Track Listing

1. Kesa
2. The Janitor’s Statement
3. The Thief’s Statement/
4. She Looked At Me
5. See What I Wanna See
6. Big Money
7. The Park/
8. You’ll Go Away With Me
9. Best Not To Get Involved
10. The Wife’s Statement/Louie
11. The Medium’s Statement
12. You’ll Go Away With Me (Quartet)
13. No More
14. Simple As This
15. Light in the East
16. Finale Act I
17. Morito
18. Last Year
19. The Greatest Practical Joke
20. The First Message
21. Central Park
22. The Second Message
23. Coffee
24. Gloryday
25. Curiosity/Prayer
26. Feed The Lions
27. There Will Be A Miracle
28. Prayer (Reprise)
29. Rising Up / Finale Act II

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12561 in Music
• Released on: 2006-03-07
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Cast Recording, Soundtrack

Amazon.com
Transposing short stories by Japan's modernist writer Ryunosuke Akutagawa to New York, Michael John LaChiusa has come up with an ambitious triptych (two main segments, "R Shomon" and "Gloryday," and a slight, rather unnecessary one, "Kesa & Morito"), at least half of which ranks among his best work. That half is the first segment, "R Shomon," which makes the best of its 1950s noir setting: A swinging song such as "The Thief's Statement/She Looked at Me" segues into the free-flowing title track with great ease, and LaChiusa summons wonderfully moody atmosphere. Unfortunately, the second act, "Gloryday," is less successful--it's less pastichey and more "difficult," but that doesn't automatically means it's better. Even stentorian Idina Menzel (Rent, Wicked) can't do much with "Coffee," though the ever-dependable Mary Testa lifts "There Will Be a Miracle." LaChiusa is also lucky to have chameleonic Marc Kudisch (Chitty Chitty Bang, the revival of Assassins) on hand in both pieces. It's exciting to see someone try to challenge musical theater, but in this case the glass is only half full. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Customer Reviews

Unique
What a unique musical. Awesome cast and a great listen for anyone who is involved in music theatre.

Smart, different show that never gets old
Okay, I'll admit it. I didn't think I'd like this album.

I have listened to it more than thirty times in a 2 month period. Sad? Maybe. But this show is intriguing and smart...certainly worth more than one listening to.
It is different because it doesn't baby-step the audience through the stories, and the stories (I believe there are 3) are rather unrelated. Nonetheless, it comes across as beautiful and new rather than pretentious and artsy.

And I have to mention that the cast is OUTSTANDING. Each one of them molds their talent into their characters in such a way that you can't imagine anyone else in those roles.

It's the kind of show that not only gives the audience the benefit of the doubt, but also offers so much variety that there's something for everyone. If you don't particularly like the constant Japanese-infused strands of theme, you might like the jazzy swing of R.Shomon, or the spiritual emotion of Gloryday.

I personally love the whole shabang. This album has made me a Lachuisa convert.

One of the most MEANINGFUL shows of all time
Although my parents would probably never let me see this show live, i have listened to the cd about a million times. You can learn so much from the lyrics such as that there are usally multiple truths and that you and I probably look at the world in totally different ways and that's okay.
Like many other people though, I bought this album because of Idina Menzel, but I ended up admiring everyone in the cast. They all have unique voices and each express themselfs and their characters extremly well in this album.
So whether you are a huge Idina fanatic (like me), or just enjoy great music, I highly reccomend this album.