Broadway’s Greatest Hits
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Synopsis
Broadway! The “Great White Way,” crossroads of the universe, the heart of American musical theatre. Many think of jazz as America’s only original musical idiom, but the Broadway musical is also uniquely American and appreciated by people the world over. Even if you have never been to a musical, much less to Broadway, the songs included here are instantly recognizable, since many of the most popular standards are Broadway show tunes that millions can sing along to, whistle, or hum. RCA Victor has assembled a collection of wonderfun renditions by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops of the most memorable songs from Broadway’s catalogue gold mine. The show-stopping theme from Hello, Dolly! starts the collection and it only gets better. Damon Runyon’s characters are brought to life by the medley from Frank Loesser’s Guys & Dolls. And who can forget the immortal songs from My Fair Lady? The dark, mysterious “Mack the Knife” shows another side of Broadway; twilight ruminations also are hauntingly displayed in Richard Rodgers’s “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue”. With selections from Carousel the mood changes again, raising our spirits with the triumphant “The Impossible Dream” from Man of La Mancha, then bringing us back to earth with the heartwarming melodies of Fiddler on the Roof. And just as Broadway never lets us get too comfortable, the collection moves on to the exotic theme from Cabaret and then into the psychedelic musical Hair‘s “Aquarius”. The collection concludes with a wondrous medley of music from The Sound of Music. These songs are filled with every emotion from triumph to despair, heartbreak to love, ecstasy to depression, laughter to sorrow; truly Broadway’s Greatest Hits. – Michael K. Sheehan