The Theatermania Guide to Musical Theater Recordings

Rating:
Summary: Definitely the book I was looking for!
Review: As a person who loves Broadway musicals, yet lives on the West Coast, oftimes the soundtracks to certain shows are my only option. I've also discovered that I tend to be more lenient when listening to a show I've seen than to one I have not.

I wouldn't qualify as a aficionado, but I have seen my share of shows, and own a few dozen CD's.

This book is exactly what I wanted: a guide of theater (and theater-based) recordings, that separates wheat from chaff.

Alphabetical by title, each show's iteration is given a review. Recordings by various casts (Broadway, London, etc.) are synopsized and critiqued.
The reviewers know their audience: the book is written for us, not for them, if you catch my meaning.
The reviews themselves are short, concise...I almost wanted a little more, but I'm going to make that a compliment and not a criticism; they cover a LOT of ground here. It looks like they got everything up to 2001.

One of the more valuable functions this book performs, is comparing the innumerable variations on certain shows (like "Oklahoma!" or "My Fair Lady"), enabling a fan to pick the one best suited for their interests.
More importantly, the subsequent film versions of Broadway shows (and occasionally the antecedent film version) are also covered. It's interesting to see how certain shows improve upon themselves, while others clearly lose that "something" that characterizes the singular Broadway experience.
Even more valuable is the curiosity factor: I've found easily a dozen discs I now need to have. The writing is engaging enough that you'll want to seek out either completely different versions of your favorite shows (including some you did not know that were newly remastered or expanded) or simply new shows you've always wanted to hear, but never got around to them.

Soundtracks to films without accompanying Broadway musicals are not covered, nor should they be in this book; it's title is the "guide to musical theater recordings", not "film soundtracks".

There are a few idiosyncrasies. Some shows that I'm pretty sure have film versions (like "On The Town") do not mention the film soundtrack. Perhaps it's unavailable. The movie soundtrack for "Fame" is not reviewed, but the musical is.
The soundtrack for "Footloose" is covered, though, as are both "Beauty and the Beast" and "Lion King", both non-musical film predecessors.
This is a micro-quibble, at best.

The bottom line is that this is a well-written, comprehensive, entertaining book of reviews about a specific genre. I honestly don't think they could have done it any better.

Rating:
Summary: A Big Letdown
Review: Let's face it: any book about Musical Theater recordings is going to be purchased by a Musical Theater fanatic- you and me.
This book isn't for people who just picked up the double-CD of RENT because the national touring company just played in their hometown. If we're looking for the Ultimate Guide to Musical Theater Recordings...sorry folks, this ain't it.
What's surprising is that this book is comprised of mini-reviews by many different experts in the field: Peter Filichia, Ken Bloom, Gerard Allesandrini, etc. This perhaps explains the disjointed feeling one gets perusing thru it.
On the "+" side, the book DOES cover musicals available in both LP and CD format- sadly, there's way too many shows currently not available as CD's, so it's great that this book informs the reader as to the availility of the item. But this "+" also creates the biggest "-"...this book is thoroughly incomplete.
Example: JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR has had many recordings. But while the editor gives us a review of Paul Nicholas in the 20th Anniversary London production, he fails to give us one for the ORIGINAL London production starring Nicholas(either CD or LP)- surely the 1st stage version in England, one of its longest running hits, deserves a review of its own.
Similarly, on ANOTHER Andrew Lloyd Webber show SONG AND DANCE, there's no mention of the 2nd recording of the London cast, starring Webber's-then wife, Sarah Brightman(which served as a soundtrack to a televised production). Neither mentioned is a 2-LP cast album from Germany. And as for the Broadway recording starring Tony-winner Bernadette Peters...her last note in "Unexpected Song" is SOOOO hideous, I wince every time I hear it- several of the reviews make similar comments about singers in other shows, yet this one will haunt my dreams forever... how'd they miss it? Let alone her bizarre "British" accent...
It's a given that a review is subjective to the person doing the writing. However, the 16 contributors here each seem to have different agendas- some focus on the show itself, instead of the recording it received. Some pick one or two of the recordings of the show, but fail to mention the dozen other recordings of it(like SUPERSTAR, ANNIE warrants a review of a British studio recording, but NOT the original London cast album). CHESS warrants a review of a Danish tour, but the Swedish cast and Gottenburg concert cast aren't mentioned.
Not all reviews are credited to their authors...I found it amusing that several of them echoed sentiments in some of the spoofs created by Gerald Allesandrini for his long-running and constantly updated FORBIDDEN BROADWAY reviews(the many CDs of which have critiques here), who is one of the reviewers.
But also disturbing is some of the negative reviews for shows hailed by the public. Shows like ALW's PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and LES MISERABLES are panned, yet their recordings are amongst the biggest sellers internaionally, and each has spawned dozens of international cast recordings. The ground-breaking rock musical HAIR warrants only star each for both it's off-and-on Broadway recordings("those productions were deplorable in that they featured lots of substandard singing..."), yet the reviewer raves about the "bomb" film soundtrack...HUH?
Collecting Musical Theater recordings is a unique and specific hobby, and with the advent of eBay and other on-line auctioning services, have opened doors for those of us hunting for the unique and rare preservation of a beloved musical. Stores like Footlight Records in New York and Dress Circle in London have provided the devoted Musical Lover gems of long out-of-print recordings. If only THIS guide had: a). Provided WAY-more reviews of OTHER recordings of the specific shows covered, and b). Provided a guideline to the reviewers on what grounds should be covered in these critiques. The all-too-often trashing of popular musicals can be very irritating to the reader- we fanatics are definately snobs in our likes and dislikes, but degrading a generally well-loved musical for the sake of contraversy does not endear one to this book.
Unfortunately, two books that provided some great reviews are long out-of-date: Kurt Ganzl's THE BLACKWELL GUIDE TO THE MUSICAL THEATER ON RECORD is the best of the bunch- while I don't care for Mr. Ganzl's obsessions with Operettas and musicals pre-dating the 30's, he's extremely thorough, covering almost ALL recordings of a particular show, with campy and witty remarks about each- as this was published back in 1990, I wish the author would come out with a new edition. Also good is Editor Mark Walker's GRAMOPHONE: MUSICALS GOOD CD GUIDE(2nd Edition)...not nearly as complete with the amount of recordings available, but provides things like cast members, running times and catalogue numbers. Both are listed on Amazon.com. Also, check eBay for issues of Max O. Preeo's sadly-lamented SHOW MUSIC- this publication ran for many years as a privately funded magazine which was picked up the Goodspeed Opera Company in CT, and then dropped a couple of years ago. During its tenure, it provided comprehensive international coverage of Musical Theater Recordings, as well as interviews and features- it's a shame Mr. Preeo doesn't come out with a book on the subject.
If you're not discriminating, this generic guide might satisify... but we'll have to wait longer for a truely GOOD guide on the subject.