Search - Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman, Marissa Jaret Winokur :: Hairspray (2002 Original Broadway Cast)

Hairspray (2002 Original Broadway Cast)
Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman, Marissa Jaret Winokur
Hairspray (2002 Original Broadway Cast)
Genres: Pop, Broadway & Vocalists
 
  •  Track Listings (17) - Disc #1

The cast recording for the Broadway musical of John Waters's 1988 paean to dance, music, big beautiful women, and integration is a sheer delight. It's wonderfully upbeat all the way through, with a classic feel that's in k...  more »

     
   
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CD Details

All Artists: Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Harvey Fierstein, Kerry Butler
Title: Hairspray (2002 Original Broadway Cast)
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 2
Label: Sony
Release Date: 8/13/2002
Album Type: Cast Recording
Genres: Pop, Broadway & Vocalists
Style: Musicals
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPCs: 696998770829, 5099708770822

Synopsis

Amazon.com
The cast recording for the Broadway musical of John Waters's 1988 paean to dance, music, big beautiful women, and integration is a sheer delight. It's wonderfully upbeat all the way through, with a classic feel that's in keeping with the story's setting in the early 1960s. The characters come alive in these songs, from Marissa Jaret Winokur's (Tracy Turnblad) opening lines in "Good Morning Baltimore" to the stunningly upbeat finale, "You Can't Stop the Beat." The music is by Marc Shaiman, whose recent projects include South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, as well as a number of film soundtracks, and his compositions are simultaneously solid and exuberant. Shaiman and Scott Wittman's lyrics brim over with the unreserved passions and primary-color emotions that made the film so successful. Regardless of one's familiarity with the story or the stage production, it's hard to avoid the appeal of this recording; even the less cheerful songs are awash in bright colors, without disrespect for their subjects. --Genevieve Williams

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CD Reviews

Slickly Botched
08/13/2002
(2 out of 5 stars)

"The disclaimer is that this is a review of the cd, not the score, which is wonderful. The problem with the recording is that it was produced by the composer, Marc Shaiman, who has mostly worked with incidental film music. This score needed a producer familiar with theatrical sound because the score is easily the best thing about seeing the show live. What we get in this recording in a slickly produced (overproduced) pop record that favors the lead vocals while treating the accompanying music and vocals as background (in the truest sense of the word). The urgency and fun of the music is lost here, and this recording lands with a hefty thud when it should have sparkled to life. Oh, and the percussion is really loud, too, perhaps to try to give the recording a Wall of Sound-like quality. It just ends up being distracting and overwhelming. Hopefully, the show will be recorded live, or it will eventually be remastered. For now it's a lame souvenir of a theatrically vibrant score."
Not Impressed.
hippo-potto | Canada | 02/27/2003
(2 out of 5 stars)

"For all the praise and awards that this show has garnered, I was expecting something-ANYTHING better than this! Over-produced, and under-talented, I found this as the biggest waste of my money and it went straight to a used CD store!I understand it's supposed to be the anti-musical musical, but there is something to be said for occasionally hitting the right notes-maybe not all the time, but at least once a song-is that asking too much for a Broadway smash?Bottom Line:The story's a shmaltzy feel-good parading around like a serious matter, and that's not too bad-but the music-your money would be better spent buying ANYTHING else!"
Mediocre faux 60's schmaltz
W. Arnold | Windsor, CT USA | 04/05/2003
(2 out of 5 stars)

"OK, OK, I get it! She's trying to sound like the Ronnettes, right? Yikes, is that "Oh, Oh, Oh," nasality annoying! The show is no Bat Boy or even Lint! The Musical for that matter. On the first listen, you'll know where each song is going because it's a total ripoff (not an homage) to a song from the 60's. So much potential, so little return."