On the Town - The First Full Length Recording

Many people are more familiar with Hollywood's version of On the Town than with the original Broadway show. While Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly's movie is pretty swell in its own right, the score ditched much of Bernstein's electrifying compositions as well as songs like the hilarious "I Can Cook Too." Since the 1944 show had never been properly recorded, original cast members Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Nancy Walker, and Chris Alexander finally got in a studio in 1960 while Bernstein himself conducted the New York Philharmonic. The Philharmonic can be a bit stiff at times, but this tale of three sailors on leave in New York is so full of energy and humor that it could be done by a string quartet and still blow the roof off. --Elisabeth Vincentelli