Record companies in both the U.S. and the U.K. seem to have had a busy winter, because this spring there’s a bounty of musical theater–related recordings to talk about.
Let’s start with the cast albums for two Broadway shows that opened last fall. From Ghostlight Records, we’ve gotten the absolutely beguiling original cast recording of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. For this giddy tale about a man who murders his way to a family fortune, composer Steven Lutvak has turned out a sprightly nostalgic score, and he, along with Robert L. Freedman, have outfitted the melodies with some terribly amusing lyrics. Bryce Pinkham (from Broadway’s Ghost) plays the murderer and Tony Award winner Jefferson Mays (I Am My Own Wife) plays all eight of his victims. They’re both in fine form vocally, as are Jane Carr and Lisa O’Hare, the hero/villain’s love interests. Chances are this will receive repeated plays after it has been added to your collection.
Also among the newest releases is Broadway Records’ Big Fish. Showcasing a score from Andrew Lippa that’s bold, brash, and appropriately twangy for this tale about an Alabama man’s fantasy life and his troubled relationship with his son, the album splendidly preserves the appealing performances of the show’s stars, Tony winner Norbert Leo Butz (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) and Tony nominees Bobby Steggert (Ragtime) and Kate Baldwin (Finian’s Rainbow).
There’s a third cast album of a show that debuted last fall. It’s PS Classics’ Fun Home, which played downtown at the legendary Public Theater (incidentally, the same theater where A Chorus Line premiered). With a richly varied score by Jeanine Tesori, whose work includes musicals ranging from Shrek to Caroline, or Change, and some cunning lyrics by Lisa Kron, this musical about a woman’s memories of coming out in the 1970s and her dad’s struggles with his own sexuality blew me away in the theatre. And the recording not only reminded me of its emotional power, but brought its funnier aspects to the fore. It also features some exceptional performances by Tony winner Michael Cerveris (Sweeney Todd) and three-time Tony nominee Judy Kuhn (Chess, Les Misérables on Broadway) as the woman’s folks, and by Beth Malone and Alexandra Socha as the grade-school and college-age incarnations of the central character.
PS Classics has also just released a studio cast recording of Yank!, a sweet, retro-sounding show from David Zellnick and Joseph Zellnick that was seen Off-Broadway a few years back. There had been talk that this one, about what it was like to be gay in the service during World War II, might make it to Broadway. You’ll understand why as you listen to the combination of the lush music and the terrific company featuring the in-demand Steggert, as the young man discovering himself, and Nancy Andrews, in a variety of roles.
It remains to be seen whether Stephen Ward, the newest musical from Andrew Lloyd Webber, will come to Broadway, but if you want to sample what this one sounds like, the London cast recording is now available in the U.S. from Decca. Musically this is one of Llloyd Webber’s most intimate musicals, calling to mind shows like Aspects of Love and By Jeeves. Be assured, though, that it also surges with the sort of passion that’s heard in his record-breaking The Phantom of the Opera. What makes this one so much fun is that the show’s subject — a British scandal from the 1960s — gives the composer a chance to write some nifty pastiches of that period’s rock and pop songs. It’s an intriguing and often very satisfying listen.
If you’d like to get a sense of other British musical theater writers, you can turn to a trio of new albums from SimG Records, which has proven itself to be an invaluable resource for emerging writers on both sides of the Atlantic. The company has just released a trio of new titles, including Ushers: The Front of House Musical by Yiannis Koutsakos and James Oban. It’s a witty and generously tuneful glimpse into the aspirations, loves, and foibles of the folks who take you to your seats at the theatre, and well worth a listen.
Equally appealing is The A-Z of Mrs. P., based on the writings of Phyllis Pearsall, the real-life woman who created the A-Z Street Guides for London. Pearsall’s tale is a fantastic one, and composer-lyricist Gwyneth Herbert has written a score that somehow manages to simultaneously capture the sound and energy of London and a delicate English garden. You’ll want to make note not only of Isy Suttie’s charming vocals as Pearsall, but also of the work of Tony Award winner Frances Ruffelle (the original Eponine in Les Misérables), who plays Pearsall’s mom.
The third new SimG release is The Bakewell Bakeoff, a delicious (sorry) little tuner about a competition between a decidedly kooky group of bakers.
If you have a taste for something slightly older, check out Masterwork Broadway’s digital releases of a pair of television soundtrack recordings of two classic musicals: Cole Porter’s Kiss Me, Kate and Lerner and Loewe’s Brigadoon. Headlining both is the smooth-throated Broadway vet Robert Goulet (Camelot), and he’s in grand form in both, as are Carol Lawrence (West Side Story), who plays his leading lady in the Porter musical, and Sally Ann Howes (Truly Scrumptious in the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), who delivers beautifully in Brigadoon. It is a welcome treat to have these two lovely-sounding rarities enter the digital age.
You’ll find more forgotten gems on The Wizard of Oz (The 75th Anniversary Anthology) from Sepia Records. This thoughtfully curated, generously annotated album offers up versions of all of your favorites — “Over the Rainbow,” “If I Only Had a Brain,” and “Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead,” — just not from the soundtrack, but from other neglected recordings. Beyond the familiar, there’s a lot of material that you might not remember, or perhaps never heard, like “The Jitterbug” (which was cut from the film). There’s also a swell mini-documentary about the making of the film that was produced for a 1939 NBC radio broadcast. I imagine this one will have Oz aficionados — and even those with only a passing interest in the film — smiling from ear to ear.
In a similar vein are a pair of releases of neglected British shows, from Stage Door Records. The first is Alan Price and Trevor Peacock’s musical take on the Andy Capp cartoons, which had a brief West End run in the early 1980s and had film star Tom Courtenay in the title role. This one, despite its relatively recent vintage, has an old-fashioned music-hall sound to it, but from time to time it takes on a decidedly more modern edge. Not a lot of people have had a chance to hear this one, and it’s worth seeking out.
So, too, is Stage Door’s Privates on Parade, which like Yank! takes you back to the 1940s musically. Denis King’s music has a bubbly effervescence that’s perfectly matched by Peter Nichols’s lyrics. The show features a number of well-known British stars from the stage and screen, notably Nigel Hawthorne (PBS’s Yes Minister) and Denis Quilley (London’s original Sweeney Todd), who is an utter joy as he croons his way through a couple of the songs, particularly the intentionally sappy love ballad “The Little Things We Used to Do.”
And finally, there’s TheBroadway Baritone from David Serero, who was featured on a recording of Duke Ellington’s rarely heard Beggar’s Holiday that die-hard fans were looking for a little more than a year ago. His newest album is filled with music theater classics ranging from “The Impossible Dream” (from Man of La Mancha) to “Music of the Night” (from Phantom), which he delivers with gusto, sumptuously backed by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.
Privacy Policy
Last updated and effective as of January 14, 2019
Introduction and Your Acceptance of These Terms
Broadway Direct ("Us", "We", "Our") knows that your personal information is very important to you, and We respect your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how your personal information is collected, used, and protected and the choices available to you with respect to Our handling of your data. This Policy applies to all visitors to Broadway Direct.com, Our mobile services, services available via telephone, and those transactions that take place in person, by postal or electronic mail. (Collectively, the "Site"), including ticket sales, comments on articles, and any information provided to Us.. By visiting this website, you consent and agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy and to the collection, use and storage of your information by Us. From time to time, We may change this Privacy Policy. When We do, the “Last Updated” line above will be revised. You are responsible for regularly reviewing this Privacy Policy. Your continued use of this Site following the posting of a changed Privacy Policy indicates your acceptance of the changes. Unless We provide you with specific notice, no changes to Our Privacy Policy will apply retroactively. Please also refer to our Terms of Use and Lottery Terms & Conditions. If you require any more information or have any questions about Our privacy policy, please feel free to contact Us by email at [email protected].
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We comply with the Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising set forth by the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA). You can opt-out of targeted advertising from certain providers at www.aboutads.info/consumers.
How We Use Your Personal Information
The personal information We collect allows Us to keep you posted on updates to Broadway Direct. It also helps Us to improve Our services, content, and advertising. If you don’t want to be on Our email list, you can opt out anytime by clicking the “unsubscribe” button or sending an unsubscribe email to [email protected]. From time to time, We may use your personal information to send transactional emails, such as communications about purchases and changes to Our terms, conditions, and policies. Because this information is important to your interaction with Broadway Direct, you may not opt out of receiving these communications. We may also use personal information for internal purposes such as auditing, data analysis, and research to improve Broadway Direct’s services, and customer communications. If you enter into a sweepstakes, contest, or similar promotion We may use the information you provide to administer those programs.
Information Collected By/Shared With Third Parties
Other than as provided in this Privacy Policy, we do not share your personal information with third parties.
Advertising. We partner with advertising companies who may use information from cookies and the tracking tags they place on our website to provide you with targeted advertisements about goods and services that may be of interest to you based on your use of our website and to track the effectiveness of ads served to you. These advertising company partners may anonymously track your Internet usage across other websites in their networks beyond our website. Any information that these advertising companies collect via cookies and tracking tags is generally not personally identifiable (unless, for example, you provide personal information to them through an ad or email message). You are welcome to browse the site in private/incognito mode, which means cookies will not be activated and previous cookies will not be tracked. If you need help with this, contact us at [email protected]. If you would like more information about the use of cookies and tracking tags and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, see the Network Advertising Initiatives consumer Web site at http://www.networkadvertising.org/consumer/.
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Third Parties Doing Work for Us. Third parties have no rights to use any data We have collected on your behalf. However, We may employ other companies or individuals to perform functions on Our behalf, such as sending postal mail, email, and text messages, conducting sweepstakes/contests, prize fulfillment and promotional activities, analyzing data, providing marketing assistance, processing credit card payments and providing customer service. These outside suppliers, agents and vendors have access to your personal information only as needed to perform their functions.
Third Parties with Links from Our Website. From our website, you may be able to click on links to third party sites to buy tickets and merchandise and for other purposes. These third party sites may collect information, including personal information. We are not responsible for, nor do we have access to the information they collect. The collection of this information is governed by the privacy policies on the applicable third party sites.
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When necessary. We may also release personal information when we believe, in good faith, that such release is reasonably necessary to protect the rights, property or safety of Ourselves, Our clients, Our users, or others. We may disclose personal information about you to law enforcement, other government officials, or other third parties, as We, in our sole discretion, believe necessary or appropriate, in connection with an investigation of fraud, intellectual property infringement, or other activity that is illegal or may expose Us to legal liability.
Public Forums
Please be aware that when you disclose PII through the comment feature or message board on the Site, the information may become public and accessible to all or a part of the Site community, so it is important for you to exercise discretion and appropriate caution when deciding to reveal PII in these areas. In addition, when you choose to make a posting, certain PII may be available for other users to view. We urge you to exercise discretion and caution when deciding to disclose your PII, or any other information, on the Site. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE USE OF ANY PII YOU VOLUNTARILY DISCLOSE THROUGH THE SITE VIA THESE FORUMS AND OTHER INTERACTIVE FEATURES. Please note that We reserve the right, but have no obligation, to republish content posted (including any PII contained therein) as further set forth in Our Terms of Use.
Co-Branded Pages
We may enter into relationships with “powered by” partners, business partners, sponsors, and co-branded sites (referred to here as “co-branded pages”). These might include, for example, pages that share our name and that of another entity. There may be a specific privacy policy on any such co-branded page. Any personal information that you provide when signing up at any co-branded page may be collected by, or shared with, our third party partner. We have no control over, and are not responsible for, our third party partners’ use of your personal information. If you want to learn more about other entities’ privacy practices, please review the websites of those third parties.
Transactions With Third Party E-commerce Partners, Vendors and Advertisers
When you provide personal information to one of Our Site’s third party e-commerce partners, vendors or advertisers (i.e. Ticketmaster.com, Telecharge.com), this transaction will occur in connection with the site of the e-commerce partner, vendor or advertiser, not on the Site, and, as such, the personal information you provide is collected pursuant to and controlled by the privacy policy of such e-commerce partner, vendor or advertiser. Broadway Direct is not responsible for such parties’ privacy policies and We encourage you to familiarize yourself with the applicable privacy policy of the e-commerce site with which you transact business or to contact the operator of such site for more information.
Delivery of Advertising and Other Content
In addition to ads and content that We may serve you directly, We use third-party advertising companies and marketing services companies to serve ads and other content when you visit Broadway Direct and elsewhere on the internet and in other media. Both We and these companies may use information about your visits to Broadway Direct and elsewhere to serve ads and other content to you. In the course of doing so, a unique third-party cookie may be placed or recognized on your browser by such companies. In addition, We and these companies may use Web beacons to help manage Our online advertising and content. These Web beacons enable Us and the third-party companies to recognize a browser’s cookie when a browser visits this Site and to learn which banner ads bring users to our website and to serve you ads that you may find of interest elsewhere on the internet and in other media. Both Broadway Direct and these companies may use information obtained from your visits to Broadway Direct or other websites, and information received from you offline in order to provide advertisements about goods and services and other content of interest to you across the internet and in other media. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used in this manner by Our third party advertising companies, please visit http://www.networkadvertising.org/optout_nonppii.asp and/or www.aboutads.info/choices. European users may opt out of receiving targeted advertising by visiting http://www.youronlinechoices.eu/. In addition, we may provide PII and Anonymous Information to marketing services companies. This may include information we received from you offline or online. These companies may combine information we provide (including PII and Anonymous Information) with personal and anonymous information they may have about you, using cookies they place or that We place on their behalf, as described in the section regarding “Cookies and Tracking Tags”. We require these companies to delete the PII we provide them. These companies may use the resulting non-personal information and such cookies for their own marketing purposes, and they may provide the same to their customers for their customer’s marketing purposes. Some of Our emails may contain tags that allow Us and Our advertisers and other partners to determine the types of content that may be of interest to you. Those tags may contain PII and may be shared with others to the same extent indicated in the section regarding “Cookies and Tracking Tags”. Those tags may not be deleted but you can opt out of receiving the emails.
Use of This Site by Children
The Site is not directed to individuals under the age of thirteen (13), and We request that such individuals do not provide personal information through the Site. If a parent or guardian becomes aware that his or her child has provided Us with PII without the parent or guardian’s consent by, for example, misrepresenting his or her age, that parent or guardian should contact us at [email protected]. If Broadway Direct determines that it has collected personal information of children under the age of 13, Broadway Direct will immediately delete such information and any accounts believed to be held by children under 13. In addition, we may not collect or process information from a citizen of an EU member state under the age of sixteen (16) without such person’s parental consent. If you are a citizen of an EU member state under the age of 16, please tell your parents that you are using the Site and have your parents email Us at [email protected] so that We may delete any information We may have collected about you.
California Visitors
California Civil Code § 1798.83 permits California residents to request information about whether we have disclosed personal information to any third parties for the third parties’ direct marketing purposes. California residents have the right to request in writing: (a) a list of the categories of Personal Information, such as name, email address and mailing address and the type of services provided to the customer that a business has disclosed to third parties (including affiliates that are separate legal entities) during the immediately preceding calendar year for the third parties’ direct marketing purposes and (b) the names and addresses of all such third parties. To make a request, please contact Us at the following email address: [email protected].
EU Visitors
If you are located within the European Union, you should be aware that your personal information will be transferred to the United States, the laws of which may be deemed by the European Union to have inadequate data protection. If you are located in a country outside the United States and voluntarily submit personal information to Us, you thereby consent to the general use of such information as provided in this privacy policy and to the transfer of that information to, and/or storage of that information in, the United States. We transfer Personal Information from the European Economic Area and Switzerland to the USA and other countries, some of which have not been determined by the European Commission to have an adequate level of data protection. Personal Information of EU residents will be transferred in compliance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”).
Rights of EU Data Subjects
If you are a resident of the European Union, under the GDPR, European Union residents, as data subjects, have the following rights:
Right to access – This right allows individuals to obtain confirmation as to whether or not personal information concerning him or her is being processed and provide access to such personal information. It also allows individuals to request details of the processing of his or her personal information, including, without limitation, categories of recipients to whom the personal information have been or will be disclosed and purposes of processing.
Right to rectify – This right allows individuals to rectify any inaccurate personal information about him or her.
Right to restrict processing – This right allows individuals to block or suppress processing of personal data under certain circumstances.
Right to be forgotten – This right is also known as the “right to erasure”. It is an individual’s right to have personal data erased or to prevent processing in specific circumstances.
Right of data portability – This right allows individuals to move, copy or transfer personal data from one place to another in a secure manner without interrupting the integrity and usability of the information.
Right to object to processing – This right allows individuals to object to certain types of processing, including direct marketing, profiling and providing for purposes of scientific or historical research and statistics.
An EU resident has the right to access his or her personal data that We hold and to ask that their personal data be corrected or erased and to port their data. An EU resident may also have the right to object to, or request that We restrict certain processing or to withdraw consent previously provided. If you would like to exercise your rights under the GDPR, please contact us at [email protected]. If you are an EU resident and have a concern about our processing of your personal data that we are not able to resolve, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Authority where you reside. For contact details of your relevant local Data Protection Authority, please see http://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/article29/item-detail.cfm?item_id=612080
Security of Your Personal Information
Broadway Direct employs reasonable security measures consistent with standard industry practice, for personal information collected through this Site, including physical, electronic and operational measures to maintain security and prevent unauthorized access. While Broadway Direct takes all appropriate steps to safeguard personal information under Our control, unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet or method of storing data can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As such, We cannot guarantee that personal information supplied by users will not be accessed on Our servers, or intercepted while being transmitted to Us over the Internet. We assume no liability for any damages you may suffer as a result of interception, alteration or misuse of information during such transfers.
Retention
We will retain your information for as long as your account or inquiry is active and for a reasonable time thereafter in accordance with Our standard procedures or as necessary to comply with Our legal obligations, to resolve disputes, and to enforce Our agreements. Even if We delete some or all of your Personal Information, We may continue to retain and use aggregate or anonymous data previously collected and/or anonymize or aggregate your Personal Information. Please note that We will not be liable for disclosures of your data due to errors or unauthorized acts of third parties.
Choice/Opt Out
This Site provides users the opportunity to opt-out of receiving communications from Us, at any time, by email at [email protected], or by clicking the unsubscribe link in any email communication. The Site gives users the following options for removing their information from our database, to not receive future communications or to no longer receive our service, at any time.
Users can send mail to the following postal address: Broadway Direct 1501 Broadway 14th floor New York, NY 10036
Users can call the following telephone number: (800) 223-6715.
Users can opt-out of receiving future newsletter emails from Us by selecting the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of our email. However, We are not responsible for removing your information from the lists of any third party who has previously been provided with your information or is collecting your information through their cookies. You have the right to withdraw your consent for Our processing for your personal information by contacting us at [email protected].
Correct/Update
This website gives users the following options for changing and modifying information previously provided, at any time.
Users can send mail to the following postal address: Broadway Direct 1501 Broadway 14th floor New York, NY 10036
Users can call the following telephone number: (800) 223-6715
Successors
In the event that We are, or any component of our operations is, merged with, or is acquired by, another entity, then any such successor or acquiring entity may become the successor to Our obligations with respect to the personal information that you have provided to Us, which would be necessary for the entity to effectively continue our business. By using this website, you consent to any transfer and use of such personal information by an entity assuming control of Our operations as a result of a merger, purchase of assets, or liquidation in bankruptcy or insolvency.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, the practices of this website, or your dealings with this website, you can send an email to [email protected]. Our data protection officer can also be contacted at [email protected].