SHOW GIRL arrived at my door on Friday, but because of the busy busy busy holiday weekend, I haven't had a chance to play it until today at some point.
What I have listened to--three times so far, in fact--is ROAD SHOW. In a lot of ways this one has surprisingly grown on me--I enjoy the songs themselves, along with the performances, orchestrations and vocal arrangements. Only a few things keep me from completely embracing it--I still think there's no real show there. I don't find the Mizner Brothers' story all that compelling. I think the climax of the show is completely ridiculous and the denouement a dull muddle. And there's also a strange kind of misogyny throughout the recording in the way that all the female voices are ugly, shrill, shrieky and whiney--even Mama Mizner sounds like a harpy during "Gold". It's as if Sondheim was channeling his own mother's voice this time around.