Glynis Johns sings ‘Send in the Clowns’ (A Little Night Music); Jane Krakowski sings ‘Sooner or Later’ (Dick Tracy); Jennifer Simard sings ‘More’ (Dick Tracy); Guy Haines – ‘What Can You Loose?’ (Dick Tracy); Judy Cuhn - ‘You’ll Never Get Away From Me’ (Gypsy); Lindsay Ridgeway and Sarah Chapman - ‘Mama’s Talking Soft’ (cut from Gypsy); Liz Calloway – ‘I Remember’ (Evening Primrose); Laurie Beechman – ‘No One is Alone’ (Into the Woods); Petula Clark – ‘Children Will Listen’ (Into the Woods); Amy Rider, Malcolm Gets, and Adam Heller – ‘Old Friends – Part II ( Merrily We Roll Along); The Trotter Trio – ‘Opening’ (Follies); Harry Groener and Lynnette Perry – That Old Piano Roll’ (cut from Follies); David, Patrick and Shaun Cassidy – ‘You Could Drive A Person Crazy’ (Company); Christiane Noll – ‘Marry Me A Little’ (Company); Michelle Nicastro – ‘Loving You’ (Passion); Kaye Ballard, and Sally Mayes – ‘There’s Always A Woman’ (Anyone Can Whistle); The Trotter Trio – By The Sea’ (Sweeney Todd); Emily Skinner and Alice Ripley – ‘Every Day A Little Death’ (A Little Night Music); Liz Calloway – ‘Goodbye for Now’ (Reds).

A glance at the line-up above shows the riches of this album. Glynis Johns makes a fine, poignant Désirée summoning the clowns from A Little Night Music, Jane Krakowski (Ally McBeal’s snoopy secretary, Elaine) sings huskily and sexily ‘Sooner or Later’…you’re going to be mine…sooner or later I always get my man’ from Dick Tracy. Petula Clark charms as she sings so expressively – ‘Children Will Listen’. The latter song reminds one of what the booklet notes express so eloquently, ‘…And those words! In the history of musical theatre there has been no finer lyricist. And, to quote again: ‘His melodies are always perfect for his words, whether beautiful and soaring, or tart and searing.'

Of the 19 songs, I would just mention two or three. There is Lindsay Ridgeway and Sarah Chapman singing the little girls’ cautionary ‘Mama’s talking soft’ in which they declare: "Mama’s seen a man, mama’s blushing pink, mussin’ up her hair, mama has a smile and when she has a smile, no one has a prayer!" There are two great swinging jazz instrumental numbers from The Trotter Trio; and there is a a hilarious, blistering, bitchy number from Kaye Ballard and Sally Mayes who rue that ‘There is Always A Woman’ in which they complain, ‘It’s always a woman who causes confusion… we must lunch; there’s always a woman, the ant at the picnic, the fly in the ointment … ring me soon." Finally there is the dreamily romantic, ‘What can you loose’, again from Dick Tracy sung with great panache by Guy Haines.

A splendid entertainment.

Reviewer

Ian Lace

Reviewer

Ian Lace