Step In...Tune

Music...

I think everyone’s first step when looking at a show is to track down the music and listen to it right? It is for me at least. When I’m preparing for a show I live with it non-stop from start (“Congrats, we’d like you to direct...”) until finish (closing night). Sometimes you only get one option to choose from, but in the case of shows like Gypsy or Fiddler on the Roof, there have been numerous recordings made, each with their own merits but usually we are looking for the “best”, and for directors and choreographers, the “most complete”. Many recordings will leave out dance breaks, have different lyrics, be in different keys, etc. and this is difficult if you’re using it as a resource to help envision or stage the show. How many times have you heard in the rehearsal “Oh, that’s different than the recording”. Yeah....

In some cases, multiple versions of a show’s music exist, but with different songs because no one recording is definitive...hence why I own four different recordings of the Jekyll & Hyde music. Mary Poppins even suffers from this a little bit.

There are multiple cast recordings of the Mary Poppins music (with another on the way I’m told), but the best I have found so far is the Original Live Cast Recording from Australia (pictured). It includes a lot of the incidental music and seems quite close to, if not, complete. Important to note is that this version includes “Playing the Game” (aka the infamous “Scary Toy Song”). Other recordings feature the original song for this scene “Temper Temper” which is NOT in the licensed script. 

So if you want to give a listen in preparation for auditions, this one is available on iTunes!