Oscar Hammerstein II - Very Warm For May: A Musical Comedy (1939 Original Broadway Cast)

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Music reviews of Very Warm For May: A Musical Comedy (1939 Original Broadway Cast)

Music Review: Strictly archival value
Rating: 3 Stars

There are only five of the songs here, interlaced with some spoken scenes and some forgettable jazz combo medleys played by a band-within-the-show. If you MUST hear the highly obscure gems "Heaven in My Arms", "That Lucky Lady" and "All in Fun", then this recording will serve that purpose. One bonus for some will be that these three are done within the dialogue that set them up, and in what appear to be the original arrangements.

But otherwise, there's "In the Heart of the Dark", not exactly hard to catch elsewhere and even recorded in its original arrangement on Kim Criswell's solo album, and endless, drippy repetitions of "All the Things You Are", a song which of course one can also hear elsewhere, again even in its original arrangement (John McGlinn's BROADWAY SHOWSTOPPERS). For some reason this radio show included the entire original overture -- but this too has been recorded by McGlinn in modern sound, as has, for that matter, "Heaven in My Arms".

Beyond this you get a little of Eve Arden slightly miscast as a society matron and the gibberings of swishy Walter Catlett. It would be one thing to hear the entire radio broadcast, but this abridged selection really isn't worth almost $20 unless you happen to have an archival bent. McGlinn is currently recording ALL of Kern's work beyond what he hasn't already gotten to. Unless you are a real fanatic, better to just wait for the full recording of this show that will come out of that project.

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