The Boy From Oz [Soundtrack]

The songs in the album are presented in the context of the rewritten book of the musical, brought to life by wonderful emotive and vocal performances by Hugh and his amazing supporting cast. He brings such tenderness to the bonus track Tenterfield Saddler ( cut from the show but for good reasons), brings the audience to an emotional high with Once Before I Go ( often ended by a rare standing ovation before the end of a show), delights with the joyous or poignant displays in his duets with Judy, Liza, and Greg. His I Go to Rio is such an awesome spectacle you feel like doing the latin dance it evokes. Sadly, the BI-COASTAL number on the disc does not include the now famous audience interaction scenes which have become one the show's most enjoyable moments. Neither does the album fully capture the joyous spirit of Not The Boy Next Door and Everything Old Is New Again. But that is not the fault of this well-conceived album - you simply have to view the performance to capture the visual and vocal appeal of the musical score and its settings... Stephanie Block also delivers impressively in her numbers and Jarrod Emick imbues I Honestly Love You with such honest emotions...But my favourite song is turning out to be ALL THE LIVES OF ME - sung by Hugh with such a wry and poignant expression, one can almost feel the regrets and the joys which marked the life of Peter Allen.

Get the cast album - even better, save like mad and go to New York for that evening of pure entertainment. I have done it - no less than 6 times!

Pro: Following the life of Peter Allan, the Boy From Oz is an undeniably enthusiastic rendering of his life, using songs Allan wrote.
Con: This enthusiasm, however, does sometimes bleed over into happy "cheese." Many people have never heard of Peter Allan until now, and his music does have a somewhat dated sound (70s).

Note: If you don't like Liza Minnelli's voice in real life, you won't like how she's rendered here - it's pretty good! The same goes for the style. The Boy from Oz might be a bit like "Hair" - you either love it or hate it.

Pro: His music was meant to be performed from the get-go, few songs have been converted to the stage.
Con: The CD doesn't do a great job of conveying the character nuances you'd get from seeing a live performance.

Pro: Here Jackman proves his roots as a song and dance man. The Bonus Track "Tenterfield Saddler" (was it cut?) is probably the best as it really shows off Jackman's voice. Jarrod Emick as 'Greg' in "I Honestly Love You" is also talented.

Con: The majority of the show is so 'full on' that the other singers seem to go flat/sharp more often that they should on a professional recording. (In particular, 'Don't Cry Out Loud' is a bit soured because the actress goes sharp a number of times.)

Pro: The show matures as you listen. I tend to think Act II is much better than Act I.

Nitpick: I don't think the CD is that well produced, found a typo, and in 2 songs when 'Minnelli' is singing the sound goes a bit loud/fuzzy as if she's standing too close to the recording microphone. This should have been fixed! (I've checked, it's not my speakers). The pictures are great, however!

So why 4 stars?
Though I've highlighted a few 'cons', I think they generally balance out with the 'pros.' In the end you get a pretty good, busy CD with a lot a decent vocal talent. Jackman and a few others shine above the rest. I don't think it will be remembered forever, but it's not a bad addition to the musical genre.