Original cast recordings from the 2004 broadway season.

The 2004 Broadway musical season ended with a bit of a surprise. The little show that could clobbered the presumed champion. With a humorous campaign aimed at Tony Award voters, Avenue Q snatched the Tony Award for best score (not to mention Best Musical) from Wicked, the huge Broadway hit with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Pippin, Godspell, Pocohontas). Both recordings are now available, as is a 2-CD set of Caroline, or Change, the other contender in the musical score sweepstakes.

Avenue Q, Music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx (Victor 82876-55923)

Avenue Q is a musical with modern sensibilities and contemporary values. There's a certain shock value when you hear some of these lyrics for the first time. There's even a "parental advisory" sticker on the cover for explicit content. But it's all very clever. After the cast members harmonize on the "Avenue Q Theme" they segue into "It Sucks To Be Me," a dark comic number in which the residents of Avenue Q debate whose life is worse. With songs like "Everyone's A Little Bit Racist," the show makes us look inside ourselves and our own prejudices as the television comedy series All in the Family did two decades ago. My favorite title is "You Can Be as Loud as the Hell You Want When You're Makin' Love."

It's hard for me to judge how well this cast recording can stand on its own. Having seen the show, I can visualize the action on stage and the characters, especially the puppets. Yes, some of the actors play puppets such as Kate Monster and Trekkie Monster--no they're not related. The more human characters have names like Princeton (a fresh-faced kid just out of college), and Rod, a Republican investment banker with a secret.

The recording is a clean and crisp rendering of what you hear in the (one of Broadway's smallest) theatre. On balance, I recommend Avenue Q to anyone who has seen the show or might be interested in attending when they are in New York or Las Vegas (the only place other than Broadway Avenue Q will play.)

Wicked, Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Decca B0001682)

More of a traditional Broadway score, Wicked features the music and lyrics of Stephen Schwartz, well-known for his Broadway and film scores. The opening number, "No One Mourns the Wicked," introduces you to the lovely soprano voice of Kristen Chenoweth. We get our first real glimpse of Idina Menzel's (who won the Tony Award for outstanding actress in a musical) overwhelming power in the pop ballad "The Wizard and I." Kristin returns in "Popular," a comical tribute to herself. Idina triumphs with "Defying Gravity" a literally soaring ballad. There are other excellent performers as well. Norbert Leo Butz high-steps through "Dancing Through Life" and Joel Grey sings "A Sentimental Man."

Wicked has become the most popular and financially successful Broadway musical of last season and the CD is an accurate record of the original performances. The voices are presented upfront. The orchestral sound, with electronic keyboards supplementing acoustic instruments, is full and rich. A splendid memory if you've seen the show and a good introduction is you have yet to.

Caroline, or Change, Jeanine Tesori (music) and Tony Kushner (lyrics) (Hollywood Records 2061 62436)

The most adventurous and original of the new scores, Caroline, or Change, features 53 tracks on 2 CDs. Tonya Pinkins stars as a black maid who works for a Southern family (the Gelmanns) during a period of social change in our nation (Louisiana 1963). She cares for the son of a dysfunctional white family while trying to raise three children of her own. Her own daughter has caught the spirit of the 60s and confronts her mother about moving beyond the roles white people expect black people to conform to. On her way to independence, we meet an array of unusual singing characters in the basement including The Washing Machine, The Dryer, and The Radio--the latter a trio Motown-type voices, the Gellman Family, and Caroline's two sons and daughter.

Tonya Pinkins lets loose on "I Got Four Kids," telling of her travail of four kids, a divorce, and 22 years of cleaning earning $30 a week in 1963. In "The Bus," Chuck Cooper sings how the earth has bled as he announces that The President is dead. The biggest surprise is the young powerhouse voice of Anika Noni Rose (Tony Award Musical Supporting Role) who lights up the theatre in "Kitchen Fight." Tonya returns with "Lot's Wife."

The musical style encompasses Motown, R&B, blues, and ballads. This music doesn't just serve to highlight key points in the story; it tells the story. For that reason plus its originality, Caroline, or Change would have gotten my vote for Outstanding Score.

Broadway Cabaret

Jessica Molaskey: Make Believe (PS Classics PS-422)

This is the third Jessica Molaskey recording I have reviewed in these pages, and it very well might be my favorite, possibly topping her terrific debut album Pentimento. The casual listener may think these 14 songs are classics without a connection. They are all theatre material, however, refreshingly presented so they don't sound like the lullaby of Broadway. Jessica's duet with Adam Guettel (Richard Rodgers's grandson) on the grandfather's "Glad to be Unhappy" is soulful and contemporary. She changes the rhythmic structure of another Rodgers composition, "I Can't Say No," opening with solo guitar (her husband, John Pizzarelli--also the album's producer), then breezes into a straight-forward lyrical presentation that leaves the vaudevillian comedy at the door. Cy Coleman's "Hey, Look Me Over," also gets understated treatment using a strong bass jazz line that the sometimes jazz performer Coleman would approve of. Molaskey shines as an actor who can sing in Growing Pains, richly delivering Dorothy Fields' lyrics with music by Arthur Schwartz (radio personality Jonathan Schwartz' father).

As always, PS Classics does a wonderful job supporting the performers with realistic, unadorned sound that lets the music come through. Listen, for example, to the piano notes in the lower half of the keyboard on Meredith Wilson's "Goodnight My Someone," just one verse sung as a lullaby to someone she loves. We should all have someone we love that much.

Luba Mason: Collage (PS Classics PS-423) Deborah Tranelli: A Lot of Livin' (PS Classics PS-424)

As the catalog numbes indicate, these two debut albums are being released at the same time as Make Believe. I've seen Luba Mason on Broadway. She's an attractive singer with great pipes. Her material here is decidedly not Broadway, however. She covers "The Look of Love" romantically in a Spanish translation. Luba nicely interprets the old English folk song "The Riddle Song." Perhaps I liked it because it uses only acoustic instruments unlike the others which rely heavily on keyboards and midi programming. Unfortunately, I can't say that her covers of pop hits like Neil Diamond's "Cherry, Cherry" or Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now" improve upon the originals.

Deborah Tranelli, who favors torch songs, succeeds with "Like the Heavens Hold the Stars." "Little Girl Blue" also benefits from her deep feeling for the words, somewhat reminiscent of Betty Buckley. But other chestnuts aren't necessarily elevated over competing versions. For example, Deborah slows down Carole King's "Home Again," making it more of a loss than a hope.

These two CDs are fine for fans, and may make some new friends, but don't broaden the cabaret landscape.

--GAW