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Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2017 21:36:59 GMT
Just discovered the OLC of this. Seems like quite a charming musical.
Did anyone see the 1989 Trevor Nunn version at The Phoenix? Seemed it lasted just over a month. Some great names attached though (Nunn/John Napier/David Cullen and of course Stephen Schwartz).
Hope there's a future for it somewhere.
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Post by notmymuse on Oct 12, 2017 21:57:14 GMT
Just discovered the OLC of this. Seems like quite a charming musical. Did anyone see the 1989 Trevor Nunn version at The Phoenix? Seemed it lasted just over a month. Some great names attached though (Nunn/John Napier/David Cullen and of course Stephen Schwartz). Hope there's a future for it somewhere. Nope, but I caught it at the Union a few years back. It was great, and to be honest I didn't think the OBC did it justice! |
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Post by lonlad on Oct 12, 2017 21:59:48 GMT
yup, it wasn't bad and Alun Armstrong was terrific as always. Nunn directed it as a gift for his then-wife, Sharon Lee Hill, who was nothing special (and whom he soon divorced). The show looked great as well but it's one of those Broadway titles, much like MACK AND MABEL, that will forever be classified as a curio, for good or for ill.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2017 22:00:28 GMT
Just discovered the OLC of this. Seems like quite a charming musical. Did anyone see the 1989 Trevor Nunn version at The Phoenix? Seemed it lasted just over a month. Some great names attached though (Nunn/John Napier/David Cullen and of course Stephen Schwartz). Hope there's a future for it somewhere. Nope, but I caught it at the Union a few years back. It was great, and to be honest I didn't think the OBC did it justice! Ah awesome - that production also passed me by - found out about it on Wikipedia tonight. Union do seem to do a good job of bringing back formerly big productions that were financially unsuccessful. Enjoyed Moby Dick and Children of Eden there! |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2017 22:03:53 GMT
yup, it wasn't bad and Alun Armstrong was terrific as always. Nunn directed it as a gift for his then-wife, Sharon Lee Hill, who was nothing special (and whom he soon divorced). The show looked great as well but it's one of those Broadway titles, much like MACK AND MABEL, that will forever be classified as a curio, for good or for ill. Awesome, that's interesting! The bit about Nunn/Lee Hill wasn't on Wiki lol. |
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Post by sf on Oct 12, 2017 22:52:02 GMT
There are some lovely things in the score, and some of it was very charming. There were too many numbers for the villagers (the show has since been revised and I believe some of them are now gone), and too many of them proved to be repetitive. Alun Armstrong was wonderful, Sharon Lee-Hill was charmless and unpleasant and sang nearly her entire role a semitone flat at the performance I saw. The good parts were very enjoyable, and it might have worked better with a competent leading lady, but it's not all that surprising that it flopped.
The American recording, which features Patti LuPone and Paul Sorvino, probably gives a better impression of the show - and that's largely because it doesn't include most of the ensemble numbers. I often don't like LuPone - I sometimes really don't like LuPone - but she's terrific on that album, and so is Paul Sorvino.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2017 23:14:37 GMT
I think its one of those shows where the score is terrific, but the book is terrible. As sf said, there are way too many songs for the villagers and despite the show being called The Bakers Wife, she is barely in it for the duration of the 2nd half. The last production i saw, cut the song 'Endless Delights' so there was only 1 song left for the Bakers Wife and the ending when the Baker tells off the cat is a cop out. Still, the score is terrific has so many good numbers, again, the LuPone version is the one to get, the OLC is for completists only. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 13, 2017 6:25:15 GMT
Yes, I saw it at the Phoenix. I didn’t realize until now that I had caught it in its incredibly short run! I seem to remember being attracted to it at the time as it had quite a lot of the Les Mis team on board- Nunn, Napier, Neofitou plus Alun Armstrong and quite a few of the Les Mis chorus. Sharon Lee-Hill had also been in Blondel which I’d really enjoyed too. It looked good and sounded good, and I was moved by Alun Armstong’s performance. It has some lovely tunes. The best three (Meadowlark, Gifts of Love and Chanson) are all featured on The Stephen Schwartz Album, a compilation CD with a great line-up of singers and beautiful, lush orchestrations.
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Post by horton on Oct 13, 2017 6:25:40 GMT
I loved it, though as previously mentioned, Sharon Lee Hill was definitely the weak link.
I can't stand the song 'Bread' which sounds like it was cut from the lunchbreak scene of A Chorus Line- horribly out of place.
But The Luckiest Man in the World was a fantastic number that did involve the villagers.
Personally, I like the scene with the cat.
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Post by crabtree on Oct 13, 2017 7:33:03 GMT
i have very fond memories of this - the most delicate of musicals, and yes there was a cat, and they filled the auditorium with the smell of fresh bread. I liked the songs for the chorus , as that was what they were, a real chorus commenting on the action. But yes the central female character is not a warm creation.
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Post by musicalmarge on Oct 13, 2017 7:40:52 GMT
Someone should reinvent this and stage it at Southwark Playhouse. The score is amazing!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 13, 2017 9:09:30 GMT
Gifts of Love is a beautiful song and its one of the few songs that i prefer on the London recording.
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Post by Someone in a tree on Oct 13, 2017 9:45:09 GMT
Great score
I really liked it at the Union Theatre and would for it to return. I also love a decent recording of it
I like all of the songs, especially Bread 😆
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Post by Mark on Oct 13, 2017 10:45:00 GMT
I also saw it at the Union quite a few years back, very enjoyable from what I remember.
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Post by Mr Crummles on Oct 13, 2017 12:41:37 GMT
I'm a great fan of the London Cast Recording. I had seen the original French film and was amazed on how well the OLC recording captures its flavour. I frankly adored the villagers' song that brilliantly conveys the spirit of the story’s small provincial French town with all its little faults: small-mindedness, intolerance and bickering. The importance of bread in these places cannot be underestimated. Revolutions were started because of bread, and this staple plays a prominent part in French literature. Being a bread person myself, I have always enormously enjoyed the song. I find the OBC recording very short. It contains just a few bits of the show. It’s beautifully sung, but it fails to inspire from an acting point of view. Sharon Lee-Hill in the OLC wasn't brilliant vocally. Her Meadowlark has been negatively compared with other versions from more accomplished singers (Liz Callaway, Alice Ripley, etc.), but, at least in the recording, I thought she was a rather competent actress who made me understand the character. Most importantly, she made me pay attention to the song's lyrics. Alan Armstrung was extraordinary and the rest of the cast very, very good. For many years I’ve been praying to see a new production of the show.
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Post by TallPaul on Oct 13, 2017 12:56:58 GMT
Just discovered the OLC of this. Seems like quite a charming musical. Did anyone see the 1989 Trevor Nunn version at The Phoenix? Seemed it lasted just over a month. Some great names attached though (Nunn/John Napier/David Cullen and of course Stephen Schwartz). Hope there's a future for it somewhere. That's shorter than one of Trevor Nunn's notorious speeches on the first day of rehearsals! |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 13, 2017 13:50:54 GMT
Thanks for all the replies guys. Love hearing about these limited run shows that were meant to be bigger hits.
As I said earlier, am also really sorry I missed the original productions of Children of Eden and Moby Dick.
Also Metropolis and Time from that era, but think they both ran a bit longer.... Martin Guerre likewise.
Only had eyes for ALW and Miss Saigon in those days lol.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 13, 2017 15:05:13 GMT
Am giving the OLC CD my first listen as I type. Bought it months ago, and, like most of my physical media, it's sat on the shelf since. So far 'Proud Lady' is winning.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 13, 2017 15:13:47 GMT
Saw this too and agree that Sharon Lee-Hill was the weakest link. Wasn't quite sure when I saw it why she had been cast as The Baker's Wife until I found out later she was married to Trevor Nunn. Some of the other casting was good though, especially Jill Martin who sang "Chanson" and of course Alun Armstrong.
Love the mental image of Monkey's "clip on" dough.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 13, 2017 17:09:13 GMT
Thanks for all the replies guys. Love hearing about these limited run shows that were meant to be bigger hits. As I said earlier, am also really sorry I missed the original productions of Children of Eden and Moby Dick. Also Metropolis and Time from that era, but think they both ran a bit longer.... Martin Guerre likewise. Only had eyes for ALW and Miss Saigon in those days lol. Ah, for me that was golden age of theatre going! I saw everything in the 90's, including the MANY flops that came and went. Good times. |
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Post by sf on Oct 13, 2017 17:13:08 GMT
Saw this too and agree that Sharon Lee-Hill was the weakest link. Wasn't quite sure when I saw it why she had been cast as The Baker's Wife until I found out later she was married to Trevor Nunn. Some of the other casting was good though, especially Jill Martin who sang "Chanson" and of course Alun Armstrong. Love the mental image of Monkey's "clip on" dough. Jill Martin was lovely. 'Chanson' is my favourite song in the score - it also gets a wonderful performance from Teri Ralston on the American recording. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 13, 2017 17:24:39 GMT
Saw this too and agree that Sharon Lee-Hill was the weakest link. Wasn't quite sure when I saw it why she had been cast as The Baker's Wife until I found out later she was married to Trevor Nunn. Some of the other casting was good though, especially Jill Martin who sang "Chanson" and of course Alun Armstrong. Love the mental image of Monkey's "clip on" dough. I have been playing her version of Chanson on Youtube. I remember her well in many things in the West End, including Acorn Antiques, the Musical. I have just read that she died on 24th December last year.  |
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Post by crabtree on Oct 13, 2017 17:42:08 GMT
The London production also had the indefatigable Myra Sands in the ensemble. Are there any shows Myra has not been in.....she went straight from Charlie, recently, to the tour of Funny Girl, and give 150% every performance. Who has the actor who played the love interest in Baker's wife. I seem to remember being able to understand the physical attraction at least.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 13, 2017 19:17:36 GMT
Saw this too and agree that Sharon Lee-Hill was the weakest link. Wasn't quite sure when I saw it why she had been cast as The Baker's Wife until I found out later she was married to Trevor Nunn. Some of the other casting was good though, especially Jill Martin who sang "Chanson" and of course Alun Armstrong. Love the mental image of Monkey's "clip on" dough. I have been playing her version of Chanson on Youtube. I remember her well in many things in the West End, including Acorn Antiques, the Musical. I have just read that she died on 24th December last year. She also played Sally in Follies for the last couple of weeks of the run as well as being a member of the original Les Miserables cast. I saw that she had died and nearly posted it on here - I wish I had now. She was one of my favourite lesser known West End actresses. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2017 7:47:46 GMT
The love interest in The Baker’s Wife at the Phoenix was played by Drue Williams.
Another lesser known actress I love is Gay Soper. I remember her name from the back of my old Godspell LP and she has popped up in loads of things I’ve seen in the West End over the years- Billy, The Mitford Girls, Les Mis, Which Witch, Sunday in the Park, Funny Girl... I spotted her in the audience at the Menier a few years ago and spoke to her about all the things I could remember her in. And she was charming! (She wasn’t in The Baker’s Wife...!)
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