Monty Python's Spamalot Soundtrack CD

Monty Python's Spamalot Soundtrack Track Listing of songs: No One Mourns the Wicked; Dear Old Shiz; Wizard and I, The; What Is This Feeling?; Something Bad; Dancing Through Life; Popular; I'm Not That Girl; One Short Day; A Sentimental Man; Defying Gravity; Thank Goodness; Wonderful; I'm Not That Girl; As Long as You're Mine; No Good Deed; March of the Witch Hunters; For Good; Finale;

Monty Python's Spamalot Soundtrack Going into the family business was not what the grandson of songwriting icon Richard Rodgers originally had in mind, but composer/lyricist Adam Guettel rose to the occasion while grabbing the ring at his own steady pace. His musical THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA tells the touching love story of an American tourist and an Italian countryman in post-WWII Firenze. Guettel's unabashed romanticism includes soaring, long-lined melodies, rich and deep harmonic language not far from the land of Sondheim, and lush orchestrations. The refreshing, wide-eyed naivete felt by the young Clara is aptly translated in her solo "The Beauty Is," while Fabrizio's charming awkwardness with English (and with courting a beautiful stranger) is winningly expressed in their duet "Passeggiata. " The exciting rhythms of "Hysteria" and "Octet" recall Stravinsky's neo-classical language. The story's tragic secret is achingly revealed by Clara's mother in "The Beauty Is (Reprise)." All the proceedings are supported by a superior cast including Victoria Clark (URINETOWN, TITANIC), Kelli O'Hara (DRACULA, JEKYLL & HYDE) and Matthew Morrison (HAIRSPRAY, FOOTLOOSE). The future of musical theater may look murky to some. But Guettel's sure-handed amalgam of styles has a voice of his own, one that can point the way. Composer/Lyricist: Adam Guettel. Personnel: Andrew Schwartz (guitar, mandolin); Adam Guettel (guitar); Victoria Drake (harp); Anne Lehmann, Matthew Lehmann, Sylvia Davanzo, Lisa Matricardi, James Tsao, Shinwon Kim, Cenovia Cummins , Joyce Hammann, Victor Schultz, Mineko Yajima, Belinda Whitney, Christian Hebel, Katherine LiVolsi Stern (violin); Peter Sachon, Robert Burkhart, Ariane Lallemand, Eugene J. Moye (cello); Richard Heckman (clarinet, oboe, English horn); Gili Sharett (bassoon, contrabassoon); Dan Riddle (piano, celesta); Willard Miller, Mark Sherman (percussion). Audio Mixer: Todd Whitelock. Liner Note Author: Frank Rich. Recording information: Right Track Recording, New York, NY (04/25/2005/04/26/2005). Photographer: Joan Marcus. Translator: Judith Blazer. Unknown Contributor Role: Elizabeth Spencer.

Monty Python's Spamalot Soundtrack Who would of thunk it? That some ingenious soul(s) would use the spelling bee -- that great American institution that millions of children have suffered through -- as a gristmill for a Broadway musical? The 25th Annual Putnam Country Spelling Bee does exactly that, and Ghost Light has provided an original Broadway cast recording of the musical. The compositions and lyrics are from William Finn, and with a Tony under his belt, he's got the experience to make even a spelling bee dramatic. As one might imagine, the cast includes a number of overachievers gathered at a junior high gym for the contest. There are love songs to the dictionary ("My Friend, the Dictionary" rhymes Nietzsche with Christiana Richie), expressions of inferiority ("I'm Not That Smart"), and lots and lots of spelling. The music is catchy and the cast are fine singers, though numbers like "Pandemonium" are a bit overwhelming as what seems like a dozen spellers trade lines and build to a crescendo as the band plays louder and louder. A musical without the visuals can seem a bit fragmented, and that's true of The 25th Annual Putnam Country Spelling Bee. Some may find all of this a bit precious and not unlike sitting through another spelling bee. Others (i.e., overachievers) will no doubt enjoy a glance back at their glory days. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr. Audio Mixer: Joel Moss . Liner Note Author: Bill Rosenfield. Recording information: Avatar Studios, New York, NY (04/05/2005); Sound on Sound Studios, New York, NY (04/05/2005). Photographer: Joan Marcus. Original Soundtrack: Celia Keenan-Bolger, Jose Llana, Derrick Baskin, Craig, Deborah S., Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Dan Fogler, Lisa Howard, Jay Reiss, Sarah Saltzberg. Personnel: Scott Kuney (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Ming Yeh (violin); Liuh-Wen Ting (viola); Dennis Anderson (flute, clarinet, oboe, alto saxophone); Richard Heckman (flute, clarinet, alto saxophone); Russ Rizner-French (French horn); Carmel Dean (synthesizer).

Monty Python's Spamalot Soundtrack  

Monty Python's Spamalot Soundtrack Track Listing of songs: Little Women, musical: Act 1. Overture; Little Women, musical: Act 1. An Operatic Tragedy; Little Women, musical: Act 1. Better; Little Women, musical: Act 1. Our Finest Dreams; Little Women, musical: Act 1. Here Alone; Little Women, musical: Act 1. Could You?; Little Women, musical: Act 1. I'd Be Delighted; Little Women, musical: Act 1. Take A Chance On Me; Little Women, musical: Act 1. Off to Massachusetts; Little Women, musical: Act 1. Five Forever; Little Women, musical: Act 1. More Than I Am; Little Women, musical: Act 1. Astonishing; Little Women, musical: Act 2. The Weekly Volcano Press; Little Women, musical: Act 2. How I Am; Little Women, musical: Act 2. Some Things Are Meant To Be; Little Women, musical: Act 2. The Most Amazing Thing; Little Women, musical: Act 2. Days of Plenty; Little Women, musical: Act 2. The Fire Within Me; Little Women, musical: Act 2. Small Umbrella In The Rain; Little Women, musical: Act 2. Sometimes When You Dream;

Monty Python's Spamalot Soundtrack In his seventies, Broadway songwriter Stephen Sondheim's production of entire new shows may have slowed (only Bounce, which closed out of town in 2003, appeared after 1994's Passion), but the remounting of his earlier works became a torrent in the spring and summer 2004, when the Broadway-affiliated Roundabout Theatre revived both Assassins and Pacific Overtures and the Broadway-affiliated Lincoln Center Theater brought in a heavily revised version of The Frogs. Sondheim and librettist Burt Shevelove had collaborated on this adaptation of Aristophanes' 405 B.C. comedy for the Yale Drama School in 1974, when it was staged in a swimming pool. In 2001, Nathan Lane played the leading role of Dionysus in a studio cast recording that combined the short score with the four songs Sondheim wrote for a 1966 television musical, Evening Primrose. After that, Lane worked with Sondheim to expand The Frogs, adding to Shevelove's book as the composer wrote six new songs. The result opened on July 22, 2004, and played a limited run for Lincoln Center Theater's subscription audiences before closing on October 10. Two days later, the cast assembled for a recording produced by Tommy Krasker, who also had handled the 2001 album. While that version did theater fans the favor of preserving what then seemed like an archival work, this one reinvents The Frogs. The new material includes the hilarious "Dress Big," sung by Burke Moses with Lane, and the equally sidesplitting "Hades," sung by Peter Bartlett. "Invocation and Instructions to the Audience," an original number, has been refurbished; it now includes an admonition about cell phones. As Sondheim does with the music, Lane has sprinkled the dialogue with witty quotes from other sources. But as funny as The Frogs is, it also has a serious and timely message. By the end, when Dionysus has returned from Hades, the characters speak directly to the people of Athens, and it's clear the cast is speaking directly to the people of the U.S. in the audience. It isn't hard to understand that the implied message is that listeners should vote in the 2004 Presidential election, and vote against the incumbent. By the time the album was released in January 2005, five days after the Inauguration, it was too late for that message to be satisfied, but Sondheim, Shevelove, and Lane's The Frogs remained an entertaining and pointed cry for tolerance and peace. ~ William Ruhlmann Composer: Stephen Sondheim. Adapters: Nathan Lane; Burt Shevelove. Original Broadway Cast: John Byner, Michael Siberry, Nathan Lane, Peter Barlett, Roger Bart, Burke Moses, Daniel Orion Davis. Personnel: Jennifer Hoult (harp); Mineko Yajima (violin); Richard Brice (viola); Deborah Sepe (cello); Eric Weidman, Les Scott (clarinet); Tom Sefcovic (bassoon); Dominic Derasse, Phil Granger (trumpet); Michael Boschen, Richard Clark (trombone); Dean Plank (bass trombone); Paul Pizzuti (drums, percussion); Thad Wheeler (percussion). Audio Mixer: Tom Lazarus. Liner Note Authors: Nathan Lane; Ira Weitzman. Recording information: The Hit Factory, New York, NY (10/12/2004). Editor: Bart Migal. Photographer: Paul Kolnik.