A cast recording is a recording of a musical that is intended to document the songs as they were performed in the show and experienced by the audience. An original cast recording, as the name implies, features the voices of the show's original cast. A cast recording featuring the first cast to perform a musical in a particular venue is known, for example, as an "original Broadway cast recording" or an "original London cast recording". Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... The Fantasticks is the longest-running musical in history Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining music, songs, spoken dialogue and dance. ... For other uses of Broadway, see Broadway. ...

Cast recordings are (almost always) studio recordings rather than live recordings. The recorded song lyrics and orchestrations are identical (or very similar to) those of the songs as performed in the theatre. Like any studio performance, the recording is of course an idealized rendering, more glossily perfect than any live performance could be, and without audible audience reaction. Nevertheless, the listener who has attended the live show expects it to be an accurate souvenir of the experience.

The British were the first to make cast recordings, and they were also the first to make original London cast recordings of shows that had already opened on Broadway, but had not been recorded with their original Broadway cast. This led to the odd situation of having, for example, a 1928 recording of the London cast of Show Boat, but no recording with the actual 1927 Broadway cast, and a recording of the London cast of Sigmund Romberg's The Desert Song, but not of the 1926 Broadway cast - even though both of these shows are Broadway musicals, rather than British ones. This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Show Boat is a musical in two acts with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. One notable exception is the song Bill, which was originally written for Kern in 1918 by P. G. Wodehouse but reworked by Hammerstein for Show Boat, and two songs... Sigmund Romberg (July 29, 1887 – November 9, 1951) was an American composer best known for his operettas. ... The Desert Song was a notable 1926 operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and Otto Harbach, respectively. ...

Prior to the development of original cast recordings, there had of course been recordings of songs from musicals, and collections of several such songs, and recordings of songs performed by cast members; but they were recordings of songs, not recordings of a musical. For example, Danny Kaye made a set of recordings of songs from Lady in the Dark. Even though Danny Kaye was a member of the cast, this was certainly not an original cast recording—not merely because the arrangements and presentation were different, but because in this recording, Danny Kaye performed Gertrude Lawrence's songs! Kaye entertaining U.S. troops at Sasebo, Japan, 25 Oct 1945 David Daniel Kaminsky, known as Danny Kaye (January 18, 1913 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, singer and comedian. ... Lady in the Dark was a Broadway musical written by Kurt Weill (music), Ira Gershwin (lyrics), and Moss Hart (book and direction). ... Gertrude Lawrence (June 4, 1898 - September 6, 1952) was an actress and musical performer popular in the 1930s and 1940s, appearing on stage in London and on Broadway, and in several films. ...

The first American original cast recording as we know it was probably Decca's 1943 recording of Oklahoma!. Earlier candidates exist, such as Marc Blitzstein's 1938 recordings of songs from The Cradle Will Rock The Decca album, however, was a huge commercial success and was systematically followed up by further recordings from Decca, and, soon, all the other record companies. Cast recordings were particularly well suited for the then-new Columbia Records LP and in the early 1950s Columbia, guided by Goddard Lieberson, ascended to leadership and Columbia Masterworks Records's cast recordings came to define the genre. Columbia Masterworks produced the original cast recordings of such shows as Kiss Me, Kate, South Pacific, The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, West Side Story, Gypsy: A Musical Fable, and Camelot), as well as the Soundtrack albums of the film versions of My Fair Lady and West Side Story. It has been suggested that Decca Music Group be merged into this article or section. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Oklahoma! was the first musical play written by composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist/librettist Oscar Hammerstein II (see Rodgers and Hammerstein). ... Marc Blitzstein (March 2, 1905 – January 22, 1964) was an American composer. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... The 1937 musical The Cradle Will Rock by Marc Blitzstein was originally a part of the Federal Theatre Project. ... An LP Long playing (LP), either 10 or 12-inch diameter, 33 rpm (actually 33. ... Goddard Lieberson (April 5, 1911-May 29, 1977) was president of Columbia Records from 1956-71 & 1973-75. ... Columbia Masterworks Records is a subsidiary of Columbia Records. ... Kiss Me, Kate is a Tony Award-winning musical with a book by Samuel and Bella Spewack and music and lyrics by Cole Porter. ... For other other uses, see South Pacific South Pacific is a musical play, with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by both Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. ... For other uses, see The Sound of Music (disambiguation). ... My Fair Lady is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe, based on George Bernard Shaws Pygmalion. ... For The Games song, see Westside Story (song). ... Gypsy: A Musical Fable is a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. ... The 1960 Original Broadway cast recording album cover Camelot is a 1960 musical play by Alan Jay Lerner (book and lyrics) and Frederic Loewe (music). ... A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music from a particular feature film. ...

A 1970 documentary by D. A. Pennebaker, Original Cast Album—Company gives a straightforward view of the making of a cast recording. It shows how the recording studio looks, how performers are arranged, and how the director behaves. The cast feels the pressure of delivering a definitive performance, with a degree of perfection beyond that ever required on stage, under a time limit imposed by the high cost of studio time. Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... D.A. Pennebaker is a documentary filmmaker. ...

Vinyl LP cast recordings were usually released as single discs, and it was not rare for compromises to be made to fit the recording within the forty-to-fifty-minute time limit. For example, obscure songs might be not be included. In the 1980s, the rise of the Compact disc with its 74-minute recording capacity (which was increased to 80 minutes in the 1990s) resulted in improvements in cast recordings, which were now usually capable of including all songs, the full overture and entracte, and, when appropriate, lead-in dialogue to the songs. A compact disc or CD is an optical disc used to store digital data, originally developed for storing digital audio. ...

In recent years, some cast recordings have been recorded live, but maintaining perfect quality. This is due to theaters that contain recording studios within. The Woman in White for example, was recorded live at the Palace Theatre on opening night, and subsequently edited to remove audience noises. However, one number, sung by Michael Crawford, was met with such audible laughter and applause that it had to be re-recorded anyway. Original logo for the musical The Woman in White. ... The Palace Theatre, London, is an imposing red-brick building that dominates the west side of Cambridge Circus, and is located near the intersection of Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road. ... Michael Crawford (right) as Frank Spencer in Some Mothers Do Ave Em Michael Crawford, OBE (born Michael Patrick Dumble-Smith, 19 January 1942 in Salisbury, Wiltshire), is an English actor and singer. ...

See also

• Broadway theatre
• Goddard Lieberson
• List of musicals
• Musical theatre