Musicals You Must Listen To

It’s been a while since I have had a new “shhh, don’t talk to me, I’m listening to a show” musical to listen to, and I must admit: I am ashamed of myself. Gone are the days when we had to wait months or even years to hear a new show’s cast recordings. In this technological age, we have so much at our fingertips – quite literally – and recently I set about re-discovering the joy of original cast recordings.

I quizzed an eclectic mix of musical theatre performers and enthusiasts, and was shocked to discover how out of touch I am with new musicals. Thanks to a list which is now the length of an A4 piece of paper, I have an abundance of music to listen to, and I thought I would share some of my discoveries with you.

Below is a small description of my top shows this week, and a link to iTunes if you want to download a song from the show, or the entire album. Please use the comment box below to suggest more shows to be featured on AussieTheatre.com’s “Must Listen” list!

Here are my top two choices this week:

Little Fish:

Little Fish is a musical with music, lyrics and book by Michael John LaChiusa. The musical is suggested by two short stories by Deborah Eisenberg. LaChiusa has said that he sees Little Fish as a “parable of sorts” for New York after the September 11 attacks.

There are some great songs for guys and gals in this show.

Ladies, have a look at Perfect – Little Fish (Soundtrack from the Musical)

Download the Little Fish album here:

Little Fish (Soundtrack from the Musical) -

 

See What I Wanna See:

Also written by Michael John LaChiusa, See What I Wanna See, a musical about lust, greed, murder, faith and redemption, was named one of the Best Musicals of 2005 by New York magazine. It was nominated for nine Drama Desk Awards, including Best Musical and starred Idina Menzel in the original Broadway cast.

The title song is a fabulous jazzy number, sung by Menzel on the album See What I Wanna See – See What I Wanna See

Guys, take a look at Best Not to Get Involved – See What I Wanna See

Download the See What I Wanna See album here:

See What I Wanna See - Idina Menzel & Michael John LaChiusa

Enjoy!

Erin James

Erin James is AussieTheatre.com's former Editor in Chief and a performer on both stage and screen. Credits include My Fair Lady, South Pacific and The King and I (Opera Australia), Love Never Dies and Cats (Really Useful Group), Blood Brothers (Enda Markey Presents), A Place To Call Home (Foxtel/Channel 7) and the feature film The Little Death (written and directed by Josh Lawson).

Erin James

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