musicals

Oh my beloved musicals, how wonderful you are!

Greatest individual live performances of musical songs in concert or in a musical I have seen:

Anthony Warlow singing Gethsemene (I only want to say) in The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber concert with Sarah Brightman.

Anthony Warlow and my Angel of Music Sarah Brightman singing duets from The Phantom of the Opera in The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber concert - title song & All I Ask of You! Divine & Definitive!

Alexandra Silber singing "If I loved you" in Carousel - Savoy Theatre, West End, London, June 2009 and Reprise Theatre UCLA, Los Angeles, January 2010. Oh how I love you Al! I fell in love in this song with Alexandra the Great! This is a heart melter just like Al herself.

Bernadette Peters - entire concert at Sydney Opera House, Sydney - unbelievable performance of all songs. Audience second best ever been with and the other was in same exact hall - Dame Joan Sutherland in opera Lucia di Lammermoor!

Judi Connelli singing "Move On" from Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George at a special Sondheim concert at Sydney Town Hall, Sydney. Incredible emotion!

Peta Toppano as Claudia in Nine the Musical singing "Unusual Way" - Lyric Theatre, Brisbane 1988 and Her Majestys, Sydney 1988. No one has come close to Peta's rendition of this sublime song yet! Oh Al, would I love you to sing this song and do the role too!

Sylvie Paladino as Eponine in Les Miserables singing "On My Own" - Lyric Theatre, Brisbane. Heart renching and so believable! Sylvie's rendition still not been surpassed from subsequent shows I have seen in Sydney and the West End!

Greatest individual live performances of a role in a musical I have seen are:

Anthony Warlow as Higgins in My Fair Lady - 3 separate productions, Capitol Theatre, Sydney; Lyric Theatre QPAC, Brisbane; State Theatre VAC, Melbourne.

Alexandra Silber as Julie Jordan in Carousel - Savoy Theatre, West End, London, June 2009 and Reprise Theatre UCLA, Los Angeles, January 2010.

Peta Toppano as Claudia in Nine the Musical - Lyric Theatre, Brisbane 1988 and Her Majestys, Sydney 1988.

Sylvie Palapino as Eponine in Les Miserables - Lyric Theatre, Brisbane.

Greatest ensemble casts in a live musical I have seen:

Nine the Musical - John Deidrich Australian touring production, unbelievably gorgeous cast!

Carousel - Reprise Theatre production at Freud Playhouse UCLA, Los Angeles, headed by Alexandra Silber. Brilliant cast!

The Phantom of the Opera - headed by Anthony Warlow Touring revival production I saw at Lyric Theatre, Sydney 2008. Awesome cast!

My favourite stage musicals are:

1. My Fair Lady (Lerner & Loewe) - Favourites live: Anthony Warlow as Higgins, Suzanne Johnston as Eliza (and Helen Buday as Eliza in earlier production at Her Majestys Sydney)

2. Les Miserables (Schönberg/Boublil/Kretzmer)- Favourites seen live: Sylvie Paladino (Eponine). Favourite on recordings (video & audio): Colm Wilkinson (Valjean), Phillip Quast (Javert), Michael Ball (Marius), Anthony Warlow (Enjolras).

3. Nine (Yeston) - The unbelievable Australian production by John Deidrich who also played Guido. Peta Toppano as Claudia still unbeaten as the best performance of "Unusual Way" and the cast was gorgeous and unforgettable!

4. Sweeney Todd (Sondheim) - Favourite Sweeney is George Hearn (on video of stage production in LA with Angela Lansbury). Many favourites over different concert versions and live productions. Incredible piece of work!

5. Evita (Lloyd Webber/Rice) - Haven't had any great live productions been to 2 amateur productions and 1 professional which wasn't that great. Movie version is great. Still would love to see another professional staged production of this masterpiece!

My favourite musicals on big screen are:

1. The Sound of Music - Dame Julie Andrews - unassailable!
2. Chicago - Catherine Zeta Jones and Rob Marshall take musical films to another level!
3. Mame - Legendary Lucile Ball, Bea Arthur and the whole cast make this movie version an absolute joy! "Open a new window" indeed!
4. Evita - Great movie version with Madonna, Banderas and Pryce awesome!
5. Yentl - the 'greatest star' Barbra Streisand is flawless and so moving both vocally and dramatically in this incredible movie she also directed. "Tell me Why?"!

My favourite musical composers & lyricists are:

1. Rodgers & Hammerstein
2. Stephen Sondheim
3. Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice
4. Lerner & Loewe
5. Jerry Herman

My favourite live musical theatre performers are:

1. Anthony Warlow
2. Alexandra Silber
3. Bernadette Peters
4. Suzanne Johnston
5. Judi Connelli

My favourite recorded musical vocalists are:

1. Anthony Warlow
2. Sarah Brightman
3. Alexandra Silber
4. Linda Eder
5. Rebecca Luker

My favourite recorded cross-over vocalists:

1. Yvonne Kenny
2. Dame Kiri Te Kanawa
3. Lesley Garrett
4. Renee Fleming
5. Bryn Terfel

My favourite musical recordings:

1. Jekyll & Hyde (Wildhorn/Bricusse) The complete work - Anthony Warlow as Jekyll & Hyde and Linda Eder as Lucy. Incredible stuff!

2. Les Miserables - Symphonic Recording - world cast with Anthony Warlow, Phillip Quast, Michael Ball the absolute definitive interpretations of their roles.

3. Fiddler on the Roof - Revival London Cast featuring my Al (Alexandra Silber)as Hodel - gorgeous recording, especially Al!

4. Cinderella (Rogers & Hammerstein) - made for TV musical starring Julie Andrews - incredible work and recording.

5. Nine the Musical - Original Australian cast with John Deidrich, Peta Toppano, Nancye Hayes, Tina Arena and the list goes on. Recording of the awesome Australian production.