The Best of Broadway, 1935-2005

Decca Records was limited on this project by its portfolio. This collection does not reflect its banners.The title says "Broadway - America's Music". 1/5 of the collection is from shows originating in London, while many American shows are omitted. Five tracks are from London shows sung by the original London cast, and two more are from American shows (Bye Bye Birdie & Hair) sung by a London cast.It is not "The Best of Broadway". There are no songs by Cy Coleman, Kander-Ebb, Jerome Kern, Lane-Lerner-Loewe, Stephen Sondheim, Frank Wildhorn, Meredith Willson or Maury Yeston. There are no tracks from 1776, Anything Goes, Beauty & the Beast, Brigadoon, Cabaret, Camelot, Chorus Line, Company, "Dolly", Fiddler, Gypsy, Into the Woods, Kismet, Kiss Me Kate, La Cage, Mame, Most Happy Fella, Music Man, My Fair Lady, Ragtime, Show Boat, Sound of Music, South Pacific, Sunday in the Park or West Side Story. Only 15 of the tracks are from shows that won a TONY for Best Musical or Best Original Score. (Another 12 shows/tracks predate the TONYs.) There are tracks from "The Amazing Adele" (closed out of town) and "Always ... Patsy Cline" (did not open on Broadway).Decca was not generous. There are 64 tracks spread on 6 CDs, averaging 36 minutes per CD. Since 217 minutes could easily fit on 3 CDs, the use of 6 appears to be a marketing choice to make the collection seem more than it is.Despite the previous, this is a superb collection. What is here is wonderful, mostly. 36 of the songs are sung by members of the original cast of shows originating on Broadway. 64 different musicals are represented. The six CD covers give a glorious panoply of color and excitement just by spreading out the cast album covers of the shows represented by the songs in each.There are many memorable voices: Anna Maria Alberghetti, Robert Alda, Pearl Bailey, Kaye Ballard, Vivian Blaine, Pamela Blair, Ray Bolger, Sarah Brightman, Anne Wiggins Brown, Betty Buckley, Carol Burnett, Carol Channing, Kristin Chenoweth, Jan Clayton, Alfred Drake, Dolores Gray, Ellen Greene, Gregory Hines, Richard Kiley, Gertrude Lawrence, Patti LuPone, Mary Martin, Ethel Merman, Ray Middleton, Bebe Neuwirth, Anthony Newley, Jerry Orbach, Alice Playten, Robert Preston, Jonathan Pryce, John Raitt, Rosalind Russell, Bobby Van, Ben Vereen and Nancy Walker.But there are a lot of voices missing from this self-styled "Best of Broadway": Julie Andrews, David Burns, Len Cariou, Jack Cassidy, Sydney Chaplin, Glenn Close, Barbara Cook, John Cullum, Joan Diener, Nanette Fabray, Eddie Foy Jr., Jack Gilford, Joel Grey, Harry Guardino, Juanita Hall, Barbara Harris, George Hearn, Florence Henderson, Ron Holgate, Judy Holliday, Celeste Holm, Larry Kert, Nathan Lane, Angela Lansbury, Carol Lawrence, Priscilla Lopez, Dorothy Loudon, Liza Minnelli, Zero Mostel, Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, Chita Rivera, George Rose, Robert Rounseville, Patricia Routledge, Phil Silvers, Elaine Stritch, Dick Van Dyke, Gwen Verdon, Ray Walston, Susan Watson and many, many others.Perhaps it's asking too much to represent all of "The Best of Broadway" in one collection. But 96 tracks instead of 64 would have been a good place to start, and it could have been made to fit on 6 CDs.

Great collection.