I Love My Wife Backers' Audition
PERFORMED BY CY COLEMAN
AND MICHAEL STEWART
NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER
Release Date: February 14, 2020
Another in Harbinger Records’ acclaimed series of Broadway Backers’ Auditions, I Love My Wife Backers’ Audition is a swinging romp about swinging singles with an equally swinging score by Cy Coleman and Michael Stewart. And it’s those songwriters who play the score and narrate the story. Singing duties are also shared by Broadway legend Laurie Beechman and Broadway mainstay Austin Pendleton. This merry quartet has a ball and so will listeners.
The recording was made to send out to potential backers to entice them to invest in the show. Those who did found this intimate show (the musicians also played parts in the piece) to be a sleeper hit. It opened at Broadway’s Ethel Barrymore Theatre on April 17, 1977 and entranced the critics. New York Times critic Clive Barnes enthused that the show was “bright, inventive, amusing and breezy.” It ended up playing a remarkable 857 performances.
Our recording also features bonus tracks from two other Cy Coleman shows, Atlantic City, with lyrics by Christopher Gore, and Home Again, with lyrics by Barbara Fried. The five songs excerpted from their demo recordings suggest the range of Coleman’s output
in the 1970s.
And for I Love My Wife, informative liner notes by Coleman biographer Andy Propst explain it all. How two couples from the suburbs of Trenton, New Jersey, spend a rollicking Christmas Eve. These friends, with a little help of strong eggnog and other libations (some smoked), decide to explore a ménage-à-quatre. They make it as far as the bed when...Well, we’ll let Mr. Coleman and Mr. Stewart tell you the story. The songs, the story and the enthusiastic creators make this CD a joy to listen to. The 12-page booklet also contains photos from the original Broadway production.
I Love My Wife Backers’ Audition makes for a joyful listening experience and a bit of nostalgia for people of a certain age. A huge hit on Broadway, a rousing score, narration by the creators and performances of two of Broadway’s finest talents. What more could one hope for in today’s parlous times?
TRACKS:
1. Introduction
2. Introduction to We’re Still Friends
3. We’re Still Friends
4. Introduction to Monica
5. Monica
6. Introduction to A Mover’s Life
7. A Mover’s Life
8. Introduction to By Threes
9. By Threes
10. Introduction to Love Revolution
11. Love Revolution
12. Introduction to Someone Wonderful I Missed
13. Someone Wonderful I Missed
14. Introduction to Sexually Free
15. Sexually Free
16. Hey There, Good Times
17. Introduction to Lovers on Christmas Eve
18. Lovers on Christmas Eve
19. Introduction to The Blessing
20. The Blessing
21. Introduction to Everybody Today Is Turning On
22. Everybody Today Is Turning On
23. Introduction to Married Couple
24. Married Couple
25. Introduction to Reprises
26. By Threes / Someone Wonderful I Missed / A Mover’s Life /Sexually Free / Married Couple
27. Introduction to I Love My Wife
28. I Love My Wife
BONUS TRACKS
From Atlantic City
Lyrics by Christopher Gore
29. When Jill Is Gone
30. I Really Love You
From Home Again
Lyrics by Barbara Fried
31. All for Love
32. Wedding Song
33. When It Comes to Loving
Other entries in the Harbinger Songwriters Series include All-American Backers’ Audition, Barnum Backers’ Audition, Hugh Martin: Hidden Treasures, Noel Coward Sings Sail Away and Other Coward Rarities, and Richard Rodgers: Command Performance.
Pre-Order at Amazon
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