Track Listing

1. Maggie Flynn/Overture
2. Maggie Flynn/Nice Cold Mornin'
3. Maggie Flynn/I Wouldn't Have You Any Other Way
4. Maggie Flynn/Learn How to Laugh
5. Maggie Flynn/Maggie Flynn
6. Maggie Flynn/The Thank You Song
7. Maggie Flynn/Look Around Your Little World
8. Maggie Flynn/Maggie Flynn (Reprise)
9. Maggie Flynn/I Won't Let It Happen Again
10. Maggie Flynn/How About a Ball?
11. Maggie Flynn/Pitter Patter
12. Maggie Flynn/They're Never Gonna Make Me Fight
13. Maggie Flynn/Why Can't I Walk Away
14. Maggie Flynn/The Game of War
15. Maggie Flynn/Mr. Clown
16. Maggie Flynn/Pitter Patter (Reprise)
17. Maggie Flynn/Finale

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #97810 in Music
• Released on: 2009-02-10
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Cast Recording, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Customer Reviews

ADORABLE MAGGIE FLYNN"
"Maggie Flynn" was an old fashioned musical starring Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy which failed because it unfortunately opened at the time of the dawning of Aquarius. "Hair" had opened on Broadway a few months prior and excited audiences for a new direction for shows and old fashioned musicals like "Maggie Flynn" were more or less pushed aside. Jones and Cassidy were married at the time and the marraige was in trouble and they sometimes missed performances but there must have been some strain so it's understandable.

That's what makes it more of a shame because "Maggie Flynn" had better than average music and an unusually strong and provocative book. The story takes place in NYC during the Civil War and the climax features the draft riots of 1863 because poor Irish immigrants were drafted to fight while the wealthy could pay a fee and "dodge the draft".

The songs were very tuneful and entertaining and although there were no hits, songs like "Nice Cold Mornin'" "The Thank You Song" "Learn How To Laugh" "Mr Clown" and both the ballad version and the Irish Jig version of "Maggie Flynn" are pleasing to the ears and Mr Cassidy also scores on "Why Can't I walk Away" and Miss Jones has a couple of solid solos on "I Won't Let it Happen Again" and "Pitter Patter".

There is also a protest song called "Never Gonna Make Me Fight" which fits into the story even if it's a bit obvious-----but the only mis-step the show makes is "The Game of War". One of the sub-plots involves a pair of confederate spies who rent the basement of the orphanage Maggie runs and the spies have stockpiled a cache of weapons. Late in the second act the orphans find the weapons and sing "The Game of War" about the horror and futility of war-this scene was supposed to manipulate the audiences to tears but didn't.

So if you enjoy musicals and light but perky music and want to hear the glorious vocals of Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy-Then you should give "Maggie Flynn" a try. Trust me, you will enjoy.

Maggie Flynn finally makes it to CD. What took her so long!
When I was a 13 year old boy, I had already been a "show tune queen" for a few years. Since my parents never gave me an allowance, most of my record shopping was done at the "cut out" bins because there you could buy a recording for as little as one dollar. And it was in one such bin that I found "Maggie Flynn" and fell in love with its glorious score.

I treasured that record for many years, but as my collection grew larger, I lost track of this overlooked musical.

In the 80s, after I finally put aside my dreams of a performance career, I developed a musical theater program for a Washington DC university. I was reintroduced to "Maggie Flynn" while teaching in that program when I gained a copy of the infamous list of "Music Theater Audition Songs" that included many of Maggie's songs. The list was purported to be the best songs to sing at an audition (in place of "I Cain't Say No," "The Impossible Dream," and other overused material that directors were tired of hearing). It was a pleasant surprise, especially when I was able to get the songs from the show in a successful eBay bid.

Now, it seems that I've come full circle with the release of "Maggie Flynn" on CD. I can't wait to hear it again! I recently purchased the script to the show in an NYC drama shop. Reading the script has made me understand the failure of the show. Although "Maggie Flynn" had a fascinating plot, its execution rendered it as melodramatic and predictable as any classic "pot boiler" or "penny dreadful." The idea of presenting a musical around the little recalled 1863 New York City draft riots was unique. But you were unfortunately hit over the head by its constant allusions to the current war in Vietnam.

But that's all beside the point because what we have here is the great score and performances of the original cast. If you don't know this show and you love a tuneful, old fashioned musical, grab this one up before it disappears again.

I REALLY WANTED TO LIKE MAGGIE FLYNN . . .
I really wanted to like MAGGIE FLYNN. Truly, I did. But there's not much to like about it, beginning with its lackluster overture. Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy must have known they were headlining a disaster, for they don't sound as though they're having a very good time singing trite lyrics set to derivative melodies. The problem, obviously, is Hugo & Luigi. Best known as record producers, Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore were behind several successful albums by Perry Como, Elvis Presley, and Sam Cooke - to name a few - and hit singles like "I Will Follow Him" by Little Peggy March and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by the Tokens. Along with George David Weiss, they wrote the Presley hit "Can't Help Falling in Love." During the early 60s, the team created The Cascading Voices of the Hugo and Luigi. Regarding their album "Let's Fall in Love," Jason Ankeny wrote in his All Music Guide review: "The signature sound of RCA production gurus Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore is best likened to fondue--rich, creamy and irrefutably cheesy."

Well, if the composer of the classic pop hits "How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?" and "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake" (Bob Merrill) could write successful Broadway musicals, why shouldn't Hugo & Luigi have a go at it? Right? But when all the ballads and "big moments" for the principals sound like "Can't Help Falling in Love" warmed over, except orchestrated by Philip J. Lang . . . Oh, I'll admit my feet got to tappin' a couple of times during some of the marches and pseudo-Irish jigs, but one is nearly indistinguishable from another. Most Broadway flops have at least one redeeming number ("Hey, Look Me Over" from WILDCAT" or "She Touched Me" from DRAT! THE CAT!, for example ), but not so with MAGGIE.

Then there's the book. In the notes from the original souvenir book (reprinted by DRG) Luigi takes most of the credit, although he admits producer Morton Da Costa gave him a hand now and then. Set during the American Civil War but written in 1968 at the height of the Vietnam anti-war movement, is the show a political statement or a romantic drama? Is it even a drama? Everyone is so damned perky (even the children as they sing "The Game of War") one would be inclined to think there's any drama at all. The song "They're Never Gonna Make Me Fight" is no "hell no, I won't go," but it hints at what might have been: "Will you miss me when I'm drafted in the army, When I'm fighting Johnny Reb for Old Black Joe?" . .. . "It's the blacks they're asking you to fight for. But do they go? No! They stay here and take our jobs. Is that what you want?"

I really wanted to like MAGGIE FLYNN. Truly, I did. I even listened to it twice, but both times I grew impatient for it to end. Pity. Listen to Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy's studio recording of BRIGADOON instead. Far better score, and Jones and Cassidy are in much better voice - and you get a terrific performance by Susan Johnson as a bonus.