Search - Susan Stroman, Leonard Bernstein, Robert Palmer :: Contact: Music from the Broadway Show

Susan Stroman's Contact stirred up a hornets' nest of controversy by winning the 2000 Tony Award for Best Musical. The fact that the music for the dance play was entirely prerecorded, and mostly from classic sources didn't sit well with either traditionalists or union musicians. So what exactly do you get on the CD, Contact: Music from the Broadway Show? The first segment of the three-section show takes place in the French countryside and is represented by a Stephane Grappelli recording of "My Heart Stood Still." The second part is a romantic fantasy accompanied by Leonard Bernstein recordings of Grieg, Tchaikovsky, and Bizet. The most famous segment portrays modern New Yorkers and the music they swing dance to: classic pop (Dion, the Beach Boys), neo-swing bands (Squirrel Nut Zippers, Royal Crown Revue), and of course the show's defining number, Robert Palmer's "Simply Irresistible." It's extremely odd to listen to a CD representing four Tony-winning achievements and not be able to enjoy three of them: Stroman's choreography, and Karen Ziemba and Boyd Gaines's dancing/acting (not to mention Deborah Yates's striking Girl in the Yellow Dress). Fortunately for Gaines, he actually appears on this CD, as his new, suave rendition of "You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You" replaces the show's usual Dean Martin recording. Comparable to the CD of music used in Peter Shaffer's Amadeus, Contact: Music from the Broadway Show is without question a useful souvenir of an innovative, invigorating theater experience (only a few numbers are missing from the 56-minute CD), but as a listening experience, it's a real mixed bag. --David Horiuchi