AND THE WORLD GOES 'ROUND - THE SONGS OF KANDER & EBB

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The Songs of Kander and Ebb - now that's HAD!

John Kander and Fred Ebb certainly have the market cornered on what I llike to call "Had". That's because all their songs are "happy/sad". Don't let that bouncy vamp fool you kids, there's real pain in there! Liza Minelli is the queen of happy/sad (sometimes mostly sad…) and nobody sings a Kander and Ebb song quite like her. Maybe it's like the chicken and egg question…which came first -- Kander & Ebb or Liza? But I digress…

I went to the library and checked out the cast recording of AND THE WORLD GOES 'ROUND THE SONGS OF KANDER & EBB. It's fun to spice up the CD collection in the car (I also checked out CHEETAH GIRLS 2, and BILLY ELLIOT THE MUSICAL) since I'm driving so much these days (both my daughters are in rehearsals for summer shows…)

AND THE WORLD GOES 'ROUND THE SONGS OF KANDER AND EBB opened on March 18, 1991 at the Westside Theatre, New York City. It was conceived by Scott Ellis, Susan Stroman and David Thompson, and starred Bob Cuccioli, Karen Mason, Brenda Pressley, Jim Walton, and Karen Ziemba. It was directed Scott Ellis, and choreographed by Susan Stroman (does she get all the great gigs or what?)

I didn't recognize a very young Karen Ziemba or Bob Cuccioli or Jim Walton in the picture of the cast that was in the CD sleeve. It was only after listening to the CD that I figured out they were in the cast, duh.

It's a fabulous compilation of Kander & Ebb songs, from "Coffee in a Cardboard Cup" to "Kiss of the Spiderwoman" to "New York, New York" (sung in many different languages!). Some of my favorite cuts are "I Don't Remember You/Sometimes a Day Goes By", "Colored Lights" , "Coloring Book", and "Arthur In the Afternoon" (I can just imagine how great Karen Ziemba was dancing in that number!). Just when you think all Kander & Ebb do are bouncy uptempos, they hit you with unbelievable ballads, like "Coloring Book" and "A Quiet Thing". What a writing team!

This celebration of Kander & Ebb's work was before the hugely successful revival of CHICAGO (now in its 150th year…), before the revival(s) of CABARET and new shows STEEL PIER, FOSSE, THE VISIT, and CURTAINS.

I think it's time for another revue!

By Suzy Conn on July 30, 2008 11:46 AM | | Comments (1)


1 Comments

Meredith said:

I really enjoy this album. When I was just starting to "educate" myself on musical theater, I borrowed someone's cassette tape of this album (yes - dating myself!) and heard most of these songs for the first time. (This was just before the CHICAGO revival came to Broadway.) Some of the songs from this album still get lots of play on my iPod. :)

July 30, 2008 4:02 PM

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