December 28, 2005

Biography: Shirley Temple
(A&E - new on DVD)
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Newsreel footage and interviews tell the tale of the life and career of the legendary film star who was the top box office draw in America by the age of ten.

Bush is Bad: The Musical Cure for the Blue-State Blues
(Original Cast Records - new on CD)
Revue by Joshua Rosenblum. Live recording (over several performances) with Kate Baldwin, Neal Mayer and Michael McCoy, and composer/lyricist Rosenblum at the piano.

Carol Lawrence:Bell Telephone Hour
(VAI - new on DVD)
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Select appearances on the television program between 1960-1967. 50 minutes. Includes an interview. Was delayed, but is now at Footlight.com so should be available at other stores/online this week.

Humpty Dumpty
(Dramatist's Play Service - Paperback Book)
Play by Eric Bogosian. Presented at San Jose Repertory Company in April 2003. [Our review of this production.]

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot : A Play
(Faber & Faber - Paperback Book)
Stephen Adly Guirgis play. Played at the Public Theater for the LAByrinth Theatre Company in 2005, directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman. [Our review of this production]

My Life With Albertine
(Hal Leonard - Paperback Book)
Songbook, Ricky Ian Gordon score. Available at MusicDispatch.com.

December 20, 2005

Alice's Adventures In Wonderland/Petulia
(Film Score Monthly - new on CD)
Premiere release of two classic LPs with music by composer John Barry: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was a musical telling of Lewis Carroll's famous story, with a star-packed British cast including Peter Sellers, Dudley Moore, Michael Crawford and Ralph Richardson - lyrics by Don Black; and Petulia, a serious, contemporary drama set in San Francisco starring Julie Christie, George C. Scott and Richard Chamberlain - lyrics by Richard Lester. New liner notes by Jon Burlingame. Remastered from the original 1/4" stereo album tapes. Available at Film Score Monthly's online store.

Chicago - The Razzle-Dazzle Edition
(Buena Vista - new on 2 DVDs)
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2002 film musical with Catherine Zeta Jones, Renee Zellweger, Richard Gere. Features hours of never-before-seen bonus material. 1.85:1 Anamorphic widescreen, English DD5.1 & DTS 5.1 Surround, French and Spanish audio, English and Spanish subtitles, extended musical performances (new), song rehearsals (new), Chita Rivera's Encore (new), From Stage To Screen: The History of Chicago (new), An Intimate Look at Director Rob Marshall (new), Academy Award winning Production Designer John Myre (new), Academy Award winning Costume Designer Colleen Atwood (new), VH1 Behind The Movie (new), deleted musical number "Class" performed by Catherine Zeta-Jones and Queen Latifah, Behind The Scenes Featurette, feature commentary with the Director and Screenwriter. [plans to include a third disc with the soundtrack were cancelled.]

Elisabeth
(new on DVD)
Region-free, PAL format DVD of Austrian version of the Michael Kunze and Sylvester Levay musical about the life and death of empress Elisabeth from Austria. The film, made with 7 cameras, shows the original stage production from Vienna, Austria with the current cast of Aya Hakvoort, Maté Kamaras, Serkan Kaya and André Bauer. Sung in German. Available for Order at SoundofMusic-shop.de

The Glass Slipper
(Film Score Monthly - new on 2 CDs)
1955 live-action version of the Cinderella tale which M-G-M produced following their successful Lili (1953). Quasi-musical starring Leslie Caron. Composer Bronislau Kaper and screenwriter/lyricist Helen Deutsch. FSM's premiere release features the complete score as it is heard in the film, followed by additional and alternate versions on a bonus disc. The entire soundtrack has been remixed from the original 35mm three-track stereo recordings, as conducted for the film by Miklos Rozsa. Limited Edition of 3,000 copies. Available at Film Score Monthly online store.

Once Upon a Mattress
(Touchstone/Disney - new on DVD)
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Yet-to-be-aired TV musical with Carol Burnett, Tracey Ullman, Zooey Deschanel, Denis O'Hare, Matthew Morris, Michael Boatman, Tom Smothers, Edward Hibbert. Extras: "Making of Once Upon a Mattress; "Between Takes" outtakes; Rehearsal To Film Comparison.

Orson's Shadow
(Dramatist's Play Service - Paperback Book)
Austin Pendleton play. Presented at Barrow Street Theater in 2005. [Our review of this production.].

Present at the Creation, Leaping in the Dark, and Going Against the Grain : 1776, Pippin, M. Butterfly, La Bete, and Other Broadway Adventures
(Applause Books - Paperback Book)
Producer Stuart Ostrow's manifesto of how intelligent life might be restored to the theatre is also a unique personal memoir of the producer-creator relationship and an evaluation of the essentials that can make a show fly, or remain earthbound. As a solo producer, Ostrow's many productions include M. Butterfly, Pippin, and 1776. He produced the original Broadway production of the critically acclaimed La Bete and was brought in to fix the original production of Chicago, collaborated with Anthony Hopkins on a London production of M. Butterfly that was not meant to be, and had his own play, Stages, directed on Broadway by Richard Foreman. He riffs about the heroes and heels he's met along the way and that great cast includes Frank Loesser, Meredith Willson, Mel Brooks, Mike Nichols, Bob Fosse, David Geffen, Andrew Lloyd Webber, David Henry Hwang, John Kander, Fred Ebb, and many more.

December 13, 2005

Dessa Rose
(JAY Records - new on 2 CDs)
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2005 Off Broadway cast recording of Ahrens and Flaherty musical. Cast includes Rebecca Eichenberger, Tina Fabrique, Michael Hayden, David Hess, LaChanze, Kecia Lewis, Norm Lewis, William Parry, Soara-Joye Ross, James Stovall, Rachel York, Eric Jordan Young. Recorded May 2. Delayed in the U.S. Shipping from JayRecords.com in the U.K.

The Five Pennies
(Paramount - new on DVD)
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1959 bio-pic about jazzman "Red" Nichols, with Danny Kaye, Barbara Bel Geddes, Louis Armstrong, and Tuesday Weld.

Next Stop, Greenwich Village
(20th Century Fox - new on DVD)
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1976 film written and directed by Paul Mazursky, with Lenny Baker, Shelley Winters, Ellen Greene, Christopher Walken, and Lou Jacobi.

The Producers - Deluxe Edition
(MGM - on 2 DVDs)
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1968 film with Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder. Bonuses: new documentary on "The Making of...," outtakes, photo gallery and more.

Rent
(Hal Leonard - Paperback Book)
Matching folio to the film adaptation of the Tony-winning musical. Includes Another Day, Halloween, I'll Cover You, La Vie Boheme, Light My Candle, Love Heals, One Song Glory, Out Tonight, Rent, Santa Fe, Seasons Of Love, Take Me Or Leave Me, Tango: Maureen, What You Own, Will I?, Without You, You'll See, Your Eyes.

Theatre and Celebrity in Britain 1660-2000
(Palgrave Macmillan - Hardcover Book)
By Mary Luckhurst and Jane Moody. Collection of essays exploring aspects of fame, notoriety and transgression in a wide range of performers and playwrights including David Garrick, Oscar Wilde, Ellen Terry, Laurence Olivier and Sarah Kane, examining the ways in which these stars have negotiated fame. The essays also analyze the complex relationships between discourses of celebrity and questions of gender, spectatorship and the operation of cultural markets.

December 6, 2005

The Actor's Dictionary
(Limelight - Paperback Book)
By Elbin Cleveland. Nearly 3,500 theatrical terms, a ready reference for readers in the theater profession, those who would like to be, and also for those who enjoy the theater from the audience. Many are well-known terms, but others, including slang and jargon, are known primarily by people in the theater profession. Numerous illustrations; quotations by famous actors, directors, and critics; and caricatures of eminent theater personalities.

Belle of the Yukon
(MGM Video - new on DVD)
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1944 with Dinah Shore and Gypsy Rose Lee. Full frame.

Billy Elliot the Musical
(new on CD)
Original London Cast Recording of Elton John/Lee Hall score. James Lomas, George Maguire, Liam Mower, Haydn Gwynn and Tim Healy. Available for Order at Amazon UK and DressCircle.co.uk.

Billy Elliot the Musical - Special Edition
(new on 2 CDs)
Original London Cast Recording of Elton John/Lee Hall score. James Lomas, George Maguire, Liam Mower, Haydn Gwynn and Tim Healy. 2nd CD features three songs performed by Elton John ("The Letter," "Merry Christmas, Mrs Thatcher," "Electricity.") Available for Order at Amazon UK.

Billy Elliot Songbook
(International Music - Paperback Book)
Piano, vocal, guitar selections from U.K. musical with Elton John/John Lee Hall score. Available at Amazon UK.

Cirque Du Soleil - Anniversary Collection, 1984-2005
(Sony - new on 12 DVDs)
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Boxed set containing the previously released A Baroque Odyssey, Allegria, Cirque Reinvente, Dralion, Journey Of Man, La Magie Continue, Nouvelle Experience, Quidam, Saltimbanco, Varekai, and La Nouba, plus a bonus disc of Midnight Sun, "a once-in-a-lifetime special." Also included: 6 commemorative post cards.

The Complete Plays (Anton Chekhov)
(W.W. Norton - Hardcover Book)
New translations by Laurence Senelick. This volume contains work that has never previously been translated, including the newly discovered farce The Power of Hypnosis and the first version of Ivanov, as well as Chekhov's early humorous dialogues. Freshly translated to bring into English Chekhov's jokes, the deliberate repetitions of his dialogue, and his verbal characterizations. Senelick has also annotated the works to bring clarity for the general reader and has included variants of the plays.

Gay & Lesbian Theatrical Legacy: A Biographical Dictionary of Major Figures in American Stage History in the Pre-Stonewall Era
(University of Michigan Press - Paperback Book)
Editors Billy J. Harbin, Kim Marra, Robert A. Schanke. Recovers the hidden history of theater professionals who transgressed the gendered expectations of their time. Collects biographies and portraits of influential actors, playwrights, composers, directors, designers, dancers, producers, managers, critics, choreographers, and technicians who made their mark on the American theater.

Judi Dench: Scenes from My Life
(George Weidenfeld & Nicholson - Hardcover Book)
By Judi Dench and John Miller. Dench memoir with over 100 photographs taken from her personal collection, including pictures her childhood in York before the second world war, family holidays, schooldays, her first work as an amateur actor in her teens in York, drama school, the performance that made her name as Juliet in Franco Zefferilli's production at the Old Vic when Judi was in her early twenties, informal shots back stage and off set, as well as photographs of her own family, her actor husband Michael Williams, daughter Finty and grandson Sam.

Kid Galahad
(MGM - new on DVD)
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1962 Elvis Presley film with Lola Albright, Gig Young and Charles Bronson.

The Lambs Theatre Club
(McFarland & Co. - Hardcover Book)
By Lewis J., Jr. Hardee. Drawn extensively from The Lambs' official archives, and including many anecdotes from oral histories, this is the definitive history of the venerable club.

Murder She Wrote - The Complete Second Season
(MCA Home Video - new on 3 DVDs)
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Angela Lansbury series. Regulars and guests include William Windom, Ron Masak, Genie Francis, Tom Bosley, Jerry Orbach.

New Playwrights: The Best Plays of 2004
(Smith & Kraus - Paperback Book)
Editor D. L. Lepidus; introduction by Dr. Rosary O'Neill. The 6th annual collection of plays produced during the 2003-2004 theatrical season include The Beard of Avon by Amy Freed, Bee-Luther-Hatchee by Thomas Gibbons, The Love Song of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Carson Kreitzer, Living Out by Lisa Loomer, Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage, Book Group by Marisa Smith, and The Story by Tracey Scott Wilson.

Nine Parts of Desire : A Play
(Northwester Univ. Press - Paperback Book)
Heather Raffo's collection of monologues about Iraqi women. Lucille Lortel award-winner at Manhattan Ensemble Theatre Oct 2004-May 2005.

Peggy Lee Sings Leiber & Stoller
(Hip-O Select - new on CD)
Remixed version of Peggy Lee's 1975 album "Mirrors" (produced by Lieber & Stoller). Limited edition, Internet-only release includes bonus tracks ("Kansas City," "Don Juan," "I Ain't Here," "I'm a Woman"). Available for at hip-oselect.com.

Self-management for Actors: Getting Down to Show Business - Revised 2nd Edition
(Cricket Feet Publishing - Paperback Book)
By Bonnie Gillespie. Guides actors through the process of taking control of the business side of their careers, and a simple, self-management concept that allows any actor to handle the business of an acting career without losing the ability to be a creative artist.

Theaters
(W.W. Norton & Co. - Hardcover Book/CD)
By Craig Morrison, Andrew Craig Morrison. Visual sourcebook traces colorful and varied forms or theaters as they developed in early America, on the western frontier, and in cities from coast to coast. From music halls to vaudeville, from circus to grand opera, from World's Fair to Coney Island, from nickelodeon to glorious picture palace. Also featured are theaters for burlesque, theaters afloat, military theaters, Shakespearean theaters, summer theaters, theaters and African Americans, and arenas. 1200 illustrations. CD-ROM included.

They Had It Coming: The Music of Kander and Ebb
(new on CD)
Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles, with Jane Lanier.

November 29, 2005

Judy's Scary Little Christmas
(new on CD)
L.A. cast recording of show by James Webber, David Church, and Joe Patrick Ward. Starring Connie Champagne. More information at www.judyschristmas.com.

Muppet Christmas Carol - Kermit's 50th Anniversary Edition
(Buena Vista Home Video - new on DVD)
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Feature-film directorial debut for Brian Henson. Voice of Michael Caine as Scrooge. Bonuses: audio commentary by director Brian Henson; Pepe Profiles Presents - "Gonzo: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Weirdo"; "Christmas Around the World"; on-the-set gag reel. Widescreen and full screen formats included.

Olivier
(Henry Holt & Co. - Hardcover Book)
Authorized biography of Sir Laurence Olivier by Terry Coleman, who had exclusive, unprecedented access to the archive of Olivier's private papers and correspondence, and those of his family. Includes chronologies of Olivier's stage and film careers. Released November 1.

Oy Vey In A Manger - Kinsey Sicks
(Kinsey Sicks Records - new on CD)
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Live recording of the group's holiday show.

The Smallest Giant : An Actor's Life
(Allen & Urwin - Paperback Book)
Memoir by Michael Craig. Anecdotes and behind-the-scenes stories, of well-regarded stage, film, and television actor.

November 22, 2005

Barbra Streisand: The Television Specials
(Rhino/Wea - new on 5 DVDs)
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Includes My Name Is Barbra (1965), Color Me Barbra (1966), The Belle Of 14th Street (1968; Never Available On Home Video), A Happening In Central Park (1968), And Barbra Streisand ... And Other Musical Instruments (1973). ["Lover, Come Back to Me" in the concert segment of My Name is Barbra has been replaced with an alternate take, different from what is on the Laserdisk/VHS version.] My Name Is Barbra will be a PBS pledge program in December, Color Me Barbra in March.

Best American Short Plays 2001-2002
(Applause Theatre Books - Hardcover/Paperback Book)
Edited by Glenn Young. Includes plays by David Ives, Murray Schisgal, Christopher Durang, Cherie Vogelstein, Rich Orloff, Lavonne Mueller, David Mamet, David Auburn, John Ford Noonan and Paul Zindel.

Caught in the Act
(Reprise/Wea - new on CD/DVD)
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Live performance at the Wiltern in Los Angeles in August, 2005, by Michael Buble. Digipak. Program will be broadcast as a PBS pledge in December.

Cliff Richard on the Beach
(Kultur - new on DVD)
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2005 concert taped in Algarve, with "backstage" footage.

Ethel Merman : The Biggest Star on Broadway
(Barricade Legends - Hardcover Book)
By Geoffrey Mark. In-depth portrait of the Broadway legend details her incredible career, three marriages, love affairs, and children.

The Light in the Piazza Songbook
(Hal Leonard - Paperback Book)
Piano/vocal songbook for 2005 Broadway musical. Score by Adam Guettel. 10 songs are included in this collection, plus a bio of Adam Guettel, 5 pages of color photos, and more. Includes: The Beauty Is, Dividing Day, Fable, Il Mondo Era Vuoto, Let's Walk, The Light in the Piazza, Love to Me, Passeggiata, Say It Somehow, Statues and Stories, plus a performance edition of The Light in the Piazza. Should be shipping within a week. Currently available at MusicDispatch.com.

Michael Ball - Alone Together / Live at the Donmar
(Kultur - new on DVD)
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His one-man, one-piano "this is my life" show. Song list: Don't Look At Me (Sondheim), I Whistle A Happy Tune (Rodgers & Hammerstein), Anyone Can Whistle (Sondheim), Give a Little Whistle (Washington & Harline), Where or When (Rodgers & Hart), Padam Padam (Glanzberg, Contet & Carr), Sons (J. Brel), Little Pal (Al Jolson), The Man That Got Away (Arlen & Gershwin), If You Were the Only Girl in the World (Grey & Ayer), Mother (John Lennon), I've Got No Strings (Washington & Harline), I'll Build a Stairway To Paradise (Gershwin), Happy Talk (Rodgers & Hammerstein), The Best Of Times (J Herman), Is That All There Is (Leiber & Stoller), There's No Business Like Show Business (Berlin), MEDLEY: (Berlin, Porter, Newmans, Robbins & Grey, Gershwin), I Wish I Could Forget You (Sondheim), What Now My Love (B. Brown & Sigman), How Can I Lose You (Guettel), Life On Mars (David Bowie), Prelude 8 in E Flat Major (J.S. Bach), Over My Head (Trad.), Glory Goes (Guettel), Alone Together (Dietz & Schwartz), This Is What It Is (La Chuisa), After The Ball (Harris & Schwartz).

Nine Contemporary Jewish Plays : From the New Play Commission of the National Foundation for Jewish Culture
(Univ of Texas Press - Hardcover/Paperback Book)
Anthology of nine plays commissioned by National Foundation for Jewish Culture's New Play Commissions in Jewish Theatre that have gone on to full production. Selected by Ellen Schiff and Michael Posnick. Foreward by Theodore Bikel.

Performing Women : Stand-Ups, Strumpets and Itinerants, Second Edition
(Palgrave MacMillan - Paperback Book)
By Alison Oddey. Interviews with prominent performing women span generations, cultures, perspectives, practice, and the best part of the 20th century, telling various stories collectively. Stand-ups, classic actresses, film and television personalities, and performance artists discuss why they want to perform, what motivates them, and how their personal history has contributed to their desires to perform.

The Producers
(Sony/BMG - new on CD)
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Soundtrack of 2005 film adaptation of Broadway musical with Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Uma Thurman, Will Ferrell, Roger Bart, Gary Beach. Includes new end-title song "There's Nothing Like a Show on Broadway" and Ferrell's "power ballad" arrangement of "Der Guten Tag Hop-Clop." The score has been rearranged by Douglas Besterman.

Shirley Temple Collection Vol 2
(Fox - new on 3 DVDs)
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Baby Takes a Bow / Bright Eyes / Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. Bonus Footage: "Shirley Temple Theater: Dimples & Heidi", "Shirley Temple Theatre: Dimples, Heidi, & Little Miss Broadway", "Shirley Temple Theater: Dimples & Heidi".

Sweet Charity
(Koch/DRG - on CD)
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Reissue of EMI/Manhattan CD recording of 1986 revival cast with Debbie Allen. Two bonus songs which were recorded as a Capitol single, played by Cy Coleman and sung by a chorus with the Ray Ellis Orchestra. Liner notes by Martin Gottfried.

The Tales of Hoffmann
(Criterion - new on DVD)
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1951 film adaptation of Jacques Offenbach's fantasy opera. Directors Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger create a phantasmagoric marriage of cinema and opera in their one-of-a-kind take on this classic story. A feast of music, dance, and visual effects. Criterion's long-awaited and most-requested DVD features audio commentary by Martin Scorsese & film historian Bruce Eder, a new introduction to the film by director and fan George A. Romero, Michael Powell's short musical film The Sorcerer's Apprentice, a rare collection of production design sketches and paintings, the trailer, and more.

Yours, Anne
(JAY - new on CD)
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Original Playhouse 91 Off Broadway cast recording from 1985. Enid Futterman (Book), Michael Cohen (Music), Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackette (Original Authors). Cast Betty Aberlin, Trini Alvarado, David Cady, Merwin Goldsmith, George Guidall, Bob Keller, Hal Robinson, Ann Talman, Dana Zeller-Alexis.

November 15, 2005

Andrew Lloyd Webber: Divas
(Universal - new on CD)
Compilation CD featuring Elaine Paige, Katherine Jenkins, Denise Van Outen, Shirley Bassey, Sarah Brightman, Glenn Close, Minnie Driver, Diahann Carroll, Yvonne Elliman, Tina Arena, Julie Covington, Petula Clark, Bonnie Tyler, Marti Webb, Barbara Dickson, Kiri Te Kanawa. Available at Amazon UK. [With some different tracks, this collection will be released in the U.S. by Universal Classics/Decca Broadway on January 24.]

The Best of Christmas Sam Harris Live
(new on CD)
Exclusive to SamHarris.com

Jerry Springer The Opera
(new on PAL DVD)
London cast video.

The Last Starfighter
(Kritzerland - new on CD)
Skip Kennon musical score. Performers are members of the 2004 New York production: Charlie Pollock, DeeGee Brandemour, Brad Coolidge, Bernardo De Paula, Jan Leigh Herndon, Paul Jackel, Hugh Brandon Kelly, Joseph Kolinski, Julia Motyka, Georga Osborne, William Parry, Catherine Remmert, Jonathan Richard Sandler, Heather Spore and Travis Walters. Available now at www.kritzerland.com

A Lion King Christmas
(new on CD)
Holiday songs featuring the International Companies of The Lion King. Sold for Theatre Cares. All proceeds from the sale of this CD are donated to International organizations involved with the prevention of AIDS and HIV virus. Available at DressCircle.co.uk.

Maureen McGovern: Help is On the Way
(new on CD)
CD-single of David Friedman song, seen in performance at 2005's Easter Bonnet Competition. benefits BC/EFA and McGovern's "Works of Heart" Foundation for Music and Healing. Available only at bcefa.org.

Oklahoma! 50th Anniversary
(Fox - new on 2 DVDs)
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1955 Rodgers & Hammerstein musical film with Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones, Gloria Grahame, Gene Nelson, Charlotte Greenwood, Eddie Albert, Rod Steiger. Includes Cinemascope and Todd AO versions that were filmed simultaneously in 1955. Extras: commentary by Ted Chapin and Hugh Fordin, Sing Along Subtitles, the trailer and a separate chapter list for songs only with a play-all feature, commentary by Shirley Jones and Nick Redman, "Cinemascope vs. Todd AO," "The Miracle of Todd-AO" and "The March of Todd-AO" featurettes, vintage stage excerpts "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" performed by Gordon MacRae and "People Will Say We're in Love" performed by Gordon MacRae & Florence Henderson (from the 1954 General Foods 25th Anniversary TV Special), still galleries. Both versions in widescreen

Rent Soundtrack Highlights
(Warner - new on CD)
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Includes: Seasons Of Love, Rent, One Song Glory, Light My Candle, Today 4 U, Tango: Maureen, Out Tonight, Santa Fe, I'll Cover You, La Vie Boheme A & B, I Should Tell You, Take Me Or Leave Me, Without You, I'll Cover You Reprise, What You Own, Finale B, Love Heals.

Something to Remember Me By - Dorothy Loudon
(new on CD)
Recorded with Smith Street Society Jazz Band. Available from OKOM.com or by calling (973)579-9424.

Sound of Music 40th Anniversary
(Fox - new on DVD)
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1965 Lindsay and Crouse musical film with Rodgers & Hammerstein score. Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer. Disc One: Separate chapter list for songs only with Play All feature, isolated score, commentary by Robert Wise, all-new special anniversary introduction by Julie Andrews, all-new commentary with Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, all-new English, French and Spanish Sing-a-long subtitles. Disc Two: all-new "My Favorite Things: Julie Andrews Remembers" (Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Johannes von Trapp, Charmian Carr, director Robert Wise and others) with rarely-seen footage, all- new "Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer: A Reminiscence," all-new "On Location with The Sound Of Music" featurette (with Charmian Carr), all-new "From Liesl to Gretl: A 40th Anniversary Reunion" (all seven actors who played the von Trapp children), all-new "When You Know the Notes to Sing" (Hollywood Bowl sing-a-long with Julie Andrews), "The von Trapp Family: Harmony & Discord" A&E Biography, lobby cards and one sheets, screen tests (Mia Farrow and Marni Nixon), trailers & TV spots.

State Fair - 60th Anniversary Edition
(Fox - new on 2 DVDs)
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Newly-remastered, expanded edition of 1945 musical film with Jeanne Crain, Dana Andrews, Dick Haymes, Vivian Blaine, Fay Bainter, Donald Meek, Frank McHugh, Harry Morgan. Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II score. Includes both the original 1945 version and the 1962 version (widescreen). Extras: commentary with Richard Barrios and Tom Briggs, Sing Along Subtitles, "From Page, To Screen, To Stage: State Fair" featurette, still galleries, trailers, commentary by Pat Boone, the "State Fair" television pilot and vintage stage excerpt "It Might As Well Be Spring" performed by Mary Martin (from the 1954 General Foods 25th Anniversary TV Special).

Theatre Performance and Technology : The Development of Scenography in the Twentieth Century
(Palgrave Macmillan - Paperback/Hardcover Book)
By Christopher Baugh. Explores ways in which development and change in technology have been reflected in scenography, and considers how change in scenographic identity has impacted upon the place and meaning of performance.

Walk The Line
(Wind-Up - new on CD)
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Soundtrack from Johnny Cash bio-pic, with Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon.

November 8, 2005

7 Days In Memphis
(Sony - new on DualDisc CD)
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Peter Gallagher solo album.

Arguments with England : A Memoir
(Faber & Faber - Hardcover Book)
Memoir of director Michael Blakemore. Published September 2005.

Bach at Leipzig
(Faber & Faber - Paperback Book)
Itamor Moses' play (now Off Broadway for NYTW). Preface by Tom Stoppard. Published October 25, 2005.

Blood & Feathers
(Koch/DRG - new on DVD)
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Ute Lemper Carlyle club act.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Deluxe Edition
(Warner - new on 2 DVDs)
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2005 film with Johnny Depp. Bonuses: "The Fantastic Mr. Dahl" biography, "Attack of the Squirrels" documentary, "making-of" featurettes: "Becoming Oompa-Loompa," plus interactive features for kids.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
(Sony - on CD)
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U.S. release of OLC recording.

The Complete Lyrics of Irving Berlin
(Applause Books - Paperback Book)
Paperback version of 2001 Knopf 1st edition. Lyrics of more than 1,200 songs, along with anecdotal, historical, and musicological commentary and dozens of photographs. Robert Kimball, editor.

Exits and Entrances
(Dramatist's Play Service - Paperback Book)
Play by Athol Fugard.

The Fugitive Kind
(Sony/MGM - new on DVD)
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Adaptation of Tennessee Williams' play Orpheus Descending, directed by Sidney Lumet, with Marlon Brando, Anna Magnani, Joanne Woodward, and Maureen Stapleton.

Hirschfeld's British Aisles
(Glenn Young Books - Paperback Book)
Commentary by Julie Andrews, John Russell, Cameron Mackintosh, Simon Callow, Ralph Steadman, Michael Blakemore, Louise Kerz Hirschfeld, Tony Walton, Lynn Redgrave, Barry Humphries, Peter Shaffer, Julie Christie, Kevin Brownlow, Nicholas Wright, Mel Gussow, Sheridan Morley, and Al Hirschfeld. Collection of Hirshfeld drawings of actors, directors, playwrights, politicians, publicans, and musicians of Great Britain.

Lady Sings the Blues
(Paramount Home Video - new on DVD)
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1972 film with Diana Ross. Widescreen collector's edition.

Letters from Backstage: The Adventures of a Touring Actor
(Allworth Press - Paperback Book)
By Michael Kostroff (road companies of The Producers and Les Miserables), professional writer for Disney and other entertainment companies. Part backstage tour, part travelogue, part social commentary. Adventures in more than 20 US cities, large and small. Anecdotes about celebrities, including Mel Brooks, Susan Stroman, Jason Alexander and Martin Short. Includes working at a temp job when his agent calls to say, "You got the part!"; singing on a revolving stage while lugging a dead body; seeing ghosts in haunted theaters; and much more. Anecdotes about nailing an audition, keeping a performance fresh, and getting along with fellow cast members.

Life as Theater: A Dramaturgical Sourcebook
(Transaction - Paperback Book)
Dennis Brissett (Editor), Charles Edgley (Editor), Robert Stebbins (new Introduction). Paperback edition of 1990 major revised and updated version of the first book to explore systematically the material and subject matter of social psychology from the dramaturgical viewpoint. Nearly two-thirds of the selections are new and all feature individual introductions that provide dramaturgical perspective and reflect the latest thinking and work being done within this point of view.

The Likes of Us
(new on 2 CDs)
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice (original book by Leslie Thomas) musical, the story of the life of Dr Thomas Barnardo. Recorded Live At The Mermaid Theatre, London. Starring Stephen Fry. Available at Amazon UK and DressCircle.co.uk

Meredith: MerieNYC
(new on CD)
Meredith Patterson (LA company of White Christmas) debut CD. Signed and unsigned CDs available through store at Meredith.com. For signed copies, a portion of the proceeds will go towards funding research for treatment and a cure for Huntington's Disease (HD) in partnership with The Huntington's Disease Society of America www.hdsa.org.

My Son, the Box
(Rhino Handmade - on 6 CDs)
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Allan Sherman set, to include previously released albums (eight) and singles plus never-before-released songs, including some industrial work. Digitally remastered from the original studio tapes. Not expected to include The Fig Leaves Are Falling.

The Mystery Plays
(Dramatist's Play Service - Paperback Book)
Play by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. Presented at Second Stage in June 2004. [Our review of this production.] Released October 30, 2005.

No Applause--Just Throw Money : The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous
(Faber & Faber - Hardcover Book)
By Trav S. D. "A seriously funny look at the roots of American Entertainment." Author chronicles vaudeville's far-reaching impact, exploring the many ways in which vaudeville's story is the story of show business in America and documenting the rich history and cultural legacy of our country's only purely indigenous theatrical form.

Opposite You
(PS Classics - new on CD)
Order at CD Universe | At iTunes
New studio recording from husband and wife Jason Danieley and Marin Mazzie. Celebrates Broadway duets from Berlin and Arlen to Sondheim and Ahrens & Flaherty. Orchestrators Bill Brohn, Larry Hochman, Chris Jahnke, and Joseph Thalken will be augmenting the accompaniment with new arrangements. Directed by David Loud and produced Tommy Krasker.

Reefer Madness
(Showtime Entertainment - new on DVD
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Showtime film of Kevin Murphy & Dan Studney musical with Kristen Bell, Christian Campbell, Neve Campbell, Alan Cumming, Ana Gasteyer, John Kassir, Amy Spangler, Robert Torti, Steven Weber. 108 minutes. Widescreen.

The Sound of Music 40th Anniversary Edition
(RCA - on CD)
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Repackaged soundtrack issue with bonus tracks: interviews with Robert Wise, Richard Rodgers, and Charmian Carr. [There will also be regional-only double CDs for France, Italy, Germany, and Spain, each containing the expanded English language soundtrack CD and the foreign language soundtrack of each country - only the French one has previously been released on CD.]

Stuff Happens: A Play
(Faber & Faber - Paperback Book)
Play by David Hare. Released October 2005.

Theatre Directory 2005-06
(Theatre Communications Group - Paperback Book)
Annual pocket guide to theatre and related organizations contains information on artistic directors, managing directors and board chairpersons for 420 theatres; complete personnel index; theatre addresses/business/FAX and box office phone numbers; email and website addresses; performance seasons; regional index listing by state; Actors' Equity Association contract information; special interests listing for all theatres; theatre index listing by budget size; listings for 66 arts resource organizations, including descriptions of their programs and services.

Unfinished Show Business: Broadway Musicals As Works-in-process (Theater in the Americas)
(Southern Illinois Univ. Press - Paperback Book)
By Bruce Kirle, Robert A. Schanke. Drawing on the notion that the world of the author stays fixed while the world of the audience is ever-changing, Kirle suggests that musicals are open, fluid products of the particular cultural moment in which they are performed. Incomplete as printed texts and scores, musicals take on unpredictable lives of their own in the complex transformation from page to stage. Using examples from favorites including Oklahoma!, Fiddler on the Roof, A Chorus Line, and Les Misérables, Kirle demonstrates Broadway's ability to bridge seemingly insoluble tensions in society, from economic and political anxiety surrounding World War II to generational conflict and youth counterculture to corporate America and the "me" generation. 30 illustrations.

Upstaged: Making Theatre In A Media Age
(Routledge - Hardcover/Paperback Book)
By Anne Nicolson Weber. What do stage actors, directors, playwrights, critics, and other theater professionals think about theater in the age dominated by movies and television? Anne Nicholson Weber has sought answers from an extraordinary cast. On subjects ranging from conviction to realism, continuity to point of view, Shakespeare to love scenes, and many other topics, these thoughtful interviews explore how today's theatre people make theatre work. The author's subjects include, among others, Julie Taymor, Robert Falls, Tony Kushner, Anna Deavere Smith, Peter Hall, Wallace Shawn, Frank Rich, Simon Callow, Maggie Gyllenhaal, David Leveaux, Adrian Lester, Richard Eyre, Linda Edmond, Nicholas Hytner, Paul Scofield, and Robert Brustein.

Warner Bros. Classic Holiday Collection
(Warner - new on 3 DVDs)
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Boxed set with A Christmas Carol (1938; directed by Edwin L. Marin, with Reginald Owen, Gene Lockhart, Kathleen Lockhart, Lynne Carver, Terry Kilburn, Ann Rutherford), Boy's Town (1938; Norman Taurog, w/Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney), its 1941 sequel Men of Boy's Town on the same disc, and Christmas In Connecticut (1945; Peter Godfrey, w/Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Reginald Gardiner, Robert Shayne, S.Z. Sakall, Sydney Greenstreet). Each title, available individually, has appropriately-themed cartoons/featurettes/newsreels as bonuses.

The Who - Tommy and Quadrophenia Live
(Rhino - new on 3 DVDs)
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The 1989 Tommy features guest stars Elton John, Billy Idol, Phil Collins, Patti LaBelle, Steve Winwood, and PJ Proby, performing at Universal's Amphitheatre, with Quadrophenia filmed during a 1996-97 Who tour, plus extras including interviews with Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, photo and souvenir galleries, an interview with Billy Idol, and The Story Of Quadrophenia as told by Aubrey Powell. Disc three features almost two hours of Who hits, performed live.

Woman in White
(EMI - new on 2 CDs)
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OLC recording of Andrew Lloyd Webber/David Zippel score from 2004 musical (book by Charlotte Jones). Michael Crawford, Maria Friedman, Martin Crewes, Angela Christian, Oliver Darley, Jill Paice, Edward Petherbridge. U.S. release with different cover.

November 1, 2005

700 Sundays: A Memoir
(Warner Books - Hardcover Book)
By Billy Crystal, based on his Broadway play. Crystal's own story of family, heroes, and a life led in celebration of both with the same emotional appeal.

The American Songbook : The Singers, Songwriters & The Songs
(Black Dog & Leventhal - Hardcover Book)
By Ken Bloom, with foreward by Tony Bennett. In the format of Bloom's Broadway Musicals, covers all of the prominent figures behind the music, in front of the bandstand, and on top of the piano. "The Singers," " The Songwriters," a lively section on Big Bands, and a decade-by-decade. More than 200 listings feature the artist's personal and professional history, great songs, and important contributions, plus photos (many rare), record covers, anecdotes, quotes, and more. Sidebars and features throughout cover topics of interest (Arrangers, Vocal Groups, and Keepers of the Flame to Tin Pan Alley, Parodists, and Classical Crossovers).

Backstairs at the White House
(Acorn Media - new on 4 DVDs)
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1979 mini-series of behind the scenes at the White House during eight administrations (Taft through Eisenhower), as told by the people who work there. White House maid Lillian Rogers Parks (played by Leslie Uggams) is main character and author of the book the mini-series was based on. Also features Olivia Cole, Lou Gossett, Jr., Robert Hooks, Leslie Nielsen, Cloris Leachman, Paul Winfield, Julie Harris, Victor Buono, Robert Vaughn, Kim Hunter, Claire Bloom, Celeste Holme, George Kennedy, Ed Flanders, Lee Grant, Eileen Heckart, Barbara Barrie.

Before the Parade Passes By : Gower Champion and the Glorious American Musical
(St. Martin's Press - Hardcover Book)
By John Anthony Gilvey.

Behind the Iron Mask
(new on CD-R)
Original London/studio cast recording. With Emma Kershaw (Gypsy) in place of Sheila Ferguson, Robert Fardell (Prisoner) and Mark McKerracher (Jailer) both from the London production that played the Duchess Theatre. Available for Order at Dress Circle.

Broadway's Greatest Gifts Vol. 7: Carols for a Cure 2005
(new on 2 CDs)
7th annual recording with Broadway cast treatments of holiday songs. Features the casts of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Spamalot The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Chicago, Wicked, Hairspray, Light in the Piazza, Great American Trailer Park Musical, Avenue Q, Lennon, Movin' Out, The Producers, Rent, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Sweet Charity, The Phantom of the Opera, Fiddler on the Roof, All Shook Up, Bingo, Mamma Mia!, The Lion King, Beauty & the Beast, Altar Boyz, Sweeney Todd, The Musical of Musicals, Jersey Boys. Order at the BC/EFA Website.

A Bunch of Ratbags
(Bayview - new on CD)
Premiere recording of Australian musical (Peter Pinne's music and lyrics; book and additional lyrics by Don Battye). Based on novel by William Dick. Original 2005 Australian Cast: Lyall Brooks, Jessica Enes, Zen Ledden, Nikki Minster, Ben Nicholas, Liam Pedersen, Abi Richardson, Gregory Ross, Steve Simmons, Louise Van Veenendaal. Available this week at BayViewRecords.com.

Bye Bye Birdie - Deluxe Souvenir Edition
(Hal Leonard - Paperback Book)

Fame: Season One
(Columbia Tristar - new on 4 DVDs)
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Christopher Gore's 1980s TV show about life at NYC performing arts school. 16 episodes. Guests include Fran Drescher, Madlyn Rhue, Dominique Dunne, Gwen Verdon, Art Carney, Ray Walston, Jeff Pomerantz. Cast includes Debbie Allen, Carmine Caridi, Lee Curreri, Judy Farrell, Erica Gimpel, David Greenlee, Albert Hague, Carlo Imperato, Carol Mayo Jenkins, Valerie Landsburg, Ann Nelson, P.R. Paul, Lori Singer, Morgan Stevens, Gene Anthony Ray, Michael Thoma, Bronwyn Thomas.

Jersey Boys
(Rhino - new on CD)
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Cast recording. Recorded August 28. Cast includes Christian Hoff, Daniel Reichard, J. Robert Spencer, John Lloyd Young, Tituss Burgess, Steve Gouveia, Peter Gregus, Donnie Kehr, Michael Longoria, Mark Lotito, Jennifer Naimo, Dominic Nolfi, Erica Piccininni and Sara Schmidt.

Johnny Guitar - The Musical
(Hal Leonard - Paperback Book)
Songbook for 2004 musical. Martin Silvestri/Joel Higgins score. Based on the cult film favorite starring Joan Crawford. Features 10 songs: "Branded a Tramp," "The Gunfighter," "Johnny Guitar," "Let It Spin," "Old Santa Fe," "Tell Me a Lie," "We've Had Our Moments," "Welcome Home," "What's in It for Me?," "Who Do They Think They Are?"

The Mystery Plays
(Dramatist's Play Service - Paperback Book)
Play by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. Presented at Second Stage in June 2004. [Our review of this production.] Released October 30, 2005.

Orchestra Wives
(Fox - new on DVD)
Order at CD Universe1942 film. George Montgomery, Ann Rutherford, Glenn Miller and Glenn Miller Orchestra, Carol Landis, Cesar Romero. Extras: audio Commentary by Fayard Nicholas and Ann Rutherford, trailer, bonus trailers (Alexander's Ragtime Band, Anna and the King of Siam, A Letter to Three Wives, Desk Set), photo gallery.

The Phantom of the Opera - German - 3-DVD Special Edition with Mask
(new on 3 Region 2 DVDs)
Includes the film, "making of" film, including interviews with the leading actors, Joel Schumacher, Andrew Lloyd-Webber and more; additional songscene with Gerard Butler; seven featurettes; Emmy Rossum screen test; German and English movie trailers; "Behind The Mask - The Story of 'The Phantom of the Opera' documentary about the stage musical; featurette 'The Music of The Phantom of the Opera'; four original promotion clips with Sarah Brightman (The Phantom of the Opera w/ Steve Harley, All I Ask of You w/ Cliff Richard, The Music of the Night w/ Michael Crawford, Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again). Also included is an original Phantom mask and a 16-page booklet. Language: German (with Uwe Kröger singing the Phantom part) and English (with Gerard Butler as the original movie Phantom). Available at SoundofMusic.de.

Sin (A Cardinal Deposed)
(Dramatist's Play Service - Paperback Book)
Michael Murphy's play. 2005 Obie Award winner. [see our review of this production].

The Sweetest of Nights
(Zevely Records - new on CD)
Karen Mason solo album. Musical direction by Christopher Denny. Arrangements by Denny, Brian Lasser, Barry Kleinbort and Dick Gallagher.

Two for the Road
(Fox - new on DVD)
Order at CD Universe1967 Stanley Donen film with Audrey Hepburn, Albert Finney, William Daniels, Eleanor Bron. Extras: commentary by Director Stanley Donen, restoration comparison, trailers, still gallery.

Whoopi: Back on Broadway 20th Anniversary
(Warner - new on 2 DVDs)
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Whoopi Goldberg's Broadway show.

October 25, 2005

Abba - The Movie
(Universal Music - new on DVD)
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Lasse Hallstrom-directed documentary about the pop group's 1977 Australian tour.

Bette Midler Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook
(Sony - new on DualDisc/Regular CD)
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CD side contains 10 tracks. DVD side of the DualDisc will include 20 tracks, including PCM mastered version of the album.

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? : The Life of Composer Jay Gorney
(Scarecrow Press - Paperback Book)
By Sondra K. Gorney. Memoir of Jay Gorney by his wife of more than 45 years chronicles the life of one of American music's most prolific and respected composers. From Gorney's childhood in Russia to his many stage (Touch And Go, Heaven On Earth, Meet The People, Earl Carroll's Vanities, Sketchbook, Merry Go Round, Top Hole, Greenwich Village Follies) and screen successes, this book is a tribute to a man whose humanity, kindness, and courage triumphed over adversity.

Darling Lili
(Paramount - new on DVD)
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1970 musical film starring Julie Andrews, Rock Hudson. Henry Mancini score. Blake Edwards directed. Director's cut version, with deleted scenes. Widescreen.

Detective Story
(Paramount - new on DVD)
1951 film based on Sidney Kingsley play. Kirk Douglas, Eleanor Parker, William Bendix, Lee Grant. Directed by William Wyler.

Doris Day Show Season 2
(MPI Home Video - new on 4 DVDs)
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All 26 episodes from the second season.. McLean Stevenson and Rose Marie join the cast. 12 hours total. Bloopers, bonus footage, interviews, screen test, TV spots, theatrical trailer, more.

Earley Standards
(new on CD)
Kevin Earley (Thoroughly Modern Mille, Les Miserables) debut album. Currently out of stock, but listed at CDBaby.com

Easy to Love
(new on CD)
Donna Accorso tribute to Sarah Vaughan.

Fresh Air : Best of Stage and Screen
(Highbridge Audio - new on CD)
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Terry Gross. Drawn from 13 years of engaging, intelligent talks with actors, directors, playwrights, producers, icons, and legends, this collection features many interviews never before available on CD. Includes interviews with Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman, Clint Eastwood, Samuel L. Jackson, David Chase, Uta Hagen, Jeremy Irons, Francis Ford Coppola, Audrey Hepburn and more.

Hoagy Carmichael: His Life And Music
(Kultur Video - new on DVD)
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A look at the life and music of Hoagy Carmichael ("Georgia on My Mind," "Stardust," and "Thanks for the Memory").

I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight
(Riverhead - Hardcover Book/Audio CD)
By Margaret Cho. Chronicles Cho's adventures and misadventures in political activism.

Love Changes Everything - Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection Vol. 2
(Decca Broadway - new on CD)
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Sarah Brightman collection of songs from composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. Includes five never before released recordings, featuring a duet of "Love Changes Everything" (Aspects of Love) with Michael Ball, and some of Lloyd Webber's rarely heard classics.

New Classics
(Ruby Star Records - new on CD)
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Julie Budd album (includes first-to-be-released cover recording of "Defying Gravity".

Save the Tiger
(Paramount - new on DVD)
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1973 film with Jack Lemmon (Best Actor Oscar), Jack Gilford, Laurie Heineman.

Sondheim Sings (Volume II: 1946-60)
(PS Classics - new on CD)
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To include material Sondheim wrote in college, songs from his earliest (and often unproduced) professional productions, and tunes he wrote for the enjoyment of friends and colleagues in the '50s.

The Wizard of Oz - Collector's Edition
(Warner Home Video - on 3 DVDs)
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New digital transfer using Warner's "Ultra-Resolution" technology, plus a newly remastered soundtrack. Includes two discs from Special Edition plus an additional disc of special content, featuring a new documentary about L. Frank Baum; a newly restored transfer of the 1925 feature-length silent version of The Wizard of Oz starring Oliver Hardy and Larry Semon with a fresh score by Robert Israel; several additional rare Oz film features and shorts, originally produced between 1910 and 1933. Also included are reproductions of the original eight-page Grauman's Chinese Theatre Oz souvenir program from August 15, 1939, and the invitation to that premiere; the sixteen-page Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio News magazine from August 14, 1939, "Celebrating The Wizard of Oz"; nine beautifully restored natural color Kodachrome portraits and publicity photos from the film, and more.

The Wizard of Oz - Special Edition
(Warner Home Video - on 2 DVDs)
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New digital transfer using Warner's "Ultra-Resolution" technology, plus a newly remastered soundtrack. New commentary by historian John Fricke with selected archival audio comments by Barbara Freed-Saltzman (daughter of Arthur Freed), Margaret Hamilton, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Ken Darby (orchestral and vocal arranger), John Lahr (son of Bert Lahr), Jane Lahr (daughter of Bert Lahr), Hamilton Meserve (son of Margaret Hamilton), William Tuttle (make-up artist), Buddy Ebsen, Mervyn LeRoy, John Lee Mahin and Jerry Maren; "Prettier Than Ever: The Restoration of Oz We Haven't Really Met Properly"; supporting cast profile gallery, narrated by Angela Lansbury; "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" storybook, read by Angela Lansbury; TV specials "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Making of a Movie Classic" hosted by Angela Lansbury and "Memories of Oz"; all-new "The Art of Imagination: A Tribute to Oz, Because of the Wonderful Things it Does"; "The Legacy of Oz"; Harold Arlen's onset home movies; puttakes and deleted scenes; "It's a Twister! It's a Twister!" tornado special effects tests; vintage vault featurettes; extensive stills gallery; more than six hours of audio-only treasures, including an "Oz jukebox" of recording session materials, radio shows and promos.

October 18, 2005

American Movie Musicals Collection 3-Pack
(Sony Home - on 3 DVDs)
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West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof, and Guys and Dolls films.

Barbara Cook: Bell Telephone Hour
(VAI - new on DVD)
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Select appearances on the television program between 1960-1965. 50 minutes.

Broadway: America's Music 1935-2000
(Decca - on 6 CDs)
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Boxed set of previously released CDs in slipcover case with new "overview" booklet.

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? : The Life of Composer Jay Gorney
(Scarecrow Press - Paperback Book)
By Sondra K. Gorney. Memoir of Jay Gorney by his wife of more than 45 years chronicles the life of one of American music's most prolific and respected composers. From Gorney's childhood in Russia to his many stage (Touch And Go, Heaven On Earth, Meet The People, Earl Carroll's Vanities, Sketchbook, Merry Go Round, Top Hole, Greenwich Village Follies) and screen successes, this book is a tribute to a man whose humanity, kindness, and courage triumphed over adversity.

A Christmas Carol
(Hallmark - new on DVD)
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2004 Hallmark telefilm with music by Alan Menken and book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens. Stars Kelsey Grammer, Jason Alexander, Jesse L.Martin, Jane Krakowski, Geraldine Chaplin, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Brian Bedford, Linzi Hateley, Ruthie Henshall and Claire Moore.

Crowns
(Dramatist's Play Service - Paperback Book)
Play by Regina Taylor based on a book by Michael Cunningham and Craig Marberry. Produced Off Broadway in 2002, Second Stage Theater.

Earley Standards
(new on CD)
Kevin Earley (Thoroughly Modern Mille, Les Miserables) debut album. Currently out of stock, but listed at CDBaby.com

A Family Affair
(DRG - new on CD)
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1962 United Artists OBC album. John Kander/James Goldman/William Goldman. Shelley Berman, Eileen Heckart, Morris Carnovsky, Larry Kert, Rita Gardner, Bibi Osterwald.

Fresh Air : Best of Stage and Screen
(Highbridge Audio - new on CD)
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Terry Gross. Drawn from 13 years of engaging, intelligent talks with actors, directors, playwrights, producers, icons, and legends, this collection features many interviews never before available on CD. Includes interviews with Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman, Clint Eastwood, Samuel L. Jackson, David Chase, Uta Hagen, Jeremy Irons, Francis Ford Coppola, Audrey Hepburn and more.

I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight
(Riverhead - Hardcover Book/Audio CD)
By Margaret Cho. Chronicles Cho's adventures and misadventures in political activism.

KÁ - Cirque du Soleil
(Cirque du Soleil - new on CD)
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Music from the Cirque show. With a symphonic orchestra of 57 musicians and a choir of over 40 singers.

Late Joys
(Must Close Saturday Records - new on CD)
CD premiere of original cast recording. Decca 'live' recording ("A Night of Music Hall") made in the 1960s of British music hall songs at Players' Theatre, with such fine artists as Hattie Jacques, Clive Dunn, Bill Owen, Stella Moray, Patsy Rowlands and others. Transferred to the West End in December 1964. Available at Amazon UK.

Lifeboat
(Fox - new on DVD)
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1944 Alfred Hitchcock film with Tallulah Bankhead, Mary Anderson, Heather Angel, William Bendix, Hume Cronyn, Henry Hill, John Hodiak, Canada Lee, Walter Slezak. Based on John Steinbeck story. Bonuses: audio commentary by Drew Casper; "The Making of Lifeboat"; original trailer; photo gallery. Black & white; digitally processed.

Mad Hot Ballroom
(Just One Productions - new on DVD)
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2005 documentary of students of several New York City elementary schools learn ballroom dancing and compete in a city wide dance competition.

The Man with the Golden Arm (50th Anniversary Edition)
(Hart Sharp Video - on DVD)
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1955 film, directed by Otto Preminger. Starring Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker. Bonuses: trailer; commentary by film historian, Ken Barnes; exclusive archive interview with Frank Sinatra; interview with Academy Award winning composer, Elmer Bernstein; stills and posters; audio visual montage of "The Man with the Golden Arm" recording featuring the DVD debut of Frank Sinatra's vocal of the title song (not used in the film's commercial release); cast and crew bios; production background. Widescreen, black & white.

Michael Feinstein Presents B.J. Ward Sings Marshall Barer
(Feinery Records - new on CD)
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Cabaret show being presented at Feinstein's this month with singer B.J. Ward paying tribute to lyricist Marshall Barer (Once Upon a Mattress). Ward duets with Adam Guettel ("Roundelay"), Michael Feinstein.

Rat Pack - Live from Las Vegas
(Image Entertainment - new on DVD)
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Filmed live at the Haymarket Theatre, London. Staring Stephen Triffitt, Mark Adams and Gilz Terera. The complete show, plus behind-the-scenes footage.

Sing The Songs of Stephen Sondheim Vol.2
(Pocket Songs - new on CD)
Karaoke CD. Includes Maria, Tonight, I Feel Pretty, Somewhere, The Ballad Of Sweeney Todd, Johanna, Pretty Women, Finishing The Hat, The Boy From..., With So Little To Be Sure Of, In Buddy's Eyes, The Glamorous Life, The Miller's Son, A Weekend In The Country. Released October 1.

Streamline / Jill Darling
(Must Close Saturday Records - new on CD)
Full original London cast recordings of Vivian Ellis' Streamline revue (Florence Desmond and Norah Howard) and musical comedy Jill Darling (Frances Day and John Mills). Bonus tracks of Ellis playing his music at the piano, and British dance bands of the period promoting some of Ellis' best tunes. Available at Amazon UK.

Unscripted
(Warner Home Video - new on DVD)
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HBO series of struggling actors, featuring Krista Allen, Bryan Greenberg, Jennifer Hall, and Frank Langella.

Wicked: Grimmerie
(Hyperion - Hardcover Book)
By David Cote, Joan Marcus. Official tie-in book, designed to resemble the Grimmerie, an ancient book of spells that Elphaba uses in the show, offering fans a behind-the-curtains peek at the musical, profiles of the cast and creative team, and inside stories, with full-color photographs throughout. Includes an "Ozian" glossary, spells, the show's libretto, an illustrated family tree, and a step-by-step look at how Elphaba gets green before each show.

October 11, 2005

40 Years: A Charlie Brown Christmas
(Peak Records - new on CD)
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New recording of classic TV animated musical show. Singers include Gerald Albright, David Benoit, Rick Braun, Toni Braxton, Norman Brown, Chaka Khan, Dave Koz, Eric Marienthal, Brian McKnight, The Rippingtons and Vanessa Williams.

Beauty and the Beast
(Universal - new on CD)
2005 original Netherlands cast. Menken/Ashman score. Stanley Burleson, Chantal Janzen, Mariska van Kolck, René van Kooten, Ben Cramer Sung in Dutch. Available at SoundofMusic.

Catching Tales
(Verve Forecast - new on CD)
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New album from vocalist Jamie Cullum. Single available on iTunes.com .

Christmas Fantasy
(Blue Note - new on CD)
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New Anita Baker CD. Christmas classics plus three new songs.

Days of Wine And Roses
(Nick Hern Books - Paperback Book)
Owen McCafferty stage version, premiered February 17, 2005 at Donmar Warehouse. U.S. publish date.

A Handful of Stars
(Arbors - new on CD)
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Debut jazz album by 19 year old violinist, Aaron Weinstein. With Bucky Pizzarelli and John Pizzarelli on guitar, Houston Person on tenor sax, Nicki Parrott on bass, Joe Ascione on drums.

How to Stage a Play : Make a Fortune, Win a Tony and Become a Theatrical Icon!
(Limelight - Paperback Books)
By Charles Marowitz. Follows a director's journey from the casting process to opening night, revealing the hidden or unspoken aspects of play and stage production. Mr. Marowitz discusses topics such as rehearsals, characterization, blocking, tempo-rhythm, dramaturgy, and actor-and-audience psychology, demystifying an art form.

Johnny Desmond: The High And The Mighty
(Sepia - new on CD)
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From child performer to big band singer to solo artist, Johnny Desmond was a regular on the "Breakfast Club" radio show, appeared opposite Vivian Blaine in Say Darling and with Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl. Also an accomplished pianist. Had four top ten recordings in the U.S. ("Woman", "Heart of My Heart", "Play Me Hearts and Flowers" and "The Yellow Rose of Texas").

Josh Young
(LowderMusic - new on CD)
Debut album by Josh Young (Marius in the 2003-2004 Les Miserables tour; Tony in upcoming international tour of West Side Story). Includes contemporary and musical theatre songs. Guest stars Kate Shindle, Felicia Finley, and Sara Chase. Produced, orchestrated and features songs by Brian Lowdermilk. Clips and ordering information at www.josh-young.com

Legendary Christmas Entertainers
(Koch Vision - DVD/CD)
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Vintage television clips of songs and sketches. Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Mel Torme and more, in vintage television performances, singing all your favorite Christmas songs plus Bob Hope holiday sketches. Black and white; 62 minutes. Bonus music CD - Happy Holidays with 15 festive songs from such performers as Liberace, Vic Damone, and the Harry Simeone Chorale.

Lerner in Love: The Lyrics of Alan Jay Lerner
(LML Music - new on CD)
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Barbara Brussell recording.

Let Me Sing
(Red Anchor - new on CD)
Annie Ross' show, with Tardo Hammer (piano), Neal Miner (bass), Jimmy Wormworth (drums), Bucky Pizzarelli (guitar) and Warren Vache (horns). Available at Footlight.com

Life Interrupted : The Unfinished Monologue
(Crown - Paperback/Audio Book)
By Spalding Gray, Francine Prose (Introduction), Sam Shepard (Narrator of Audio version). The monologue that Spalding Gray was working on when he died in the early winter of 2004.

Lili
(Film Score Monthly - new on CD)
1953 soundtrack. Released by Special Arrangement with Turner Classic Movies Music. Leslie Caron, Mel Ferrer. Bronislau Kaper score. First release of the full score, including copious alternates and outtakes. Monaural sound. Limited edition of 3,000 copies.

Looking for Peyton Place
(Simon & Schuster - Audio Book CD)
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Barbara Delinsky's book narrated by Karen Ziemba. Released July 19, 2005.

Monica Lewis Sings Songs of Love
(Sepia - new on CD)
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Vintage performances from 1940s-50s nightclub, recording, movie, theatre, radio and TV artist (including advertising voice of Chiquita Banana).

Music
(Universal - new on CD)
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Michael Ball's new pop song CD (import in U.S.). Also available at Amazon UK

Never Have Your Dog Stuffed - And Other Things I've Learned
(Random House - Hardcover/Audio Book on CD
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Alan Alda autobiography. Released September, 2005.

Oy Vey In A Manger - Kinsey Sicks
(new on CD)
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Live recording of the group's holiday show.

The Papers of Will Rogers: Vol. 4 From Broadway to the National Stage, September 1915-July 1928
(Univ. of Oklahoma Press - Hardcover Book)
Edited by Steven K. Gragert, M. Jane Johansson. Documented history through personal correspondence with family members and friends. More than one hundred letters and telegrams to and from people Rogers touched both inside and outside public life, including prominent figures in politics, show business, literature, industry, government, publishing, and the arts. Much of the material, gleaned from private collections, interviews, manuscripts, and sound recordings, has never before been published.

Scrooge
(Cherry Lane Music - Paperback Book)
18 songs from the Leslie Bricusse musical based on Charles Dickens' beloved character, including: A Better Life, A Christmas Carol, Christmas Wishes, Father Christmas, I Hate People, Make the Most of This World, M-O-N-E-Y, Thank You Very Much, and more.

Simple Gifts - Bryn Terfel
(Deutsche Grammophon - new on CD)
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Sacred, spiritual and meditative songs ranging from classical to folk to popular, set to new orchestral arrangements by Chris Hazell.

Spamalot Songbook
(Hal Leonard - Paperback Book)
Vocal selections from Broadway musical. Songs include: All For One, Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life, Come With Me, Find Your Grail, Fisch Schlapping Dance, He Is Not Dead Yet, His Name Is Lancelot, I'm All Alone, King Arthur's Song, Laker Girls Cheer, Monks Chant, Run Away!, The Song That Goes Like This, Whatever Happened To My Part?, Where Are You?, You Won't Succeed On Broadway.

October 4, 2005

Audra McDonald Christmas Concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
(Mormon Tabernacle - new on DVD)
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To be presented on PBS as "Music & The Spoken Word " special in 2005.

Beyond the Fringe
(Acorn Media - new on DVD)
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Rare "Farewell Performance," shown in 1964 on BBC-TV. Alan Bennett, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, and Jonathan Miller performing skits from the satirical West End/Broadway revue. Found in producer's vault.

By Myself: The Songs Of Judy Garland
(EMI/Angel - new on CD)
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Linda Eder CD. Produced by Ettore Stratta and executive produced by Ian Ralfini. To coincide with the launch of an all-Judy Garland show tour.

Ça Ira
(Sony Classical - new on 2 enhanced CDs/SACDs)
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French Revolution opera by Roger Waters of Pink Floyd. Helen Russill , Bryn Terfel, Huang Ying, Paul Groves, Jamie Bower, Ismael Lo and London Oratory Choir. SACD version includes making-of DVD and a 60-page booklet. Released September 27.

Cinderella Special Edition Soundtrack
(Walt Disney Records - on CD)
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Expanded "Special Edition" soundtrack with extra tracks: "Dancing On a Cloud" (demo recording), "Beautiful" (Jim Brickman, /Wayne Brady), "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" (Kimberley Locke).

Cinderella - Platinum Edition
(Buena Vista - on 2 DVDs)
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Animated feature. Includes bonuses: "From Rags to Riches" making-of documentary, deleted scenes, "The Cinderella That Almost Was", reconstructed deleted songs, "Disney's Nine Old Men", live action-to-film opening sequence comparison, Cinderella Stories from ESPN Classic, 1922 Cinderella Laugh-o-Gram, "House of Royalty" room make-over, "The Royal Life" DVD-ROM feature, music videos: Disney Channel Circle of Stars - "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes", Disney Princesses - "Every Girl Can Be a Princess" Cinderella III preview, more to be announced.

Cinderella - Collector's Edition Gift Set
(Buena Vista - on 2 DVDs)
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Same as Platinum Edition plus companion book, sketches by animator Ollie Johnston, numbered film frame.

Costumes, Accessories, Props, And Stage Illusions Made Easy
(Meriwether Publishing Ltd. - Paperback Book)
By Barb Rogers. Tricks to turn leftover clothing into fabulous costumes. The book's numerous drawings explain in detail the costuming-making process.

Dancing in the Dark
(PS Classics - new on CD)
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Jeff Harnar American Songbook album. Accompanied by full orchestra. Alex Rybeck, musical director, arranger and co-producer with Harnar.

A Dream Play
(Theatre Communications Group - Paperback Book)
Caryl Churchill adaptation of Strindberg's 1902 A Dream Play.

Evita
(Koch/Universal - new on CD)
2005 Germany cast. Starring Anna Maria Kaufmann, Ethan Freeman, Monika Dehnert. Sung in German. Played at Musical Theater in Bremen, Germany. Available at SoundofMusic.de.

For You, For Me
(EMI/Angel - on CD)
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Reissue of the late Bruce Hubbard's solo CD.

Gabrielle Bell Sings Harry Parr Davies
(Must Close Saturday Records - new on CD)
Gabrielle Bell and pianist Rex Walford return to the music of Harry Parr Davies, one of the most successful British composers of musical theatre. This recording includes such songs as "Wish Me Luck," written for Gracie Fields, and is the first major recording of Parr-Davies' songs, containing much previously unheard material. Available at Must-Close-Saturday-records.co.uk

High School Theater Teacher's Survival Guide
(Routledge - Hardcover/Paperback Book)
By Raina S. Ames.

Irving Berlin's Show Business : Broadway - Hollywood - America
(Harry N Abrams - Hardcover Book)
Assemblage of photographs, drawings, posters, set and costume designs, sheet music, and album covers. Most of the materials reproduced here have either never been published or not published in more than 50 years. Author David Leopold is an authority on American show business in both New York and Hollywood. As an independent curator and archivist, he has organized a number of exhibitions on the works of Al Hirschfeld, Oscar Hammerstein, George Kaufman, and Moss Hart.

Legendary Christmas Entertainers
(Koch Vision - DVD/CD)
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Vintage television clips of songs and sketches. Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Mel Torme and more, in vintage television performances, singing all your favorite Christmas songs plus Bob Hope holiday sketches. Black and white; 62 minutes. Bonus music CD - Happy Holidays with 15 festive songs from such performers as Liberace, Vic Damone, and the Harry Simeone Chorale.

Life Interrupted : The Unfinished Monologue
(Crown - Hardcover Book)
By Spalding Gray, Francine Prose (Introduction). The monologue that Spalding Gray was working on when he died in the early winter of 2004.

Little Musicals for Little Theatres
(Limelight - Paperback Book)
By Denny Martin Flinn. Comprehensive reference guide to over 150 small musicals that any theater or school can produce with limited resources. Each entry includes writing credits, synopsis, cast size, musical numbers, production notes, and licensing information. The book also includes the few Broadway musicals that have small casts and can be performed in almost any circumstances. Photos give the reader a look at production requirements, and statistics on the number of performances indicate how successful a show's original production was.

Little Women Songbook
(Cherry Lane Music - Paperback Book)
17 selections from the Mindi Dickstein/Jason Howland musical, featuring: Better, Astonishing, An Operatic Tragedy, Could You, Days Of Plenty, Here Alone, How I Am, I'd Be Delighted, More Than I Am, Off To Massachusetts, Our Finest Dreams, Small Umbrella In The Rain, Some Things Are Meant To Be, Take A Chance On Me, The Fire Within Me, The Most Amazing Thing, Five Forever.

Maude Maggart Sings Irving Berlin
(new on CD)
Cabaret singer currently appearing at the Algonquin Hotel's Oak Room.

New York Then/New York Now
(Duke University Press - Paperback Book)
Tom Sellar, Editor. Collection of essays, memoirs, interviews, commentary, and plays—contemplates New York City's history and future as a center for groundbreaking theatrical forms and ideas. "New York Then" reflects on the emergence, innovations, and import of the off-off-Broadway movement of the early 1960s, during the height of Cold War conservatism. "New York Now" turns to New York's recent and rapidly shifting artistic geography from the 1990s to the present. Includes previously unpublished manifestos, plans, and letters offering insight into the community, artistic impetus, and events that launched the off-off-Broadway movement. Contributors include CiNE New York Design Collective, Jeffrey Horowitz, Adrienne Kennedy, Richard Kimmel, Brian Kulick, Les Frères Corbusier, Charles McNulty, Tom Sellar, Rachel Shteir

Noel Coward and Harry Noble Sing Coward
(Must Close Saturday Records - new on CD)
Two LPs on one CD - Noel Coward in classic sessions with Wally Stott, recorded in England just before Coward escaped to the USA in the mid-1950s and cabaret performer Harry Noble's very rarely heard American recordings of Coward songs, "World Weary." First time on CD. Available at Amazon.co.uk

Putting on a Play Drama Activities for Kids
(Gibbs Smith - Paperback Book)
By Paul DuBois Jacobs, Jennifer Swender, Debra Dixon. Provides everything dramatic kids need to know to put on a play all by themselves - from acting, writing a script, and developing characters, to props, costumes, and makeup.

Spamalot Songbook
(Hal Leonard - Paperback Book)
Vocal selections from Broadway musical. Songs include: All For One, Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life, Come With Me, Find Your Grail, Fisch Schlapping Dance, He Is Not Dead Yet, His Name Is Lancelot, I'm All Alone, King Arthur's Song, Laker Girls Cheer, Monks Chant, Run Away!, The Song That Goes Like This, Whatever Happened To My Part?, Where Are You?, You Won't Succeed On Broadway.

Stig Rossen - This is the Moment
(Koch - new on DVD)
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Copenhagen concert.

Theatre's Strangest Acts: Extraordinary But True Tales From The History Of Theatre
(Chrysalis Books - Paperback Book)
By Sheridan Morley.

Stop The World - I Want To Get Off
(Must Close Saturday Records - on CD)
1961 OLC recording (Decca). Anthony Newley, Anna Quayle. Reissue (was previously issued on CD by Deram/U.K.) Available at Amazon.co.uk

Virtue in Danger
(Must Close Saturday Records - new on CD)
1963 OLC recording (Decca). James Bernard/Paul Dehn score. Patricia Routledge. First time on CD. Available at Must-Close-Saturday-records.co.uk

Victor/Victoria
(new on CD)
2005 Germany cast. Starring Helen Schneider, Helmut Baumann, Hartwig Rudolz. Recorded with a symphonic orchestra at Theater Bremen in Bremen, Germany. Sung in German. Available at SoundofMusic.de

Who Sang What On Broadway, 1866-1996
(McFarland - Paperback Book)
Ruth Benjamin, Arthur Rosenblatt. "This massive compendium lists alphabetically every performer who sang on Broadway in the role of a named character, earning mention in the program of a musical or revue. Covering the period of 1866 to 1996, it is an invaluable guide to performances by the well known and the obscure, the career stage performers as well as the onetimers whose names never again graced a playbill."

Who Sang What On Broadway, 1866-1996 Vol. 1 (A-L)
(McFarland - Paperback Book)
Part one of two-volume set by Ruth Benjamin.

Who Sang What On Broadway, 1866-1996 Vol. 2 (M-Z)
(McFarland - Paperback Book)
Part two of two-volume set by Ruth Benjamin.

September 27, 2005

Anything Goes
(Paramount - new on DVD)
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1956 Cole Porter musical film with Bing Crosby, Donald O'Connor, Jeanmaire, Mitzi Gaynor.

The Art of The American Musical: Conversations With The Creators
(Rutgers Univ. Press - Hardcover/Paperback Book)
By Jackson R. Bryer, Richard A. Davison, Richard Allan Davison (Editor). New and exclusive and previous unpublished interviews with Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, Jason Robert Brown, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Sheldon Harnick, John Kander and Fred Ebb, Burton Lane, Arthur Laurents, Hal Prince, Kathleen Marshall, Stephen Sondheim, Susan Stroman, Charles Strouse, Tommy Tune, John Weidman, George C. Wolfe.

Awakening
(new on CD)
Jennifer Paz solo CD. Includes "For Good" (Stephen Schwartz) and "Letting Go" (Jason Robert Brown). Ordering information at http://www.jenniferpaz.org.

Best of Broadway's Lost Treasures III
(Acorn Media - new on DVD)
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Third PBS special. To feature 23 performances: the company of David Merrick's 42nd Street ["We're In the Money"], Gwen Verdon performing "Whatever Lola Wants" from Damn Yankees, an eight minute tribute to Ethel Merman, a Julie Andrews medley and numbers from Fosse, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, How Now Dow Jones, Into the Woods, Kiss Me Kate, Peter Pan, Ragtime and West Side Story. To include (in addition to telecast version) additional performances by Jonathan Pryce ("The American Dream," 1991), Angela Lansbury ("Everything's Coming Up Roses," 1975), Robert Goulet ("The Happy Time," 1968), and Desi Arnaz ("She Could Shake Her Maracas," 1972).

The Complete Annotated Gilbert & Sullivan
(Oxford Univ. Press - Paperback Book)
New paperback edition. Complete text of all the Gilbert and Sullivan operas which are still performed today, together with annotations covering "lost" songs, alterations and additions, obscure allusions, production points, and comments of interest. Each is placed within its historical context.

A Fine Romance
(Billboard Books - Hardcover Book)
By Darcie Denkert (president of MGM Entertainment Business Group and MGM on Stage). "Tells the intriguing story of Broadway and Hollywood's 75-year love-hate-love relationship, richly illustrated with rare, intimate celebrity and backstage photographs." Book royalties to be donated to the Motion Picture & Television Fund, for which she serves on the board of trustees, and the Actors' Fund of America.

Hopeless Romantics
(Concord Records - new on CD)
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Michael Feinstein and with pianist George Shearing in a tribute to composer Harry Warren.

Love is Here to Stay
(Blue Note - new on CD)
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Album of standards with Bill Charlap (piano) and Sandy Stewart (vocals).

Masterpieces of 20th-Century American Drama (Greenwood Introduces Literary Masterpieces)
(Greenwood Press - Hardcover Book)
Conveniently introduces 10 of the most important modern American plays read by students. Introductory essay overviews modern American drama, and each of the chapters that follow examines a particular play. Among the plays discussed are Thornton Wilder's Our Town, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, and August Wilson's The Piano Lesson. Each chapter includes a biography, a plot summary, an analysis of the play's themes, characters, and dramatic art, and a review of its historical background and reception. Chapters list works for further reading, and the volume closes with a selected, general bibliography. Author Susan C.W. Abbotson.

Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker!
(Kultur Video - new on DVD)
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U.K. production of Tchaikovsky classic. Anthony Ward sets and costumes.

Maude Maggart Sings Irving Berlin
(new on CD)
Cabaret singer currently appearing at the Algonquin Hotel's Oak Room.

Michael Flatley's Celtic Tiger
(Decca Broadway - new on CD)
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Ronan Hardiman score, blending an array of world rythms, dramatic orchestrations, and a base of traditional Irish song.

Murder at the Portland Variety: A Libby Seale Mystery
(Midnight Ink - Paperback Book)
Mystery novel by Joseph Zellnik (Yank!'s composer).

Musical History of Disneyland
(Disney - new on 6 CDs)
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Remastered music from Disneyland attractions.

Oliver!
(Columbia Tristar - new on DVD/CD)
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Re-release of 1968 musical film. Same as 30th Anniversary edition, but also to include soundtrack CD in a second Amaray case. Widescreen.

Petula Clark - At the Turn of the Year
(Kultur Video - new on DVD)
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1978 New Year's concert presentation in Chichester, England, where Clark spent much of her childhood. Songs include pop hits, original compositions, and film songs ("Look to the Rainbow"). Broadcast in the U.K. on 12/31/1978.

Rent
(Warner Bros Records - new on CD)
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2005 soundtrack. Cast includes Rosario Dawson, Taye Diggs, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Jesse L. Martin, Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, Tracie Thoms.

Son of a Witch : A Novel
(Regan Books - Hardcover Book/Audio CD)
Greogry Maguire's sequel to Wicked about Elphaba's son.

The Sound Of Music
(new on CD)
2005 Austria Cast. Starring Sandra Pires, Michael Kraus, Gernot Kranner, Heidi Brunner, Martin Niedermair - 20 tracks, live recorded at Vienna's Volksoper in Austria. Sung in German. Available at www.soundofmusic.de

September 17, 2005

Andrea Sings Astaire
(new on CD)
Recording of Andrea Marcovicci cabaret show. AndreaMarcovicci.com

Ask an Agent - Everything Actors Need to Know About Agents
(Back Stage Books - Paperback Book)
By Margaret Emery.

The Complete New Yorker : Eighty Years of the Nation's Greatest Magazine
(Random House - DVD-ROM/Hardcover Book)
Every page of every issue of The New Yorker, February 1925 - February 2005: full-color covers to spot drawings, from poetry to Profiles, from cartoons to advertisements — and theatre reviews. On searchable 8 discs. Includes 112-page book of highlights. Introduction by David Remnick. Windows (2000 and XP) and Mac (OS X 10.3+) compatible.

Desperate Housewives (Music From And Inspired By)
(Hollywood Records - new on CD)
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Soundtrack for television show. To include "Damsel in Distress," sung by Idina Menzel and Danny Elfman's title theme song.

Forever Plaid
(Koch/DRG - new on CD)
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Las Vegas cast recording.

Guilty Pleasures
(Sony - new on CD/DualDisc)
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New album with Barbra Streisand and Barry Gibb. DVD side of DualDisc version includes music videos of four songs, plus interview and "behind the scenes" footage.

Oliver Twist
(Sony/BMG - new on CD)
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Rachel Portman (The Little Prince) score for 2005 Roman Polanski film.

Tim Burton's Corpse Bride
(Warner - new on CD)
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Soundtrack from 2005 film, with songs by Danny Elfman.

September 13, 2005

At Home with the Trapp Family Singers
(Deutsche Grammophon - new on CD)
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Folksongs sung in English and German mixed with some instrumental classics on recorder and harpsichord. Recorded between 1952-1956.

Bing Crosby Meets Al Jolson: The Complete Radio Duets
(Sepia Records - new on 2 CDs)
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Bing Crosby was recording his enormously successful radio show for new Philco Radio when out walked Al Jolson joining him in a rendition of "April Showers." The invited audience went wild. The show was broadcast 3 weeks later on January 15, 1947 to an incredible reception and attracted millions of listeners across the United States. The two icons teamed up and performed on a further eleven shows. Re-mastered and edited sessions with complete duets (together on CD for the first time), solo performances and a little cheerful banter.

Broadway Unplugged
(Bayview - new on CD)
September 2004 Scott Siegel concert. Performers include Christine Andreas, Michael Cerveris, Marc Kudisch, Alice Ripley, Mary Testa, Barbara Walsh, Chuck Cooper, Nancy Anderson, Cady Huffman, Ludmilla Ilieva, Ann Harada, Bill Daugherty, Norm Lewis, Darius DeHaas, Alix Korey. Directed by Jack Cummings III. Musical Conductor Ross Patterson. Available at Footlight.com

Coal Miner's Daughter - 25th Anniversary Edition
(Universal - DVD)
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1980 bio-pic of Loretta Lynn, starring Sissy Spacek. Bonuses: feature Commentary with Sissy Spacek and Director Michael Apted; Tommy Lee Jones Remembers Coal Miner's Daughter; exclusive interview with Loretta Lynn and Director Michael Apted; President George Bush Sr. Salutes AFI and Coal Miner's Daughter.

Dancing in the Dark
(Knopf - Hardcover Book)
Caryl Phillips book on vaudeville and Follies performer Burt Williams.

Disney Pixar: Greatest Hits
(Walt Disney Records)
This recording has been cancelled.

Harvey Schmidt Plays Jones and Schmidt
(Kritzerland - new on CD)
Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt songs, as played by Harvey Schmidt. Recorded in Mr. Schmidt's home studio on the occasion of his 75th birthday. Includes well-known and rare treasures from The Fantasticks, 110 In The Shade, I Do! I Do!, Colette Collage, Roadside, Grover's Corners, and Celebration. Now shipping from Kritzerland.com, Footlight.com and CDBaby.com.

Heartbeeps
(Universal - new on DVD)
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1981 film with Andy Kaufman, Bernadette Peters.

Inside U.S.A./The Band Wagon
(Sepia Records - new on CD)
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Inside the U.S.A.: Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz revue with Beatrice Lillie and Jack Haley (their tracks are on CD for the first time). Recorded before the show's opening, it includes cut "Atlanta." Some songs recorded by Perry Como and Billy Williams. Also includes six cover songs by Buddy Clark and Pearl Bailey. The Band Wagon: highlights recorded by The Astaires, selection from the film soundtrack, four studio cast tracks (on CD for the first time) performed by Harold Lang, George Britton and Edith Adams.

The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook, Vol. 1
(Blumie Tunes Music - Paperback Book)
Piano/Vocal selections. Features nineteen songs by Tony-nominated composer Jeff Blumenkrantz, "I Won't Mind," "My Book," "Lament," and two songs from the Broadway musical Urban Cowboy. Lyrics by Jeff Blumenkrantz, Annie Kessler, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Libby Saines Available exclusively at Colony Records (NYC) and online at www.blumietunes.com.

Mary Poppins
(Disney - new on CD)
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OLC recording of Sherman Bros, Stiles and Drewe musical. Laura Michelle Kelly, Gavin Lee, David Haig, Linzi Hateley, Rosemary Ashe, Jenny Galloway and Julia Sutton. New songs and additional music and lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe. Previously released in U.K.

Musicality of Strouse
(JAY Records - new on CD)
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New and previous JAY cuts. Matt Bogart, Barry Bostwick, Sarah Brightman, Susan Egan, Joanna Gleason, David Green, Ruthie Henshall, Judy Kaye, Alana Maria, Ron Raines, Liz Robertson, Sven-Bertil Taube, Sally Ann Triplett, Karen Ziemba.

Sophie Tucker: The Golden Jubilee Album
(Sepia Records - new on CD)
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Released in 1954, to mark Tucker's 50 years in show business. In addition to Sophie's tracks: Patti Page, Georgia Gibbs, Vic Damone, Rusty Draper, Eddie Cantor and Jack Benny sing and/or chat with Sophie.

Songs from The Jazz Singer
(Sepia Records - new on CD)
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Danny Thomas and Peggy Lee, both from the original film cast (but their songs were recorded on different labels). Ten bonus Peggy Lee tracks on CD for the first time, and six Danny Thomas bonus tracks (two from The Unfinished Dance film).

Stages/Together Again
(Kritzerland - new on CD)
Original cast recordings of two Bruce Kimmel musicals. Stages: first time on CD, previously available on Varese Sarabande Records. Remixed and includes newly-recorded "Opposites," written after the first recording. Randi Kallan, Sammy Williams, Alan Abelew, Bruce Kimmel, Linden Waddell, M'Lisa MacLaren, Michael Byers, and Phil Clark. Together Again: LA cast, previously available on LP on Cerberus Records. Penny Peyser, Marsha Kramer, Jeff Maxwell, Alan Abelew, Rick Waln, Bruce Kimmel, Deborah Tilton, and Debbie Moradzadeh. Now shipping from Kritzerland.com, Footlight.com and CDBaby.com.

Waiting For The Glaciers To Melt
(LML Music - new on CD)
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Brian Lane Green performs songs from his musical (he wrote the book, music and lyrics). Accompanied by Johnny Rodgers, Eric Millegan, and Scott Coulter.

September 6, 2005

Doris Day: It's Magic
(Image Entertainment - new on DVD)
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Scenes from Doris Day's films, newsreels, trailers, rare photographs and intimate interviews with family, friends and colleagues. Narrated by Peter Graves with never-before-seen home movies and rare candid photographs of Day from all stages of her life. Clips, outtakes and trailers from her films, including Calamity Jane, Love Me or Leave Me, Pillow Talk, The Man Who Knew Too Much and more.

Eddie Cantor In Person
(Roberto Gari - new on DVD)
Eddie Cantor's one man show at Carnegie Hall. Bonus tribute to Al Jolson: Eddie and his wife Ida remember Jolie and present Cantor's son-in-law, Roberto Gari, doing an impersonation of Jolson.

Greta Garbo: The Signature Collection
(Warner Home Video - on 10 DVDs)
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Includes Anna Christie (English and German versions on one disc), Anna Karenina, Camille, Grand Hotel, Mata Hari, Ninotchka, Queen Christina, and the two-disc TCM Archives: Garbo Silents (with The Temptress, Flesh And The Devil, Mysterious Lady, the only surving footage from The Divine Woman, plus extras), and bonus DVD of the new Kevin Brownlow documentary Garbo. Each film title is also available individually.

Kathy & Mo Show: Parallel Lives
(Image Entertainment - new on DVD)
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1991 HBO special show by comedy team Kathy Najimi and Mo Gaffney.

Little Shop of Horrors
(new on CD)
Original 2005 Switzerland cast starring Sanni Luis and Martin Bacher. Sung in German. 12 tracks. Available at Soundofmusic-shop.de

Magnum Opuss!: Cabaret Songs by B. Iris Tanner
(new on CD)
Compilation of 15 original cabaret songs by Boston-based singer-songwriter B. Iris Tanner. Features sic prominent cabaret singers from the New England area - Sophia Bilides, Jon-Daniel Durbin, Will McMillan, Jan Peters, Jinny Sagorin and Mary Scarlata-Rowe - as well as several songs performed by Iris herself (also a licensed cat show judge who bred and exhibited the rare and beautiful Turkish Angora cats).

Mamma Mia!
(Universal Music - new on CD)
Madrid company recording. Recorded at the Lope de Vega Theatre with original Spanish cast with Nina, famous for her work in the TV hit "Operación Triunfo" as Donna. Available at Soundofmusic-shop.de

Miracle of Morgan's Creek
(Paramount - new on DVD)
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Preston Sturges 1944 screwball comedy with Betty Hutton, Eddie Bracken, William Demarest, and Diana Lyn.

Nunsense 3: The Jamboree
(Koch/Lance - new on DVD)
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2002 production with Rue McClanahan and Vicki Lawrence. Sister Amnesia goes on the road to promote her new country album, and is accompanied by Father Virgil Manly Trott (aka Father Hollywood), a radio personality who happens to be Sister Mary Leo's older brother and Sister Mary Wilhelm.

Only Make Believe : My Life in Show Business
(Barricade Books - Hardcover Book)
By Howard Keel with Joyce Spizer. Keel autobiography, completed shortly before his death at age 85. by Story of a coal miner's son who became an international star of stage, screen, and television. Keel speaks his mind about his many co-stars, including Judy Garland, Betty Hutton, Tammy Grimes and Katherine Grayson, to name a few.

The Playbill Broadway Yearbook: June 1, 2004 - May 31, 2005
(Playbill Books - Paperback Book)
Takes the form of a high school or college yearbook, packed with photos and memorabilia from the entire 2004-2005 season. This inaugural edition will include chapters on every show that ran during the season - not just the new shows, but the long-running ones from seasons past as well. Headshots of the performers, creative team, and producers; group shots of stage managers, musicians, stage hands, dressers, ushers, box office staff, and even stage doormen; photos from opening night and anniversary parties; interviews about backstage traditions, favorite snacks and restaurants, memorable fan encounters, and other insider details. Correspondents include Brad Oscar, Melissa Errico, Jackie Mason, Michael Mulheren, Ruben Santiago-Hudson and Lee Wilkoff. Cast and staff lists, awards, and run dates.

Red Garters
(Paramount - new on DVD)
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1954 musical film with Gene Barry, Guy Mitchell, Jack Carson, Pat Crowley, Rosemary Clooney.

Rococo : A Novel [abridged]
(Random House Audio - Audio Book new on CD)
Mario Cantone narrates Adriana Trigiani's comedy novel. "The story of one man and his artistic vision in a place in desperate need of an aesthetic absolute, or, at the very least, a good deal on flocked wallpaper. A strapping, handsome painter energizes the women in the town, galvanizes the faithful, and restores hope where there was none." Includes interview with the author. Released in June.

Romeo & Julia (Gerard Presgurvic)
(new on CD)
Original 2005 Austria Cast starring Lukas Perman and Marjan Shaki. Sung in German, complete recording on double CD. Austrian version of the show that played in London's Piccadilly theatre. Available at Soundofmusic-shop.de

Seconds of Pleasure : Stories
(Grove Press - Paperback Book)
Paperback version of Neil LaBute collection of short stories.

Singing A New Tune : The Rebirth of the Modern Film Musical from Evita to De-Lovely
(Applause - Paperback Book)
Studying over a dozen musical films from the last decade, film expert John Kenneth Muir examines the recent revival of movie musicals. Interviews with Sir Alan Parker (Evita, The Commitments, Fame), Todd Haynes (Velvet Goldmine), John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig), Keith Gordon (The Singing Detective), Todd Graff (Camp), and screenwriters Craig Pearce (Moulin Rouge) and Jay Cocks (De-Lovely).

Songs of Self-Delusion: Colleen McHugh
(new on CD)
Debut CD from singer, writer, actor and comic Colleen McHugh. Features songs from Amanda McBroom, Harold Arlen, Randy Newman, Jerry Herman, Jill Sobule, Marcy & Zina, Susan Werner and more.

This Far By Faith
(new on CD)
Recording of Black Theater Alliance Award-winning musical play. Sue Conway, Jennifer Hudson, Shannon & Cherrelle Lowe, Roberta Thomas, Armirris Palmore, Felicia Coleman-Evans, Kenny Coleman, Derwin Davis, Kevin McILvaine, Lou Johnson, David Sylvester, Warren Bingham, Rhonda Preston, Leon Dubose, Woola "Candy" LaFlora, and Tracey Anita Baker.

To Kill a Mockingbird (Legacy Series Edition)
(Universal Studios - on 2 DVDs)
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Classic 1962 film with Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Robert Duvall, Brock Peters. Extras: commentary with Director Robert Mulligan and Producer Alan Pakula; making of documentary "Fearful Symmetry"; "A Conversation with Gregory Peck"; Academy Award Best Actor acceptance speech; American Film Institute Life Achievement Award; excerpt from Academy Tribute to Gregory Peck; "Scout Remembers"; trailer. Widescreen.

Tracey Ullman: Live and Exposed
(Warner Home Video - new on DVD)
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One-woman show. Taped before a live audience at the Henry Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles.

Tribute - Barbara Cook
(Koch/DRG - new on CD)
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Barbara Cook recording saluting Wally Harper.

Well
(Theatre Communications Group - Paperback Book)
Lisa Kron play exploring the dynamics of health, family and community with the story of her mother's extraordinary ability to heal a changing neighborhood, despite her inability to heal herself. In this solo show with other people in it, Kron asks the provocative question: Are we responsible for our own illness? But the answers she gets are much more complicated than she bargained for when the play spins dangerously out of control into riotously funny and unexpected territory.

Winning Auditions: 101 Strategies for Actors
(Limelight - Paperback Book)
By Mark Brandon. Shared collection of actors' trade secrets—tricks of the trade divulged by professionals in an experimental workshop that lasted nearly a year.

Young People's Concerts
(Amadeus Books - Paperback Book)
By Leonard Bernstein. A total of 15 lectures from the CBS "Young People's Concerts" series, presented here in full.

August 30, 2005

The Blue Flower
(Breathing Room Music - new on CD)
Download at iTunes
Recordings of all songs (except "Puke") from The Blue Flower, with music and lyrics by Jim Bauer. Jim Bauer, Meghan Mcgeary, Ben Schrader, Jen Chapin, Alice Moore. Presented at 2004 New York Musical Theatre Festival. Available at CDBaby.com.

Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Fourth Season
(Warner Home Video - new on 2 DVDs)
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Larry David HBO comedy. Includes episodes as Larry heads for Broadway in The Producers, featuring appearances by Mel Brooks, Anne Bancroft, Nathan Lane, Richard Kind, Cady Huffman, Susan Stroman, Ben Stiller, David Schwimmer.

Ethel Merman: The World Is Your Balloon - The Decca Singles 1950-1951
(Univ Classics/Decca Broadway - new on CD)
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Collection of "singles" cut by Merman for Decca Records between 1950-1951. Pop tunes, novelty numbers and several memorable songs from Broadway shows of the period (including "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend," "I Said My Pajamas (And Put On My Prayers)" and the unforgettable "Lake Song - (Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg) "). Guest stars include Ray Bolger and Jimmy Durante. First time on CD. Newly re-mastered recordings from original acetates.

George Gershwin Alone: A Musical Play
(new on 2 CDs)
Hershey Felder's Broadway/touring show. Live performance broadcast on Chicago's WFMT. Includes 12-page commemorative booklet. Available at www.georgegershwinalone.com.

Guilty: The 25th Anniversary Edition
(Columbia - new on DualDisc)
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Barbra Streisand with Barry Gibb. Remastered. Recorded at Criteria, Middle Ear, Miami, Florida. DualDisc contains a CD on one side of the disc and a DVD on the other. Originally released in September 1980, includes "Guilty" hit duet with Gibb, "Run Wild," "Promises," "The Love Inside," "What Kind Of Fool" duet with Gibb.

Little Miss Broadway
(Fox Home Ent - new on DVD)
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New to DVD. 1938 Shirley Temple film. With George Murphy, Jimmy Durante. Includes colorized and restored black-and-white versions. Full screen.

Michael Feinstein and Friends
(Kultur - new on DVD)
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Previously released on VHS. Includes Rosemary Clooney and The Duke Ellington Orchestra.

Shirley Temple Collection, Vol. 1: Curly Top / Heidi / Little Miss Broadway
(Fox Home Ent - new on 3 DVDs)
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Boxed set of colorized and restored black-and-white versions of Heidi (1937), Curly Top (1935), and Little Miss Broadway (1938).

Twelfth Night
(Image Entertainment - new on DVD)
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Trevor Nunn's 1996 film with Helena Bonham Carter, Richard E. Grant, Nigel Hawthorne, Ben Kingsley, Steven Mackintosh, Mel Smith, Imelda Staunton, Toby Stephens, Imogen Stubbs.

August 23, 2005

The Amazing Story of The Fantasticks: America's Longest Running Play (Revised and Updated)
(Limelight - Paperback Book)
Donald C. Farger and Robert Viagas have completely updated the 1991 edition of their best-selling book. Detailed history of how this show by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt came into being, and how and why it succeeded. Takes readers through the countless auditions to attract backers, the search for theaters to hold tryouts (which indicated disaster), and eventual popular success. Includes new photos of the show's many productions and stars, recent interviews with performers, writers, and others associated with the musical, and surprising revelations that could not be told until the show's closing on off-Broadway.

Avenue Q Songbook
(Hal Leonard - Paperback Book)
Second songbook of Robert Lopez, Jeff Marx score, this time featuring the vocal line with piano accompaniment. 13 songs with vocal line and piano accompaniment. Tunes include: The Avenue Q Theme, Fantasies Come True, I Wish I Could Go Back to College, I'm Not Wearing Underwear Today, The Internet Is for Porn, It Sucks to Be Me, Purpose, Special, What Do You Do with a B.A. in English, and more.

How Sondheim Found His Sound
(Univ. of Michigan Press - Hardcover Book)
Taking Sondheim's own comments and music as a starting point, author Steve Swayne (Assoc. Professor of Music, Dartmouth College) offers a biography of the artist's style, following his many influences (including classical music from 1850 to 1950; the songs of Tin Pan Alley, Broadway, and Hollywood; the theatrical innovations of Oscar Hammerstein II and his collaborators; the cinematic elements found in certain film schools; and the melodramatic style of particular plays and films).

I Got the Show Right Here : The Amazing True Story of How an Obscure Brooklyn Horn Player Became the Last Great Broadway Showman
(Applause Books - Paperback Book)
Cy Feuer, Ken Gross. Paperback version of 2003 issue. At age ninety-two, theater producer Cy Feuer looked back on the remarkable career he had on Broadway and in Hollywood, the stories he has to tell of the people he worked with are fabulously rich and entertaining.

Jekyll & Hyde
(Felsenbuhne Staatz - new on CD)
Original 2005 Austrian Cast Recording of Wildhorn, Bricusse musical, starring Werner Auer, Elisabeth Sikora, Brigitte Treipl and Nikolaus Raspotnik. 22 Tracks total, sung in German. Available at Footlight.com.

Killing of Sister George
(MGM - new on DVD)Order at CD Universe
1968 screen adaptation of Frank Marcus play. Beryl Reid, Susannah York, Coral Browne. Widescreen.

New Faces of 1968
(Koch/DRG - new on CD)
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1968 OBC recording. Cast included Gloria Bleezarde, Trudy Carson, Marilyn Child, Madeline Kahn, Robert Klein, Robert Lone, Brandon Maggart.

No For An Answer: An American Opera (1941 Original Cast)
(AEI - new on CD)
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American Opera with music, lyrics and accompaniment by Marc Blitzstein. 1941 Mecca Temple, New York City Cast Recording. Starring Olive Deering, Lloyd Gough, Robert Simon, Martin Wolfson and then-newcomer Carol Channing.

Paris Combo Live
(DRG - new on 2 CDs)
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Digipak. Belle Du Berry (vocals, accordion); Mano Razanajato (vocals, contrabass); Potzi (guitar); David Lewis (trumpet, piano); Francois Jeannin (drums, background vocals). Parisian cabaret quintet.

The Prince and the Pauper
(Hal Leonard - Paperback Book)
Songbook for Neil Berg, Bernie Garzia musical. Played at Lamb's Theatre 2002-2003. 10 selections include: Almost Home, If I Were You, Is This Love?, The King of Offal Court, London Bridge, Lonely, My Father Was Right, Simple Boy, Thrill of Adventure, Twilight.

Summer of '42 Soundtrack
(Koch/DRG - on CD)
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Soundtrack of 1971 film, which was later made into a musical. Score by Michel Legrand.

The Wild Party (2 track CD single)
(Sound of Music - new on CD)
Two songs from the Andrew Lippa musical sung in German by Uwe Kröger, who played the lead in the Austrian productions in Amstetten and Klagenfurt. "Gebt Mich Auf," "Was Hat Sie Nur An Sich." Available at Footlight.com.

August 16, 2005

Astaire & Rogers Collection Volume 1
(Warner Home Video - 5 DVDs)
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Five-disc box set. Top Hat, Swing Time, Follow the Fleet, Shall We Dance, The Barkleys of Broadway. Extras: commentary by Ava Astaire McKenzie and film dance historian Larry, Billman Featurette: "On Top: Inside the Success of Top Hat Comedy," short: "Watch the Birdie with Bob Hope," classic cartoon "Page Miss Glory," commentary by John Mueller (author Astaire Dancing), featurette "The Swing of Things: Swing Time Step by Step," musical short "Hotel a la Swing," classic cartoon "Bingo Crosbyana," featurette "Follow the Fleet: The Origins of Those Dancing Feet," musical short "Melody Master: Jimmie Lunceford and His Orchestra," classic cartoon "Let It Be Me," commentary by Kevin Cole and Hugh Martin, featurette "They Can't Take That Away from Me: The Music of Shall We Dance," musical short "Sheik to Sheik," classic cartoon "Toy Town Hall," featurette "Reunited at MGM: Astaire and Rogers Together," vintage short "Annie Was a Wonder," classic Droopy cartoon "Wags to Riches."

Autumn In New York: Vernon Duke's Broadway
(Sh-K-Boom - new on CD)
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Klea Blackhurst.

The Drama is Coming Now
(Yale University Press - Hardcover Book)
By Richard Gilman. First collection in more than three decades of one of American drama critic Richard Gilman. Essays, profiles, and book reviews dealing with such topics as the "new naturalism" in theater, Brecht's collected plays, and the legacy of Stanislavski. There is also a generous sampling of Gilman's comments on plays by O'Neill, Miller, Chekhov, Albee, Ibsen, Anouilh, Beckett, Ionesco, Pinter, Fugard, and many others.

The Mambo Kings
(Warner Home Video - new on DVD)
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1992 film based on Pulitzer Prize winning novel, "The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love" by Oscar Hijuelos. Armand Assante, Antonio Banderas.

Nigel Hawthorne on Stage
(University of Hertfordshire Press - Paperback Book)
Paperback issue of 2004 book by Kathleen Riley, Thelma Holt. Authorized biography studying the late Sir Nigel Hawthorne's 50-year career in the theatre.

Pink Panther (Vinyl Classics)
(BMG/RCA - Import on CD)
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Limited edition reissue of the soundtrack album presented in a special package featuring a CD with a top side that resembles an original LP vinyl album. From Germany.

Wicked - by Gregory Maguire
(HarperAudio - new on CD or MP3 CD)
Audio book of Gregory Maguire's novel, the basis for the musical Wicked. Narrated by John McDonough. Released August 1, 2005.

August 9, 2005

Back to Broadway: The 20th Anniversary
(Koch/DRG - new on 2 CDs)
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CD recording of Whoopi Goldberg solo show.

Box of Photographs
(PS Classics - new on CD)
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Johnny Rodgers solo album debut. Produced by Richard Barone. 12 tracks with selections from pop tunes to jazz to ballads. [See our review]

Broadway Musicals, 1943-2004
(McFarland and Co. - Hardcover Book)
By John Stewart. Comprehensive reference book provides information on every musical produced on Broadway since Oklahoma's 1943 debut. Each entry begins with a brief synopsis of the show, followed by a three-part history: first, the pre-Broadway story of the show, including out-of-town try-outs and Broadway previews; next, the Broadway run itself, with dates, theatres, and cast and crew, including replacements, chorus and understudies, songs, gossip, and notes on reviews and awards; and finally, post-Broadway information with a detailed list of later notable productions, along with important reviews and awards. An appendix lists musicals of interest that fall outside this work's parameters (i.e., only musical shows produced on traditionally defined Broadway). Indexed by song title and personnel for quick and easy reference.

Dessa Rose Songbook
(Alfred Publishing - Paperback Book)
Arranged for Piano/Vocal/Chords. From the Tony Award winning team of Lynn Ahrens (book and lyrics) and Stephen Flaherty (music). Contains 12 selections from the acclaimed musical "Dessa Rose" which was originally produced by the Lincoln Center Theatre in New York City. Includes: We Are Descended, Old Banjar, Something Of My Own, Ink, Little Star, At The Glen, Capture The Girl, Fly Away, Twelve Children, The Scheme, White Milk & Red Blood, In The Bend Of My Arm. Also includes photo section of cast members.

Judy Garland And Friends: Duets
(Savoy Jazz - new on CD)
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From the soundtrack of Judy Garland's TV series, with Tony Bennett, Dick Shawn, Lena Horne, Liza Minnelli, Mickey Rooney, Martha Raye, Count Basie Orchestra, Mel Torme, and Barbra Streisand.

Huckleberry Finn
(MGM - new on DVD)
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1974 film with score by Sherman brothers.

Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte
(Fox - new on DVD)
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1964 film directed by Robert Aldrich. Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotten, Mary Astor, and Agnes Moorehead. Includes commentary by film historian Glenn Erickson, theatrical trailers (The Good Son, The Omen, The Snake Pit, The Vanishing), and TV spots. Widescreen.

In Old Chicago
(Fox - new on DVD)
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1938 film with Alice Faye, Tyrone Power, Don Ameche. Includes "Road Show" (extended) and theatrical versions, A&E Biography's "Don Ameche: Hollywood's Class Act," Movietone news footage (film premieres, Hollywood spotlights).

John Simon on Theatre: Criticism 1973-2003
(Applause - Hardcover Book)
Brings together the critical highlights of the New York critic John Simon. Covering a span of more than three decades, it includes previously published work from New York, the Hudson Review, National Review, Opera News, the New Leader, and other notable publications. Selected reviews covering a wide range of New York productions, from the East Village to Broadway

The Making of West Side Story
(Universal Classics/Deutsche Grammophon - on DVD)
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Leonard Bernstein, Jose Carreras, Kiri Te Kanawa. Previously released on DVD with different cover.

The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit
(Fox - new on DVD)
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1956 film with Gregory Peck, Jennifer Jones, Fredric March, Lee J. Cobb. Directed by Nunnally Johnson. Includes commentary by author and publisher James Monaco, Movietone news footage (film premiere), still gallery, restoration comparison, trailer.

The Muppet Show - Season One (Special Edition)
(Buena Vista - new on 4 DVDs)Order at CD Universe
All 24 episodes from the 1976 season completely restored and remastered, plus original pilot, "Sex and Violence!", original pitch reel of the show, Muppet morsels viewing mode with fun facts about the Muppets, promo gag reel. Guest stars include Florence Henderson, Ruth Buzzi, Juliet Prowse, Joel Grey, Rita Moreno, Harvey Korman, Phyllis Diller, Vincent Price.

The Muppets' Wizard of Oz
(Buena Vista Home Video - new on DVD)
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2005 TV film with Ashanti, David Alan Grier, Edward Hibbert, Queen Latifah, Jeffrey Tambor, Quentin Tarantino. Extras: outtakes & bloopers, "Pepe's Making Of," extended interview with Quentin Tarantino.

Peas and Honey
(Sweet Street Records - new on CD)
Original melodies paired with traditional and original verse. Featuring Broadway musicians and New York based musical theatre performers Jennifer and Mark Montague and their daughter. Randy Cohen on piano.

Stage Management (8th Edition)
(Allyn & Bacon - Paperback Book)
Lawrence Stern. Practical manual on how to stage manage in all theater environments. Making Things Run Smoothly; Characteristics of a Good Stage Manager; Getting the Play and Understanding It; Scheduling and Company Rules; Getting Acquainted with Your Theater; Expediting Auditions and Readings; Budgeting; Rehearsal Procedures; Keeping the Cast on Time; Department Management and Property Management; Lighting, Sound and Cueing; Supervision of Shifts; Running the Technical Rehearsal; Running the Show; Working with the House Manager; Keeping the Show in Hand; Closing and Moving/Touring; Organizing Information; Correspondence; Festivals; and Getting a Job.

The Theater Director's Primer
(Heinemann Publishing - Paperback Book)
By Gary Cohen. "Whether you are a first time director at a community theatre, a teacher directing the high school musical, a guest artist at a University or a professional working in regional theatre, this book will provide tips, insight and practical knowledge."

Tom Sawyer
(MGM - new on DVD)
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1973 film with score by Sherman brothers. Widescreen.

August 2, 2005

The Actor's Survival Handbook
(Routledge - Paperback Book)
By Patrick Tucker and Christine Ozanne. The Actor's Survival Handbook answers questions like: Worried about short rehearsal time? Think that fluffing your lines will be the end of your career? Are you afraid you'll be typecast? Is there such a thing as acting too much? How should a stage actor adjust performance for a camera? And how should an actor behave backstage? ... and many more. Written with verve and humor, and drawing upon the their experience on stage, backstage, and with the camera, Patrick Tucker and Christine Ozanne offer forthright advice on topics from breathing to props, commitment to learning lines, audience response to simply landing the job in the first place. Rich with examples - both technical and inspirational. The writers sometimes offer alternative responses to a dilemma, giving the reader both an actor's take and a director's take on a particular point.

Bernadette Peters: Sondheim Etc. Etc. (The Rest of It)
(Angel - new on CD)
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1996 concert recording. Features all the material not included on the initial release. Produced by Jay Landers. Angel Records. Marvin Laird Musical Director and Conductor, arrangements and orchestrations by Laird, Jonathan Tunick, Peter Matz, Billy Byers, Don Sebesky, Michael Starobin, and Philip J. Lang.

Broadway Musicals Calendar
(Universe Publishing - Calendar)
Twelve posters from the Broadway musicals make this the ultimate musical lover's calendar. The Phantom of the Opera, The Producers, Wicked, Hairspray, Annie, Cats, and Les Miserables. Includes the original cast listing and other trivia.

The Cambridge Companion to Edward Albee (Cambridge Companions to Literature)
(Cambridge Univ. Press - Paperback Book)
Edited by Stephen Bottoms. Collection of new essays on Albee, which includes contributions from the leading commentators on Albee's work, including scholars of both theatre and English literature. Considers a number of Albee's lesser-known and neglected works, provides a comprehensive introduction and overview, and includes an exclusive, original interview with Mr. Albee, on topics spanning his whole career.

Le Cinema De Michel Legrand
(Universal - new on 4 CDs)
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50 years of cinema over 4 CDs and five hours of music.

Electricity Part 1
(Universal/Mercury - new on CD)
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Elton John. Enhanced CD. "Electricity" from Billy Elliot (vocal plus orchestral version), and "Your Song" (live version and live video version).

Jerome Robbins : His Life, His Theater, His Dance
(Simon & Schuster - Paperback Book)
Paperback issue of Deborah Jowitt's 2004 hardcover book. Explores the life, works, and creative processes of the complex genius Jerome Robbins, considered America's greatest native-born ballet choreographer. Granted unrestricted access to an enormous archive of personal and professional papers that included journals, correspondence, sketches, photographs, production notes, contracts, and more, Jowitt also interviewed more than one hundred performers and others who had collaborated with Robbins, revealing not just how others saw him, but — through the thoughts, feelings, and passionate outbursts he put down on paper over the course of almost eight decades — how he saw himself.

Remembering Rachel - Rachel Bissex Tribute CD
(new on CD)
Tribute CD to singer/songwriter Rachel Bissex, who recently dies. Featuring Dar Williams, Catie Curtis, Groovelily, Jennifer Kimball, Ruthie Foster, Tracy Grammer, The Kennedys and Tret Fure, among others. The first 500 preorders will also receive a memorable poster created by SONiA with Rachel's lyrics arranged by Ellen Bukstel. All proceeds from sales of the CD goes to help to finance college for Rachel's two children.

Tape Recorder (Collected Works)
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(What Are Records - new on CD)
Collection of songs from David Yazbek's three albums plus a new recording of "Breeze Off the River" from The Full Monty.

The Thin Man Collection
(Warner Home Video - on 7 DVDs)
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Classic films (basis for musical Nick & Nora): The Thin Man, After The Thin Man, Another Thin Man, Shadow Of The Thin Man, Song Of The Thin Man, And The Thin Man Goes Home, with extras, plus a bonus documentary disc, Alias Nick & Nora. Full screen, black & white.

Where Do We Live? and Other Plays
(Theatre Communications Group - Paperback Book)
Christopher Shinn plays: Where Do We Live?, The Coming World, Four, Other People, What Didn't Happen.

White Folks - A Musical Fable
(Dress Circle - new on CD)
2005 studio cast recording of Ray Shell/Paul Jenkins score. Ray Shell, Paul Barclay, Dollie Henry, Frances Ruffelle, Milton Brown and Anthony Moriah. Available for Order at DressCircle.com

July 25, 2005

Roaring Boys : Shakespeare's Rat Pack
(Sutton Publishing - Paperback Book)
By Judith Cook.

July 26, 2005

At the Corner of Broadway & Soul
(Sh-K-Boom - new on CD)
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Billy Porter solo album. Recorded at Joe's Pub May 9, 10, 17. Mix of Broadway, pop and gospel tunes. Previously available online, this is the store release.

Boy Meets Girl: Sammy Davis, Jr. & Carmen Mcrae On Decca
(Universal/Verve - on CD)
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Songs from Boy Meets Girl and Porgy & Bess plus bonus track "I Go for You."

The Immigrant
(Sh-K-Boom - new on CD)
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World premiere recording of Steven M. Alper and Sarah Knapp score.

Monologues from the Plays of Christopher Durang
(Smith & Kraus - Hardcover Book)
Eric Kraus (Editor), Christopher Durang.

July 21, 2005

After the Ball
(Kritzerland - new on CD)
Irish Repertory Theatre cast recording. Kathleen Widdoes, Mary Illes, Kristin Huxhold, Paul Carlin, David Staller, Collette Simmons, Greg Mills, Josh Grisetti, Drew Eshelman and Elizabeth Ingram. Mark Hartman is musical director. Recorded at Right Track Studios.

New Guy in Town - Guy Haines
(Kritzerland - new on CD)
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With Kerry Butler, Juliana A. Hansen and Jessica Rush. Grant Geissman, musical director. To include a new song by Craig Carnelia, a never-before-heard song by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones, and songs by Rodgers and Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Bacharach and David, Jerome Kern and Ira Gershwin. Bruce Kimmel.

July 19, 2005

Lionel Bart's Blitz!
(EMI - new on CD)
1962 OLC recording. Amelia Bayntun, Edward Caddick, Grazina Frame, Bob Grant, Graham James, Thomas Kempinski, Vera Lynn, Toni Palmer, Bernard Stone, Anna Tzelniker. Reissue with expanded notes/photos.

Wonderful Town
(EuroArts/Naxos - new on DVD)
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Audra McDonald, Kim Criswell, Wayne Marshall, Thomas Hampson, Brent Barrett, Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Simon Rattle. Berlin Philharmonic Concert Hall, 2002.

July 12, 2005

Bashville
(JAY Records - new on CD)
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1983 OLC recording. Score by Dennis King and Benn Green. Based on Shaw's play The Admirable Bashville. James Cairncross, Christina Collier, Peter Woodward, Joan Davies, Douglas Hodge, Vincenzo Nicoli, Donald Pelmear, Ewart James Walters.

Cabaret Hell
(Original Cast Records - new on CD)
Performer/songwriter Tony Lang's act, "Live at Don't Tell Mama and billed as 45 Minutes of Torture." Available at Footlight.com.

Charlie & the Chocolate Factory
(Warner Sunset - new on CD)
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Soundtrack for Tim Burton's 2005 film based on Roald Dahl book with music by Danny Elfman. Includes five songs sung by Danny Elfman: "Wonka's Welcome Song" (lyrics by Elfman and John August); and the four Oompa-Loompa numbers: "Augustus Gloop," "Violet Beauregarde," "Mike Teavee," and "Veruca Salt."

Cry-Baby (Director's Cut)
(NBC/Universal - new on DVD)
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1990 John Waters film with Johnny Depp, Ricki Lake, Amy Locane, Iggy Pop, Mink Stole, Polly Bergen, Susan Tyrrell, Troy Donahue, Traci Lords. "It Came from Baltimore," an in-depth making-of featurette with John Waters and cast plus never-before-available deleted scenes.

Electricity Part 2
(Universal/Mercury - new on CD)
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Elton John. 2 cuts. "Electricity" and "Indian Sunset."

In Good Company
(LML - new on CD)
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Lee Lessack dueting with Philip Alman, David Burnham, Ann Hampton Callaway, Franc D'Ambrosio, Susan Egan, Michael Feinstein, Brian Lane Green, Tom Harrell, Maureen Amanda McBroom, McGovern, Mary Jo Mundy, Joanne O'Brien, Ken Page, Johnny Rodgers, Stephen Schwartz, Stacy Sullivan, Susan Werner, Nita Whitaker.

Hello, Dolly!
(Verve - new on CD)
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Ella Fitzgerald. Remastered; digipak.

King Hedley II
(Theatre Communications Group - Hardcover/Paperback)
August Wilson (Fences, The Piano Lesson, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Seven Guitars, Two Trains Running and Jitney) play.

Max Dugan Returns
(Anchor Bay - new on DVD)
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1983 Neil simon film with son Robards, Marsha Mason, Donald Sutherland, and Matthew Broderick.

Out of This World - Linda Purl
(LML - new on CD)
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Linda Purl (vocals); Ron Abel (piano); Lisa Lemay (synthesizer); Randy Landas (double bass); Ed Smith (drums); Desi Arnaz Jr. (percussion). Recorded at Historic Boulder Theatre, Boulder, Colorado 05/21/2004 - 05/22/2004.

The Rainmaker
(Paramount - new on DVD)
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1956 film N. Richard Nash adapted from his own play. Katharine Hepburn, Burt Lancaster, Wendell Corey, Lloyd Bridges, Earl Holliman, Cameron Prud'homme [New Girl in Town]. Directed by Anthony George. Widescreen, color.

The Road To Ruin
(Original Cast Records - new on CD)
Demo/concept recording for William Zeffiro musical based on the 1928 silent movie of the same name. George Irving, Sebastian Arcelus, Brooke Sunny Moriber, Cristina Fadale, Stephanie Kurtzuba, Michael Dantuono, Johnathan Sandler, William Zeffiro, Lynne Wilson, Ann Morrison and Vicki Van Tassel. Available at Footlight.com.

Sweet Charity
(Koch/DRG - new on CD)
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2005 Broadway revival cast recording. To be recorded early April 2005. Christina Applegate, Denis O'Hare, Kyra DaCosta, Janine Lamanna, Paul Schoeffler, Shannon Lewis. Bonuses: Dorothy Fields & Cy Coleman "Big Spender" (previously released); new verse for "Where Am I Going?", written for the revival but not used, sung by Christina Applegate; four bonus tracks from the original demo of the score, recorded by Cy Coleman, singing to his own piano accompaniment in 1963 (the unused "Gimme a Rain Check" from a deleted scene, "I'm the Bravest Individual," "Baby, Dream Your Dream" and "There's Gotta Be Something Better Than This."

Treemonisha
(Universal Classics/Deutsche Grammophon - on 2 CDs)
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Reissue of Scott Joplin's "ragtime opera" at special price. Orchestration by Gunther Schuller. Houston Grand Opera cast (as toured in NYC in 1975). Betty Allen, Carmen Balthrop, Curtis Rayam.

Unfaithfully Yours
(Criterion Collection - new on DVD)
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1948 Preston Sturges film with Rex Harrison, Linda Darnell, Rudy Vallee, and Barbara Lawrence. Bonuses: audio commentary by Sturges scholars James Harvey, Diane Jacobs, and Brian Henderson; video introduction by writer-director Terry Jones; video interview with Sturges' widow Sandy Sturges; new essay by novelist Jonathan Lethem; gallery featuring rare production correspondence and stills.

July 5, 2005

Adam Baum And The Jew Movie
(Dramatist's Play Service - Paperback Book)
Play by Daniel Goldfarb.

And So Is Love - Rita Coolidge
(Concord Records - new on CD)
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Album of standards. Released June 28.

Bride & Prejudice
(Buena Vista - new on DVD)
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"Hollywood meets Bollywood." 2004 musical comedy film. Aishwarya Rai, Anupam Kher, Daniel Gillies, Indira Varma, Martin Henderson, Meghna Kothari, Nadira Babbar, Namrata Shirodkar, Naveen Andrews, Nitin Chandra Ganatra, Peeya Rai Chowdhary, Sonali Kulkarni Directed by Gurinder Chadha (Bend it Like Beckham).

Bug
(Dramatist's Play Service - Paperback Book)
Tracy Letts play, produced Off Broadway in 2004. [Our Off Broadway Review]

Cast of Characters: The Rupert Holmes Songbook
(Hip-O Select - new on CD)
Limited edition (3000 copies). Remastered tracks from Holmes' seven albums on five different labels, and a Japanese-only album called Scenario from 1994. Bonus disc of rarities. Extensive liner notes, rare photographs, lyrics, and notes from the artist. Four songs were cut especially for this release, including Holmes' version of "Timothy" and his version of a hit he wrote for the Partridge Family, "Echo Valley 2-6809." Web-release Only.

Georgy Girl
(Columbia - new on DVD)
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1966 film with Lynn Redgrave, Alan Bates, Charlotte Rampling, James Mason. Black and white.

Living Out
(Dramatist's Play Service - Paperback Book)
Lisa Loomer play produced Off Broadway at Second Stage in 2003. [Our Off Broadway Review]

Man from Nebraska
(Dramatist's Play Service - Paperback Book)
Tracy Letts play produced at Steppenwolf in 2003-2004.

The Musical Theatre Writer's Survival Guide
(Heinemann Publishing - Paperback Book)
By David Spencer. Handbook on the the art, politics, and business of making musical theatre.

Shining City
(Theatre Communications Group - Paperback Book)
In Dublin, a man seeks help from a counselor, claiming to have seen the ghost of his recently deceased wife. But what begins as just an unusual encounter becomes a struggle between the living and dead-a struggle that will shape and define both men for the rest of their lives. Play by Conor McPherson (This Lime Tree Bower, St. Nicholas, The Weir, Port Authority and Dublin Carol). Also includes Come on Over, a one-act about a Jesuit priest sent to investigate a "miracle" in his hometown, where he re-encounters the woman who loved him 30 years before. To be produced in San Francisco prior to Fall 2005 Broadway run.

The World of Theatre, 2004 Edition
(Theatre Communications Group - Paperback Book)
Fully illustrated volume covering 44 countries, from Japan to the United States, from Iceland to Argentina. Complied by the International Theatre Institute (ITI), also includes listings of international events and activities.

Trés Broadway: Songs from the Stage
(Everview - new on CD)
British actress Trés Hanley-Millman's debut album. Features Jeffry Denman (The Producers, White Christmas) as guest vocalist.

June 28, 2005

Acting For Singers: Creating Believable Singing Characters
(Oxford Univ. Press - Hardcover Book)
By David F. Ostwald. Written for students and pre-professional singers participating in production workshops and classes in opera and musical theater. Explains how to analyze a script or libretto, shows how to develop a character building on material in the score, and gives the singing performer the tools to act believably. Addresses the problems of concentration, trust, projection, communication, and the self-doubt that often afflicts performers pursuing the goal of believable performance.

Bette Midler - The Divine Bette Midler
(Shout Factory - new on DVD)
90-minute biography, originally produced for television and aired on A&E in 2004, includes exclusive interviews with Bette and longtime friends and collaborators such as Barry Manilow, Danny DeVito, Glenn Close, Bruce Vilanch, and more. Bonus features include complete musical performances of "From A Distance" (from the 1997 Diva Las Vegas TV special) and "Do You Want To Dance" (from the 1977 Ol' Red Hair Is Back TV special), deleted scenes and expanded interviews.

The Boy Friend
(Universal/Decca Broadway - new on CD)
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'60s revival cast with Judy Carne, Sandy Duncan.

Doris Day Show Season 1
(MPI Home Video - new on 4 DVDs)
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Boxed set of 1968-1969 series of Doris Day sitcom. 28 episodes. Cast includes Doris Day, Denver Pyle, Philip Brown, Todd Starke, James Hampton, Fran Ryan, Naomi Stevens, and guests Joseph Campanella, Joe De Santis, Strother Martin, Mary Wickes, Frank Aletter. Bonus material: Additional Release Material: Introduction - "A Word From Doris Day"; Production Interview with Philip Brown, James Hampton; Bonus Short - Doris Day's TV Debut on "What's My Line" (1954); Doris Day movie trailers; preview - Doris Day Season Two; Text/Photo Galleries; Photos.

The Living House of Oz
(Hungry Tiger Press - Hardcover Book)
By Edward Einhorn (Artistic Director, Untitled Theatre Company #61). Sequel to Paradox in Oz. Einhorn's Oz series is being presented at Untitled in Unauthorized Magic in Oz, part of Great Small Works' Toy Theater Festival.

The Musical Worlds Of Lerner And Loewe
(Bison Books - Paperback Book)
By Gene Lees. In-depth portrait of two creative talents: how they met and joined forces to create some of the finest musical theater, and also how marriages, legendary affairs, addictions, and backstage friction affected their art in many surprising ways. The acclaimed music critic and journalist Gene Lees is a four-time winner of the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award and a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Jazz Journalists Association.

On Broadway! Theater Posters from the Library of Congress 2006 Calendar
(Calendar)
2005 calendar. Features original posters produced for a dozen musicals from the 1950s to the 1970s: A Little Night Music (1973), Man Of La Mancha (1965), How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying (1961), The Pajama Game (1954), Grease (1972), Fiorello! (1959), Once Upon A Mattress (1959), Cabaret (1966), Follies (1971), Dear World (1969), Wonderful Town (1953), (1956). 12 " x 13 wall calendar (opens to 12 " x 26") with twelve full-color reproductions.

Suitcase, Or Those That Resemble Flies From A Distance
(Dramatist's Play Service - Paperback Book)
Melisa James Gibson play produced Off Off Broadway at Soho Rep in 2004.

Wearing Someone Else's Clothes
(Ghostlight - new on CD)
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Jason Robert Brown solo album.

Zagat 2005 New York City Theater Guide: Summer
(Zagat Survey - Paperback Book)

June 21, 2005

Acting: Advanced Techniques For The Actor, Director, And Teacher
(Allworth Press - Paperback Book)
Terry Schreiber. Divided into four parts: The Procedure, Group Exercises, Emotional Recall, and Scene Study. There are abundant interactive exercises, and each section concludes with a summary. Schreiber has thirty-five years experience teaching acting and directing famous actors.

As You Like It
(new on CD)
Barenaked Ladies score for 2005 Stratford Festival production of the Shakespeare play, set in the 1960s. Clips and CD available from Barenaked Ladies and Stratford Festival sites. Songs composed by Steven Page. Lyrics by William Shakespeare. Music arranged, produced and performed by Barenaked Ladies (Jim Creeggan, Keven Hearn, Steven Page, Ed Robertson, Tyler Stewart).

Bewitched
(Sony - new on CD)
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Soundtrack of upcoming film (stars Nicole Kidman, Will Ferrell, Shirley MacLaine, Michael Caine, Jason Schwartzman, Kristin Chenoweth, Heather Burns). Includes Steve Lawrence singing the title sing, Kristin Chenoweth singing "Witchy Woman," plus existing recordings by Talking Heads, Who, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, R.E.M., Police, Natalie Cole, The Actual, Persephone's Bee's, Rupert Holmes, Bing Crosby. Composer George Fenton.

Bright Lights, Big City
(Ghostlight/Razor & Tie - new on CD)
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Off Broadway cast recording of musical based on Jay McInerney novel. Composer, Paul Scott Goodman. Patrick Wilson, Jesse L. Martin, Sherie Rene Scott, Christine Ebersole, Gavin Creel, Richard Kind, Eden Espinosa, Everett Bradley, Anne Marie Milazzo, Sharon Leal and Celia Keenan-Bolger. To feature revised version presented by Works and Process at the Guggenheim last year. Available early directly from Sh-K-Boom.com

Callas Forever
(Image Entertainment - new on DVD)
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2002 Franco Zeffirelli film with Fanny Ardant, Jeremy Irons, Joan Plowright. Includes actual sound recordings of Callas in performance.

Desiree
(Varese Sarabande Club - new on CD)
Original soundtrack. Music composed and conducted by Alex North. Available at Footlight.com.

I'm Dancing As Fast As I Can
(Paramount - new on DVD)
Order at CD Universe1982 film with Jill Clayburgh, Dianne Wiest, Ellen Greene, Geraldine Page, Nicol Williamson. Widescreen.

Miss Julie
(Albany - new on 2 CDs)
Curtis Opera Theatre Live 2003 recording of Ned Rorem piece. Joslin Romphf, Howard Reddy and Fiona Murphy. Also includes Aftermath - Song Cycle for Voice, Piano, Violin and Cello, recorded in 2004, featuring James J. Kee. Available at Footlight.com.

Peter Pan
(Koch Int'l Classics - new on CD)
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New recording of Leonard Bernstein's Peter Pan, with Linda Eder (Wendy), Daniel Narducci (Captain Hook) and Alaxander Frey (Peter). Conducted by Alexander Frey.

Purpose of Love - Tim Di Pasqua Songbook (Vol. Two)
(new on CD)
To include KT Sullivan, Phillip Officer, Heather MacRae and Stephen Schwartz. Expected in 2005.

The Voice of Bernstein
(Deutsche Grammophon - new on 2 CDs)
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Compilation with songs from West Side Story, On the Town, Candide, Wonderful Town, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and more. Vocalists include June Anderson, Stephen Bogardus, Jose Carreras, Tyne Daly, David Garrison, Adolph Green, Jerry Hadley, Thomas Hampson, Marilyn Horne, Christa Ludwig, Samuel Ramey, Kiri Te Kanawa, Tatiana Troyanos and Frederica Von Stade. Released June 14.

June 14, 2005

All in Good Time: A Memoir
(Random House - Paperback Book)
Paperback issue of 2004 release. NPR disc jockey Jonathan Schwartz writes about his songwriter father, Arthur Schwartz, and his own relationship with music, including his early days with New York's WNEW. He also writes candidly about his problems with alcohol and personal relationships, his mother's early death and his less than satisfactory stepmother, and his quarrel with Frank Sinatra.

Best Plays Theatre Yearbook 2003-2004 (Best Plays)
(Amadeus Press - Hardcover Book)
Essayists include Christine Dolen, Michael Feingold, Charles Isherwood. Editor Jeffrey Eric Jenkins. Chosen from Broadway, Off Broadway and Off Off Broadway productions of new plays that opened between June 1, 2003 and May 31, 2004, (also honoring three regional plays), the list includes Anna in the Tropics (Nilo Cruz), Caroline, or Change (Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori), Frozen (Bryony Lavery), Intimate Apparel (Lynn Nottage), Living Out (Lisa Loomer), The Long Christmas Ride Home (Paula Vogel), Omnium Gatherum (Theresa Rebeck and Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros), Small Tragedy (Craig Lucas), The Violet Hour (Richard Greenberg), Well (Lisa Kron).

Bye Bye Birdie / Teenage Triangle
(Collectables - new on CD)
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Twofer featuring James Darren, Shelley Fabres), Paul Petersen, and the Marcels. Rescheduled after delay.

The Complete Professional Audition: A Common Sense Guide to Auditioning for Plays and Musicals
(Backstage Books - Paperback Book)
By Michael Perilstein with Darren Cohen. Practical advice for choosing material, rehearsing, warming up, staying calm, standing out in a crowd, understanding casting, avoiding pitfalls, following up, getting the right headshot and resume, and accepting an offer. Includes appendices of recommended songs and monologues

Dream Team
(Sepia Records - new on CD)
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Johnny Mercer and the Pied Pipers. June Hutton appears on five tracks.

Embedded
(new on DVD)
Tim Robbins' satirical political play on DVD.

Extraordinary Exhibitions: The Wonderful Remains of an Enormous Head, the Whimsiphusicon & Death to the Savage Unitarians
(Quantuck Press - Hardcover Book)
Broadsides (broadsheet advertisements) from the collection of leight-of-hand artist and magic expert Ricky Jay (whose one-man shows were directred by David Mamet). Released June 1.

Hair Concert
(Ghostlight/Razor & Tie - new on CD)
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September 20, 2004 Actors Fund concert performance with Kathy Brier, Gavin Creel, Darius deHaas, Harvey Fierstein, Hunter Foster, Ann Harada, Jennifer Hudson, Norm Lewis, Idina Menzel, Julia Murney, Adam Pascal, Billy Porter, RuPaul, Jai Rodriguez, Lillias White. Musical Director and Conductor Seth Rudetsky hints at "special guest star" and bonus track.

Lady in the Dark / Down in the Valley
(Sepia Records - new on CD)
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Original television cast recordings of Kurt Weill scores: Down in the Valley (Marion Bell, William McGraw), aired in 1950 as the first of the NBC Opera Theatre productions; and Lady in the Dark (Ann Sothern, , televised as an NBC color spectacular in 1954. Both on CD for the first time. Bonus tracks: two rare Marion Bell tracks, "If I Loved You" and "They Say It's Wonderful."

Northern Exposure - The Complete Third Season
(Universal - new on 3 DVDs)
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Cast includes John Cullum, who sings "Ave Maria" in the episode "Seoul Mates."

That Old Feeling: Classic Ballads
(Savoy Jazz - new on CD)
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Judy Garland tracks from her TV show. Includes duets with Tony Bennett & Barbra Streisand.

Theresa Brewer - Longing For You
(Sepia Records - new on CD)
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28 tracks re-mastered from the original 78s.

Thicker Than Water: One-act Plays From The Members Of Youngblood
(Dramatist's Play Service - Paperback Book)
Collection of provocative one acts from some of New York's most up- and-coming young playwrights. Heights by Amy Fox, Waterborn by Edith L. Freni, Charlie Blake's Boat by Graeme Gillis, D.C. by Daria Polatin, Welcome Back, Buddy Combs by Ben Rosenthal.

This is Toni Arden
(Sepia Records - new on CD)
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Nightclub performer and recording artist. 26 re-mastered tracks.

June 7, 2005

Ballads for Night People
(Blue Note Records - new on CD)
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June Christy. Includes five bonus tracks from a Capitol album of songs from Do Re Mi.

Nunsensations!
(Nunsense Inc - new on CD)
Original 2005 Minneapolis cast recording of Dan Goggin's show starring Deborah Del Mastro, Bambi Jones, Carrie Keskinen, Bonnie Lee and Jeanne Tinker. Now at Footlight.com and Nunsense.com.

Theatre World, 2002-2003 - Vol. #59
(Applause - Hardcover/Paperback Book)
By John Willis, Ben Hodges. Statistical and pictorial record of the Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway, touring, and professional regional company offers of the 2002-2003 season. Cast listings, replacements, producers, directors, authors, composers, opening and closing dates, and song titles. Special sections with biographical data, obituary information, a longest-runs listing, expanded theatrical awards section, and more. 16 pages of color photos, over 600 photos in all.

Ute Lemper: Blood and Feathers: Live at the Carlyle
(Koch/DRG - new on CD)
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Ute Lemper live show.

Warm Spring Night - Philip Chaffin
(PS Classics - new on CD)
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Chaffin's second solo album. Broadway songs spanning 80 years, from Kern and Duke to Coleman and Sondheim, with a number of rarities, including the first recording of a Gershwin song from 1924. With Kevin Stites conducting the 25-piece orchestra, plus a guest appearance by Rebecca Luker.

Women in American Theatre
(Theatre Communications Group - Paperback Book)
Helen Krich Chinoy (Editor), Linda Walsh Jenkins (Editor). Newly revised and expanded resource that challenges preconceptions by exploring and celebrating the heritage of women in American theater. In this new edition, the editors have collected a series of interviews and essays that address the contributions of women to theater, the recurring patterns of their participation and the problems as well as successes they have encountered in developing their careers.

The Young Girls of Rochefort
(Koch/DRG - new on 2 CDs)
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Complete two-LP soundtrack album plus bonus material. [Same as Philips/France's 1998 release, in French, with additional instrumental bonus tracks but none of the English-language ones by Gene Kelly or George Chakiris.]

May 31, 2005

25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
(Ghostlight/Razor & Tie - new on CD)
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Broadway cast recording of William Finn score. Celia Keenan-Bolger, Dan Fogler, Sarah Saltzberg, Jose Llana, Deborah S. Craig, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Derrick Baskin, Jay Reiss, Lisa Howard. Kurt Deutsch will produce. Recorded April 5.

All Shook Up
(Sony BMG - new on CD)
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Original cast recording of Elvis Presley inspired musical. Stephen Oremus is music director/arranger. Cast includes Cheyenne Jackson Jenn Gambatese, Alix Korey, Leah Hocking, Curtis Holbrook, Nikki M. James, Mark Price, Sharon Wilkins, Jonathan Hadary and John Jellison.

Bashville
(JAY Records - new on CD)
1983 OLC recording. Score by Dennis King and Benn Green. Based on Shaw's play The Admirable Bashville. James Cairncross, Christina Collier, Peter Woodward, Joan Davies, Douglas Hodge, Vincenzo Nicoli, Donald Pelmear, Ewart James Walters. Available at Footlight.com. Store release date in June.

Chu Chin Chow
(VAI - new on 3 DVDs)
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1934 British classic film, based on the original Oscar Asche stage production which set records during its initial run of 2,238 performances at His Majesty's Theatre. Musical retelling of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, with Fritz Kortner, George Robey, Anna May Wong, John Garrick, Pearl Argyle. Sets by Ernö Metzner and cinematography by Max Greenbaum. Original film was 102 minutes long, then cut by both British and American Distributors to 93 minutes and finally to 78. VCI's release is a three-disc box set containing the restoration of the original 102 minute version, along with the American version titled Ali Baba Nights, and as a bonus, the very rare 1935 film Abdul the Damned starring Fritz Kortner, who played Abu Hassan in Chu Chin Chow. Bonuses: commentary Track by Jay Fenton; liner notes booklet by Jay Fenton; Anna May Wong photo gallery; poster & lobby card gallery; pressbook gallery; bonus music tracks, "Vocal Gems from Chu Chin Chow"; bonus footage of Anna May Wong.

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
(Back Bay Books - Paperback Book)
Paperback version of latest book by David Sedaris.

The Four Seasons
(NBC Universal Home Video - new on DVD)
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1981 film. Alan Alda's directorial debut. Stars Alan Alda, Carol Burnett, Rita Moreno, Jack Weston, Sandy Dennis, Len Cariou.

The Front Page
(NBC Universal Home Video - new on DVD)
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Billy Wilder's 1974 version of the Hecht-MacArthur play. Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Susan Sarandon, Carol Burnett, Charles Durning, David Wayne).

The Gary Cooper Collection
(NBC Universal Home Video - on 2 DVDs)
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Five films on two discs, headed by the infrequently seen 1933 screen version of Noel Coward's Design For Living and including Peter Ibbetson (1935), The General Died At Dawn (1936), Beau Geste (1939), and The Lives Of A Bengal Lancer (1935). These films are not available individually.

House Calls
(NBC Universal Home Video - new on DVD)
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1978 film. Walter Matthau, Glenda Jackson, Art Carney.

Time After Time/Dodsworth: New Songs
(Original Cast Records - new on CD)
Selections from two musicals with book and lyrics by Stephen Cole and music by Jeffrey Saver. Recorded on September 19, 2004 live at Tabor Academy in Marion, MA concert featuring the Steinway Peace Piano. Performers include Judy Blazer, Christian Borle, Liz Callaway and Walter Charles. Concert directed by Dan Foster (Liz Callaway's husband) and sponsored by M. Steinert and Sons. Net proceeds go to UNICEF. Available at Footlight.com

Topsy
(Original Cast Records - new on CD)
By Quentin Benedetti, loosely based on Uncle Tom's Cabin. A show within a show, produced in the mid-1980s and issued now for the first time with an LA cast. Available at Footlight.com

Phantasia
(EMI - new on CD)
Concert version for violin, cello and orchestra. With Julian Lloyd Webber and Sarah Chang. Score includes all the favourites from the show such as "Music Of The Night", All I Ask Of You", "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again","Think of Me",and "Masquerade" plus "The Woman in White Suite" (new arrangements of the score including "I Believe My Heart", " You Can Get Away With Anything", "Evermore Without You", and "All For Laura").

Tony Bennett Sings The Rodgers & Hart Songbook
(Concord - new on CD)
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Remastered album. Was included in the Concord "Complete Improv Recordings" boxed set.

May 24, 2005

20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Maureen McGovern
(Mercury/Universal - on CD)
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Compilation.

Almost Holy Picture
(Dramatist's Play Service - Paperback Book)
by Heather McDonald.

Anna and the King of Siam
(Fox - new on DVD)
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1946 film with Irene Dunne, Rex Harrison, Gale Sondergaard, Lee J. Cobb, Linda Darnell, Dennis Hoey, Mikhail Rasumny. Black and white. Includes biography: "Anna and the King - The Real Story of Anna Leonowens" and Fox Movietone News: "Gala Hollywood Premiere."

Innocent When You Dream: The Tom Waits Reader
(Thunder's Mouth Press - Paperback Book)
Edited by Mac Montandon. Collection of writings about Tom Waits, spanning the artist's thirty-year career in music, film, and theater, featuring the most revealing, bizarre, provocative, and hilarious interviews, profiles, reviews, and conservations with the world's favorite bohemian bandleader. From a New Yorker "Talk of the Town" in 1976 to an interview by Terry Gilliam in 1999; from album reviews by Luc Sante and David Fricke to conversations with Elvis Costello and Roberto Benigni; from a recent profile in GQ to "20 Questions" in Playboy and reviews of Waits's acclaimed new album, Real Gone.

The Light in the Piazza
(Nonesuch - new on CD)
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OBC of new Adam Guettel/Craig Lucas musical. Michael Berresse, Sarah Uriarte Berry, Victoria Clark, Patti Cohenour, Matthew Morrison, Kelli O'Hara. Liner notes by Frank Rich. Special two-song discs ("Dividing Day" and "Say It Somehow") are being distributed in Playbills at the show through May 29.

Seasons of a Life
(Blue Note - new on CD)
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Lena Horne CD. 10 tracks previously unissued, but in 1994-2000. Accompanied by Herbie Hancock, Benjamin Brown, and Akira Tana.

Stars on Stage : Eileen Darby and Broadway's Golden Age: Photographs 1940-1964
(Bulfinch - Hardcover Book)
Photographs by Eileen Darby. "Her style of photographing not only onstage but also backstage and during rehearsals allowed an intimate look at the creative process of theater. Darby photographed more than six hundred shows during her career, and her portfolio has become the definitive photographic record of theatrical history." Includes dozens of previously unseen pictures of stars such as Lucille Ball, Montgomery Clift, Marlene Dietrich, Bette Davis, and Gregory Peck, as well as the people who created the shows, including Rodgers and Hammerstein, George Abbott, Irving Berlin, and Anita Loos. With an overview of the theatrical period by John Lahr and a biographical portrait of Darby and her work by Mary Henderson.

May 17, 2005

Altar Boyz
(Sh-K-Boom/Razor & Tie - new on CD)
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2005 OBC recording. Gary Adler & Michael Patrick Walker score. Ryan Duncan, David Josefsberg, Andy Karl, Tyler Maynard, Scott Porter. Recorded March 14. [see our review of the Altar Boyz cast recording]

Best of the Muppets, Featuring The Muppets Wizard of Oz
(Disney - new on CD)
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Soundtrack of TV special, please extra tracks. [see our review of Muppets Wizard of Oz]

Candide Concert
(Image Entertainment - new on DVD)
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New York Philharmonic's concert with Kristin Chenoweth, Paul Groves, Stanford Olsen, Patti LuPone, Sir Thomas Allen.

Donkey Skin (Peau d'ane)
(Koch Lorber - new on DVD)
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Director Jacques Demy (Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Young Girls of Rochefort) film, based on Charles Perrault's fairy tale with a song score by Michel Legrand and starring Catherine Deneuve, Jean Marais, Jacques Perrin, and Micheline Presle. Released May 10.

Expecting Isabel
(Dramatist's Play Service - Paperback Book)
Lisa Loomer play. Produced at Arena Stage in 1998.

The Golden Girls - The Complete Second Season
(Buena Vista Home Video - new on 3 DVDs)
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TV series with Rue McLanahan, Bea Arthur, Betty White and Estelle Getty. The 26 episodes from 1986-1987 season include "Big Daddy's Little Lady" in which Dorothy and Rose enter a song writing contest, "Ladies of the Evening," featuring a cameo from Burt Reynolds, "Isn't It Romantic?" with Lois Nettleton (In the Heat of the Night) as Dorothy's lesbian friend, Jean, who falls for an unsuspecting Rose (Betty White), "The Sisters" and "Long Day's Journey Into Marinara" with a white-wigged Nancy Walker as Sophia's long-lost sister Angela, and a pompadoured George Clooney in "To Catch a Neighbor." The final episode of The Golden Girls second season, "Empty Nest," features David Leisure and Rita Moreno.

Intimate Apparel
(Dramatist's Play Service - Paperback Book)
Lynn Nottage award-winning play produced at Laura Pels with Viola Davis in 2004. [Our Regional Review]

Maurice Chevalier: Exclusive Recording Of His Last Show : October 1968
(City Hall Records - new on 2 CDs)
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"80th birthday live performance" with spoken introductions. Interview bonus tracks.

Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge
(Dramatist's Play Service - Paperback Book)
Christopher Durang play, produced at Pittsburgh's City Theater in 2003. [Our Regional Review]

Playwriting at Work and Play : Developmental Programs and Their Processes
(Heinemann Publishing - Paperback Book)
By Michael Wright. Subtitled "Developmental Programs and Their Processes."

Prymate
(Dramatist's Play Service - Paperback Book)
Mark Medoff play produced on Broadway in 2004 with André de Shields, Phyllis Frelich, James Naughton, Heather Tom. [Our Broadway Review].

Sarah, Sarah
(Dramatist's Play Service - Paperback Book)
Daniel Goldfarb play produced at MTC in 2004 with Richard Masur, Andrew Katz, Lori Prince, J. Smith-Cameron.

Team America - World Police - Special Collector's Edition
(Paramount Home Video - new on DVD)
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Musical marionette film by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone (with co-writer Pam Brady). Extras include featurette: "Team America: An Introduction," production featurettes "Building The World," "Crafting the Puppets," "Pulling The Strings," "Capturing The Action," "Miniature Pyrotechnics," "Up Close With Kim Jong-Il," "Dressing Room Test," "Puppet Test," deleted and extended scenes and outtakes, two theatrical trailers and animated storyboards. Widescreen.

May 10, 2005

All That & More - Susan Egan
(LML - new on CD)
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Susan Egan compilation disc. Contains all of the tunes she's sung over the years for various Fynsworth Alley releases. Plus, new recordings of "More" (which she performed in Putting It Together), and "Joshua Noveck," an audience favorite in her cabaret act.

The Americanization of Emily
(Warner - new on DVD)
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1964 Paddy Chayefsky film with Julie Andrews, James Garner, Melvyn Douglas, James Coburn. Includes commentary by director Arthur Hiller and featurette "Action on the Beach."

An American Theatre : The Story of Westport Country Playhouse, 1931-2005
(Yale University Press - Hardcover Book)
By Richard Somerset-Ward. Foreward by Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman. Story of 75-year-old summer stock theatre founded by Lawrence and Armina Langner. Productions have included world premieres from George Bernard Shaw, Noel Coward, Leonard Gershe and A. R. Gurney; talents of Ethel Barrymore, Helen Hayes, Paul Robeson, Groucho Marx, Tyrone Power, Olivia de Havilland, Jane Wyatt, Gene Kelly, Stephen Sondheim, and Liza Minnelli; Lavishly illustrated.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
(Ghostlight - new on CD)
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2005 OBC recording. David Yazbek score. John Lithgow, Norbert Butz, Sara Gettelfinger, Joanna Gleason, Gregory Jbara, Sherie Rene Scott. Recorded March 14. Includes bonus tracks: David Yazbek's demos of "Here I Am" and "All About Ruprecht," plus a specially recorded version of "Nothing Is Too Wonderful to Be True" by Sherie Rene Scott with Bill Charlap's piano accompaniment.

Doubt: A Parable
(Theatre Communications Group - Paperback Book)
John Patrick Shanley's play, now on Broadway with Brian O'Byrne and Cherry Jones.

Eugene O'Neill's Last Plays: Separating Art from Autobiography
(Univ. of Georgia Press - Hardcover Book)
By Doris Alexander, professor emerita of English at the City University of New York. Draws on new research concerning the lives of Eugene O'Neill, his family, and his circle. Corrects and expands the biographical record on O'Neill. Uses interviews and archival research into multiple generations of the O'Neill family.

A Face in the Crowd
(Warner Home Video - new on DVD)
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1957 Elia Kazan film on pop idolism. Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal, Walter Matthau, Lee Remick. Includes new documentary "Facing the Past," all new retrospective with new interviews with stars Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal and screenwriter Budd Schulberg.

For Sentimental Reasons Volume 1
(DRG - new on CD)
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Patti Page.

Long Day's Journey Into Night
(Image Entertainment - new on DVD)
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Jack Lemmon, Bethel Leslie, Kevin Space, Peter Gallagher.

Pacific Overtures
(PS Classics - new on CD)
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Cast album of Roundabout Theatre Company production of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's musical. To be recorded February 1, 2005. B.D. Wong, Eric Bondoc, Michael J. Bulatao, Evan D'Angeles, Frederick Edinger, Joseph Anthony Foronda, Yoko Fumoto, Alvin Y. F. Ing, Fred Isozaki, Francis Jue, Darren Lee, Michael K. Lee, Ming Lee, Telly Leung, Orville Mendoza, Paolo Montalban, Alan Muraoka, Mayumi Omagari, Daniel Jay Park, Hazel Anne Raymundo, Sab Shimono, Yuka Takara, Kim Varhola and Scott Watanabe. Bonus track from a reading of the original production, with Stephen Sondheim and Harold Prince performing a cut song called "Prayers." Available now on the web at PSClassics.com

Pray For The Soul of Betty
(Koch - new on CD)
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Debut album for rock band "Pray for the Soul of Betty," featuring Constantine Maroulis (Rent tour). Explicit lyrics.

Shadowplay: The Hidden Beliefs and Coded Politics of William Shakespeare
(Public Affairs - Hardcover Book)
By Clare Asquith. New look at how Shakespeare secretly addressed the most profound political issues of his day, and how his plays embody a hidden history of England.

Sondheim Sings Vol. 1: 1962-72
(PS Classics Inc. - new on CD)
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First in series of recordings utilizing demos of Sondheim singing songs he's written from 1946 to the present. This volume will cover the years 1962 to 1972 and will include material from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Anyone Can Whistle, Company, Follies and A Little Night Music, all digitally remastered. To include several early versions of songs that were revised after demos were recorded as well as cut songs. Apportioned proceeds to go to the Young Playwrights Festival, which Sondheim founded. Produced by Peter E. Jones. Available now at PSClassics.org with $1 shipping.

The Tricky Part : One Boy's Fall from Trespass into Grace
(Beacon Press - Hardcover Book)
Memoir version of Martin Moran's solo show.

York Theatre NEO Benefit Concert
(JAY Records - new on 2 CDs)
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June 9, 2003 live concert for New, Emerging, and Outstanding musical writers. Cast includes John Tartaglia, Judy Kaye, Nicole Van Giesen, Randy Redd, David Pittu, Tom Beckett, Philip Bosco, Joe Plummer, Matthew Morrison, Bryan Batt, Barbara Walsh, Matt Bogart, Pamela Bob, John Epperson, Deven May, Kerry Butler, Kate Shindle, Laura Bell Bundy, James Barbour, Kaitlin Hopkins, Christiane Noll, Matt Cavenaugh, Mario Cantone, Max von Essen, Stephen De Rosa, Darius de Haas, Laura Benanti and Tonya Pinkins. Available early at Footlight.com.

May 3, 2005

Captain Louie
(PS Classics - new on CD)
New Stephen Schwartz musical produced at the York Theatre. CD is expected by the beginning of the run and to be available at the York and on PSClassics.com. Produced by Stephen Schwartz, orchestrations by Alex Lacamoire, musical direction by Edward Barnes. Show is adapted for the stage by Anthony Stein, and based on the book "The Trip" by Caldecott Award winner Ezra Jack Keats. York cast to include Brandon M. Arrington, Alexio Barboza, Jodie Bentley, Jimmy Dieffenbach, Kelsey Fatebene, Sara Kapner, Ronny Mercedes, Sarah Stiles, and Mark Whitten.

Carol Burnett Show: Let's Bump Up The Lights
(Paramount - new on DVD)
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2004 Carol Burnett 42 minutes TV special. Burnett is joined by Harvey Korman, Tim Conway, Vicki Lawrence and Lyle Waggoner.

Carol Burnett Show: Let's Bump Up the Lights/Showstoppers
(Paramount - new on DVD)
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2004 special plus the 2001 "Showstoppers" special (most watched special of that season).

Cul-de-sac
(Talonbooks - Paperback Book)
By Canadian playwright Daniel Macivor. Foreword by Daniel Brooks. One-man play presented in December 2004 at P.S.122. with MacIvor playing the role of Leonard, who narrates the events leading up to his murder while trying to understand them himself.

Evita: In My Own Words
(New Press - Paperback Book)
Paperback issue of 1997 book. Extracted from a document, "My Message," purportedly written by Evita on her deathbed. Introduction by Joseph A. Page of Georgetown University

Harold Prince and the American Musical Theatre: Updated Edition
(Applause - Paperback Book)
By Foster Hirsch. Expanded edition with updated foreward by Hal Prince.

In Character: Actors on Acting
(Bullfinch - Hardcover Book)
By Howard Schatz. A collection of photographic portraits featuring well-known actors assuming a variety of roles, accompanied by their comments on the art of acting. Insightful comments accompanying the images reveal the actors views on the creative process of acting, developing a character, and their personal experiences. Among the well-known actors included are Jason Alexander, Hume Cronyn, Peter Falk, Rosie Perez, Joe Mantegna, James Earl Jones, Natasha Richardson, George Segal, Hal Holbrook, Judd Hirsch, and Edie Falco.

Little Women
(Ghostlight/Razor & Tie - new on CD)
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2005 OBC recording. Jason Howland/Mindi Dickstein score. Recorded February 28. Sutton Foster, Maureen McGover, Danny Gurwin.

The Phantom of the Opera
(Warner Home Video - new on DVD)
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2004 film musical with Patrick Wilson, Emmy Rossum, James Fleet, Victor Mcguire, Jennifer Ellison, Gerard Butler, Miranda Richardson, Minnie Driver, Simon Callow, Ciaran Hinds.

The Phantom of the Opera Collector's Edition
(Warner Home Video - new on 2 DVDs)
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2004 film musical with Patrick Wilson, Emmy Rossum, James Fleet, Victor Mcguire, Jennifer Ellison, Gerard Butler, Miranda Richardson, Minnie Driver, Simon Callow, Ciaran Hinds. Includes two documentaries on the story and the musical's legacy, 3 "making of" featurettes, a hidden sing-a-long and an additional scene.

Pocahontas: 10th Anniversary Edition
(Disney - on 2 DVDs)
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Includes two versions of the film - the original theatrical version and an extended version featuring the new song "If I Never Knew You" (performed by Mel Gibson) seamlessly integrated into the film. Anamorphic widescreen (1.66:1) with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. Extras: deleted scenes, the Follow Your Heart set-top game, the Build a Drum and Create a Dreamcatcher art projects, sing-along songs, a multi-language reel, "The Making of Pocahontas" documentary and more.

Spamalot
(Universal Classics/Decca Broadway - new on CD)
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2005 OBC recording of Eric Idle/John Du Prez musical. David Hyde Pierce, Tim Curry, Hank Azaria, Michael McGrath, Steve Rosen, Sara Ramirez. Recorded February 7, 2005. This release date may change.

April 26, 2005

Absolutely Fascinating
(First Night (USA) - new on CD)
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Fascinating Aida - some previously issued tracks.

Billy Rose's Jumbo
(Warner Home Video - new on DVD)
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1962 film Doris Day sings beloved Rodgers and Hart tunes and does her own horseback riding tricks. Circus sequences directed by Busby Berkeley. With Jimmy Durante (star of the 1935 Broadway original), Stephen Boyd, Martha Raye. Extras: soundtrack remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1, musical short "Yours Sincerely," Tom and Jerry cartoon "Jerry and Jumbo," original overture rejoined to the film for the first time in more than 40 years.

British Invasion: Broadway 1981-1992
(Decca Broadway - new on CD)
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Songs from cast recordings of The Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Les Miserables, Big River, The Secret Garden, Miss Saigon, Chess, Jelly's Last Jam, Me and My Girl, Little Shop of Horrors.

Broadway Magic: Broadway 1968-1980
(Decca Broadway - new on CD)
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Songs from cast recordings of Pippin, They're Playing Our Song, Jesus Christ Superstar, Mack and Mabel, Hair, Evita, Best Little Whorehouse, Lorelei, The Boy Friend, Applause.

Broadway Today: 1993-2005
(Decca Broadway - new on CD)
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Songs from cast recordings of Mamma Mia!, Wicked, Rent, Seussical, Damn Yankees, Always ... Patsy Cline, Saturday Night Fever, Big, Victor/Victoria, The Boy From Oz.

Center Stage: Broadway 1947-1958
(Decca Broadway - new on CD)
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Songs from cast recordings of The King & I, Wonderful Town, Guys and Dolls, The Threepenny Opera, On Your Toes, Where's Charley?, Li'l Darlin', The Golden Apple, Arms and the Girl, Call Me Madam. Bonus track: "Now Is The Time" from The Amazing Adele.

Dewey Doo-it Helps Owlie Fly Again
(Randall Fraser Pub - Hardcover Book & CD)
By Brahm Wenger, children's story loosely based on struggles of Christopher Reeve. Narrated by Dana Reeve. Ten-song CD includes performances by Bernadette Peters and Mandy Patinkin.

Doris Day Collection
(Warner Home Video - new on DVD)
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Young Man With a Horn, Lullaby of Broadway, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, The Glass Bottom Boat, Love Me or Leave Me, Billy Rose's "Jumbo," Calamity Jane and Pajama Game. Bonus features including vintage shorts and featurettes, cartoons, trailers and more. Each title is also available separately.

Family Guy: Live in Vegas
(Geffen Records - new on CD/DVD)
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New CD of classic and original songs from animated TV show, plus DVD bonus content. Features the Griffin family (Seth MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Mila Kunis and Seth Green) along with guest stars like Jason Alexander, Patti LuPone, Haylie Duff and Adam West. "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane, together with composer Walter Murphy, co-produced the CD as well as co-wrote several tracks. DVD includes music video of "Stewie's Sexy Party," plus behind the scenes look at the making of the album and the video, and trailer for the upcoming season of "Family Guy" and MacFarlane's new animated series "American Dad." With Walter Murphy and his orchestra.

Forbidden Broadway: Special Victims Unit
(Koch/DRG - new on CD)
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Newest version of Off Broadway show. Again from writer/creator Gerard Alessandrini slings its arrows at Wicked, Avenue Q, Movin' Out, La Cage aux Folles, Assassins, I Am My Own Wife, The Boy From Oz, Dracula and Bombay Dreams. Featured in the cast are Ron Bohmer, Jason Mills, Jennifer Simard, Megan Lewis and a special appearance on this recording by Christine Pedi.

Frederick Ashton: Founder Choreographer of the Royal Ballet
(Oberon Books - Paperback Book)
By Cristina Franchi. Marking centenary of the birth of Frederick Ashton, Founder Choreographer of The Royal Ballet, whose work defined the English style of ballet. Ashton's career as dancer, choreographer and director, spans the Company's history from its earliest days. This is one of the first of a series of books in the Royal Opera House Heritage Series, featuring a unique collection of images from the Royal Opera House Archives.

The Glass Bottom Boat
(Warner Home Video - new on DVD)
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1966 comedy film Doris Day, Rod Taylor, Arthur Godfrey, Paul Lynde, Edward Andrews, John McGiver, Dom DeLuise and Dick Martin. Title song by Joe Lubin, plus "Que Sera Sera" (Ray Evans/Jay Lingston), "Soft as the Starlight" (Joe Lubin). Extras: three vintage featurettes ("Catalina Island," "Every Girl's Dream," "The Glass Bottom Boat at NASA"), Oscar® -winning cartoon "The Dot and the Line."

Humana Festival 2004: The Complete Plays
(Smith & Kraus - Paperback Book)
Includes After Ashley by Gina Gionfriddo, The Ruby Sunrise by Rinne Groff, Sans-Culottes in the Promised Land by Kristen Greenridge, Kid-Simple, a radio play in the flesh by Jordan Harrison, At the Vanishing Point by Naomi Iizuka, and Tallgrass Gothic by Melanie Marnich.

In Real Life
(Dramatist's Play Service - Paperback Book)
Play by Charlayne Woodard. One person play produced at Manhattan Theatre Club in 2002 with Charlayne Woodard (Drama Desk nomination).

Love Me or Leave Me
(Warner Home Video - new on DVD)
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1955 Academy Award winner (Best Motion Picture Story). True tale of Ruth Etting's life with the man who boosted her career with strong-arm tactics yet smothered her in an obsessive grip she escaped at great peril. Doris Day, James Cagney. Extras: soundtrack remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1, three vintage shorts (two with Ruth Etting: "A Modern Cinderella" and "Roseland" plus "A Salute to the Theatres").

Lullaby of Broadway
(Warner Home Video - new on DVD)
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1951 film with Doris Day, Gene Nelson, S.Z. Sakall, Billy DeWolfe, Gladys George and Florence Bates. Includes Oscar-winning title tune and Cole Porter's "Just One of Those Things," "Somebody Loves Me" and six more songs. Extras: Doris Day trailer gallery.

Margot Fonteyn: Prima Ballerina Absoluta of the Royal Ballet
(Oberon Books - Paperback Book)
By Cristina Franchi. Over 120 images which chart the whole of Fonteyn's career with The Royal Ballet from 1934 until her last appearances in galas in the 1980s. This is the second of a series of books in the Royal Opera House Heritage Series, featuring a unique collection of images from the Royal Opera House Archives.

The Most American Thing In America: Circuit Chautauqua As Performance (Studies in Theatre History and Culture)
(Univ. of Iowa Press - Hardcover Book)
By Charlotte M. Channing. Reveals the Circuit Chautauquas that toured the rural United States between 1904 and the Great Depression as unique performances that both created and unified small-town America.

Neat
(Dramatist's Play Service - Paperback Book)
Charlayne Woodard play.

Plays One (Gem)
(Oberon Books - Paperback Book)
Three plays by Pam Gems: Piaf, Camille and Queen Christina.

Please Don't Eat the Daisies
(Warner Home Video - new on DVD)
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1960 comedy film (with many cameo appearances) from the bestseller by playwright Jean Kerr. Doris Day, David Niven, Janis Paige, Spring Byington and Richard Haydn. Popular songs "Please Don't Eat the Daisies" (Joe Lubin) and "Anyway the Wind Blows" ('By" William D. Dunham).

Pretty Fire
(Dramatist's Play Service - Paperback Book)
Charlayne Woodard play.

Put On A Happy Face: Broadway 1959-1967
(Decca Broadway - new on CD)
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Songs from cast recordings of Man of La Mancha, Carnival, The Fantasticks, Bye Bye Birdie, Destry Rides Again, You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, She Loves Me, Stop the World, Once Upon a Mattress, Oliver. Bonus track: "Poor Little Person from" Henry Sweet Henry.

Reflections Of Rosemary - Debby Boone
(Concord Records - new on CD)
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Boone provides a musical portrait of her late mother-in-law, Rosemary Clooney. Special appearances by Scott Hamilton, John Pizzarelli, cellist Armen Ksajikian, Dan Higgins. Accompanied by John Oddo, Gary Foster, Warren Luening, Chuck Berghofer, Gregg Field, Jim Fox, and Daniel Greco.

Time For Hope: Broadway 1935-1946
(Decca Broadway - new on CD)
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Songs from cast recordings of Oklahoma!, Porgy and Bess, Pal Joey, Higher and Higher, On the Town, Panama Hattie, Carousel, Leave It to Me, A Connecticut Yankee, This is the Army, Annie Get Your Gun. Bonus track: "South American Way" from Streets of Paris.

Young Man with a Horn
(Warner Home Video - new on DVD)
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1950 film with Doris Day, Lauren Bacall and Hoagy Carmichael. Legendary Harry James dubbed Douglas' horn work. Extras: Doris Day trailer gallery.

April 19, 2005

The Broadway Musicals Cut-Outs
(Bayview - new on CD)
Songs not previously issued from Scott Siegel's Town Hall (Broawdway by the Year) concerts. Original Off-Broadway Cast with Stephanie J. Block, Justin Bohon, Walker Jones, John Dossett, Rob Evan, Alison Fraser, Chip Zien, Rebecca Eichenberger, Darius Dehaas, Rob Gallagher, Marie Danvers, Annie Golden. Created, Written and Hosted by Scott Siegel. Songs from: No, No Nanette, The Vagabond King, The King And I, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, Dubarry Was A Lady, Too Many Girls, Yokel Boy, Louisiana Purchase, Swinging The Dream, Two For The Show, Big Boy, Charlot's Revue Of 1926. Recorded live April 15 and May 13, 2002, and February 17 and March 17, 2003 at Town Hall, New York. Some songs appearing for the first time on CD. Available at Footlight.com. Wide store release at a later date.

The Grass Harp
(Warner Home Video - new on DVD)
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1995 film from Truman Capote novella. Piper Laurie, Sissy Spacek, Walter Matthau, Edward Furlong, Nell Carter, Jack Lemmon, Mary Steenburgen, Sean Patrick Flanery, Charles Durning, Roddy McDowall.

Elyot: Four Plays
(Nick Hern Books - Paperback Book)
Four Kevin Elyot plays: Includes: Coming Clean, My Night With Reg, The Day I Stood Still and Mouth to Mouth.

Gentlemen Callers : Tennessee Williams, Homosexuality, and Mid-Twentieth-Century Drama
(Palgrave Macmillan - Hardcover Book)
By Michael Paller. Paller examines the evolution of mid-twentieth-century America's acknowledgment and acceptance of homosexuality. From the early Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and one-act Auto-da-Fé, through The Two-Character Play and Something Cloudy, Something Clear, Paller's book investigates how Williams's earliest critics marginalized or ignored his gay characters and why, beginning in the 1970s, many gay liberationists reviled them.

Illyria
(new on CD)
New musical adaptation of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night by Peter Mills and Cara Reichel. Premiered regionally for The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey in December, 2004. Cast includes Ames Adamson, Joel Blum, Maria Couch, Benjamin Eakeley, T. Doyle Leverett, Kristie Dale Sanders, Elena Shaddow, Chris Peluso, Steve Wilson. See our review of the show.

Joyce Grenfell Requests the Pleasure of Your Company
(Sepia - on CD)
Available at CD Universe
OLC cast of 1950s revue. Re-mastered cast recording of Richard Addinsell/Joyce Grenfell score. Bonuses: six songs by Beatrice Lillie. U.S. release

Li'l Abner
(Paramount - new on DVD)
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Widescreen release of 1959 film musical. Gene de Paul songs. Peter Palmer, Leslie Parish, Stubby Kaye, Julie Newmar.

Swimming to Cambodia
(Theatre Communications Group )
Re-issue of Spalding Gray book (20 years after originally published), performed by Gray at Lincoln Center in 1986.

Two's Company
(Sepia - new on CD)
Re-mastered OBC recording of Vernon Duke/Sammy Kahn/Ogden Nash revue, with Bette Davis, David Burns, Ellen Hanley, Peter Kelley, Hiram Sherman. Disc of bonus tracks, titled "Vernon Duke Plays Vernon Duke." U.S. store date.

April 12, 2005

Barbara at Birdland
(Harbinger - new on CD)
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Recorded during Barbara Carroll's extended run at Birdland last summer. Featuring Mr. Leonhart on bass and Joe Cocuzzo on drums, the CD includes standards such as Harold Arlen's "Don't Like Goodbyes," Cole Porter's "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To," Bart Howard's "Fly Me To The Moon," and Stephen Sondheim's "Old Friends."

The God of Hell
(Vintage - Paperback Book)
Play by Sam Shepard. "Frank and Emma are a quiet, respectable couple who raise cows on their Wisconsin farm. Soon after they agree to put up Frank's old friend Haynes, who is on the lam from a secret government project involving plutonium, they're visited by Welch, an unctuous government bureaucrat from hell. His aggressive patriotism puts Frank, Emma, and Haynes on the defensive, transforming a heartland American household into a scene of torture and promoting a radioactive brand of conformity with a dangerously long half life."

Hawaii
(United Artists - new on DVD)
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1966 film based on James Michener novel. Julie Andrews, Max von Sydow, Richard Harris, Gene Hackman, Caroll O'Connor, John Cullum.

Illyria
(new on CD)
New musical adaptation of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night by Peter Mills and Cara Reichel. Premiered regionally for The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey in December, 2004. Cast includes Ames Adamson, Joel Blum, Maria Couch, Benjamin Eakeley, T. Doyle Leverett, Kristie Dale Sanders, Elena Shaddow, Chris Peluso, Steve Wilson. See our review of the show.

Keely Smith - Las Vegas '58 Today
(Concord - new on CD)
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2005 MAC Award (Lifetime Achievement) winner live at Feinstein's recording. Homage to Louis Prima and "the city that never sleeps." With Jerry Vivino, Ben Williams, Joe Cocuzzo, and a big band. Musical arrangements by Nelson Riddle and Billy May.

L'homme de la Mancha
(DRG - new on CD)
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French 1968 cast album with Jacques Brel and Joan Diener.

No One Knows
(Harbinger - new on CD)
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Eric Comstock. Jazz, pop, and showtune selections. Store date.

Man of La Mancha
(Varese Sarabande - on CD)
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Film cast includes Peter O'Toole, James Coco, Sophia Loren. O'Toole's singing is dubbed by Simon Gilbert. Music by Mitch Leigh. Lyrics by Joe Darion. Music Adapted and Conducted by Laurence Rosenthal. Song order corrected.

Opening Doors
(JAY Records - new on CD)
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Doug LeBrecque. Songs from West Side Story, Jubilee, Show Boat, Phantom of the Opera, Sweet Charity, Chicago, and more. Joined by Christiane Noll and Jan Horvath.

Promises, Promises
(Varese Sarabande - on CD)
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OBC recording, newly mastered.

Seventeen/High Button Shoes
(Sepia - on CD)
Available at CD Universe
Twofer of OBC recordings: Walter Kent/Kim Gannon/Sally Benson's 1951 Seventeen, based on the novel by Booth Tarkington, with Ann Crowley, Kenneth Nelson, Frank Albertson, Doris Dalton, Ellen McCown, Helen Wood, Joan Bowman, Bonnie Brae, Carol Cole, Sherry McCutcheon, Elizabeth Pacetti, Harrison Muller, Maurice Ellis, Alonzo Bosan, Dick Kallman; and Jule Styne/Sammy Cahn/Stephen Longstreet's 1947 High Button Shoes, with Phil Silvers, Nanette Fabray, Mark Dawson, Lois Lee, Jack McCauley, Johnny Stewart., Joey Faye, Sondra Lee, Helen Gallagher, Nathaniel Frey and Paul Godkin. Bonuses: popular versions of "Ooh, Ooh, Ooh, What You Do To Me!" - Art Mooney, "I Still Get Jealous" - Gordon MacRae, "Papa, Won't You Dance With Me" - Doris Day. U.S. release date.

The Trip to Bountiful
(MGM - new on DVD)
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1986 film with Geraldine Page and John Heard.

April 5, 2005

As I Am - Kristin Chenoweth
(Sony Classical/Integrity Music - new on CD)
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Solo recording with wide range of inspirational material, including contemporary Christian hits, traditional hymns and gospel favorites. Produced by Chris Harris.

Duke Ellington Plays With the Motion Picture Score from Mary Poppins
(Collectables - new on CD)
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1964 Reprise album.

The Faber Book of Monologues: For Men
(Faber & Faber - Paperback Book)
Edited by Jane Edwardes. Guide to new, untapped, and cutting-edge material. Designed for use in professional auditions as well as student workshops; contains over twenty-five selections, ranging in age from twenty to sixty-five, culled from a variety of tragic, comic, realist and absurdist works by the most vibrant new playwrights, as well as critically-acclaimed pieces from established masters such as Richard Greenberg, David Hare, Neil LaBute, and Yasmina Reza. Each selection includes insightful character commentary, staging and vocalization recommendations, and references to past great performances.

The Faber Book of Monologues: For Women
(Faber & Faber - Paperback Book)
By Jane Edwardes, Editor. Guide to new, untapped, and cutting-edge material. Designed for use in professional auditions as well as student workshops, each volume contains over twenty-five selections, ranging in age from twenty to sixty-five, culled from a rich variety of tragic, comic, realist and absurdist works by new playwrights, as well as critically-acclaimed pieces from established masters such as Richard Greenberg, David Hare, Neil LaBute, and Yasmina Each selection includes insightful character commentary, staging and vocalization recommendations, and references to past great performances.

From Option to Opening : a Guide to Producing Plays Off Broadway - Revised and Updated
(Limelight - Paperback Book)
By Donald C. Farber. Includes detailed information on how to: option a property, raise money, obtain a theater, deal with the cast and other personnel, the art of negotiation, partnerships and co-production agreements, and much more. Updated and expanded appendixes, which include all new budgets and actual examples of today's commonly used legal forms and contracts.

Great Jobs for Theater Majors, Second edition
(McGraw-Hill - Paperback Book)
By Jan Goldberg. To helps you assess your talents and skills for a job, target the perfect career, tailor your job search, present college majors as workplace assets, etc.

Joyce Grenfell Requests the Pleasure of Your Company
(Sepia - on CD)
OLC cast of 1950s revue. Re-mastered cast recording of Richard Addinsell/Joyce Grenfell score. Bonuses: six songs by Beatrice Lillie. Available for Order at Amazon.co.uk. Released 3/21/05

Mary Poppins
(First Night - new on CD)
OLC recording of Sherman Bros, Stiles and Drewe musical. Laura Michelle Kelly, Gavin Lee, David Haig, Linzi Hateley, Rosemary Ashe, Jenny Galloway and Julia Sutton. New songs and additional music and lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe. Also available at Amazon.co.uk. Import.

Michael Gambon: A Life In Acting
(Applause - Paperback Book)
By Mel Gussow of the NY Times. Biography of acclaimed actor who appeared in many acclaimed British stage productions (Galileo, RSC's King Lear, Skylight, A Number, and The Caretaker) as well as TV and film roles (The Singing Detective, Angels in America, Being Julia).

The Newsical
(Original Cast Records - new on CD)
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Original cast recording of Off Broadway show. Todd Alan Johnson, Stephanie Kurtzuba, Jeff Skowron and Kim Cea. Music and Lyrics by Rick Crom. Store release date.

The Permanent Way
(Faber & Faber - Paperback Book)
"Documentary drama " by David Hare. n a last-ditch attempt to swing an election that they didn't expect to win, Britain's Conservative Party government made the fateful decision to privatize the country's railway system. Twelve years later, the results of that choice are disturbingly clear: unpredictable schedules, hemorrhaging costs, and the fateful deaths of several passengers after a succession of disastrous crashes. In this classic achievement of Brechtian, agit-prop theatrics, award-winning playwright David Hare gathers together the first-hand accounts of those most intimately involved--from every level of the system.

The Phantom of the Opera - Movie Selections
(Hal Leonard - Paperback Book)
12 selections from the movie adaptation. Includes biography and 8 pages of color photos from the film.

Purple Heart and The Infidel: Two Plays
(Northwestern - Paperback Book)
Two plays by Bruce Norris. Foreward by John Guare. Purple Heart: Vietnam War widow deep in drink and depression, is living with a troubled son and her controlling mother. One day a stranger arrives at the door, a soldier with one hand who is seemingly connected to her late husband and comes to offer condolences to the grieving family. The soldier's mysterious visit is solved in graphic and bloody detail at the end of the play. Norris uses these quirky and flawed characters to provide a humorous yet very dark view of war and the human condition. The Infidel: Loosely based on a true story, tells of a charismatic and well-respected state Supreme Court justice who is faced with disciplinary action after his out-of-control affair with a young Latina junior staffer. He confers with his friend and attorney as he examines the consequences of his behavior and tries to judge the most difficult case of his life-his own. With dark irony and sharp, cutting dialogue, Bruce Norris explores sexual obsession and the legislation of human behavior.

Seventeen/High Button Shoes
(Sepia - on CD)
Twofer of OBC recordings: Walter Kent/Kim Gannon/Sally Benson's 1951 Seventeen, based on the novel by Booth Tarkington, with Ann Crowley, Kenneth Nelson, Frank Albertson, Doris Dalton, Ellen McCown, Helen Wood, Joan Bowman, Bonnie Brae, Carol Cole, Sherry McCutcheon, Elizabeth Pacetti, Harrison Muller, Maurice Ellis, Alonzo Bosan, Dick Kallman; and Jule Styne/Sammy Cahn/Stephen Longstreet's 1947 High Button Shoes, with Phil Silvers, Nanette Fabray, Mark Dawson, Lois Lee, Jack McCauley, Johnny Stewart., Joey Faye, Sondra Lee, Helen Gallagher, Nathaniel Frey and Paul Godkin. Bonuses: popular versions of "Ooh, Ooh, Ooh, What You Do To Me!" - Art Mooney, "I Still Get Jealous" - Gordon MacRae, "Papa, Won't You Dance With Me" - Doris Day Available at Amazon.co.uk.

Theaters of Boston: A Stage and Screen History
(McFarland & Company - Hardcover Book)
By Donald C. King.

Then and Now - Johnny Brandon
(Sepia - new on CD)
First solo album for U.K. singer and 1950s British heart-throb. 21 Johnny Brandon re-mastered tracks from the 1950s and 4 brand new recordings from today. Available at Amazon.co.uk Released 3/21/05.

Two's Company
(Sepia - new on CD)
Re-mastered OBC recording of Vernon Duke/Sammy Kahn/Ogden Nash revue, with Bette Davis, David Burns, Ellen Hanley, Peter Kelley, Hiram Sherman. Disc of bonus tracks, titled "Vernon Duke Plays Vernon Duke." Available at Amazon.co.uk. Released 3/21/05.

Wonderland of Sound: Broadway's Greatest Hits/Andre Kostelanetz Plays Hits From Funny Girl, Finian's Rainbow & Star!
(Collectables - new on CD)
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Twofer of 1962 and 1969 Columbia albums.

March 29, 2005

Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies
(Kultur - new on DVD)
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With original cast. Previously issued on VHS.

Joyce Grenfell Requests the Pleasure of Your Company
(Sepia - on CD)
OLC cast of 1950s revue. Re-mastered cast recording of Richard Addinsell/Joyce Grenfell score. Bonuses: six songs by Beatrice Lillie. Available at Amazon.co.uk.

The Little Prince
(Sony - new on CD)
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Highlights CD from Rachel Portman and Nicholas Wright film to be broadcast on PBS on April 6. Digipak.

The Little Prince
(Sony - new on DVD)
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Rachel Portman and Nicholas Wright film to be broadcast on PBS April 6. Produced by BBC Talent, "based on the Houston Grand Opera production," with Teddy Tahu Rhodes.

Murder She Wrote: Complete First Season
(MCA Home Video - new on 3 DVDs)
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Angela Lansbury TV series episodes from 1984-1985. Guest stars include Arthur Hill, Ned Beatty, Howard Duff, Virginia Mayo, Dean Jones, Lynn Redgrave, June Allyson, James Coco, Diana Canova, Jose Ferrer, Edie Adams, Gary Sandy, Milton Berle, Lorna Luft, Vicki Lawrence, Jo Anne Worley, Judy Geeson, Robert Goulet, Fritz Weaver, Eddie Bracken, Martha Raye.

On with the Show! : A Guide for Directors and Actors
(Teacher Ideas Press - Paperback Book)
By Sheri L.M. Bestor. The first half of the book provides rehearsal and production strengthening skills while building confidence on the stage. The second half provides reproducibles that will serve as a workbook for the teacher and students to use during the preparation of each production.

The Phantom of the Opera - Movie Selections
(Hal Leonard - Paperback Book)
12 selections from the movie adaptation. Includes biography and 8 pages of color photos from the film.

Play Yourself
(Dramatist's Play Service - Paperback Book)
Harry Kondoleon play produced Off Broadway at Century Center in 2002.

Then and Now - Johnny Brandon
(Sepia - new on CD)
First solo album for U.K. singer and 1950s British heart-throb. 21 Johnny Brandon re-mastered tracks from the 1950s and 4 brand new recordings from today. Available for at Amazon.co.uk

Thom Pain (based on nothing)
(Theatre Communications Group - Paperback Book)
Play by Will Eno. 2004 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, currently Off Broadway at DR2 Theatre.

Three Plays by Ayn Rand
(Signet - Paperback Book)
hree of Ayn Rand's most compelling stage plays published together for the first time. The courtroom drama Night of January 16th, famous for its open-ended verdict, is presented here in its definitive text. Also included are two of Rand's unproduced plays, Think Twice, a clever philosophical murder mystery, and Ideal, a bitter indictment of people's willingness to betray their highest values-symbolized by a Hollywood goddess suspected of a crime.

Tintypes
(Kultur - new on DVD)
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Shot-for-video version of the 1980 Off-Broadway revue, with the original cast.

Together and Alone
(Archephone Records - new on 2 CDs
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Vaudeville performers. Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth. First time on CD: all of Nora Bayes' releases from 1910-17, all of Jack Norworth's releases from 1910-11 and 11 of his rare English sides, two previously unissued Bayes tracks, an unreleased home recording of Norworth singing "Shine On, Harvest Moon."

Two's Company
(Sepia - new on CD)
Re-mastered OBC recording of Vernon Duke/Sammy Kahn/Ogden Nash revue, with Bette Davis, David Burns, Ellen Hanley, Peter Kelley, Hiram Sherman. Disc of bonus tracks, titled "Vernon Duke Plays Vernon Duke." Available for at Amazon.co.uk.

The Vagabond Lover
(RykoDisc - new on DVD)
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1929 musical film with Rudy Vallee, Sally Blane, Marie Dressler. Black and white.

March 22, 2005

Brigadoon
(DRG - new on CD)
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1957 Columbia studio album. Lerner & Loewe score. Jack Cassidy, Shirley Jones, Susan Johnson, Frank Poretta.

Brooklyn Boy
(Theatre Communications Group - Paperback Book)
Play by Donald Margulies, currently playing Off Broadway.

Double Standards
(Telarc - new on CD)
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U.S. release of Lea DeLaria album. Pop and rock songs.

Everything Was Possible: The Birth Of The Musical, Follies
(Applause - Paperback Book)
Paperback version of Ted Chapin's account of the development of the musical Follies - in its 3rd printing in hardcover. Our review of hardcover edition.

Knowing You
(Telarc - new on CD)
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John Pizzarelli album of songs from Jimmy McHugh, Sammy Cahn ("Ain't That a Kick in the Head"), Frank Loesser, and Johnny Mandel ("The Shadow of Your Smile"), Maltby & Shire ("Coffee, Black") among many others. Features tenor saxophonist Harry Allen, clarinetist Ken Peplowski and pianist-organist Larry Goldings. Jessica Molaskey duets on Dave Frishberg's "Quality Time." Also, original compositions "Knowing You" (composed with Jessica Molaskey) and "The First Hint of Autumn" (instumental).

Living Justice: Love, Freedom and the Making of The Exonerated
(Atria - Hardcover Book)
By Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen. Explains how Blank and Jensen researched the work on their play and concurrently tells the story of how their own relationship blossomed in the process. Released February 22.

Night Train to Bolina
(Dramatist's Play Service - Paperback Book)
Play by Nilo Cruz (Anna and the Tropics).

To Nina ... Live At Birdland
(WBG - new on CD)
Natalie Douglas solo album dedicated to Nina Simone. Recorded August 9, 2004, at Birdland.

Not on the Lips
(Wellspring - new on DVD)
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Alain Resnais' French operetta Pas sur la Bouche. Subtitled.

The Pirate Movie
(Anchor Bay - new on DVD)
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1982 updated "Pirates of Penzance" film with Kristy McNichol, Christopher Atkins.

Raising a Star : The Parent's Guide to Helping Kids Break into Theater, Film, Television, or Music
(St. Martin's Griffin - Paperback Book)
By Nancy Carson and Jacqueline Shannon. "Raising A Star is not only a perfect 'how to' book, but, just as importantly, how not to - how not to waste a lot of time and money while giving your child a career in show business that won't sacrifice his sanity...or yours." --Todd Graff, actor and writer/director Camp.

Roberta
(DRG - on CD)
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Reissue of studio cast recording. Jack Cassidy, plus Joan Roberts, Kaye Ballard and Portia Nelson.

Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead
(Image Entertainment - new on DVD)
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1990 Tom Stoppard film. Gary Oldman, Richard Dreyfuss, Tim Roth. Bonus: Extensive Interviews with Tom Stoppard, Gary Oldman, Richard Dreyfuss and Tim Roth.

Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam on Broadway ... and More
(Atria - Paperback Book)

Sir John Gielgud : A Life in Letters
(Arcade Publishing - Paperback Book)
Paperback version.

The Solo Performer's Journey: From the Page to the Stage
(Heinemann Publishing - Paperback Book)
Michael Kearns offers his own insight as well as case studies to show what it takes to create a successful solo show.

Striking 12
(PS Classics - new on CD)
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New pop musical (subtitled "a rewired version of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Match Girl") performed by Valerie Vigoda, Brendan Milburn & Gene Lewin of New York-based pop-folk-rock trio GrooveLily. Played Old Globe, and is now at TheatreWorks in Palo Alto. Store date. Already available on the web at PSClassics.com.

Toxic Audio Word of Mouth
(DRG - new on CD)
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Toxic Audio. Features tracks from previous CDs as well as 6 new tracks recorded exclusively for this recording. Acapella group whose show ran at the John Houseman Theater in 2004.

March 15, 2005

As Time Goes By - Season 7
(WHV/BBC - new on DVD)
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U.K. TV series with Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer.

The Band Wagon
(Warner - new on 2 DVDs)
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Ultra-resolution edition of 1953 musical film directed by Vincente Minnelli. Comden/Green story, Arthur Schwartz songs. Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Oscar Levant, Nanette Fabray. Extras: commentary track by Liza Minnelli and Michael Feinstein; "Get Aboard the Band Wagon," new documentary with Liza Minnelli, Cyd Charisse, James Mitchell, Michael Kidd, Nanette Fabray and Jonathan Schwartz; Vincente Minnelli biographical documentary outtake: "Two Faced Woman" (in both edited, and raw "daily" form) with Cyd Charisse; 1929 vintage Vitaphone short "Jack Buchanan and His Glee Quartet"; original trailer.

Bells are Ringing
(Warner - new on DVD)
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1960 musical film. Judy Holliday, Dean Martin, Fred Clark, Eddie Foy, Jr., Jean Stapleton. Extras: new documentary, "Just in Time"; outtake musical numbers: "Is It a Crime? and "My Guiding Star"; alternate/unused number: "The Midas Touch"; original trailer.

Brigadoon
(Warner - new on DVD)
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1954 Vincente Minnelli-directed Alan Jay Lerner musical film with Lerner/Loewe score. Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, Cyd Charisse. Anamorphic widescreen transfer. Extras: three outtakes: "Come to Me, Bend To Me," "Sword Dance" and "From This Day On"; audio only outtake: "There But For You Go I"; original trailer.

Call Northside 777
(Fox - on DVD)
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1948 film with James Stewart, Richard Conte, Lee J. Cobb, and Betty Garde (Oklahoma!'s original Aunt Eller).

Broadway To Hollywood: Classic Musical Collection
(Warner - new on 7 DVDs)
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Collection of the five new releases: The Band Wagon (2 discs), Bells are Ringing, Brigadoon, Easter Parade (2 discs) and Finian's Rainbow.

Easter Parade
(Warner - new on 2 DVDs)
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1948 film with Judy Garland and Fred Astaire, Peter Lawford, Ann Miller. Irving Berlin score. Ultra-resolution transfer. Extras: audio commentary by Ava Astaire MacKenzie and John Fricke; Fred Astaire Trailer Gallery; Judy Garland: "By Myself" - The Emmy Award winning PBS American Masters documentary (114 min); "On the Avenue," New "Making of..." documentary with retrospective interviews; rare footage "Mr. Monotony": Outtake musical number by Judy Garland; audio only Fred Astaire interview with MGM's Dick Simmons; Audio only Fred Astaire & Judy Garland's Screen Guild radio version of EASTER PARADE from 1951

Finian's Rainbow
(WBHV - new on DVD)
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1968 film musical with Fred Astaire. Roadshow version. Anamorphic widescreen transfer. Extras: Francis Ford Coppola introduction and scene-specific commentary; thirty minute 1968 Finian's Rainbow premiere special; original trailer.

Jackie Mason: Freshly Squeezed
(Kultur - new on DVD)
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Jackie Mason solo show (heading to Broadway). Filmed in Canada. Released 2/22/05.

Gypsy
(Lion's Gate - on DVD)
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Reissue of 1993 TV version. Bette Midler, Peter Riegert, Cynthia Gibb, Edward Asner, Christine Ebersole, Michael Jeter, Andrea Martin, Linda Hart, Anna McNeely.

Live From Joe's Pub Too, New York City My Shining Hour - A Tribute To Harold Arlen
(Divinity To Infinity Unlimited - new on CD)
Tonya Pinkins live show. Available at TonyaPinkins.com and CDBaby.com. Released in January 2004.

Noel and Cole: The Sophisticates : Noel Coward and Cole Porter
(Hal Leonard - Paperback Book)
Stephen Citron's 1993 book, first time in paperback. "The author provides insight into both men's private lives - including a frank discussion of their homosexuality - while illuminating their musical achievements. Born an ocean apart - one in Indiana, the other in England - Cole Porter and Noel Coward have come to represent the ultimate in sophistication and urbanity. Noel and Cole will be an essential reference as well as a fascinating dual biography of two men who brought style and dazzle to the art of popular entertainment." Based on access to previously unpublished manuscripts, lyrics, scores, and letters, plus dozens of interviews. Includes a chronology and a fifty-page section devoted to the analysis of select works.

On the Record
(Disney - new on CD)
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Cast recording for 2004 touring Disney revue. Kaitlin Hopkins, Brian Sutherland, Ashley Brown, Andrew Samonsky, Meredith Inglesby, Andy Karl, Tyler Maynard, Keewa Nurullah, Josh Franklin, Leigh Ann Larkin, Koh Mochizuki and Lyn Philistine. To be recorded January 2005.

Panic in the Streets
(Fox - new on DVD)
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1950 film with Richard Widmark, Paul Douglas, Barbara Bel Geddes, Jack Palance, and Zero Mostel.

Swing : A Mystery
(Random House - Hardcover Book)
Novel by Rupert Holmes set in big-band era. Includes CD of music written and orchestrated by Holmes and referenced in the novel.

Zagat 2005 New York City Theater Spring
(Zagat Survey - Paperback Book)

March 8, 2005

Actresses and Whores : On Stage and in Society
(Cambridge Univ. Press - Hardcover/Paperback Book)
Kirsten Pullen shows, through case studies of women working in Britain and the United States between the seventeenth and twentieth centuries, that some women have drawn on the dual tradition of "whore" as radical and victim to carve out a space for female sexual agency. Female performers from Elizabeth Boutell and Charlotte Charke to Mae West redefined gender identity and appropriate female sexuality. Pullen integrates substantial archival research and interviews with working prostitutes with a consideration of feminist and cultural perspectives on the myth and reality of the actress/whore. This highly original study offers many new insights to theatre historians and scholars of cultural, social and gender studies.

The Adventures of Ali & Ali and the aXes of Evil : A Divertimento for Warlords
(Talonbooks - Paperback Book)
By Marcus Youssef, Guillermo Verdecchia and Camyar Chai. "In this elaborate agit-prop theatrical collaboration the internal contradictions and duplicitous double-speak of the "war on terror" are exposed as the propaganda vehicles for the neo-colonialism of the West that they are." Play-within-a-play with "Ali Hakim" and "Ali Ababwa," refugees from the imaginary country "Agraba," attempting to seduce their audience into providing them with food, refuge, security, freedom, and the material benefits of Western consumer society. Cast of 4 men.

Beyond Victims and Villains : Contemporary Plays by Disabled Playwrights
(Theatre Communications Group - Paperback Book)
Victoria Ann Lewis, Editor. Anthology exploring how disabled artists depict the world they inhabit with their disabilities. Includes P.H. *reaks: a collaborative project developed by Doris Baizley and Victoria Ann Lewis, Gretty Good Time by John Belluso, The History of Bowling by Mike Ervin, Creeps by David Freeman, Shoot by Lynn Manning, A Summer Evening in Des Moines by Charles Mee, Jr., No One as Nasty by Susan Nussbaum.

Brigadoon
(JAY - new on CD)
At CD Universe
Music Theatre Hour production. Studio cast recording, including George Dvorsky, Janis Kelly, Maurice Clark, Megan Kelly.

Next - Tribute to Jacques Brel
(DRG - new on CD)
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Compilation of previously-issued tracks by Dusty Springfield, David Bowie, Dionne Warwick, Nina Simone, more. Previously available as an import from Universal.

Riverdance Special Anniversary Edition
(Decca - on CD)
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Previous issue plus four new tracks (one new song plus three from Decca's Riverdance On Broadway CD).

Simply Heavenly
(First Night - new on CD)
OLC recording of David Martin/Langston Hughes musical. Available at Amazon.co.uk.

March 1, 2005

Classic Comedies Collection
(Warner Home Video - new on 7 DVDs)
7 classic comedy films: Bringing Up Baby (Two-Disc Special Edition), The Philadelphia Story (Two-Disc Special Edition), Dinner at Eight (based on George F. Kaufman and Edna Ferber play, with Harlow documentary), Libeled Lady (Myrna Loy, William Powell, Jean Harlow, Spencer Tracy), Stage Door (based on George F. Kaufman and Edna Ferber, To Be or Not to Be (Jack Benny, with Carole Lombard in her final film). Includes other shorts, theatrical trailers, and audio-only bonuses.

Cyrano
(Universal Classics/Decca Broadway - new on CD)
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OBC recording of 1973 Michael J. Lewis/Anthony Burgess. First time on CD. Christopher Plummer, Leigh Beery.

Dinner at Eight
(Warner Home Video - new on DVD)
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1933 film version of Kaufman/Ferber play, with Marie Dressler, John Barrymore, Wallace Berry, Jean Harlow. Bonuses: "Jean Harlow: The Blonde Bombshell" documentary, narrated by Sharon Stone; 1933 Vitaphone spoof short, "Come To Dinner."

God Sends Sunday
(Washington Square Press - Paperback Book)
Paperback issue of Arna Bontemps novel, which was the basis for St. Louis Woman. Released February 8.

Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse
(Tarcher - Hardcover Book)
Phyllis Diller memoir by Diller and Richard Buskin. Released February 17.

Look To The Lady: Sarah Siddons, Ellen Terry, And Judi Dench On The Shakespearean Stage (Georgia Southern University Jack N. and Addie D. Averitt Lecture Series)
(University of Georgia Press - Hardcover Book)
Russ McDonald examines the careers, talents, and styles of three women who were acknowledged, each in her time, as the greatest interpreter of Shakespeare's heroines: Sarah Siddons, Ellen Terry, and Judi Dench.

Mark Price: The Show's Over
(new on CD)
Cabaret performer's solo album of standards and broadway fare. [not the current Broadway actor]

To Memphis (with the intention of returning)
(new on CD)
Columbia University cast album of Peter Lerman musical. Released in December 2004.

Me and Then Some
(Harper Entertainment - Hardcover Book)
25th anniversary edition of Lauren Bacall autobiography revisits the events of her life over the past two decades. 40 photos.

Philadelphia Story - Special Edition
(Warner Home Video - on 2 DVDs)
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1940 comedy film version of Philip Barry play, with Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, James Stewart. Remastered, full frame, subtitled. Bonuses: DVD premiere of the David Heeley and Joan Kramer documentary" Katharine Hepburn: All About Me"; Richard Schickel's "Men Who Made The Movies: George Cukor"; two radio versions with the film's three stars; commentary by Jeanine Basinger.

Sing For Your Supper: The Broadway Musical in the 1930s
(Palgrave Macmillan - Hardcover Book)
Ethan Mordden completes his history of the Broadway musical by taking a look at this forgotten era. "Shows like Anything Goes brought the glitter of Cole Porter and Merman's brass to the public. Innovations in dance were pioneered by Balanchine and others. Scenic advancements made Astaire's The Band Wagon move across the stage in novel ways. Gershwin's revolutionary Porgy and Bess entered the canon of American Classics. And The Cradle Will Rock and Johnny Johnson took the American political temperature. With his trademark wit and style, Ethan Mordden shines the spotlight on Broadway's forgotten decade."

Stage Door
(Warner Home Video - new on DVD)
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1937 film version of Kaufman/Ferber play, with Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Adolphe Menjou, Lucille Ball, Eve Arden, Ann Miller, Gail Patrick. Bonuses: vintage shorts and cartoons, plus the radio version with Ginger Rogers and Roz Russell.

Straight
(Century - Hardcover)
Follow-up Boy George autobiography to his previous Take It Like a Man. Written with Paul Gorman. U.K. publisher. Available at Amazon.co.uk.

Theatre for Young Audiences : 20 Great Plays For Children
(St. Martin's Griffin - Paperback Book)
Anthology, compiled by Coleman A. Jennings, an authority on children's theatre, collects new and overlooked scripts that represent the best of modern playwriting for children. From works adapted from classic children's stories to original contemporary scripts. Plays that inspire the imagination as they entertain. With complete scripts for twenty plays plus a biographical sketch of each playwright, Theatre for Young Audiences is invaluable for anyone involved in children's theatre, from community theatre groups to teachers and students of dramatic literature.

February 22, 2005

All in a Night's Work
(Paramount - new on DVD)
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1961 comedy film with Dean Martin, Shirley MacLaine, Charlie Ruggles, Jack Weston, Gale Gordon, Jerome Cowan, and Norma Crane. Original music by André Previn.

The Best of Rosemary Clooney
(Hal Leonard - Paperback Book)

Bicycle Country
(Dramatist's Play Service - Paperback Book)
Play by Nilo Cruz (Anna and the Tropics)

On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
(Paramount - new on DVD)
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1970 Vincente Minnelli-directed musical-comedy film. Burton Lane/Alan Jay Lerner score. Barbra Streisand, Yves Montand, Bob Newhart, Larry Blyden, Jack Nicholson. No extras.

At the Corner of Broadway & Soul
(Sh-K-Boom - new on CD)
Billy Porter solo album. Recorded at Joe's Pub May 9, 10, 17. Mix of Broadway, pop and gospel tunes. Available now at Sh-K-Boom.com, later in stores.

Cold as Ice: The Musical
(new on CD)
New musical comedy by Frank D'Agostino and Dean Anderson about Olympic skaters. Features singer Rebecca Mason. Produced by skater Nancy Kerrigan and husband Jerry Solomon.

Funny Girl/Funny Lady Box Set
(Columbia - on 2 DVDs)
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Two Barbra Streisand films at special boxed set price.

The Gay Life
(DRG - new on CD)
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1961 OBC recording of Arthur Schwartz Howard Dietz score. Cast includes Barbara Cook. Postponed from 10/5/04

Harold Arlen Sings Sweet & Hot
(ASV Living Era - new on CD)
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U.S. release of U.K. recording. Compilation of the composer's commercial recordings from the '20s and '30s with a few from the '50s. Features Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, Glenn Miller, Adrian Rollini, Jack Teagarden, Woody Herman, Judy Garland. 24 tracks.

Hortensia and the Museum of Dreams
(Dramatist's Play Service - Paperback Book)
Play by Nilo Cruz (Anna and the Tropics).

Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse
(Tarcher - Hardcover Book)
Phyllis Diller memoir by by Diller and Richard Buskin. Released February 17.

The Mad Show
(DRG - new on CD)
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Original cast recording of 1966 show with Mary Rodgers music. MacIntyre Dixon, Linda Lavin, Dick Libertini, Paul Sand, Jo Ann Worley.

My Sister Eileen
(Sony Pictures Entertainment - new on DVD)
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1955 musical comedy (produced because Columbia - which owned film rights to the same titled play - couldn't get rights to Wonderful Town). Songs by Jule Styne and Leo Robin and choreography by Fosse. Starring Betty Garrett, Janet Leigh, Jack Lemmon, Bob Fosse, Tommy Rall. Widescreen.

A Night on the Town
(Metrodome Distribution Ltd - new on Region 2 DVD)
1983 TV movie starring Elaine Paige, Eartha Kitt, Ann Reinking, Bobby Short and Lewis Collins. Features the music and songs of Cole Porter, Noel Coward and George Gershwin. Region 2 DVD. Available at Amazon.co.uk and DressCircle.co.uk.

Our Town
(Paramount - new on DVD)
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2003 version of Thornton Wilder's play. Directed by James Naughton. Taped at Booth Theatre, shown on PBS. Jayne Atkinson, Paul Newman, Frank Converse, Jane Curtin, Jeffrey DeMunn, Mia Dillon. Widescreen.

The Scandalous Libby Holman
(Jasmine Records - new on CD)
Compilation recording. Available at Amazon.co.uk.

Tom Wopat Sings Harold Arlen: Dissertation On The State Of Bliss
(Hyena/Sin-Drome Records - new on CD)
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12 tracks, including "That Old Black Magic," "On For My Baby," "Come Rain or Come Shine" and more.

Twentieth Century
(Sony Pictures Entertainment - new on DVD)
Available for at CD Universe
Carole Lombard and John Barrymore star in this screwball comedy based on the Charles MacArthur-Ben Hecht Broadway hit and directed by Howard Hawks. Fullscreen. Black and white.

Yes Nurse! No Nurse! (Ja zuster, nee zuster)
(Wolfe Video - new on DVD)
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2002 Dutch musical film. English dubbed.

February 15, 2005

Arthur 2 - On the Rocks
(Warner Bros - new on DVD)
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1988 film featuring Dudley Moore, Liza Minnelli, John Gielgud, Geraldine Fitzgerald.

Burger Town
(new on CD)
2004 Kentucky Cast Recording starring Roderick Justice, Mike King, Janette Bruce and Shannon Kramer. Jamey Strawn, Christine Jones score. Available at Footlight.com.

Charlotte Moore - Friends of Mine: Songs from Canadian Musicals
(on CD)
15 songs, previously unrecorded, from Canadian musical theatre of the last 50 years. Guest appearances by John Alcorn, Paul Sportelli and Guido Basso. 2004 release, now available at CDBaby.com

Einstein Project
(Dramatist's Play Service - Paperback Book)
Paul D'Andrea and Jon Klein play.

Match
(Dramatist's Play Servie - Paperback Book)
Stephen Belber play. Presented on Broadway with Frank Langella and Ray Liotta.

The O'Conner Girls
(Dramatist's Play Service - Paperback Book)
Katie Forgett play. Presented in Seattle in March 2004.

Theater Festivals: Best Venues for New Works
(Watson-Guptill Pubns - Paperback Book)
By Lisa Mulcahy.

Two Sisters and a Piano
(Dramatist's Play Service - Paperback Book)
Play by Nilo Cruz.

The Underminer
(Bloomsbury USA - Hardcover Book)
Fictional comic novel by performance artist Mike Albo (Spray, Please Everything Burst) and New York Times critic Virginia Heffernan.

Vacanze Romane
(GDM - new on CD)
2004 Live Italian Cast Recording of the comedy musical based on the Paramount film Roman Holiday. Music and songs of Cole Porter as well as Armando Trovajoli. Stars Massimo Ghini and Serena Autieri. 27 Tracks total, sung in Italian. Available at Footlight.com.

Valentine
(Bayview - new on CD)
New Sally Mayes solo album. Available at Footlight.com.

February 8, 2005

It's Time
(Warner Bros - new on CD)
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Michael Buble solo album.

It's Time - Special Edition
(Warner Bros - new on CD)
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Michael Buble solo album. 15 tracks. Bonuses: Bonuses expanded track listing plus special artwork and packaging.

New York, New York: Special Edition
(MGM Home - new on DVD)
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1977 Martin Scorcese film. Liza Minnelli, Robert DeNiro. full-length version with "Happy Endings." Extras: 25 minutes of alternate takes and deleted scenes, "An Introduction By Martin Scorsese," feature length audio commentary by Scorsese and film critic Carrie Rickey. Photo Gallery: Approximately 100 stills, including storyboard and images from the film. Original theatrical trailer and teaser, as shown in theaters. Letterbox.

February 1, 2005

After the Ball
(Sepia - new on CD)
1954 OLC. Noel Coward score/book, based on on Oscar Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan. Mary Ellis, Vanessa Lee and Graham Payn. Bonus tracks: performances from three other Coward productions - Graham Payn singing "Matelot" and "Sigh No More" from the revue Sigh No More and selections from Pacific 1860 performed by the stars Mary Martin and Graham Payn. Also included is a "live" recording introduced by Coward of Payn singing "In A Boat On A Lake With My Darling" from Ace of Clubs. U.K. release. Available at Amazon UK.

Blues in the Night: Songs of Harold Arlen
(new on CD)
New album by Chicago performer Anne Burnell. Arrangements by Bob Ojeda. Includes "Blues in the Night," "Come Rain or Come Shine," "The Man That Got Away" and "Over the Rainbow" and more. Also available at CDBaby.com.

The Boy Friend
(Sepia - new on CD)
1954 OLC. Sandy Wilson score/book. Annie Rogers, Anthony Hayes and Maria Charles. Three bonus tracks, and selections from The Girl Friend, Hit The Deck, and No, No, Nanette. 30 tracks total. U.K. release. Available for at Amazon UK and DressCircle.co.uk.

Broadway Melody of 1929
(Warner - new on DVD)
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Oscar-winning 1929 film. First musical to win a Best Picture Oscar and often considered the granddaddy of all MGM musicals. Charles King, Anita Page, Bessie Love. Music by Nacio Herb Brown, and songs by uncredited writers George M. Cohan, Arthur Freed, and Willard Robinson. Bonuses: five Metro Movietone Revue shorts, plus another featuring the popular team of Van and Schenck.

Five Performing Arts
(New York Review Books Collections - Paperback Book)
Paperback version of 2001 hardcover issue by Tom Stoppard, Charles Rosen, Jonathan Miller, Garry Wills, Geoffrey O'Brien. Included: Tom Stoppard considers controlling how an audience gleans information from watching a play, Charles Rosen reflects on the physical relationship between the musician and the instrument, and Jonathan Miller describes ways of restoring dramatic motivation to the best-loved operas.

The Legendary Billy Daniels
(Sepia - new on CD)
Broadway/West End performer and pop singer. U.K. Release. Available for at Amazon UK and DressCircle.co.uk.

Mulan II
(Buena Vista - new on DVD)
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Disney 2004 animated sequel. Voices of Michelle Kwan, Noriyuki Morita, Ming-Na Wen, Lea Salonga (singing), Donny Osmond (singing), George Takei. Features: "Voices of Mulan," a star-studded feature highlighting the voice cast; deleted scenes; "The World of Mulan", a fun-filled tour of China's rich history and culture; "Mushu's Guess Who" game; "(I Wanna Be) Like Other Girls" animated music video, performed by Atomic Kitten.

Letters to a Young Actor: A Universal Guide to Performance
(Basic Books - Hardcover Book)
By Robert Brustein. The Art of Mentoring. Guidebook for performers on every stage and screen. Stories and anecdotes about the now rich and famous the author has worked with. From why Method acting is not the answer, to the critical importance of paying attention in English Lit. classes.

Live at Tavern on the Green - Nancy LaMott
(Midder/LML - new on CD)
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Recorded live at Nancy LaMott's last engagement at Tavern on the Green, just seven weeks before her untimely death. Featuring some of your favorite Nancy LaMott standards plus many songs never heard her on CD by her before. Available now at CDBaby.com

Ray
(NBC/Universal Home - new on DVD)
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2004 Ray Charles biopic. Jamie Foxx.

Ray Special Edition
(MCA Home Video - new on 2 DVDs)
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Original theatrical version plus extended version. Deleted Scenes (9 Uncut Musical Performances); audio commentary by director Taylor Hackford; featurettes "Stepping Into The Part," "Ray Remembered," "A Look Inside Ray," "Soul Mates"; trailers.

Wedding in Paris/Can-Can
(Sepia - new on CD)
1954 OLC recordings. Only recording of Wedding in Paris (music by Hans May, lyrics Sonny Miller, book Vera Caspary), cast includes Anton Walbrook, Evelyn Laye, Jeff Warren and Susan Swinford. Cole Porter's Can-Can cast includes Irene Hilda and Edmund Hockridge. Bonus tracks include Anton Walbrook's "La Ronde De L'Amour" and Edmund Hockridge singing songs from Carousel, a show he starred in the West End. All tracks have been re-mastered using the CEDAR system and the 16-page booklet includes notes by Edmund Hockridge and production photos. 28 tracks total. U.K. release. Available for at Amazon UK and DressCircle.co.uk.

January 25, 2005

Abba - Super Troupers
(Universal Music & VI - new on DVD)
90-minute documentary on band ABBA plus 30 minutes of extras. Narrated by Pete Waterman. In-depth interviews feature all four members (shot in Sweden and London). Digitally re-mastered archival footage reaches back to the pre-ABBA '60s, with highlights of ABBA on tour and on stage, and the music of 24 of the group's hit records. Also features exclusive footage from both rehearsals and performances of Mamma Mia!, highlighted by the London 5th Anniversary Gala Special Finale, a medley that includes "Mamma Mia," "Dancing Queen" and "Waterloo."

Anna Lucasta
(MGM Entertainment - new on DVD)
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1958 film version of Philip Yordan's Broadway play, with Eartha Kitt, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Rex Ingram.

The Frogs
(PS Classics - new on CD)
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2004 Lincoln Center production of Stephen Sondheim/Burt Shevelove/Nathan Lane musical. Nathan Lane, Roger Bart, John Byner, Peter Bartlett, Daniel Davis, Burke Moses and Michael Siberry. Available now at PSClassics.com.

It's Not All Song and Dance
(Limelight - Hardcover Book)
Maxim Gershunoff memoir of his life in the arts as both a performer and an artist's manager. The stories throughout the book include reminiscences of working with such people as Benny Goodman, Leonard Bernstein, Igor Stravinsky, Rudolf Nureyev, Margot Fonteyn, Balanchine, Warren Beatty, Howard Hughes and the Kennedys.

John Pizzarelli - Bossa Nova Vocal Selections
(Hal Leonard - Paperback Book)
Songbook features 12 pieces by Antonio Carlos Jobim, the Gershwins, Stephen Sondheim, and two originals. Titles include "Aguas De Marco (Waters of March), "Desafinado (Off Key)," "Fascinating Rhythm," "Francesca," "The Girl from Ipanema (Garota De Ipanema)," "I Remember," "One Note Samba (Samba De Uma Nota So), "Your Smiling Face" and more. Includes bio.

The Magic of Diahann Carroll
(DRG - new on CD)
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Twofer of Carroll's 1950s UA albums: "The Fabulous Diahann Carroll" (with Andre Previn at the piano and conducting his orchestra) and "The Persian Room Presents Diahann Carroll.

The Marijuana-Logues
(Comedy Central Recordings - new on CD)
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Live cast recording of the show (currently at Actor's Playhouse Theater, with plans to tour) with the original three members, Arj Barker, Doug Benson and Tony Camin. Availabe in December at some outlets.

Mulan II
(Disney - new on CD)
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Soundtrack for 2004 Disney animated sequel. Voices of Michelle Kwan, Noriyuki Morita, Ming-Na Wen, Lea Salonga (singing), Donny Osmond (singing), George Takei.

Paul Robeson - James Earl Jones One Man Show
(Kultur - new on DVD)
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Filmed performance of James Earl Jones' one-man-show about singer/actor Paul Robeson, whose controversial political views ended his career prematurely.

Roaring Boys: Playwrights And Players In Elizabethan and Jacobean England
(Sutton Publishing - Hardcover Book)
By Judith Cook. Anecdotes about Marlowe, Shakespeare and others, that behaved with excess and wild abandonment like some media celebrities of today.

Steel Pier Vocal Selections
(Hal Leonard - Paperback Book)
Kander and Ebb score. 11 vocal selections: "Rita's Theme," "Willing to Ride," "Second Chance," "Dance with Me," "The Last Girl," "Everybody's Girl," "Wet," "Lovebird," "Somebody Older," "First You Dream," "Steel Pier.

The Turning Point
(Anchor Bay - new on DVD)
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1977 ballet film. Anne Bancroft, Shirley MacLaine, Mikhail Baryshnikov. Bonuses: featurette and trailer.

Try to Remember: The Fantasticks
(Zeitgeist Video - new on DVD)
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Documentary on The Fantasticks. "Filmmaker Eli Kabillio takes a wistful look back at the show's genesis, its creators and its continued worldwide popularity. Features interviews with composer Harvey Schmidt, author Tom Jones, original cast member Jerry Orbach, columnist Liz Smith, talk show host Joe Franklin, and many others." Bonuses: deleted scenes, Fantasticks ephemera gallery with vintage posters and photos, original theatrical trailer, optional English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired.

Two's Company, Season 2
(Acorn Media - new on DVD)
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U.K. sitcom with Elaine Stritch and Donald Sinden.

The Vagabond King
(Albany Records - new on 2 CDs)
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Cast, chorus & orchestra of Ohio Light Opera, Steven Byess, conductor.

The Wizard Of Oz and other Harold Arlen Songs
(DRG - new on CD)
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RCA Victor album by "Shorty" Rogers and His Orchestra.

Wild Wyler Wildest
(new CD-R)
Gretchen Wyler 1959 album. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this CD goes to benefit the Humane Society. Available at Footlight.com

January 18, 2005

Children Will Listen
(Paramount/PBS - new on DVD)
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One-hour PBS presentation about the importance of the arts in education. Follows children in the 4th through 8th grades of an inner city Washington D.C. public school as they put on the musical Into the Woods, beginning when the children first hear about the play, and ending with their first performance for a live audience at the American Film Institute Theater at the Kennedy Center. In between, the children are led by a team of dedicated professionals from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, who teach them how to design a set; learn lines; and even sew costumes. Intended for children and adult audiences alike, this release illustrates the positive role that the arts can play in people's lives.

Craig Rubano: Change Partners
(Prosody Records - new on CD)
Second solo album from singer/actor (his debut CD, Act: Act One Finales from Broadway was a MAC Award-winning Recording of the Year. Also available at CDBaby.com

Kudzu - A Southern Musical
(new on CD)
Cast album with Red Clay Ramblers. Available at DougMarlette.com

Let's Fall in Love - Rachel York
(new on CD)
New solo album of love songs. Barnes and Noble exclusive. Released 1/11.

The Matchmaker
(Paramount - new on DVD)
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1958 film featuring Shirley Booth, Anthony Perkins, Shirley MacLaine, Robert Morse, Paul Ford Direction: Joseph Anthony.

Music of the Night: Favorite Melodies from Broadway
(new on CD)
Atlanta's Jim Gibson's piano improvisations. Unique "blended" style that mixes different genres as easily as it changes tempo and changes keys.

Ridiculous!: The Theatrical Life And Times Of Charles Ludlam
(Applause Books - Paperback Book)
Paperback release of David Kaufman's award-winning biography of Charles Ludlam, founder of the Ridiculous Theatrical Company and winner of theater awards and accolades, playwright/actor/director Ludlam epitomized off-Broadway theater with all its edginess, verve and camp.

January 11, 2005

Broadway's Fabulous Phantoms
(Lucky Lai Productions, Inc. - new on CD)
Collection of songs by Broadway Phantoms. Steve Barton, Michael Crawford, Davis Gaines, David Gaschen, Kevin Gray, Mark Jacoby, Ted Keegan, Brad Little, Gary Mauer, Howard McGillin, Hugh Panaro. Also available at CDBaby.com

The Great White Hope
(Fox - new on DVD)
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1970 film based on Tony-winning play by Howard Sackler. Stars Broadway cast members James Earl Jones, Jane Alexander.

Humpty Dumpty and Other Plays
(Theatre Communications Group - Paperback Book)
Three of Eric Bogosian's most recent full length plays, including: Humpty Dumpty, where five friends gather for a holiday and end up at the brink of the end of the world; Griller, where a New Jersey weekend barbeque turns sinister and deadly; and Red Angel is Bogosian's riff on Von Sternberg's The Blue Angel, reset on a college campus in 1990's New England.

Let's Fall in Love - Rachel York
(new on CD)
New solo album of love songs. Barnes and Noble exclusive.

Triptych
(Grove Press - Paperback Book)
Download at iTunes
Edna O'Brien play. In production through November 14 at Irish Repertory Theater.

What a Way to Go!
(Fox Home - new on DVD)
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1964 musical film with Shirley MacLaine, Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, Dean Martin, Gene Kelly, Robert Cummings, Dick Van Dyke, Reginald Gardiner, Margaret Dumont, Lou Nova, Fifi D'Orsay. Songs by Betty Comden/Adolph Greene/Jule Styne. Score by Nelson Riddle.

January 4, 2005

Arlen Plays Arlen: Timeless Tribute Harold Arlen
(JoSam Records - new on CD)
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Sam Arlen (saxophonist, bandleader and son of legendary composer Harold Arlen) celebrates his father's centennial. Produced by Joan Arlen, Sam Arlen and Edd Miller. Arranged and conducted by Richie Iacona. Disc includes special liner notes by Same with background and personal anecdotes about each song, plus unpublished photos from the family archive. 13 Tracks.

Children's Letters to God
(JAY - new on CD)
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Original cast recording of Off Broadway David Evans/Douglas J.Cohen/Stuart Hample musical. Gerard Carronico, Jimmy Dieffenbach, Andrew Zutty, Libbie Jacobson, Sara Kapner.

Collected Plays Of Edward Albee, 1966-1977 (Vol. 2)
(Overlook Press - Hardcover Book)
A Delicate Balance, Everything in the Garden, Box and Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung, All Over, Seascape, Listening, Counting the Ways, and The Lady from Dubuque. Includes an introduction by Edward Albee.

Contemporary Broadway
(Hal Leonard - Paperback Book)
Updated Piano/Vocal/Guitar book. 44 songs from 25 contemporary musicals, including And "All That Jazz" (Chicago), "Dancing Queen" (Mamma Mia!), "Good Morning Baltimore" (Hairspray), "I Enjoy Being a Girl" (Flower Drum Song), "Mein Herr" (Cabaret), "Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'" (Oklahoma!), "Popular" (Wicked), "Purpose" (Avenue Q), "Seasons of Love" (Rent), "When You Got It, Flaunt It" (The Producers), "Written in the Stars" (Aida), "You Rule My World" (The Full Monty), and more. Currently available at MusicDispatch.com (Amazon's listing still shows the old song list - it's unknown which version they are shipping).

Doris Day: Sentimental Journey
(McFarland - Hardcover Book)
By author and documentary-maker, Garry McGee. Covers the life and career of the singer and star, divided into four sections: biography; filmography; complete list of album record, single and song releases with notes plus music awards and radio appearances; and television appearances. 65 photographs & illustrations.

Franc D'Ambrosio's Broadway
(LML - new on CD)
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Solo album. Compilation of musical selections from such legendary Broadway shows as Chicago, Brigadoon, Damn Yankees, Les Miserables, Sweeney Todd, Jekyll & Hyde, The Phantom of the Opera, Stop the World I Want to Get Off and others.

Twentieth Century Theatre: A Sourcebook
(Routledge - Paperback Book)
Expanded and updated version of 1995 volume of original writings on theatre by some of the key artists and theorists of the last century.

Wonderful Town
(DRG - new on CD)
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Broadway cast recording with replacements Brooke Shields and Jennifer Hope Wills.

-- Sound Advice Staff

Additional information provided by
Max O. Preeo