Elegies: A Song Cycle Soundtrack CD

 A FINN WIN (again!)
I saw this show in Toronto, but I (almost) think it works best as an album, hearing and rehearing these songs brings new appreciation on William (Allen) Finn's genius. As with all great song writers we need time to hear and appreciate his lyrics and melodies fully. (Like Sondheim hearing the show before seeing it is almost always best.) The cast of five is flawless, I'm a huge Betty Buckley fan, but to single out one is to miss another. Not a flawless show (I found the 9/11 songs weaker than others... and occasionally laboured), but it's deeply personal nature, and it's fearlessness in tackling great loss (of various sorts) and great beauty found late is stunning. I grew up in Toronto Canada, and both parents are still very much alive yet "14 Dwight Ave., Natick, Massachusetts" and the following song "When The Earth Stopped Turning" are so completely understandable to me they feel like my own thoughts at times. And allow "Mister Choi & Madame G" time and it will win you over. Like many of the song a seemingly simple idea in Finn's hands becomes profoundly moving. Interestingly (but not surprisingly) Joy rather than sadness is the strongest emotion here, and a call to experience what you have. A profoundly Human show/song cycle that will turn listeners into fans of carefully (and occasionally irreverently) crafted songs. Andrew Lloyd Webber and co. will no longer reign so high in your estimation I'd warrant after this. Not perfect perhaps, but PERFECTLY SUPERB!
Submitted by ceedeegee57 (Vancouver, BC, CANADA) 
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