Stage on Disc By Peter Pinne
Memphis (David Bryan/Joe DiPietro) (Shout 826663-13007). More than two years after it opened, and after picking up four Tony Awards including Best Musical in 2010, Memphis, in an unusual move for a show that is still playing on Broadway, has just been released on DVD. Featuring the original cast led by Chad Kimball and Montego Glover, both of whom received Tony nominations, the musical is just as enjoyable on the small screen as it was in the theatre. David Bryan (Bon Jovi) and Joe DiPietro’s score about the birth of rock’n’roll in Memphis’ underground clubs of the segregated 1950s is irresistibly joyous. Standout tunes include the gospel, “Make Me Stronger,” James Monroe Iglehart’s “Big Love,” Glover’s “Love Will Stand Where All Else Falls,” and Kimball’s “Memphis Lives In Me.” Special Features include a Who’s Who “Behind the Scenes: How ‘Memphis’ Was Captured”. Annie (Charles Strouse/Martin Charnin) (Sony 88691945392). The new live Australian cast recording of Annie stars Anthony Warlow as Oliver Warbucks, and Nancye Hayes as Miss Hannigan. Warlow is in fine voice, especially on his solo “Something Was Missing,” and Hayes brings her own brand of nasty to “Little Girls.” The revelation of the recording is Julie Goodwin as Grace. Her vocals dominate every track she’s on. Alan Jones (FDR) and Ella Nicol (Annie) bring a little emotion to the reprise of “Tomorrow,” and the Orphans chorus does well with “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile.” The dance sequence of “Easy Street” has been extended to give Chloe Dallimore and Todd McKenney a chance to show off their dancing skills, and “We’d Like to Thank You Herbert Hoover” has a new orchestration, giving the song a much darker feel. Missing is the jaunty 1930s snap of the original, and the irony. Matilda (Tim Minchin) (RSCE 002). Kids of a different bent are portrayed in Tim Minchin’s score for Matilda. Based on the black comedy by Roald Dahl about how a bright young girl Matilda, cursed with a cretinous family and a witch of a school principal, learns selfreliance, Minchin has captured the style of Dahl’s story in songs that are clever and mischievous. Each character gets a moment in the sun; Matilda with “Naughty” and the introspective “Quiet,” the headmistress Miss Trunchbull (played in drag by Bertie Carvel) with “The Hammer” and the tango “The Smell of Rebellion,” and the parents, Mrs Wormwood (Josie Walker) who is a riot on the Latin “Loud,” and Mr Wormwood (Paul
Kaye), who’s very funny on ‘Telly.” Miss Honey’s (Lauren Ward) “My House” is tender and the only song that could be sung outside the show. Meredith Braun Someone Else’s Story (Stage Door 9029) is the debut solo album from the New Zealand soprano who has starred in the West End as Betty Schaeffer in Sunset Boulevard, Lily in The Secret Garden, Eponine in Les Misérables, and Christine in The Phantom of the Opera. With piano and cello accompaniment, Braun brings her warm, clear soprano to an interesting selection of show ballads; the pretty “China Doll” from Marguerite, the introspective “Wait a Bit” from Just So, Oscar winner “You Must Love Me” from the Evita movie, and the title song from Love Never Dies. She brackets two Sondheim songs in two medleys and performs them beautifully; “No One Is Alone” (Into the Woods) is coupled with “Not While I’m Around” (Sweeney Todd), whilst “Good Thing Going” and “Not a Day Goes By,” both from Merrily We Roll Along, fit together perfectly. David Harris At This Stage (AMC10519). David Harris is in great voice on his new collection of show songs, At This Stage. He puts a contemporary spin on some old favorites, “If I Loved You” and “Younger Than Springtime”, and sings the heart out of “Why God, Why?” (Miss Saigon) as he did on stage. The album also features three duets; “As Long As You’re Mine” (Wicked) sung with his Wicked co-star Jemma Rix, “I See the Light” from the movie Tangled, sung with Lucy Durack, and a West Side Story medley, “Maria”/”Tonight”/”One Hand One Heart”, sung with Kellie Rode. There are also terrific versions of “Anthem” (Chess) and the not-often-recorded-by-a-male “Unexpected Song” (Song and Dance). Anne Wood Divine Discontent (Universal). Anne Wood’s first solo album is an acoustic collection of eleven ABBA songs sung with a four-piece group. The arrangements by James Roche are intelligent, the material familiar, with Wood singing like you’ve never heard her before. Forget Donna in Mamma Mia, this is Wood unplugged. Best tracks are “I Wonder,” “Dance (while the music goes on)” and “Winner Takes It All.” There’s also a premiere recording of “The Day the Wall came Tumbling Down”, a song written for the demolition of the Berlin Wall and only ever sung at a concert by ABBA on that day. The concept is artistically interesting, but I could have done without the breathy, pretentious intros. Rating Only for the enthusiast Borderline Worth buying Must have Kill for it www.stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 25