970 stories by "Michael Portantiere"
Studio Cast, 1960 (Angel/Sepia) It seemed a radical idea in 1929: an operetta with believable characters, literate dialogue, first-rate lyrics, and a minimum of the coyness associated with t…
Original Off-Broadway Cast, 1987 (JAY) On hearing this recording, listeners are bound to wonder why the show was not more successful. The score is filled with intricate, catchy melodies by D…
Original Off-Broadway Cast, 1970 (Roulette/Original Cast Records) An interesting autobiography of a fictional black playwright who is frequently angry and sometimes simply yearning, this mus…
World Premiere Recording, 2000 (Original Cast Records) Betty Comden and Adolph Green followed On the Town with this disappointment, a satire of the 1920s. Except for a dance sequence that ap…
Original Broadway Cast, 1985 (MCA) Country-music songwriter Roger Miller furnished the score for this musical version of the Mark Twain classic Huckleberry Finn, and the result is a twangy B…
Original Broadway Cast, 1996 (Universal/Decca) Onstage, Big was a textbook example of how a top creative team with all the right intentions could destroy the charm of a beloved film. On disc…
Off Broadway Cast, 1998 (Varèse Sarabande) At a time when large-scale revues were part of the standard traffic on Broadway, Irving Berlin's As Thousands Cheer was a Bentley. It had great st…
Original Broadway Cast, 1994 (Varèse Sarabande) Those looking for a guilty treat can seek out this cast album of a show that ran for only 15 performances on Broadway in 1994. The sequel to …
Original Broadway Cast, 1978 (MCA) On the off chance that you've never seen or heard of this show, don't be put off by its title. Yes, it's about a house of prostitution and its central char…
Film Soundtrack, 1943 (Rhino-Turner) Good News was the college musical par excellence in the 1920s, and Best Foot Forward did the same for high schools when it opened on Broadway in 1941. Th…
Original Broadway Cast, 1964 (Capito1/DRG) Timing is everything, and this lush show about the life and loves of Benjamin Franklin is an excellent example of the right musical at the wrong ti…
Original Broadway Cast, 1956 (Columbia/Sony) There was only one Judy Holliday, a comic genius who could make you laugh, then break your heart a split second later. Her good friends Betty Com…
Film Soundtrack, 1991 (Walt Disney Records) The soundtrack album of songs from Disney's highly successful 1991 animated film Beauty and the Beast makes it clear why the material was destined…
Original London Cast, 1978 (Columbia/Sony) The notes for the CD edition of this recording quote an ad from the theater program, predicting that "the show will be onstage a long time " the al…
Original Off-Broadway Cast, 2001 (RCA) Ever since Little Shop of Horrors, Off-Broadway has spawned lots of campy musical sci-fi spoofs. Bat Boy is one of the better ones, though that's not s…
Original Broadway Cast, 1980 (Columbia/Sony) Â This Jim Dale vehicle has a book by Mark Bramble, music by Cy Coleman, and lyrics by Michael Stewart. A fictionalized biography of the showm…
Studio Cast, 1950 (Columbia/Sony) One of the great 1930s Broadway revues, The Band Wagon (1931) was graced with a terrific Arthur Schwartz-Howard Dietz score, including "Dancing in the Dark"…
Original Broadway Cast, 1978 (Columbia/Sony) Michael Bennett's big post-Chorus Line flop is beloved by those who saw it, but sadly, the show's special qualities are not retained on an audio-…
Original Cast, 1976 (Take Home Tunes) This beautiful cast album continues to mystify listeners as to why The Baker's Wife was a huge flop. Based on the play and subsequent film La femme du b…
Original Broadway Cast, 1965 (MGM/Decca) One of the last in the cycle of My Fair Lady wannabes, Baker Street is complete with handsome Victorian settings, a misogynistic hero (Sherlock Holme…
Original Broadway Cast, 1964 (Columbia/Sony) No stars; not recommended. Some ethnic groups have all the luck " and some don't. The same year that Fiddler on the Roof so beautifully celebrate…
Original Broadway Cast, 1983 (Polydor/]AY) The too-busy opening sequence is a bumpy ride, with some smarmy humor about the conception of a child. Then Liz Callaway sings to Todd Graff, "Pict…
Studio Cast, 1951 (Columbia/Sony) Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's 1937 classic, the father of all those hey-kids-let's-put-on-a-show movies with Mickey and Judy, has an expendable book and…
Original Broadway Cast, 1965 (Kapp/Decca) This first recording of the Mitch Leigh-Joe Darion score for their musical inspired by Miguel de Cervantes' epic novel Don Quixote is definitive. Ri…
Original London Cast, 1999 (Decca) Die-hard musical theater fans love to hate this international mega-hit, which showcases two dozen songs by the hugely popular 1970s Swedish pop group ABBA.…
