{"id":2555,"date":"2010-10-09T23:48:47","date_gmt":"2010-10-10T03:48:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theatreaficionado.com\/?p=2555"},"modified":"2010-10-13T20:43:03","modified_gmt":"2010-10-14T00:43:03","slug":"the-hi-fi-in-the-den","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theatreaficionado.com\/?p=2555","title":{"rendered":"The Hi-Fi in the Den"},"content":{"rendered":"

A couple of weeks ago as I was emptying my box o’ stuff from the Broadway Flea Market<\/a>, I started shelving the LPs I had acquired. I’ve been an avid collector for years – even if I have the album on CD and tend to listen to my show music on an mp3 player these days, I will continue to bring home records. There’s something warmly nostalgic about the recording spinning and the crackle of the needle as it hits the vinyl. Stemming from this, my post on “Pure Joy<\/a>” scores and a wonderful conversation with A Little Night Music’<\/em>s Kevin David Thomas, I got to thinking about those first show albums – those initial recordings that created the monster writing this post today. I’m reminded of [title of show]<\/em>‘s “A Way Back to Then”<\/a>. I may not have danced in the backyard, drank kool-aid or wore butterfly wings, but I understand exactly what Heidi Blickenstaff was singing about.<\/p>\n

I was in seventh grade and visiting a used book shop in the local mall. I’d gone to look for books ($.25 for paperbacks, $.50 for hardcovers!) but was also surprised to find a large selection of LPs on hand. I’d never really paid attention to them before, but for whatever reason I told my mother that instead of just books, I would like some of these albums, too. Unlike most people my age, I have never been without a working record player in my life. Ever. As soon as one would break, we’d find another or someone would give me one they didn’t want anymore. The playing continues to this day.<\/p>\n

The first system was our stereophonic hi-fi in our living room. My parents used it until the cassette came into prominence, but never got rid of it. On occasion they would play LPs on it and even some 8-tracks (yep). At the time I wasn’t as familiar with the Broadway side of musical theatre. I was aware of it, but not a lot. I knew that some of the films I have seen on (old school) AMC were originally on Broadway, but I didn’t think to delve further. So my first purchases involved motion picture soundtracks including The Sound of Music, Gigi, The Music Man, The King and I. <\/em>However, I also found the original cast recordings of Peter Pan <\/em>and Camelot, <\/em>as well as the 1952 studio recording of Oklahoma! <\/em>with Nelson Eddy, Kaye Ballard and Portia Nelson. Then there was the original London cast album of My Fair Lady. <\/em>Soon afterward, cassette tapes of the original London cast of The Sound of Music <\/em>(in Laserlight highlights form) and Broadway cast of Bye Bye Birdie <\/em>were added to the fray. (I’ve never owned a cast album on 8-track, though I know people who have them!)<\/p>\n

If my memory is specific it’s because I would come home from school and do my homework listening to them and it’s a vivid recollection. For Oklahoma! <\/em>and My Fair Lady, <\/em>those two albums were my introduction to the respective scores. I admit I’ve rarely revisited the former, but I’ve grown quite fond of the latter. In fact, I had both the LP and CD of the London album before I got the original Broadway recording of MFL<\/em> in any format. I still have great fondness for the London and tend to listen to that one more than any other. As for Oklahoma! <\/em>my preference now lies in the 1979 revival recording, but I can still remember practically everything from that LP experience – even where it used to skip on “The Surrey with the Fringe on the Top.”<\/p>\n

As for the soundtracks, I listened to The Sound of Music, <\/em>and while I do enjoy it I find I would rather watch the movie instead. It’s London cast album introduced me to the stage version. The tempos are ridiculously slow and it features a cast of little prominence, but it was something that I had on cassette and could travel with. (You can drive a Buick through Constance Shacklock’s vibrato. But I gotta hand it to her – she played the Mother Abbess for the entire six year run). I eventually made the switch to the Broadway recording with Mary Martin, which remains my sentimental favorite.\u00a0 The King and I <\/em>amused me because it contains a 6 minute overture specifically created for the album! “I Whistle a Happy Tune” had a false ending with the studio chorus and there were three songs that I hadn’t heard in the film! This one got the most play out of all the soundtracks and I still enjoy Marni Nixon’s vocal performance (best dubbing job in history). Also, I was – and still am – head over heels in love with the “Shall We Dance?” grand polka and practically wore out that section.<\/p>\n

I don’t consider any of these guilty pleasures. But I do have a certain defensive nature when it comes to these shows. The amount of amusement and pleasure they gave me in my formative years is substantial and I like to see these properties treated with respect. That was another reason that I was so affronted by the charmless revival of Bye Bye Birdie <\/em>last season; it was the antithesis of everything that was so endearing about the OBCR. These recordings take me back to, well perhaps not a happier time, but a simpler time and the memories are quite warm. I’ll never part with these glorious old LPs. In fact, I plan on bringing more home as soon as possible. (I never bought another cast album on cassette). Now I’m kind of curious – what were the albums (LP or otherwise) that first got you hooked onto musical theatre?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A couple of weeks ago as I was emptying my box o’ stuff from the Broadway Flea Market, I started shelving the LPs I had acquired. I’ve been an avid collector for years – even if I have the album on CD and tend to listen to my show music on an mp3 player these … Continue reading The Hi-Fi in the Den<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theatreaficionado.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theatreaficionado.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theatreaficionado.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theatreaficionado.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theatreaficionado.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2555"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.theatreaficionado.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2555\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2559,"href":"https:\/\/www.theatreaficionado.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2555\/revisions\/2559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theatreaficionado.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theatreaficionado.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theatreaficionado.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}