The Cast of Closer Than Ever Live at Barnes & Noble

I love the fact that my neighborhood Barnes & Noble has become the home of CD cast recordings releases for Broadway and off-Broadway shows. I have seen so many wonderful performances from shows I have seen (like Pippin and Scandalous) and shows I did not get a chance to see (like Giant and Hands on a Hardbody).

Last week, the cast of the off-Broadway revival of Maltby & Shire's Closer Than Ever came to sing four songs from the show. Show co-creator David Shire spoke to the enthusiastic crowd, and then co-stars Sal Viviano, Christiane Noll and George Dvorsky performed four songs from the show. (Cast member Jenn Colella was unable to attend.)

The first song was Doors, and the harmony of the voices was just lovely.


Next, they treated us to She Loves Me Not.


The gentlemen treated to us Fathers of Fathers.


They closed with the title song, Closer Than Ever.


It must have been a very romantic show because there were several couples there holding hands during the songs. The music sounded like this must have been a very traditional show, one that many enjoyed.

Links to:
Pippin and Scandalous at Barnes & Noble
Giant at Barnes & Noble
Hands on a Hardbody at Barnes & Noble

You can buy the CD here.

The Cast of Giant Performs at Barnes & Noble

The cast of Giant, the off-Broadway show that played a limited run at the Public Theater this spring, came to Barnes and Noble on the Upper East Side to celebrate the release of their original cast recording on August 1st.

The cast of Giant at Barnes & Noble

Creator Michael John LaChiusa spoke to the enthusiastic crowd, talking about how they took a show that clocked in at five hours (in Dallas) and trimmed it to three hours (in NYC). Giant is based on the Pulitzer-prize winning novel by Edna Ferber that tells of the 25 year marriage of Bick and Leslie Benedict set on the huge ranch that Bick's family owns in Texas. Texas is a big character as well.

It's a big cast and there are lots of songs (it's a 2-CD set), and I hope it will be staged on Broadway soon as I missed the original production.

The show opened with the talented Brian d'Arcy James singing Did Spring Come to Texas.


Next, his co-star, the luminous Kate Baldwin (whom I saw singing earlier in the day in the pouring rain at Bryant Park's Broadway in the Park series with Norbert Leo Butz from their upcoming show Big Fish) joined him for Your Texas.


Next up, PJ Griffith (in the role played by James Dean in the film version) sang Private Property. I've never seen Griffith before, and hope to see him soon on the Broadway stage.


Kate closed the show with LaChiusa's favorite song from the show that got cut when the show went from five to three hours- A Stranger. 


The songs were fantastic, I really hope that we see this show somewhere soon.

Norbert Leo Butz Sings at Barnes & Noble

Two time Tony winner Norbert Leo Butz (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels  & Catch Me If You Can) released his first CD, Memories & Mayhem, a live recording of his cabaret show at the new Live at 54 Below venue, and he had a performance and signing at Barnes & Noble on 86th St. in NYC yesterday.

He performed four songs from the CD, The Way Young Lovers Do, Killing the Blues, I Could Be In Live With Someone Like You  and If These Walls Could Speak. He played guitar on the first two songs and he sounded so fantastic, even though he shared that he had been ill this week with what he called "the crud" and a 102 degree fever.

Below are the last two songs he sang, hope you enjoy them as much as we did.




Live at 54 Below is hosting several Broadway performers doing cabaret shows, and I hope they have all of their CD releases from Broadway Records at Barnes & Noble.