Baby / O.B.C.

Product Description Digitally Re-mastered recording of the sought-after Original Broadway Cast CD of BABY. BABY is one of the most produced stock and amateur musical of the last decade. It is not surprising because this wondrous score was written by Oscar winning film composer DAVID SHIRE, with lyrics by RICHARD MALTBY Jr. ('AIN'T MISBEHAVING' and 'STARTING HERE, STARTING NOW' and FOSSE). Orchestrations are by Tony Award winner Jonathan Tunick whose works include 'A CHORUS LINE', 'NINE', 'SWEENEY TODD, 'A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC' and TITANIC. The original cast of this critical acclaimed musical, which was nominated for seven TONY AWARDS including Best Musical and Best Score, includes Liz Callaway, Beth Fowler, Catherine Cox, Martin Vidnovic and Todd Graff. Amazon.com Maltby and Shire's ode to impending parenthood Baby follows three expectant couples: unmarried college students (Liz Callaway, Todd Graff), empty nesters (Beth Fowler, James Congdon), and thirtysomethings who have been trying desperately to conceive (Catherine Cox, Martin Vidnovic). As the couples explore their different reactions to their situation, the songs alternate between humor and heart-tugging drama. In "I Want It All," the women weigh what they want out of their pregnancies and subsequent lives, while the men express their pleasure in the funky "Fatherhood Blues." In the emotional centerpiece of the show, "The Story Goes On," Callaway reacts after feeling her baby kick for the first time, while "The Ladies Singing Their Song" takes a gentle poke at well-meaning advice givers (Sondheim's ladies who lunch at a different phase of life). This long-awaited reissue of the 1983 original Broadway cast recording captures Jonathan Tunick's orchestrations of shimmering strings and sassy brass and also includes Fowler's solo "Patterns," a gem cut from the original production. Leading the strong cast is Callaway, who was nominated for a Tony (as was Graff and the show, score, book, director, and choreographer) and who later went on to star on Broadway as Grizabella in Cats, perform voiceovers for animation (Anastasia, the Aladdin sequels), and rerecord "The Story Goes On" as the title track of her 1995 solo album. This Baby is a most welcome arrival. --David Horiuchi