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It does not matter if you loved or hated the movie -- Broadway cast albums serve as a way to relive a musical after one has seen it. She is playfully mocking her in this musical and certainly has a voice of her own if you've seen her in anything else.
I mean, it's a show about a guy who wants to open up a roller disco after meeting a girl with an Australian accent who skates around. And anyone who says that Cheyenne Jackson can't sing obviously has no ear for music at all.So please, do not take Xanadu seriously.
Lots of others have already reviewed this album on its voicing talents. This is the BROADWAY musical, not the Xanadu movie on stage.
It doesn't even take itself seriously.For the record Cheyenne Jackson and Kerry Butler are amazing. What I would like to point out is that Xanadu is a PARODY on a movie that did absolutely horrible at the box office.
Stop saying Kerry Butler is bad "replacement" for Olivia Newton-John.
It is an excellent source for those who are being introduced to this period. They do contain a wealth of minutiae.
My only disappointment with the book was that it did not contain more pictures from the period. For fans of the Gilded Age who have read much about it and are unsure whether they want to add another book to their collection, I would advise them not to buy it.
Because New York City's Gilded Age is one of my favorite interests, I wanted to add this book to my collection. However, I found myself skimming over many of the chapters such as "Clothing", "Jewelry" and "Transportation".
Nonetheless, I am glad I bought it. I enjoyed reading it; however, I agree with the previous reviewers.
It is extremely detailed.
I'm surprised they were able to do such a good job. What can you say about the title track. Actually I don't even know if that was her, but kudos to whoever it was. At the beginning when the guitar kicks in it sounded a little "Sesame Street does rock music" if that makes sense, but I understand the play is very campy. As great of a voice that Kerry has, when the play comes to San Francisco I'd like to hope the new actress/singer doesn't have such a nasally grating voice. It's a beautiful song.
Even professional studio headphones [which I switched out for my crappy ones halfway through the song] didn't improve the quality.7.Strange Magic - What can I say. Finally. The "better never stray" always emotionally gets me. Very nice arrangement here.
Never been one of my favorite Xanadu songs but maybe I'll change my mind. I'm a big Xanadu fan so it was super exciting to find out about. It's only because of the music though, I have no clue what goes on in the story. 6.Dancin' - A classic Xanadu song. The mixing isn't too bad here but of course, it could have been adjusted. 14.Xanadu - I've pretty much put enough energy into this review. 11.The Fall - I am very impressed with the attention to trying to recreate the original here.
I am still very disappointed at how some of the synthesizer and keyboard detail is lost in the background because it's simply not loud enough. This song alone may give me a little of an opinion on the show. I never like when plays do this. I cannot see any other actor topping his voice when the musical tours. Even in the music, there's no free-form bass with slide or pop or interesting embellishments, so at times the music sounds a little robotic/karaoke. It's not a well known song from the film but I love that that much attention to detail was put into researching for this play.
Simply put. Seriously I've said it 2 million times and I'll say it again. They would totally stand alone as successful songs even if there was no movie. Great to hear a couple other songs added to the soundtrack, that relate to the story. And sometimes I want to smack my head at how much Kerry Butler exaggerates her voice. Well, being a huge fan of the film and it's amazingly produced score, I was a little let down and shouldn't have expected a second coming. 10.Fool - What an odd addition. The ending from 3:20 on though is beautiful and brings a tear to my eye.
I give the mixing a 2 out of 10 On to each song:1.I'm Alive - Great tribute to the original. I saw rehearsal videos before the play officially came out where the music sounded much better. I love every single song so I can make an exception.12.Suspended in time - Oh boy. Very nice guitar and keyboard work. Kerry Butler has a beautiful voice live but it sounds so nasally and grating here.
but I have to say again I'm thankful the play was produced at all and that it's become so successful. Great production. 8.All over the world - Cheyenne Jackson's voice freaking shines on this song. She was more ethereal and soft spoken and mysterious in the film.
13.Have you never been mellow. Overall, I give this soundtrack a 7 out of 10. Any version of Xanadu can get you dancing so I don't have much to complain about here. Cheyenne Jackson has an AMAZING voice.
I had to keep turning down my speaker to try and avoid her voice, and in the process the music kept getting quieter. Interrupting the song to speak is also a little annoying but I understand it's for the story. Mary Testa not overacting at the beginning. I think it would have come off funnier if the actors actually took their parts seriously and tried to be dramatic and not overly campy. I notice in Broadway everything is very pronounced and precise and campy. This is one of the better mixed songs I can actually hear the keyboard and other instruments. I love how much of a disco song this sounds like in this version.
I love the guitarist's parts here and everything is very tight. It's beautiful on its own, does it really need that. Xanadu has the best songs ever produced for a musical film. This, Evil Woman, and Strange Magic were clever additions. It's just a big pile of glittery disco magic. I'm disappointed that Kerry couldn't pull off Olivia's high note here.
I'm just an honest Xanadu fan and I'm giving my feelings on this soundtrack. And the keyboard could have been vamped up like I saw it was during "Broadway in the park". The only unfortunate thing again is the mixing. I'm glad to hear that [somehow] the voices aren't quite as overdone here. Another showing off of Cheyenne's talent. - What's this I hear. The voices are over all too loud on the entire album.
Some more disco "wah" guitar and a slightly slower version would have helped. A lot of songs that I considered to have a lot of meaning and emotion behind have been dulled down in this play, mainly due to being sped up. I am still a little put off at how much of a comedy the play is. I'm a musician so I really appreciate these kinds of things. Obviously this is their own take on all the songs and it works well in that respect.Before I give comments on each song, I'd like to point out that although these are great, fun, and beautiful arrangements of each song, the mixing is TERRIBLE. 4.Suddenly - Well, one of the most beautiful songs of all time.
It's always been my favorite part of the song and it was the part I was most looking forward to in the song. It really ruins the mood for me. At 1:15 there is a drum skip which I think shows bad editing and possibly that the drums weren't even real in the recording. -Phew-. And the whispering thing [displayed in suddenly, magic, and this] makes me cringe. It wasn't quite as disco in the original but I love it here.
Subtlety obviously does not exist in the Xanadu universe that's been created for this play.5.Whenever you're away from me - Nice arrangement at the beginning but as it drifts off into a weird scatting contest with flashy drum fills and an even jazzier tune it loses the feeling of the song. Certain instruments are not prominent enough and the voices are WAY too loud. I'd like to see this in San Francisco and see what the new actors bring to it. Not much to say about this one. The vocal arrangements are great.
Hell, they're ALL classics. Even more so than the character calls for. I'm glad they included. 3.Evil Woman - Campy Broadway at its best I suppose. I feel the speeding up and kind of flippant karaoke production didn't suit the song very well. This is an example where a crazy ending works.9.Don't walk away - Amazing version of a beautiful song. One of my favorites from this soundtrack. I LOVE the guitar solo.
Honestly. Whatever it's ok, this is an amazing version of the song. I think I'd like this a lot more if Kira wasn't made so annoying in this play. Sped up again. I know other fans will probably think I'm crazy with my views on this play so far, but I haven't seen it live. I've only heard the soundtrack and I'm waiting for it to come to San Francisco. Dial it back a freaking notch on Kerry's grating voice though. Impressive recreation of the original on this track.
I love this Olivia song and I'm glad it was added. 2.Magic - One of my favorite songs. I really like this version. That is the voice of an angel. I took the movie as an actual love story with some amazing music even though most people consider it cheesy. Funny that the last 40 seconds of this song are probably the most emotional to me throughout the play.
The running time of this album is just 43 min. This features the 10 songs of the original album, plus 4 added tracks, 2 ELO songs worked into the story line ("Evil Woman" and "Strange Magic") and 2 John Farrar songs, including the oldie but goodie Olivia hit "Have You Ever Been Mellow". I was in New York recently on a business trip, and jumped on the chance to see it. and that gives you an idea how they had to stretch it out to make this into a Broadway musical (which is 90 min). "Xanadu on Broadway" (14 tracks; 43 min). Broadway play: 4.5 Stars; Original cast recording: 3.5 StarsLet me state upfront that I absolutely loved the 1980 original movie soundtrack, featuring 5 John Farrar-penned Olivia Newton-John on Side 1 and 5 ELO tracks on Side 2 including the ELO/Olivia title track on Side 2.
Well, I was skeptical, but no more. In all, this is a terrific cast recording, with the best songs for me being "Suddenly", "Evil Woman" and, best of all, "Suspended in Time". The movie was horrible, but the music was great. is the original Broadway cast recording featuring Kerry Butler and Cheyenne Jackson. But in all, this recording is a great memento to the fabulous experience that "Xanadu on Broadway" was. Fast forward to 2007 when the news came that Xanadu was being worked into a Broadway musical.
Somehow the play works great where the movie didn't and it was a guilty pleasure all over for me.
Jackie Hoffman and Mary Testa are a riot as the evil sisters and Kerry Butler will break your heart when she sings "Suspended in Time." The supporting cast are just incredible and I wish you could see their spectacular dancing as well as hear their beautiful voices. Cheyenne Jackson is the greatest singing star on Broadway since Barbra Streisand and this album captures the beauty of his incredible voice. First rate. XANADU, the original Broadway cast album, captures the spirit in song of the best musical on Broadway. Funny, fabulous, loving, it will make you laugh and cry.
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