Search - Richard Sherman, Robert Sherman, Aaron Gandy :: Busker Alley (2006 York Theatre Company Cast Recording)

The Sherman Boys 'Have A Way'!

Millerific | CA | 11/24/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Hurray for everybody who made this production and subsequent recording happen. I'm delighted to have The Sherman Brothers' marvelous score (legitimately) recorded. Previously, we only had poorer quality bootlegs to listen to, but now we have an in-studio recording. I was expecting this to be a live recording of the one-night-only concert event and was very pleasantly surprised to find that it's a studio recording. Jim Dale is always wonderful, and he's certainly much better suited to play Charlie the Busker than his predecessor was.



It's interesting to hear the show and score restored to what must have been closer to the original vision (before it became a big star vehicle). It feels more balanced now and I feel like I hate the character of Libby less than I did before.



Reuniting (sort of) Jim Dale and Glen Close was a brilliant bit of casting on Tony Walton's part. The entire cast is topnotch and deserving of kudos. I do miss the fuller orchestrations, but this is a minor quibble. (And nobody sings "Strays" as well as Richard Sherman does.)



Thanks to everybody who brought this show out of the shadows. Five stars. Hats off to you! Let's hope for a full scale Broadway version starring Jim Dale soon!"

Worth the wait!

Lawrence Spinelli | 02/15/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This show--which was almost lost when Tommy Tune broke his leg--has found a new life with this wonderful recording. Jim Dale is as perfect for this role as Tommy Tune was miscast. Enjoy this wonderful and touching recording until you can see the show itself when it makes its long overdue Broadway debut in 2008."

"The Real Deal"

G. W. Coss | New Jersey | 12/30/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album is the "real deal" folks... something Broadway could really use

instead of the mindless likes of Wicked, Legally Blond, Hairspray, Grease etc.

Of course "Busker Alley" will probably not appeal to those who have seen and liked the afore-mentioned shows that pass for "musicals" these days.

I haven't been so excited about a "concept" show since "Ragtime". This album is all the more amazing since it uses only minimal orchestrations and a small cast. I only hope that Tony Walton can pull it all together for a promised opening sometime in 2009.

I have always enjoyed the music of the Sherman brothers and this music is some of their best. The tracks "He Has a Way" and "Tin Whistle Tune" are perhaps some of the best "theatre" music that I have heard in quite a while.



Read the story in the liner notes and then just close your eyes.... settle back and let the show come alive in your head.... you won't be disappointed !!!



"