also be
heard, and which also featured the National
Symphony Orchestra/NSO Ensemble conducted
by John Owen Edwards. In addition Louise Gold sang that song when she
appeared in a
Mark Adams, John Barrowman, Len Cariou, Kim Criswell, Jerry Lanning,
Caroline O’Connor, and, Ron Raines can also be heard, along
with the National Symphony Orchestra/NSO Ensemble, and maestros Craig Barna, John Owen Edwards, and, Martin
Yates on The History Of The
Musical. That album also includes an excerpt from the same recording of Anything
You Can Do.
Mark Adams, John Barrowman, Simon Bowman, Dean Collinson, Kim Criswell,
Carmen Cusack, Louise Gold, James Graeme,
Andrew Halliday,
John Barrowman appeared on stage in Anything Goes
(Stage Show).
John Barrowman, and, James Graeme appeared
in Chicago And Company.
John Barrowman, Richard Harris, and, Caroline O’Connor’s recording credits
include Centre Stage Showtime!, this
also involved the National Symphony
Orchestra/NSO Ensemble, with
maestros Gerry Allison, John Owen Edwards, and, Martin Yates. That album contains the
same version of How To Handle A Woman.
John Barrowman, Simon Bowman, Dean Collinson, Kim Criswell, Louise Gold,
James Graeme, Andrew Halliday, Richard
Harris,
Len Cariou appeared in Ziegfeld (stage show),
and featured on the LP record Ziegfeld
(recording).
Kim Criswell has appeared on stage in Gentlemen
Prefer Blondes, and, on the radio in Let ‘Em
Eat Cake.
Kim Criswell, and, Katrina Murphy’s
recording credits include On The Town, this also
involved the National Symphony Orchestra/NSO Ensemble conducted by John Owen Edwards.
Kim Criswell, James Graeme, Richard Harris, and, Katrina Murphy’s recording credits
include Encore The Very
Best From The Musicals. This also involved National Symphony Orchestra/NSO
Ensemble with maestros Gerry Allison,
Craig Barna, John Owen Edwards, and, Martin
Yates. That album also includes the same recording of How To Handle A Woman.
Kim Criswell, Richard Harris, and,
Kim Criswell, Louise Gold, James Graeme, Richard Harris, Deborah
Myers, and, Caroline O’Connor’s
recording credits include The Great Musicals –
Wonderful Tales, this also involved the National Symphony Orchestra/NSO
Ensemble with maestros Gerry Allison,
Julian Kelly, John Owen Edwards, and, Martin
Yates. That album also includes the same recording of Masquerade, and, Anything
Goes.
Kim Criswell, Richard Harris, Vanessa A. Jones, Sean McDermott, and, Katrina
Murphy’s recording credits include The
Great Musicals – Glamour & Majesty, this also features the National Symphony Orchestra/NSO Ensemble with maestros Gerry Allison, Craig Barna, John Owen
Edwards, and, Martin Yates. That
album includes the same version of Elaborate Lives.
Kim Criswell, James Graeme, Doug LaBreque, and, Ron Raines’s recording credits include The Great Musicals – Laughter & Tears,
this also features the National Symphony
Orchestra/NSO Ensemble with
maestros Craig Barna, John Owen Edwards, and, Martin Yates.
James Graeme may have appeared in Broadway To
Brighton, and possibly in A Time To
Start Living.
Richard Harris may have appeared in The
Royal Variety Performance (1982).
Sara Kestlman may have appeared in Will Aid, and may
possibly have appeared in Kids At Heart.
Doug LaBreque, Katrina Murphy, Caroline O’Connor, and, Ron Raines’s recording credits include The Great Musicals – Dashing Heroes,
Blushing Maidens, this also involves the National Symphony Orchestra/NSO
Ensemble with maestros Gerry Allison,
Julian Kelly, John Owen Edwards, and, Martin
Yates.
Katrina Murphy’s recording credits include Stop The World I Want To Get Off,
which also featured the National
Symphony Orchestra/NSO Ensemble
conducted by Martin Yates.
Katrina Murphy’s recording credits include Great Duets From The Musicals,
with also involved the National Symphony
Orchestra/NSO Ensemble, with
maestros John Owen Edwards, and, Martin Yates.
Louise Gold, and, Katrina Murphy’s
recording credits include Cole Porter –
Night And Day, this also involved the National
Symphony Orchestra/NSO Ensemble,
with maestros John Owen Edwards,
and, Martin Yates. That album also
includes the same recording of Anything Goes.
Caroline O’Connor’s recording credits include Cabaret,
which also featured the National
Symphony Orchestra/NSO Ensemble
conducted by John Owen Edwards.
Sally Ann Triplett had appeared in The
Metropolitan Mikado, which also had an orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards.
Sally Ann Triplett has appeared on stage in the Side By Side By Sondheim 25th Anniversary
Gala, Side By Side By Sondheim 30th
Anniversary Gala, Happily Ever After,
and, A Love Letter To Dan. Her
television credits include Rita Rudner. She may
have taken part in Thing A Thon.
The National Symphony Orchestra/NSO Ensemble can also be heard on The Best Of Broadway Musicals with
maestros Craig Barna, John Owen Edwards, and, Martin Yates.
Julian Kelly also conducted for Calamity Jane, Follies, and, Merrily
We Roll Along (Stage Production) and on the associated Merrily We Roll Along (Recording).
John Owen Edwards also conducted the orchestra for a concert of
highlights from the Ratepayers’
Iolanthe & Metropolitan Mikado.
Gareth Valentine played the piano for Panama Hattie
and 110 In The Shade.
Martin Yates wrote the score for The Soap Opera.
John Barrowman, Simon Bowman, Len Cariou, Kim Criswell, James Graeme,
Andrew Halliday,
Richard Harris, and, Caroline O’Connor
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, and, John Owen Edwads.
Len Cariou, Kim Criswell, Doug LaBrecque, Katrina Murphy, and, Caroline
O’Connor’s recording credits include The Great Musicals - From Broadway to
Hollywood; This also involves The
National Symphony Orchestra, with maestros Craig Barna, John Owen
Edwards, and, Martin Yates. This
album also includes the same version of Something’s Coming.
Review
by
This is yet another of those JAY/TER compilations where the listener sometimes ends up thinking “Do we really need yet another compilation album, repeating the same tracks, yet again. How many albums does one really need with Andrew Halliday and Katrina Murphy singing All I Ask Of You, Richard Harris singing How To Handle A Woman, or, Sean McDermott and Vanessa A Jones singing Elaborate Lives; and I’m sure some listeners to these compilation albums might ask the same about Louise Gold belting Anything Goes, though I of course am always delighted to hear that one. However there are things in the JAY/TER catalogue that never seem to get onto these compilation albums. For example Stephen Sondheim seems to feature only as a lyricist, while Howard Goodall’s work never seems to appear at all. Even for composer whose work is featured often, there are good songs that rarely seem to get a look in, such as Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s Banjo Boy, or Cole Porter’s Friendship, or Irving Berlin’s Blue Skies.
Fortunately this particular album does contain
some slightly less often repeated gems, the best of which being Stephen Flaherty & Lyne Ahrens’s Back
To Before sung here by one of Flaherty’s very talented college pals Kim Criswell. Some other pretty decent
less well known performances include Jacqui
Scott’s rendition of Thoroughly Modern Millie, the late Charles Shivell’s performance of Mr
Cellophane, and a surprising contribution from Ron Raines, namely Begin The Beguine from Jubilee
(a musical which Cole Porter rightly
identified as never being quite good enough to give his rivals anything to
worry about). While to song makes more sense sung by a women, it is nice to
hear anything from the Jubilee score (the show has an
undeserved reputation for bitingly cruel satire,
compared to say Spitting Image, it’s actually rather tame, even with the
original script). There’s also a nice performance of Sunrise Sunset from the
underrated Len Cariou and the
excellent Sara Kestleman, wouldn’t
it be good to have the latter record some Kurt
Weill? And then there’s Andrew
Halliday’s performance of Anthem from Chess. The song is by Bjorn Ulaevaus and Benny Andersson, so it’s pretty decent music, although not perhaps
one of there most interesting. Andrew
Halliday sings it adequately, he’s clearly a talented singer-actor, yet
something I’m not sure the song entirely suited his talents. He was excellent
on Zip
Goes A Million , which matched his skills perfectly. He and his Zip
Goes A Million co-Star Louise
Davidson have rarely had an opportunity as recording artistes that so
perfectly suited their talents as George
Poseford and Eric Machswitz’s Zip Goes A Million did. In fact I wish
someone would team those to together again in a show with a good score.
Some of the
less familiar tracks on this album should perhaps have remained forgotten. Sally Ann Triplett may be a big named
West End star, but her rendition of As Long As He Needs Me didn’t
exactly do much for that song, it is fortunate for her that Lionel Bart’s Oliver! score seems to be
almost singer-proof. I don’t like the
song I
Dreamed A Dream form Les Miserables very much at the best
of times, and Jacqui Scott failed to
sell it to me, I think Issy Van Randwyck
is about the only person whose version I’ve found to be palatable. While as for
Doug LaBreque’s performance of Something’s
Coming, despite having Bernstein’s original orchestration, the NSO conducted by the usually very able John Owen Edwards, seems lacklustre,
such a contrast to the brilliance they displayed in the JAY/TER recording of On The Town. Sometimes a good piece
of Bernstein can sound really lush but this song does not (though I wonder what
Leonard Bernstein conducting it
would have sounded like). Listening to it I couldn’t help feeling I’d much
rather be listening to
There are
several other tracks which while passable renditions, suffer from the fact that
I have heard better versions of these songs. These include: Anything
You Can Do, Dancing Queen, Luck Be A Lady, Some Enchanted Evening, Maybe
This Time, and, Memory. All classic songs, which are
done time after time. For the purposes of a compilation album Caroline O’Connor and Mark Adams’s Anything You Can Do is
ok, though I still think Kim Criswell
& Thomas Hampson, not to mention
Howard Keel & Judy Garland are rather superior. Caroline O’Connor’s Dancing
Queen works pretty well, it’s a great song, though no one can do ABBA’s Bjorn Ulaevaus & Benny
Andersson’s work in a musical theatre context quite like Louise Plowright. Meanwhile Doug LaBrque’s Luck Be A Lady in most
respects an adequate performance of a classic, but I couldn’t stop thinking
about how wonderfully Emma Lindars
did that song in a TheatreMAD gala recently. Similar things can be said about William Michals’s performance of Some
Enchanted Evening, perfectly satisfactory, though I couldn’t stop
thinking of Kevin Clash’s parody
version on Sesame Street. As for Maybe This Time, the song does seem
to suit Sally Ann Triplett’s
talents, her performance is somewhere in between Jane Horrocks and Maria
Friedman, not as good as Friedman, but not as bad as Horrocks, and in some
ways kind of right for the character she is meant to be portraying. Memory
is not a song I like all that much, although Jacinta Whyte’s performance of it is satisfactory, for me at least Kim Criswell is the only person who can
really sell that song (and she did it on her JAY solo album, Back To Before, of all things).
However this
album does contain a few classic rousers, besides Dancing Queen; there is
also a jolly rendition of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang from Sally Ann Triplett, Simon Bowman, Max Milner, and, Hayley
Wareham. While Deborah Myers,
and, James Graeme provide such a
super performance of Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,
that I couldn’t help feeling it was almost totally comparable to Scarlet Strallen and Gavin Lee’s
practically perfect performances in the stage show, at
So once again
this album has some good bits on it, it generally makes reasonably pleasant
background listening, with a few exceptions. However, many of the best tracks
on it do appear on other JAY
compilation albums, and anyone who really likes them will probably have them on
whichever albums they were originally done for in the first place.
Critics Comments
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Links about The Solid Gold Collections: The Best Of The Musicals
