Best Foot Forward

構成数 : 1
合計収録時間 : 00:52:29
The play BEST FOOT FORWARD was originally produced on Broadway in 1941. This recording is from the 1963 revival, which is notable for Liza Minelli's first stage success. Music and lyrics written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane. Principal cast includes: Liza Minnelli (Ethel Hofflinger); Christopher Walken (Clayton "Dutch" Miller); Paul Charles (Fred Jones); Edmund Gaynes (Monroe "Hunk" Hoyt); Gene Castle (Leroy "Goofey" Clarke); Don Slaton (Harrison "Satchel" Moyer); Edwin Cooper (Doctor Reeber); Kay Cole (Minerva Brooks). Reissue producers: Cary E. Mansfield, Miles Kreuger. Recorded at Capitol Studios, New York, New York on March 29, 1963. Originally released on Cadence Records (24012). Includes liner notes by Miles Kreuger. All tracks have been digitally remastered. Contains 2 bonus tracks. Personnel: Buster Davis, William Goldenberg (piano). Liner Note Author: Miles Kreuger. Recording information: 03/29/1963. Director: Danny Daniels. Arranger: William Goldenberg. Songwriters Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane's first work, the Broadway musical Best Foot Forward, opened on October 1, 1941, and ran a successful 326 performances. The show concerned a prep school called Winsocki where a student invites a Hollywood movie star to be his prom date, and she surprisingly accepts. The score featured the hit "Buckle Down, Winsocki," and the cast included soon-to-be stars June Allyson and Nancy Walker, both of whom re-created their performances in the 1943 film version starring Lucille Ball. The 1963 off-Broadway revival heard on this recording probably wouldn't have made it onto wax if the producers had not cast a teenage Liza Minnelli in a featured role, making her professional debut. Martin and Blane had written the songs for Meet Me in St. Louis, the film starring Minnelli's mother, Judy Garland, and directed by her father, Vincente Minnelli, and Martin had worked for Garland thereafter, so the casting was no surprise. The surprise was that young Minnelli was so good. She was heard in ensembles in "The Three B's," "What Do You Think I Am?," and "Just a Little Joint With a Juke Box," and had a solo on "You Are for Loving," and her voice was already as distinctive as her engaging comic personality. Nominally speaking, Paula Wayne, playing Hollywood star Joy Gale, had the leading role, but she was outshone by Minnelli, who remains the reason to listen to this barebones version of the score, played on only two pianos (though a certain Ronald -- later known as Christopher Walken, also makes a good showing). The 2001 CD reissue on Varese Sarabande adds both sides of Minnelli's debut Cadence Records single containing pop versions of "You Are for Loving" and "What Do You Think I Am?," the start of her recording career. ~ William Ruhlmann
録音 : モノラル／ステレオ (Studio)