Sail Away

構成数 : 1枚
合計収録時間 : 00:51:47
Music and lyrics written by Noel Coward. Principal cast includes: Elaine Stritch (Mimi Paragon); David Holliday (Joh Van Mier); Sheila Forbes (Nancy Foyle); Grover Dale (Barnaby Slade); John Hewer (Ali); Edith Day (Mrs. Sweeney); Sydney Arnold (Mr. Sweeney). Includes liner notes by Ben Whiteley. This is part of Varese Sarabande's "Fynsworth Alley" series. Liner Note Author: Ben Whiteley. Director: Noel Coward. Despite a disappointing run of only 167 performance on Broadway, Sail Away quickly moved to London, where librettist/lyricist/composer/director Noel Coward hoped for a more positive reception on home ground. He took with him Broadway star Elaine Stritch and made only minor changes in the show, which found Stritch playing a cruise director on a luxury ship traveling from the U.S. through the Mediterranean and back, with romantic and comic opportunities along the way. Actually, the show had begun with a conventional structure in which there was a romantic leading lady and Stritch played the comic second female lead, but the parts were combined during tryouts. Thus, Stritch was expected to be both funny and romantically appealing, and she was better at the former than the latter. But then, so was Coward. As on Broadway (and on the original Broadway cast album), the standout numbers were the witty ones, such as Stritch's "Useless Useful Phrases" and "Why Do the Wrong People Travel?," as well as the twin songs "The Passenger's Always Right" and "The Customer's Always Right." Coward apparently had freer rein with his language in Britain, and the lyrics contained more vulgarities. Also, Coward dropped one comic song, "The Little Ones' ABC," and added another, "Bronxville Darby and Joan" (sung by a nice elderly couple who cheerfully despise each other). But the main difference between the Broadway cast album and this one is that this one is simply better performed. Whether the British cast is superior at interpreting Coward, or Stritch had more time to prepare her numbers, this is just a better version of the score than the one recorded only a matter of months earlier in New York. ~ William Ruhlmann
録音 : ステレオ (Studio)