Search - Broadway Unplugged :: Broadway Unplugged 2

Even better than Broadway Unplugged vol. 1

L. Baker | now in Texas | 06/13/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"First off, a track listing since Amazon hasn't given one.



1. Some Enchanted Evening (from "South Pacific") performed by William Michals (sic)

2. What Did I Have That I Don't Have? (from "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever") performed by Bill Daugherty

3. Raunchy (from "110 in the Shade") performed by Emily Skinner

4. I'd Rather Be Sailing (from "A New Brain") performed by Norm Lewis

5. I Know Him So Well (from "Chess") performed by Jenifer Kruskamp and Anne Steele

6. I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues (from "Earl Carroll Vanities"-1932) performed by Mary Bond Davis

7. Joey, Joey, Joey (from "The Most Happy Fella") performed by Cheyenne Jackson

8. Be A Lion (from "The Wiz") performed by Liz Callaway

9. Fate (from "Kismet") performed by Marc Kudisch

10. Anything You Can Do (from "Annie Get Your Gun") performed by Marc Kudisch and Sutton Foster

11. On the Street Where You Live (from "My Fair Lady") performed by Euan Morton

12. It's a Hard Knock Life (from "Annie") performed by Bobby Belfry, Brandon Cutrell, Peter Gonyo, Steven Ray Watkins, and Lennie Watts

13. Being Alive (from "Company") performed by Deven May

14. Lonely House (from "Street Scene") performed by Ron Bohmer

15. Where or When (from "Babes in Arms") performed by Sutton Foster

16. Losing My Mind (from "Follies") performed by Barbara Walsh

17. There But for You Go I (from "Brigadoon") performed by Eddie Korbich

18. Back to Before (from "Ragtime") performed by Christiane Noll



Anyone who has heard the first volume of "Broadway Unplugged" is familiar with the format. Basically, a bunch of Broadway's best get together in a theatre with a small group of musicians and no microphones and prove that they've got the same lungpower as the belters of old (i.e. Ethel Mermen, et al.) The whole evening is woven together by theatre critic Scott Siegel introducing both the performers and the pieces along with historical anecdotes about Broadway history and the advent of amplification moving into and changing the ways theatre is performed.



The real highlight of the album, and worth a purchase by itself, is the reuniting of "Thoroughly Modern Mille" stars Marc Kudisch and Sutton Foster on their hilarious "train wreck" of an interpretation of "Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better" full of missed cues, gentle ribbing, self-deprecation, and the genuine joy of performing for an audience of theatre lovers who are in on the jokes. Marc Kudisch also helped as a producer of the evening and luckily insisted that the song be included on the album where a lesser performer might have insisted on cutting it with all its imperfections. Live performance has its own charms and I'm glad they preserved it.



Another highlight is an all-male version of "It's a Hard Knock Life" from "Annie" with the audience obviously enjoying it just as much as the guys performing it. Emily Skinner and Liz Callaway give solid solo performances (for duets in the same vein see their "Raw at Town Hall" CD). "I Know Him So Well" from "Chess" is a new experience with such a stripped down arrangement, but surprisingly sounds rich and full with the enthusiasm of its duetists: Jenifer Kruskamp and Anne Steele. William Michals has the baritone every guy wishes he had on "Some Enchanted Evening" and Barbara Walsh gives a soaring rendition of "Losing My Mind" from "Follies." And Christianne Noll brings everything to a close with "Back to Before" from "Ragtime", a great performance of a great song from a great show.



Hopefully, this CD will get back into print so you won't have to pay the crazy prices the Amazon merchants are asking, or you can always try Footlight Records in New York or Dress Circle in the U.K. Any way you can get it, it's certainly worth having in your collection."