Annie OBC: Yes, I had never listened to Annie or seen the movie as a child, so I came in to the cast album with a fresh set of ears, and hopefully an opinion unbiased by nostalgia. The beginnings of the cast album are certainly well constructed, with the tuneful and hopeful, "Maybe", "It's A Hard-Knock Life", and "Tomorrow". And Miss Hannigan's solo number "Little Girls" is an appreciated bit of comedy from composer Charles Strouse. The score then tours through several forgettable numbers till we reach intermission. And we get the clever, "You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile", and a bit of an 11 o'clock song in "Something Was Missing", but, we also get the unfortunate title number, and a heart-warming finale. Overall, it is a charming, family-friendly cast album that does occasionally rise above mediocre, that contains a worthy message. Grade: B-
Annie Get Your Gun NBC w/Bernadette Peters: The ageless Peters fulfills her star billing with rapturous beauty in the Irving Berlin classic. Her accent is certainly a bit grating, but especially in songs like, "Moonshine Lullaby" and "I Got Lost In His Arms" her purring vocals shine. But, ah listening to Berlin's score is like watching a good baseball team: hit after-hit after-hit after-hit. Though his songs may not rise above the crowd-pleasing, each one is surprisingly well-crafted, for a man who rarely wrote music to match a book. Tom Wopat alongside Peters is good, but not outstanding, maneuvering through an upbeat "My Defenses are Down" with a solid baritone sound and slide. Grab this album even if you know the tunes, or already have Merman's version just for the revisualization and the star-power of Bernadette Peters. Grade: B+
Applause OBC: Applause(another Charles Strouse score) is more comparable to a little league baseball team, a lot more big misses than big hits. The show was a star vehicle for film star Lauren Bacall, and although her voice is simply awful and quite bear-like in moments, she manages to deliver a star performance. Her "Hurry Back" is surprisingly emotional despite being just an awful piece of music, and when she sings, "Welcome to the Theatre", she entrances and delights. But the score is plagued with misfires like "Fasten Your Seatbelts", "One Halloween", "Who's that Girl". Really just destroying most of the score's momentum. But the more romantic and sweet "One of a Kind" and the folksy "Good Friends" won me over, and this one actually ends up being a sentimental favorite of mine. And the semi-rousing title number is a real piece of work, though it feels a bit more tuneful when Mr. Strouse sings it on the bonus tracks. Side
note: A drunk Lauren Bacall is strikingly equivalent to Carol Channing. Grade: C
