It's funny how trends come round again. We are currently in the grip of an onslaught of musicals being made into "TV Specials", or released as "Arena Spectaculars". Over in the UK we've had Jesus Christ Superstar and Les Miserables, whilst the US has concentrated on TV workings of musicals - most recently The Sound of Music, starring Carrie Underwood. There's also (allegedly) several more in the pipeline, and whilst The Sound of Music didn't get universal acclaim, it's good that at least it was being made, if only to whet people's appetites for the genre.

TV Specials aren't a new thing at all. In the fifties and sixties, in the early days of TV, the US networks experimented extensively with made-for-TV productions, as did we in the UK. Two of the most noteable have now been released by Masterworks Broadway, both starring the US star Robert Goulet in the leading roles. The good news is they both feature as a '2fer', so this is really a bargain.

The shows featured are Kiss Me, Kate and Brigadoon. It's a strange pairing, having no other link than the TV shows and Goulet, and both are very different offerings.

Kiss Me, Kate is up first on the release, and it will be a score that's familiar to most. There are some great Cole Porter hits here, and they are given a pop treatment by arranger Jack Elliot. For me, this is the recording's strength and weakness. Some numbers work great with the new arrangements, such as the 'Overture' and 'So In Love', whilst others, such as 'I Hate Men', sound totally out of context. The album comes across as more a 'pop vocalists tribute' to Kiss Me, Kate, rather than a cohesive cast recording. The performances from Carol Lawrence, and from Goulet are good, but certainly couldn't be called a definitive recording. Interesting though, none the less.

Next up is the Lerner & Loewe classic Brigadoon. Probably one of their lesser known ones in terms of the score, but it's one of my favourites, and works well here. It's a totally different sound to Kiss Me, Kate, and doesn't suffer any of the arrangement issues mentioned previously. This is probably because the arranger and supervisor is Irwin Kostal. Enough said. This feels much more like a proper cast album, and the supporting cast alongside Goulet is outstanding - Peter Falk (without his Columbo mackintosh), Sally Ann Howes and Marilyn Mason. I enjoyed this part of the recording much more than the Porter tracks.

The recordings are well produced, although I don't know how much restoration has been done, as it doesn't sound like they have gone back to the master tapes. An enjoyable listen, and a piece of TV history to boot.

7

Ian Gude