Rising's Rapid Reviews| January Cast Recordings: Kiss Me Kate, South Pacific, Octet, and Beetlejuice

I'm afraid that for a professional actor, I am rather uneducated in Broadway History.  In an effort to correct his, I've resolved to listen to one cast recording per week (while doing the borning data entry parts of my day job.)  Below are my (extremely brief) first impressions of my January explorations.

Image Credit: Ghostlight Records

Kiss Me Kate (2019 Revival Cast)

At first, I had the vague plan of going through the Tony Best Musical Winners in chronological order. Since there was a revival just last year of the first Best Musical Winner ever, why not start with that?  And....I barely paid attention.  Nothing against the quality of the music or the acting, but the story didn't grab me through the soundtrack.  I vaguely recall the pleasant sounds reminiscent of a carousel and something about lighthearted infidelity.  At the end of the day, musicals are meant to be seen live, and this was proof of it.
 

Columbia Records

South Pacific (1949 Original Broadway Cast)

Continuing my plan, I moved to the 1949 winner.  Apparently, I was familiar with many of the songs; I just never knew those songs were from South Pacific.  I often have difficulty getting into golden age musicals, as evidenced by my undying hatred for Oklahoma, but I was enchanted by this record's "Some Enchanted Evening."  The story was easier to follow than Kiss Me Kate, and Ezio Pinza can take up residence in my headphones any day.

Image Credit

Octet (2019 Original Cast Recording)

Ah!  Too real!  Abort Mission!  Abort Mission!  I had seen a friend's Facebook review of this show, and decided to try it.  It was painful.  I needed to listen to it in three pieces on three different days.  The final third was a lot easier, as those characters  shared stories less relevant to my personal struggles.  The (seeming) concluding theology was a bit pantheistic for my tastes, but more musicals written in this style please, and more art tackling this topic.

Ghostlight Records

Beetlejuice (2019 Original Broadway Cast Recording)

Despite my love of all things Halloween-ish, I had been avoiding this one out of a fear I would be fake-fanboying.  See, I was born just a bit too late to have an emotional connection to the geek classics of the 1980s such as Dark Crystal, Ghostbusters, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, etc.  I didn't see the Beetlejuice movie until I was in college, and I've never seen it from start to finish.  So it felt insincere to get excited when I heard there was a musical version coming to Broadway.  Top that off with mixed reviews, and I never bothered until now.  But yowza, did I love this cast recording!  It was made for me: Constant breaking of the 4th wall!  A battle of wits between a demon and a goth girl!  An entire ode to the joys of scaring people!  Hipster jokes!  I loved it, and I've listened to it multiple times since.

So that's January.  I'll be taking February suggestions in the comments below.  Thank you for reading.  Until next time, keep hearing the music of the Ainur.