I Love My Wife: A Musical / Beechman, Pendleton

$9.49
Label
Harbinger Records
Release Date
February 14, 2020
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      COLEMAN STEWART
    • PERFORMER
      Beechman, Pendleton
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      February 14, 2020
    • UPC
      632433360125
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      HCD3601
    • LABEL
      Harbinger Records
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Soundtracks & Film Scores
    Works ⌄

    1. Act I: Introduction

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Michael Stewart

    2. Act I: Introduction to We're Still Friends

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Michael Stewart

    3. Act I: We're Still Friends (Company)

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Michael Stewart, Laurie Beechman, Austin Pendleton, Cy Coleman

    4. Act I: Introduction to Monica

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Michael Stewart

    5. Act I: Monica (Alvin, Monica, Four Guys)

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Michael Stewart, Laurie Beechman, Austin Pendleton, Cy Coleman

    6. Act I: Introduction to A Mover's Life

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Michael Stewart

    7. Act I: A Mover's Life (Alvin, Four Guys)

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Michael Stewart, Laurie Beechman, Austin Pendleton, Cy Coleman

    8. Act I: Introduction to By Threes

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Michael Stewart

    9. Act I: By Threes (Wally, Alvin, Harvey)

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Michael Stewart, Austin Pendleton, Laurie Beechman, Cy Coleman

    10. Act I: Introduction to Love Revolution

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Michael Stewart

    11. Act I: Love Revolution (Cleo)

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Michael Stewart, Austin Pendleton, Cy Coleman

    12. Act I: Introduction to Someone Wonderful I Missed

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Michael Stewart

    13. Act I: Someone Wonderful I Missed (Monica, Cleo)

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Michael Stewart, Austin Pendleton, Cy Coleman

    14. Act I: Introduction to Sexually Free

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Michael Stewart

    15. Act I: Sexually Free (Alvin, Cleo, Wally)

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Michael Stewart, Laurie Beechman, Austin Pendleton, Cy Coleman

    16. Act II: Hey There, Good Times (Harvey, Stanley, Quentin, Norman)

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Michael Stewart, Laurie Beechman, Austin Pendleton, Cy Coleman

    17. Act II: Introduction to Lovers on Christmas Eve

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Michael Stewart

    18. Act II: Lovers on Christmas Eve (Monica, Wally, Norman)

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Michael Stewart, Laurie Beechman, Austin Pendleton, Cy Coleman

    19. Act II: Introduction to the Blessing

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Michael Stewart

    20. Act II: The Blessing

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Michael Stewart, Laurie Beechman, Austin Pendleton, Cy Coleman

    21. Act II: Introduction to Everbody Today Is Turning On

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Michael Stewart

    22. Act II: Everybody Today Is Turning On (Alvin, Wally)

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Michael Stewart, Laurie Beechman, Austin Pendleton, Cy Coleman

    23. Act II: Introduction to Married Couple

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Michael Stewart

    24. Act II: Married Couple (Alvin, Cleo, Wally, Monica)

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Michael Stewart, Laurie Beechman, Austin Pendleton, Cy Coleman

    25. Act II: Introduction to Reprises

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Michael Stewart

    26. Act II: By Threes - Someone Wonderful I Missed - A Mover's Life - Sexually Free - Everybody Today Is Turning On - Married Couple (reprise)

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Michael Stewart, Laurie Beechman, Austin Pendleton, Cy Coleman

    27. Act II: Introduction to I Love My Wife

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Michael Stewart

    28. Act II: I Love My Wife (Alvin, Wally)

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Michael Stewart, Laurie Beechman, Austin Pendleton, Cy Coleman

    29. When Jill Is Gone

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Cy Coleman

    30. I Really Love You

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Cy Coleman

    31. All For Love

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Cy Coleman

    32. Wedding Song

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Cy Coleman

    33. When It Comes To Loving

      Composer: Cy Coleman

      Performer: Cy Coleman


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 the 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?