Toni [Import] [Original recording remastered]

Toni [Import] [Original recording remastered]

ASIN: B00031Y97Q

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
Japanese 24-bit remastered reissue, packaged in a limited edition miniature LP sleeve. Details TBA. Universal. 2004.

Tracks:

Be The Way You Used To Be
I'd Love To Love Someone
I Want A Great Big Beautiful Blonde
Suffocated Lady
Party Girl
Don't Make Me Go Back To My Man
Is There A Man In The House?
I Guess I'll Have To Go Back To My Men
You Don't Have To Have Me
Welcome To The Theatre
Break My Heart
I'm The Queen And You're Not
Be The Way You Used To Be
Meet The Greatest Actress In The World
There's A String Tied To A Good Time

Product Description

The original cast recording of "The Two Svengalis," a new musical entertainment with music, lyrics, and orchestrations by Fred Barton, and book by Fred Barton and Toni DiBuono. Drama-Desk-Award-winner Toni DiBuono and Bistro-Award-winner Fred Barton are the performers. The score is in the tradition of the Golden Age Of Broadway. What happens when a hack songwriter is faced with the daunting task of transforming an amateur singing housewife into the greatest singer/actress in the world? The inevitable: he succeeds.... And what happens when an amateur singing housewife is faced with the daunting task of transforming a hack songwriter into the toast of Broadway? The inevitable: she succeeds....and together they conquer the world -- and each other -- in fifteen songs....and only they know who they really are....THE TWO SVENGALIS!

Customer Reviews:

Toni DiBuono, catchy songs make a fun 40 minutes.......2006-12-01

I like Toni DiBuono's performances on the Forbidden Broadway albums, so this album piqued my interest. Her voice certainly delivers, that great brassy belting with a sweet touch up top. The best songs in my opinion: Don't Make Me Go Back to That Man, I Guess I'll Have to Go Back to My Men, and I'm the Queen and You're Not.
Fred Barton, the composer/lyricist/arranger, provides the foil for Toni, and I enjoy his uptempo songs (sorry, he sounds strained and off-balance in the ballads).
What really keeps the album from five stars is some of the synthesizer choices. I know, it's affordable. And to Barton's credit, the synthesizer instrument voicings sound excellent in some places, with some sophisticated layers in the orchestrations. But in some spots.... I'd rather have a real piano (or a good synthesized piano) than the fake brass.
Those weaknesses aside, it's a surprisingly good album. I hope I get to see this "new musical entertainment" someday.

Excellent CD!.......2006-07-04

If you like musicals that are offbeat, yet with very catchy tunes, I highly recommend this CD. It tells a very interesting story involving a has-been songwriter (performed by Fred Barton) and a terrified, but eager-to-please Housewife (performed by Toni DiBuono), who help bring out the true talents in each other.

Among the highlights of this CD are "Party Girl" and "I'm the Queen and You're Not", both performed by Toni DiBuono. I'd say more but would hate to ruin the fun for others.

That said, anyone who remembers Toni DiBuono from her days in the Off-Broadway hit Forbidden Broadway or as Pat Tuesday on PBS' Mathnet will enjoy her amazing "Broadway Belter" singing style, and Fred Barton (also known for his work in Forbidden Broadway and the quirky Miss Gulch Returns) is equally as talented at the keyboard. I've been following Toni's career for quite awhile and was very excited to see this CD finally come out - I've always felt she's been overlooked by Broadway far too much (despite the fact she's had small roles on B'way, I think she's capable of much more).

All in all, if you like good old-fashioned, original musicals, you will enjoy this CD.

Average customer rating:

Fings!

Fings Ain't What They Used To

Manufacturer: Bayview
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Musical Theater | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Musicals | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

General | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Blitz!
Lock Up Your Daughters
Maggie May (1964 Original London Cast)

ASIN: B00005QZMD
Release Date: 1995-07-27

Tracks:

Overture/G'night Dearie - George Sewell, Barbara Windsor
Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be - Miriam Karlin
Layin' Abaht - Company
Where It's Hot - Company
Ceilin's Comin' Dahn - Miriam Karlin
Contempery - Wallas Eaton
Entr'acte
Cochran Will Return
Polka Dots - Wallas Eaton, Miriam Karlin
Meatface - Company
Where Do Little Birds Go?/Big Time/Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be ... - Wallas Eaton, , Barbara Windsor, Company
Carve Up! - Company
Cop a Bit of Pride
Student Ponce - James Booth, , Company
Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be (Finale) - Company
Contempery [*] - Lionel Bart
G'night Dearie [*] - Lionel Bart

Customer Reviews:

Fings!.......2006-11-28

It is excellent to have this CD available, as is the availabilty of a fine
run of Lionel Bart hit musicals on CD, starting with this one. There is a raw intensity to the live recording that brings out the characters. Bart loved to write for the underdog, and his dramas never shy away from lowlifes and thugs and the street. What a gift he had for both the jewish and the cockney elements all wrapped up in jaunty, whimsical tunes that the milkman could whistle. "Where do little birds" and the title track are worth the price alone.

Jazz Music:

Jazz Music

Jazz Music