Search - Kaitlin Hopkins, Brian Sutherland, Ashley Brown :: Disney's On the Record - A New Musical Revue (2004 Original Cast)

Another Disney Masterpiece, Made Of Their Many Masterpieces

TheatreCritic | Illinois | 03/20/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I will start by saying I do not own this recording, but I did see the show in its pre-Broadway tour and it is a phenomenal show. The orchestrations are different from what you might find in the movie, yet they still have that old familiar sound that you hear everytime you watch a Disney movie. The 4 principle roles are extremely talented. Kaitlin Hopkins' voice reminds me of Christine Ebersole(Dorothy Brock in New Broadway Cast Recording of 42nd Street). Andrew Samonsky is a very talented young man with an education in Opera but you can't tell at all. He nicely converts to the pop style of Disney. My only compaint with him is that he seemed to be holding back at points. He screams vocal powerhouse. Brian Sutherland has a nice voice but Disney gave him all the easy/bad songs that don't show much vocal talent. Last but not least is Ms. Ashley Brown. She is the reason I am writing this review. This young woman has one of the most amazing voices I've ever heard. I've been to Broadway several times and her performance in this show is probably the best female vocal performance I have ever seen. She has a beautiful crisp soprano that is very versatile and easily handles the differing styles of Disney. Reflection and A Change In Me show off her mezzo/belter range as she soars and easily steals the show. Overall, the show was beautiful. Granted, it is a musical revue, but it is one of the best revues I've ever seen. Nothing but the best from Disney..."

A Fresh New Twist on the Disney's Classics!!!

Karn R. | Bangkok, Thailand | 03/18/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This review is totally based on what I heard from the CD for I have never seen the show or learned about its synopsis before. This might be kinda long so bear with me here.



First of all, I have to say that I own most of Disney's soundtrack albums. I also own many Disney's compilation albums so sometimes I got a bit tired that they still released those same old songs again and again. I don't buy them anymore since I had most of those songs already. But this album is something different!!!



BASIC FACT:

The album is an original cast recording of a Disney's musical revue in 2005. (It never made it to Broadway due to a bad plot and storyline.) The album consists of 45 tracks on 2 CDs with over 70 Disney songs mentioned. Some of them are included as part of a medley and some are just snippet of songs to link to others. Some people tend to hate this idea of cutting down their favourite songs to a short piece but what I feel from this CDs is it makes the whole thing seems so fresh and new. It's kinda fun to listen to how they connect and merge the songs together. The orchestration, to me, was fresh and really nice. It gives you a jolly feeling and lifts you up every time you put it on.



THE SONGS:

The song list spans over 70 years of Disney. The Oldest song is "Minnie's Yoo-Hoo" from The Shindig (1930) and the newest is "Will the Sun Ever Shine Again" from Home on the Range (2004). And in between are familiar songs from famous Disney's classics such as Snow White, Dumbo, Cinderella, Pinocchio, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Toy Story and so on... All the songs are separated into 15 recording sessions with separated prologue, entr'acte, finale and exit music. Stand outs are Session 8 (A.K.A. Silly Symphony) which is a medley of "no-meaning" songs such as "Supercalifragilisticexpialidotious", "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo", "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" and more. Session 4 about flying is quite beautifully arranged. There are 2 special sessions dedicated to The Little Mermaid and Dumbo. The unmentioned sessions are also nice in their own style as well.



THE CAST:

There are 4 main performers, 2 guys and 2 girls, starting with Ashley Brown, she rocks!!! I saw her as Belle on Broadway and that is the reason why I bought this album. For those who don't know, she is the original Mary Poppins on Broadway. In this album, she plays a younger girl. Her songs are pretty much the princess classics from the opening "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" to Ariel's "Part of Your World" and from Mulan's "Reflections" to Cinderella's "So This Is Love". All her songs are delivered wonderfully. But the most impressive song is "A Change in Me" which is a new song added to the stage version of Beauty and the Beast. I think her version is the best (better than Susan Egan's, in my opinion) and the song is worth buying the album for.



Moving on to the younger guy, he is Andrew Samonsky. His voice comes out as a young teen kind of sound which sounds really nice. His outstanding performance is in the newly arranged jazzy version of "Everybody Wants to Be a Cat". This song is really cool and is a true showstopper!



The older lady of the recording is sung by Kaitlin Hopkins. She has more of mature sound which is very contrast to Ashley's clear soprano. She gets most of the "less-famous" songs but she handed them fairly. Her big solos are "Poor Unfortunate Souls", "Colors of the Wind" and "Will the Sun Ever Shine Again". She has a few duet with Ashley. "I'm Wishing/One Song" is stunning while "He's a Tramp" can be a bit boring.



The last performer of the album is Brian Sutherland who portrays the older man. He has a nice warm baritone which suits his songs well. Check out his "When You Wish Upon a Star".



The four performers get to sing some duets and quartets with each other. Standout quartet numbers are the opening medley of "Whistle While You Work/Give a Little Whistle" and the "Silly Symphony".



As for the ensemble, I think they help add a nice touch to the album especially in the Dumbo medley and the multi-language version of "Be Our Guest".



THE BOOKLET:

The album comes with a nice colorful booklet with information about all the songs, a note from the director, cast list and plenty of nice pictures on and off stage. But no lyrics.



BOTTOM LINE:

If you love Disney, this is the album to get. Whatever people say about the show, don't listen to them. You are not buying the DVD of the show. You are buying a recording and the music on this album will surely make you smile with joy. Buy it and enjoy!!!"

Underrated Disney Nostalgia-fest

Mr. T. C. Halfpenny | Cumbria, UK | 08/25/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A while back I happened to stumble on this cast recording of a Revue of Disney songs, and looking at the set list I just though, WOW, I must listen to this double CD, and my god, am I glad I did! I ordered it straight away and within days I had possibly one of the best Cast Recordings I have ever owned, I study musical Theatre at University so I know what I'm talking about!

Admittedly it take a couple of listens to get into the idea of these new arrangements on old classic from Disney ranging from the year 1930 through to 2004, but once you get over the initial shock of not recognising your favourite songs entirely, but they are arranged differently to fit into different 'Sessions' each with its own theme, including Ocean, Flight, Royalty, Cats and Dogs, to name a few, and they actually work really well, and seemlessly run into each other in delightful little medleys.

Ashley Brown has an amazing voice as Kristen, and I have since listening to her on this recording followed her career as a Musical Theatre star, having understood that she took the lead role in 'Beauty & The Beast' and most currently taking the title role in Broadways version of my countries West End runaway hit 'Mary Poppins', and hopefully I'll hear how she does in this fantastic role, alongside the original stage Bert, Gavin Lee, who played it in London, which I've seen twice.

But back to this revue, I'd say take a look, if you love Disney, and don't mind change then this is for you, it also includes the song 'A Change In Me' from Broadway's 'Beauty & The Beast', which has never appeared on the original shows cast recording, so it's good just to hear that. My favourite section is the Dumbo section, which contains a very 20s sounding 'when i see an elephant fly', 'look out for mr stork', 'pink elephants on parade' and the hauntingly beautiful 'baby mine', please consider this recording, you're missing out!"