The Cast Recordings of "Side Show"

*Please note that this review was intended to be published on November 17 2016, but life happened*

   2 years ago today, the 2014 Broadway revival of "Side Show" opened. "Side Show" is definitely one of my favorites, up there with "Hamilton", "The Book of Mormon" and "Les Miserables". The score is absolutely beautiful and the story is so lovely and fascinating.  "Side Show" (Music by Henry Kreiger, Book and Lyrics by Bill Russell) is a true story about conjoined twins, Daisy and Violet Hilton, who go from a drabby Side Show in Texas and rise to fame in Vaudeville when they meet two talent scouts, Terry and Buddy. While falling in love with both Terry and Buddy, the two twins go on to become the highest paid vaudeville act of their time. They also go on to star in Tod Browning's film "Freaks". The original Broadway production opened on October 16 1997 and closed on January 3 1998, after 91 performances. The show was nominated for four Tony Awards in 1998. After tweaking the show for a few years, a Broadway revival opened on November 17 2014. Unfortunately, the revised version of the show had the same fate as the original production and closed on January 4 and closed after a short run of 56 performances. Because this is one of my favorite shows of all time and I look for every single excuse to talk about it, I wanted to do a mini compare and contrast of the two cast albums that were recorded of the show, the original and the revival.

    The original production starred the GLORIOUS Emily Skinner and Alice Ripley in the roles of Daisy and Violet Hilton. The first time I listened to the original cast album, I was immediately sucked in. When Skinner and Ripley sang their first duet "Like Everyone Else", I knew I loved this show. If you were to ask me what my favorite part of this cast album is, I'd say whenever Skinner or Ripley simply open their mouths. The original cast album does really wonderful job telling the story and you can easily piece together the story through the songs, which can be hard to do for some shows if you do not have the scenes included in the cast album.

   The supporting cast is phenomenal as well. Jeff McCarthy (Terry) has a very honey like voice and kills all of his character's songs, Hugh Panaro is delightful as Buddy, Ken Jennings is very sinister as The Boss, the owner of the Side Show, and of course Norm Lewis is absolutely phenomenal as the twins' main caretaker, Jake. The original production did have some structural problems. I think that just a few of the songs ran too long and during just a few points, the plot got a little chaotic. But, at the end of the day it is just a beautiful, wonderful, show.

     In 2014, along came the Broadway Revival of "Side Show". From the opening number, "Come Look at the Freaks", you can spot the differences. The main change that they made from the original to the revised version is that went from a nearly sung through show to a standard book musical. So, unlike the original, you might have to do a bit more work to piece together the story, just from the cast album. Another major change that they made is that while the original was more of a "thinking piece", if that makes sense, the new production was a bit more straightforward. I think that every change they made, they made for the better. They fixed the length of some of the songs, cut songs, added songs, and they just really tightened up the show. Some notable additions include a new flashback sequence about the twins' difficult childhood and each of the twin's Vaudeville numbers being replaced with new, much better songs.
 
    The leads in the revival, Emily Padgett and Erin Davie, were PERFECTLY cast. I think it is very hard to compare them to Emily Skinner and Alice Ripley, because both pairs are just so different. Skinner and Ripley's voices are more coarse and powerful, while Padgett and Davie's voices had a sweeter, more modern musical theatre, belt-y sound. Padgett and Davie were robbed of Tony nominations. They were incredible in every single aspect. Ryan Silverman is amazing as Terry, Matthew Hydzick was very good as Terry, David St. Louis was forceful as Jake, and Robert Joy was extremely scary as Sir, which was changed from the Boss in the original production.

My favorite tracks in each album include:
Original Cast Album 
-All of the Daisy/Violet duets.
-More Than We Bargained For (Cut from the revival)
-We Go Together (Cut and replaced for the revival)
-Private Conversation
-You Should Be Loved
-Tunnel of Love (Heavily changed for the revival)

Revival Cast Album 
-All of the Daisy/Violet duets
-Come Look at the Freaks
-The Devil You Know
-Typical Girls Next Door
-The Flashback Sequence
-Ready to Play (Originally "We Go Together")
-Private Conversation

Emily Padgett and Erin Davie as Daisy and Violet Hilton in "Side Show" on Broadway

   I love "Side Show". If you aren't familiar with it, I urge you to listen to it. The music is gorgeous, the story is fantastic, and it is just a tour de force show. If you are looking to become some sort of musical theatre "hipster" who is into stuff that everyone else might not be into, then this is one of the shows that you HAVE to know. Even if you are trying to become a musical theatre crazy, like me, who has stuff to say about almost every single show, you have to know this show. It certainly did not get the justice that it deserved. I could not choose a favorite version of the show. My perfect "Side Show" is a weird mish-mash between the two. The revival was certainly better put together production, but the original was such a small, lovely gem. Just take my word for it, this is one of the best and most underappreciated shows out there. The day I get to see a production, I am going to cry so hard. This show really does mean a lot to me. In my perfect world, the revival would still be running. I could go on and get super mushy, but I am just going to stop here. I love this show with all of my heart. Good night and thank you.