One of Broadway Records’ new releases is a recording of a new production of one of my favourite musicals from the 1990s, by one of my (now) favourite composers - John & Jen, by the extremely talented Andrew Lippa. This is the off-Broadway cast recording from the recent revival starring Kate Baldwin (Tony Award nominee, Finian's Rainbow) and Conor Ryan (most recently seen in The Fortress of Solitude at The Public Theater and the Broadway production of Cinderella).

For those of you who are new to the show, John & Jen is a two-handed, small musical, telling the story of, as you may have guessed, John & Jen. The show starts with the two as children - Jen as the politically motivated older sister of the baseball fan John. Act one takes them through the rocky road of growing up, adolescence, parental abuse, dating and finishes with the Vietnam War, which shows the two being ‘divided’ for the first time. Act Two forwards into the 1980s, and follows Jen as a single mother, with a son also called John (and played by the same actor).

I first came across this musical when I discovered the 1996 cast recording, from the off-Broadway production starring Carolee Carmello and James Ludwig. This is still one of my favourite cast albums, produced by Bruce Kimmel and with orchestrations by Jason Robert Brown (I wonder what happened to him....) so I was a little nervous about listening to a new version with a new cast, and new orchestrations (again by Brown, and the composer). I clearly had no reason to worry.

This album is so full of warmth - which I guess must have been there in bucketfuls in the production. From the first moment that you have interaction between the characters their feelings and relationship are so very obvious. I’d not come across Ryan before (Baldwin is one of my recent new favourites after her amazing performance in Big Fish) but he is perfect for this role. He probably comes across better as Act One John, than Act Two grown up John - I love his performances of 'Christmas' and 'Run & Hide'. I also loved the new song 'The Trouble With Men'.

But for me, the real star of this is Kate Baldwin. She delivers a truly momentous performance as Jen, growing throughout the show. It’s hard to pick favourite numbers, but 'Just Like You' is such a great number, and of course 'Welcome To The World'.

A worthy addition to any cast album collection, and another testament to the great production values of Broadway Records, and the talent of Andrew Lippa.

9

Ian Gude