Amazon.com - Ordered 11.01.2000 - Shipped 11.14.2000 - Received 12.04.2000 Album produced by Phil Ramone and Stephen Schwartz, Reissue producer Brian Drutman, Orchestrations: Ralph Burns, Musical Director: Stanley Lebowsky, Piano solos: Edward Strauss, Scenery Designed by Tony Walton, Costumes Designed by Patricia Zipprodt, Lighting Designed by Jules Fisher, Dance Arrangements John Berkman, Sound Design Abe Jacob, Hair Styles by Ernest Adler, Directed and Choreographed by Bob Fosse, Producer Stuart Ostrow.
The booklet contains 3 pages of text by Marc Miller, about the show history, how it was born produced, promoted and how it became a big success, and a 2 pages synopsis (this text seems to be the original release text untouched, and there are no particular reissue additions). It also contains 2 full page, one big and one 2 pages black and white pictures of the show.
NOTE: This recording is an enhanced reissue of the recording I already owned, issued by the Motown label.
It's funny how opinions evolve with time. When I first listened at this recording, I thought (again) "Okay, this one's for the shelves, what did I receive next from my internet order?". Some day later, I received the Stephen Schwartz Album and immediately liked the Corner Of The Sky rendition there is on this recording. One other time, I heard the Glory short vocal introduction on another recording (I don't remember exactly which), and was impressed by that so short but so strong musical sentence (that I regularly try to perform myself at home). All this brought me back to this recording, and gave me the desire to investigate a little more in this musical from which those beautiful excerpts came from. So here am I and my opinion changed from what it was first. Of course, there is a little smell of dust on the music and the performances, but this is a great score from Stephen Schwartz. As a fair amount of Stephen Schwartz songs, those are generally joyfully (and tunefully) simple. Yes, those are mostly 'Simple Songs' with some life in each. That is, you can take nearly any of the songs from this recording, it'll work out of its context. This is Stephen Schwartz strength (and at times weakness I think), it seems he writes musicals made of nearly pop tunes, and he does not (according to me) give the whole score a very strong identity. And there's that feeling that all his songs have a little taste of Christian glorification of God and His Saints. Anyway, from the teasing Magic To Do to the Finale, it's all entertainment in a pop mode. Those songs cannot be something else than entertaining. I think they all give the listeners the desire to stand and sing, stand and clap hands. That's Stephen Schwartz magic! My preferred songs are of course Corner Of The Sky and Glory (just for the 'glory' thing tough, I've always thought something better could have been done with such an introduction). With You is also a beautiful ballad, and wonderfully performed (as the other songs he does) by John Rubinstein. His voice really fits the score perfectly. Conclusion: a very good recording.