Regular readers will remember a review I did recently of two television cast recordings of musicals. As I said then, these were very popular in the sixties, and it's a format that is just starting to see a revival today. What you don't see very often these days, if at all much ever, is musical pieces written for television. Masterworks Broadway's latest release into the digital arena is just that.

Based on George Bernard Shaw’s play, the 1967 television special Androcles and the Lion recounts the story of Androcles, the simple-hearted Christian tailor whose friendship with a lion saves himself and his friends from martyrdom in the Roman Coliseum. Set to music by Richard Rodgers, the cast includes British comedian Norman Wisdom as Androcles, Noël Coward as Caesar and features Ed Ames, John Cullum and Geoffrey Holder.

It's not the first release of this recording - it was previously available on vinyl on RCA Victor, although it's the first time I had come across it, and I certainly wasn't aware it was written by one of my favourite composers, Richard Rodgers. This in fact was Rodgers third piece for television - his first being Cinderella, followed by the soundtrack to the documentary Victory at Sea. Rodgers writes the words and music here, something which he did more of following the death of his long term writing partner, Oscar Hammerstein II.

To go with the 'composer royalty' of Rodgers, a stellar cast also features here, as mentioned above. The other name too that caught my eye was British actress Patricia Routledge, who excels on this recording as Megaera. Her number with Wisdom, 'Velvet Paws', is one of the best on the recording, and features as a reoccurring theme. Not only had I not come across the recording before, I hadn't heard any of the numbers, so it was a nice surprise to find some great tracks on here. I enjoyed 'Strangers' very much - a duet that could have easily been a standard - and also 'The Gladiator's Ballet', where Rodgers is most at home.

It is a very listenable album, and includes what must be the full TV programme, including some large chunks of dialogue, which makes it very easy to follow. As usual, the information supplied with the recording is very informative, and is a nice piece of theatre and TV history.

7

Ian Gude