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Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (2005 Original Broadway Cast)

With this giddily entertaining show, David Yazbek confirms that The Full Monty wasn't a fluke--few on Broadway can equal his melodic verve and lyrical cleverness. Based on the 1988 movie of the same name, the show deals with a pair of con artists swindling rich women on the French Riviera. Lithgow brings debonair charm to the Michael Caine part, while Norbert Leo Butz (Wicked) proves to be a comic dynamo in the Steve Martin part. And Yazbek provides them with an array of catchy tunes (adorned in beautiful Bacharach-style arrangements by Harold Wheeler). Butz goes ballistic on the hilarious "Great Big Stuff," which demolishes conspicuous consumption, then pairs up with feisty leading lady Sherie Rene Scott on "Love Is My Legs," a wicked sendup of Celine Dion­style torch epics. Meanwhile, Lightgow nails the tender ballad "Love Sneaks In." A delicious jazz reprise of "Nothing Is Too Wonderful to Be True" by Scott and pianist Bill Charlap shows that Yazbek's songs don't need flashy pizzazz to be memorable. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Other Great Musicals of the Season

Spamalot

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

The Light in the Piazza

Little Women

All Shook Up

Altar Boyz

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Futures

Cast Recording;

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Customer Review:

Fun stuff.

While not one of the most complex scores of the past season, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels does stand out as one of the most versatile and certainly the funniest. References to pop-culture standards such as Donald Trump, Ferragamo shoes, and Orangina abound as this clever tale unfolds.

The plot is simple, if a bit wacky: two con men on the Riviera, the suave and debonair Lawrence Jameson ('Third Rock From the Sun's John Lithgow) and the crude Freddy Benson (Norbert Leo Butz), are locked in a bet over who can scam 50 grand off a naive soap heiress (Sherie Rene Scott) on her first visit to France. But after a wild series of events and a few, shall we say, "surprising" plot twists, the ones who end up on top aren't the ones you'll expect - at all.

This score is one of the most varied of the season., and one of David Yazbek's best works. Ranging from a hip-hop paean to "the good life", "Great Big Stuff" (sample lyric: "The cash to keep me idle/the chicks to keep me vital/the pills to keep me happy even when I'm suicidal!") to the country-inspired "Oklahoma?" (the question mark is not a typo) in which oil heiress Jolene Oaks plans Lawrence and hers' married life out in the hinterlands, to the mock-up of a gospel song entitled "Love is My Legs", terrifically belted by Scott and Butz. The rhymes are intricate and often hilarious, ("Oklahoma" and "melanoma". Who knew?), the music is well-played out by the orchestra as well as just being riotously funny.

The cast, too, is top-notch. John Lithgow, while possessing a singing voice that is serviceable at best, has exactly the kind of charisma needed to play such a role. Though his role requires him to perform several songs with a heavy German accent - don't ask - Lithgow's second-act ballad "Love Sneaks In" is a vastly underrated, terrific performance.

Norbert Leo Butz, despite his three names, is talented as they come these days. Yodeling, rapping, or just plain singing, his voice is just as versatile as the score itself, as through the several personalities he assumes during the show, he never seems to lose touch of the heart of the role. As the mad Prince Ruprecht, Sergeant 'Buzz' Benson, or the flim-flam man behind it all, Butz is simply hilarious throughout the entire show.

Sherie Rene Scott is a true powerhouse with an amazing belt and a gorgeous singing voice. Her first-act charm song "Here I Am", in which she extols the perks of the French Riviera (and knocks out a local or two) showcases her voice perfectly, and later in the show, the aforementioned gospel spoof "Love is My Legs" is perfect for her brassy belt. And Track 23, a slowed-down, cabaret version of "Nothing is Too Wonderful to be True", featuring Scott and Bill Charlap on piano, is one of the best on the disc.

Joanna Gleason is simply wonderful as American divorcee (and one of Lawrence's conquests) Muriel of Omaha. The role was greatly expanded once the writers got word that this Broadway "legend" would be playing it, and with great results. Her sweet duet with Greg Jbara (as Jameson's right-hand man and French chief of police), titled "Like Zis/Like Zat", is a great tune.

Jbara, as well, is perfectly good in his small role. His funny ditty, known as "Chimp in a Suit" is another great track, and though his French accent can get thick at times, Yazbek's rhymes are usually not obscured. And Sara Gettelfinger, in her two scenes as Jolene Oaks, "just a girl who can't hear no", manages to leave you both shaking your head and laughing hard.

The show's "out to scam the world" theme even extends to the advertisements outside the theatre, with billboards and marquees proclaiming such things as "GO BACKSTAGE AFTER THE SHOW (and we'll call security)", and FABULOUS RECEPTION (for cell phones and other wireless devices in the theatre lobby)".

This score is one of the past season's best, if not simply the top. Overall, it's definitely worth the investment, being one of the few cast recordings that didn't leave my CD player for a week after receiving it. The show that walks a fine line between the classy and the crude is one of current Broadway's best offerings.

excellent talent showcase

The material may not be perfect but the performances are very close! Butz, Lithgow and Scott shine in this cast recording.

great show!

this was the first and only broadway musical i have ever seen and i enjoyed it to no end
I saw this during a feild trip to New York, and its was hilarious. Some of the audience was quite offended by the vulgar lyrics, but the majority was laughing for the entire show.

I think that the cd is no where near as good as the show but it is still well worth it

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Keywords: Cast Recordings; Music Theater; Musical Theater; Pop; Showtunes / B'way;

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Island Life

It seems almost criminal to say anything less than stellar about Island Life, the sophomore album from producer Andre Levin's latin-fusion collective Yerba Buena. And indeed, there's a sufficent amount of energy and plenty of good-time party vibes on the disc, which infuses the Afro-Cuban framwork with cumbia, salsa, merengue and flamenco rhythms. The thing is, we've heard much of this hybrid before, done in more substantial ways. Yerba Buena wants to be all things to all people, and its music is jam-packed with splashy collaborators. The cutesy "Sugar Daddy" is a prime example, featuring something for traditionalists (Celia Cruz), urban hipsters (Les Nubians), and even movie buffs (John Leguizamo)--all in one song. There are also appearances from the critically acclaimed rap group Orishas (standout "La Candela"), Grammy favorite Diego "El Cigala" ("Corazon Bandolero) and Pedro Almodovar muse Rossy De Palma. It makes for an interesting A-list of world music VIPs and oddities, but Island Life ultimately doesn't gel into something outstanding. It's merely OK. --Joey Guerra

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Customer Review:

Island Life Will Take You To Paradise

I'm not sure what the Amazon reviewer is talking about. Maybe he doesn't like Islands. This record is so good I don't know where to begin.

I have been playing this at every backyard cookout and once it's on, people don't want to hear anything else. The crazy thing is that everyone likes the whole record but they all have different favorites.

The special guests are great but anyone who has seen this band live knows that the core band is what makes this thing tick.

Buy this album and get your summer party started!!!!!!!!!!

Fantastic Reviews

- "the ultimate urban tropical party"- VIBE
-"Yerba Buena's New York is a cosmopolitan hub where anyone can meet and everyone is ready to dance. The songs make more connections than the city's subway system... For Yerba Buena, Latin American identity is an exhilarating work in progress: proud of its roots, fast on its feet, laughing off obstacles... every idiom Yerba Buena touches on gets hybridized, and that's the point." - NY Times
- "a Truly Stellar Sophomore Album" - NY Post
-"Island Life is a sizzling jam session." - Wall Street Journal
-"Yerba Buena is uniting the polyglot of New York City into a joyful, partying, sexy and smart voice. What could be more American" - AP
- "cutting-edge music for urban sophisticates who have tropical fever rushing through their bodies"-Newsday
-"(4 Stars) Yerba Buena's sophomore effort is even funkier, funnier, hipper and more exhilarating than its debut.. something so new all you can do is smile and ride the beats. It's a global party, papí" - Miami Herald
-"When you're talking multi-culti, you're talking Yerba Buena. masterful... terrific... the summer's most fun disc." - Providence Phoenix
- "If a secret fountain of fun exists, producer Andres Levin has found it and is hoarding it for himself and his band Yerba Buena. . Every song enters your veins, raises your heart rate, and spurs your feet to movement " - Miami New Times
- "shows how deep the Latin roots of the Big Apple really are. Yerba Buena's latest endeavor is perfect summertime listening"- BBC "The World"
- "What Yerba Buena has achieved over the span of three years is nothing short of breathtaking... , Island Life boasts a dizzying array of dance rhythms like cumbia, funk and salsa, but it's how they're brought together under one roof that is so impressive,,a freewheeling, boisterous record" -Eye Weekly (Toronto)
- "thick with a funk that never lets up...The concept that runs through the record: maintain one's dignity within the urban jungle while still remaining relevant and sexy as hell".- NY Press

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Keywords: Club/Dance; Int'l & World Music; Latin Pop; Pop; Reggae; Salsa;

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Josh Groban

There are worse things in life than making your acting debut on the much ballyhooed season finale of Ally McBeal, though teen operatic baritone Josh Groban doesn't seem destined to encounter them anytime soon. As the awkward high school student-client who asks the typically romance-jinxed Ally to his senior prom, Groban performed this debut album's "You're Still You" (adapted from film-composing legend Ennio Morricone's Academy Award-nominated score for Malèna, with lyrics by Linda Thompson) as a heart-tugging, literal showstopper. The young phenom was just 17 when veteran producer-writer David Foster tapped him to fill in for Andrea Bocelli at rehearsals for the 1999 Grammys, where Groban found himself suddenly dueting with Celine Dion.

Indeed, such were his fortunes that the young Foster protégé was forced to drop out of Carnegie Mellon when professional commitments--including this record--interfered. And if this collection tends to hew sometimes uncomfortably close to Foster's own MOR sonic instincts, the material offers enough challenges to display Groban's talent and the potential of his warm, mature voice: a lyrical take on another Morricone classic, "Cinema Paradiso"; melancholy readings of Don McLean's "Starry, Starry Night" and Albert Hammond's "Alejate"; masterfully dramatic takes of the Neapolitan "Alla Luca Del Sole" and "Canto Alla Vita," the latter featuring the Corrs. Many of Groban's performances here, including a neo prog-rock-opera take on Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" (with Lili Haydn), seem both bigger and bolder than their precious musical frameworks, a telling hint that Grand Opera can't be far from his grasp. As said earlier, there are worse things in life. --Jerry McCulley

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Customer Review:

Beautiful music, beautiful voice

I bought two Cd's based on hearing his "one" song on the radio-You Raise Me Up. I think that his talent lies in his many other selections as they showcase his range and versitility. "Josh Groban" captures the richness of his voice much better than "Closer". I appreciate his selection of Italian music but would greatly enjoy a CD completely in English. Regardless, you can't go wrong with any Josh Groban CD.

i am suprised i acutally bought this

I first heard of this guy from a duet he did with charlotte church that my mom had a cd of. I thought he had a good voice so i saw this cd and i bought it i could only sit through it once it was so boring and all the same. I got this when i was into classical music do not get me wrong i still like classical music like bach, mozart and so on but this dude sucks. The only decent song on here is stary stary night but he ruins it with overproducion and expressing no emotion in his voice, the don mclan original version is so much better. This cd was in the back of my cd collection for years untill my aunt lost hers so i gave her mine she gave me joshua tree instead which is overrated and kinda of boring but atleast it is not embrassing to have in my collection like this boy josh.

Josh Groban ROCKS LIKE A SAVAGE!!!!

Just kidding but i do respect the guy for bringing a little classical to the mainstream top 40 public.
This recording is very well done with lush romantic arrangements and highly passionate seemingly sincere heartfelt vocals that make up a pleasant recording to unwind to after a long hard day on the job or whenever.
He tackles a little potpouri of sounds from Don Mclean's "Starry starry night" to a little Bach and he does it tastefully.
I feel Josh Groban has intertwined classical with easy listening and reproduced a winning formula that worked like gold for Liberace to an earlier generation but luckily Josh has avoided the diamonds and the golden shiny capes.
I respect Mr.Groban and Bocelli for that matter because their delivery of a touch of classical to the mainstream public may lead that public to dig deeper into the great resources of fully developed opera singers like Pavarotti and Bjorling and great opera's like "La Boheme".
La Boheme's story is such a timeless tale that it was used as the basis for the smash broadway hit "Rent" and the melodies have been used countless times in popular song reworkings and even commercials.
Anyway, Josh Groban gives us an easy listening lush gooey audio treat that will make you feel all warm and fuzzy but don't stop there because there's so much more to discover.
Well done Josh and don't wear any capes anytime soon!!!
Leave the legend of LIBERACE alone because it's just TOO HOT TO HANDLE!!!!!

Happy Listening!!!!

O.F.

Further Listening: The Best selling "La Boheme" is by Pavarotti/Karajan on Decca Records and the highlights cd is a good starter.
Then move on to more Grand Epic operas like Verdi's "Aida" and "Rigoletto" and Bizet's "Carmen".

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Keywords: Cantata; Choral; Film; Film Music; Pop; Pop Vocals; Rock/Pop; Traditional Pop; Vocal; Vocal Music;

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Shrek - Music from the Original Motion Picture

Like The Muppet Show or The Simpsons, Shrek is tiered with visual appeal, fantasy, and sophisticated humor that appeals to children and adults on two mutually exclusive levels. Judging by the soundtrack alone, there is some genuine emotion coming from this movie; Rufus Wainwright, the Proclaimers, and especially the Eels all pen winsome, longing tunes. Dana Glover's "It Is You (I Have Loved)" represents the soundtrack's requisite glossy ballad, but it's better than most, and John Powell's climactic, orchestral "True Love's First Kiss" makes one wish there was a full score to accompany this soundtrack. On the flip side, Smash Mouth cover the Monkees' "I'm a Believer" with a groovy treatment of crunchy hip-hop beats, and Leslie Carter (sister of Aaron and Nick) gives a perky performance on the Britney-esque "Like Wow!" The soundtrack squeezes the last drops of juice from the overplayed Smash Mouth hit "All Star," but other than that, it strikes a great balance between cute-but-not-precious pop hits, and more grown-up songs that are well within reach of young ears. --Beth Massa

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Futures

Soundtrack;

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Customer Review:

The movie may be good, but the music is sucky

This is the perfect CD for taking a nap to. It's mostly full of slow pop and rock. If you're a fan of this type of music, I recommend this CD, but if not, don't buy it. There are only a few good tracks. All Star, Bad Reputation, I'm A Believer, Stay Home. And I don't enjoy buying a CD that only 1/3 of it is good. So, I wouldn't buy it, if I were you.

Great soundtrack for a great film

Every track is great, and every track fits so well with what is happening in the film while the track is being played. What more could you want?

Wonderful

Hey guys and gals. I love this soundtrack... i really do. There is one song on it that means so much to me and its called "you belong to me" by Jason wade of lifehouse. the reason why it means so much to me is that... Last summer my then boyfriend made me a cd with this song on it, along with other beautiful ones and i was listening to it today and all the memories just came rolling back. I don't know if i should be saying this.... but I still love him! I don't know why we parted.. that is still unknown.. i guess one day it all stopped. but this song is a classic.. I love it. Cheers

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Keywords: Alternative Pop/Rock; Pop; Punk-Pop; Soundtrack; Soundtracks; Soundtracks & Film Scores;

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