"Why would anyone do another Sondheim collection?" is a question producer Bruce Kimmel says he was asked by Dame Edna Everage when he engaged, uh, her to participate in it. Kimmel compounds the question by noting that The Stephen Sondheim Album is the tenth project he has worked on that is exclusively dedicated to the musical theater's most celebrated composer. His answer, in effect, is that he wanted a flagship release as the premiere offering of his new Fynsworth Alley imprint, a theater-music subsidiary of Varèse ...
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"Why would anyone do another Sondheim collection?" is a question producer Bruce Kimmel says he was asked by Dame Edna Everage when he engaged, uh, her to participate in it. Kimmel compounds the question by noting that The Stephen Sondheim Album is the tenth project he has worked on that is exclusively dedicated to the musical theater's most celebrated composer. His answer, in effect, is that he wanted a flagship release as the premiere offering of his new Fynsworth Alley imprint, a theater-music subsidiary of Varèse Sarabande. The collection offers effective, well-sung interpretations of some of Sondheim's major songs, presented in fresh arrangements by David Siegel, and it certainly works on its own terms, though some performances are better than others. Dame Edna, that flamboyant British female impersonator, is an acquired taste, especially without the visual aspect that completes her effect. Technically, you'd have to say that her rendition of "Losing My Mind" is atrocious, sung in a howl that bears no relationship to pitch. Of course, that's the point, but on an album otherwise devoted to more or less straight interpretations, it's striking. The medley of the sprightly "You're Gonna Love Tomorrow" from Follies and "Not a Day Goes By," the torch song from Merrily We Roll Along, is an interesting idea that doesn't quite succeed. And the hidden track, a McGuire Sisters-style arrangement of "Not Getting Married Today" from Company, is another attempt at humor that misfires. But Liz Callaway's "Everybody Says Don't" from Anyone Can Whistle is a triumph, and Brent Barrett's "Make the Most of Your Music," used in the 1987 London production of Follies, rescues a valuable Sondheim song from obscurity. [The version of the album available on the record company website, www.fynsworthalley.com, contains an extra track, "I Must Be Dreaming," by Emily Skinner.] ~ William Ruhlmann, Rovi
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