I ordered the Ron Raines MAN OF LA MANCHA CD....featuring Kim Criswell. The reviews were mixed, but it is the COMPLETE show. I kept trying to win an auction for it on EBAY....but was never successful, so I just bought it NEW!!!
It's not bad, but Ron and Kim had just done the roles for the first time before the recording was made, and they needed a better director than the guy who directed it in London. I told him Cervantes needs more charm and humor when he's cajoling the prisoners to perform in his charade, that he needed to be Larry Kert and flirt with them all.
Anything is preferable to the back phrasing of the overrated Stokes Mitchell, who can be wonderful when he's given the right role. He is, however, not in the singing class of Richard Kiley, John Reardon, or Alfred Drake and people keep giving him their roles. And he takes them, which is sadder!
I had forgotten my talented friend David Charles Abell is the conductor. You and he have comething else in common besides LAMANCHA, DR JRand58!