All Shook Up CD Review
Alright.
As you should know, Rich and I saw this show on Broadway back in April (see my review back in the April archives that I was not kind enough to link you to, hehe) and I really enjoyed it. It was a very funny, energetic show. I would gladly dish out more $$ to see it again.
Unfortunately, a lot of the humor is missing from the Original Cast Recording and I'm gonna have to say that's a big mark against it. I also think they should have included a little more dialouge to set what is happening in the story. Anybody that listens to the recording without having seen the show (and without reading the story in the little booklet) would really have no idea what was going on, and I think that's pretty important in "getting" a lot of the songs. A big example of this is in "A Little Less Conversation;" in the show, this song is hilarious because Natalie, while dressed up as "Ed" is putting the moves on Chad who doesn't *know* "Ed" is actually a chick and so he's kinda like "?!?!" But if you aren't familiar with the storyline, you wouldn't know that. It's still a good song, but nevertheless, I think you'd really be missing out if you haven't seen the show before hearing the recording.
(Then again, I'm a big fan of shows *I've* never seen-- Gypsy, Weird Romance, and Avenue Q are just a few examples. Most of the plots of said shows are told in the songs' lyrics though, so it works out. Since ASU is made up entirely of Elvis songs, they DO move the plot along, but they don't expressly relate to the show, since they weren't exactly written with a musical in mind. Get what I'm saying?)
I also think it's ashame that Mark Price, as Dennis, gets shortchanged in the recording too. He had one of the funniest roles in the show, but again, you don't really get that just from hearing him.
If it sounds like I'm totally panning it, I'm not. There IS a lot to like about the recording. The cast still sounds incredible, particularly in the big company songs. Even if the humor didn't translate well, the high level of energy is still present. I have probably listened to "Burnin' Love" like 50 times since I bought the CD just cuz it pumps me up, haha. And I must give props to John Jellison, the OTHER person who was in the Original (GOOD) cast of Assassins for completely rocking out during the one solo line he has. I love it, haha.
I suppose I must give a shout out to Jonathan Hadary too, who *was* the reason I saw this show in the first place. He sounds really good on this recording even though this was a much different role (especially song-wise) from any other one he's had before. Honestly, if you listen to Gypsy (his first recording) and this one, you can definitely hear how he has improved. So, yeah. . .good job, Jonathan! heh
The only song that I don't like on the recording is the only one I didn't like in the show either; "(You're the) Devil in Disguise." I thought it was just a tad too hokey, especially the staging of it, and I still don't like it here. It's the only track I will probably never listen to, but that's okay.
So, as I said, my final verdict is that it is good, but not great. At least be familiar with the show before giving it a listen though, and trust me when I say there are much worse ways to spend $17 ::coughcoughAssassinsRevivalCDcoughcough::
As you should know, Rich and I saw this show on Broadway back in April (see my review back in the April archives that I was not kind enough to link you to, hehe) and I really enjoyed it. It was a very funny, energetic show. I would gladly dish out more $$ to see it again.
Unfortunately, a lot of the humor is missing from the Original Cast Recording and I'm gonna have to say that's a big mark against it. I also think they should have included a little more dialouge to set what is happening in the story. Anybody that listens to the recording without having seen the show (and without reading the story in the little booklet) would really have no idea what was going on, and I think that's pretty important in "getting" a lot of the songs. A big example of this is in "A Little Less Conversation;" in the show, this song is hilarious because Natalie, while dressed up as "Ed" is putting the moves on Chad who doesn't *know* "Ed" is actually a chick and so he's kinda like "?!?!" But if you aren't familiar with the storyline, you wouldn't know that. It's still a good song, but nevertheless, I think you'd really be missing out if you haven't seen the show before hearing the recording.
(Then again, I'm a big fan of shows *I've* never seen-- Gypsy, Weird Romance, and Avenue Q are just a few examples. Most of the plots of said shows are told in the songs' lyrics though, so it works out. Since ASU is made up entirely of Elvis songs, they DO move the plot along, but they don't expressly relate to the show, since they weren't exactly written with a musical in mind. Get what I'm saying?)
I also think it's ashame that Mark Price, as Dennis, gets shortchanged in the recording too. He had one of the funniest roles in the show, but again, you don't really get that just from hearing him.
If it sounds like I'm totally panning it, I'm not. There IS a lot to like about the recording. The cast still sounds incredible, particularly in the big company songs. Even if the humor didn't translate well, the high level of energy is still present. I have probably listened to "Burnin' Love" like 50 times since I bought the CD just cuz it pumps me up, haha. And I must give props to John Jellison, the OTHER person who was in the Original (GOOD) cast of Assassins for completely rocking out during the one solo line he has. I love it, haha.
I suppose I must give a shout out to Jonathan Hadary too, who *was* the reason I saw this show in the first place. He sounds really good on this recording even though this was a much different role (especially song-wise) from any other one he's had before. Honestly, if you listen to Gypsy (his first recording) and this one, you can definitely hear how he has improved. So, yeah. . .good job, Jonathan! heh
The only song that I don't like on the recording is the only one I didn't like in the show either; "(You're the) Devil in Disguise." I thought it was just a tad too hokey, especially the staging of it, and I still don't like it here. It's the only track I will probably never listen to, but that's okay.
So, as I said, my final verdict is that it is good, but not great. At least be familiar with the show before giving it a listen though, and trust me when I say there are much worse ways to spend $17 ::coughcoughAssassinsRevivalCDcoughcough::
posted by Erica at 11:54 AM
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