369 stories by "Rob Lester"
For broad Broadway panache, and sublime silliness, it's tough to top the well-aimed Bullets cast recording.
A musical from long ago that never had a complete recording (till now) and a just-closed show from the current season look at love quite differently. Besides debuting pre-Broadway in Massach…
I found Here Lies Love's cast album capable of casting a spell with its surprising effectiveness and lurking drama of slinky propaganda and the human desire to glorify/deify leaders and eter…
... nice songs and nice singing from the Carole King musical Beautiful and Beautiful Dreamer from Broadway-experienced Donna Vivino.
Two singers, different as night and day: One is grand and stylized, full of flamboyant flourishes, recording with a sizeable orchestra; the other is singing simply in a minimalist setting, w…
"Going Up" studio cast recording and "Andy Capp" original London cast recording.
Here they are—a collection paired up for your musical inspection—a formidable musical theatre actress well matched to songs favored by one of our greatest playwrights; lovers from thousa…
Not so gentle the touch in the rollicking A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, a new Broadway musical, or an old show about a show's troupe—Privates on Parade—transferred to CD for th…
They've made their names on Broadway—as, respectively, a Jersey Boy, a Dreamgirl, and a girl who dreams of life above sea level. The heroes and musical American idols for each are numerous…
March is "Cabaret Month" in New York and other cities ... Here are some cabaret-related CDs that came out in 2013, whose artists are nominees.
Taking place in earlier decades, two shows with characters dealing with their homosexuality have new cast albums which have come out from the PS Classics label. These are two powerful and to…
Here are two contrasting how-do-you-do scenes taking place in a single night, where memories and imagination take over. One is a new show about a date that recently visited Broadway and the …
Over the top, don't hold back .... The two have something in common.
Let's consider the male presumed perspective perceived by a woman playing-and playing with-male roles, from those women who dressed as men on stage. And then, an international all-male group…
"Gather around/ I've got a story to tell ..." sings Bebe Neuwirth ...
When artist and material connect and something rings true, the spark is one we want to experience again. This year, there were some fortunate matches of artists to material, and some rewardi…
The past year brought many pleasures to the ears and mind when it came to cast albums. Some were on the daring side, others were familiar musical comfort food in the form of revivals. Here's…
"A Swinging Birdland Christmas," Liz Callaway's "Merry and Bright" and "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas."
Broadway Cares' Carols for a Cure Vol 15, Natalie Toro's Just in Time for Christmas, Megan McClannan Reardon's Dreams of Christmas.
We get her many flavors: pluck, pizzazz, passion, playfulness and unaffected sweetness (no artificial sweetness her). The 15-track album is a welcome mix of the standards (refreshened rather…
There's a sense of wild anything-can-happen excitement, daredevilry, and delightful defiance throughout this piece.
It's a competition and people keep getting eliminated. We find out about them along the way: what makes these Texans tick, what ticks them off, what drives them to want to drive off with the…
It's all about love and marriage and how they both fall apart for a couple in The Last Five Years ... precocious, peppy young 'uns who've trod the boards, have had their When I Grow Up show …
While the Osnes oeuvre is all Maury Yeston, both Ainsworth and Benanti have a mixed bag of show tunes and pop, and—fun fact: each acknowledges Johnny Mercer, who wrote the lyric to the tit…
Mark Hartman is often found behind the piano, as he will be for two big shows on September 24 at Iridium NYC, but he will also be behind the idea of making the shows fundraisers for The Play…
