Harry On Broadway. Act 1
"When Sid met Babe!"
(It was either that, or, "I'm Just Wild About Harry"!)
My friend Victoria over at Wiredset sent me some neato musical clips from Harry Connick, Jr.'s new Broadway CD called appropriately, "Harry On Broadway, Act 1".
Actually it's a two-CD collection which includes separate discs devoted to THE PAJAMA GAME Cast Album (yeah!) and THOU SHALT NOT (a Broadway show with music by Harry Connick Jr.)
I first became a Harry Connick, Jr. fan when I saw my favorite movie WHEN HARRY MET SALLY for the first time, back in the previous millennium.
A few thousand viewings later, and I have his rendition of "It Had To Be You" permanently burned into my brain. Other Harry Connick, Jr. CDs followed, but that movie soundtrack CD has always remained my personal favorite. And of course I thought it was cool that he had the same name as the character played by Billy Crystal (this is what it means to love chic flicks...)
So needless to say when Harry Connick, Jr. did THE PAJAMA GAME, my fav musical, I waited with bated breath for the CD.
From the "Harry on Broadway, Act 1" press release:
The first disc included in Harry On Broadway, Act I is devoted to the new Broadway cast recording of the Roundabout Theatre Company's critically-acclaimed revival of "The Pajama Game," starring Harry Connick, Jr. in his Broadway stage debut, Kelli O'Hara, and Michael McKean.
In addition to stellar interpretations of the musical's classic songs including "Hey There," "Steam Heat," and "Hernando's Hideaway," both the Roundabout Theatre production and The Pajama Game Cast Album feature three songs -- "If You Win, You Lose" and "The Three of Us," written by Richard Adler, and "The World Around Us," written by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross -- not included in the original production.
Thou Shalt Not, the second CD in the Harry On Broadway, Act I collection, showcases "The Pajama Game" stars Connick and O'Hara performing jazz interpretations of songs written by Connick for the Broadway musical "Thou Shalt Not." The program includes songs featured in the 2001 Broadway production, which received a Tony nomination for Best Score, as well as music written for but not included in the production. With the exception of "The Other Hours," which Connick sang on his platinum-selling Sony/Columbia album Only You, none of the songs on Thou Shalt Not have been previously recorded in vocal versions or sung by Harry. The Harry Connick, Jr. Quartet, which features Charles "Ned" Goold (tenor saxophone), Neal Caine (bass), and Arthur Latin, II (drums), appear throughout the Thou Shalt Not album to provide Connick (who also plays piano) and O'Hara with swinging and sophisticated accompaniments.
Enjoy these clips from the CD, courtesy of Victoria at Wiredset!
Technorati tags: Broadway Music Movie Musicals Musicals Blog Blogs Theater Theatre Entertainment
