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Noel Coward's Sail Away / Original Broadway Cast


Release Date: 03/10/2011 
Label:  Emi Classics   Catalog #: 64759  
Composer:  Noel Coward
Performer:  Elaine Stritch,  Charles Braswell,  Patricia Harty,  James Hurst,   ... 
Number of Discs: 1 
Recorded in: Stereo 
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This CD is reissued by ArkivMusic.

Notes and Editorial Reviews

Track Listing
1. Sail Away: Come to Me
2. Sail Away: Sail Away
3. Sail Away: Where Shall I Find Her?
4. Sail Away: Beatnik Love Affair
5. Sail Away: Later Than Spring
6. Sail Away: The Passenger's Always Right
7. Sail Away: Useful Phrases
8. Sail Away: You're a Long, Long Way from America
9. Sail Away: The Customer's Always Right
10. Sail Away: Something Very Strange
11. Sail Away: Go Slow, Johnny
12. Sail Away: The Little One's ABC
13. Sail Away: Don't Turn Away from Love
14. Sail Away: When You Want Me
15. Sail Away: Why Do the Wrong People Travel?

Principal cast: Elaine Strich (Mimi Paragon); James Hurst Read more (Johnny Van Mier); Patricia Harty (Nancy Foyle); Grover Dale (Barnaby Slade); Charles Braswell (Joe The Purser); Paul O'Keefe (Alvin Lush).

Recorded October 8, 1961. Includes liner notes by David Foil.

All songs written by Noel Coward.

Audio Mixer: Mikey Williams.

Audio Remasterer: Bob Norberg.

Liner Note Author: David Foil.

Recording information: Studio 2000.

Sail Away, with a script and songs by Noël Coward, who also directed it, is notable as his first musical for Broadway in more than 20 years, since Set to Music in 1939. Coward has chosen a shipboard setting, although times have changed since Cole Porter tried the same thing with Anything Goes back in 1934; these days, people usually travel by airplane, though they still take pleasure cruises, and that's what's depicted in Sail Away, with Elaine Stritch portraying a cruise director romanced by a younger passenger. Well into her 30s, Stritch is no ingénue, and she is no one's idea of demure. But that may make her an ideal Coward heroine. The best of the songs here are not the romantic ballads, but rather the ones that display Coward's brittle wit, such as "Useful Phrases" (it ridicules books offering translations of common terms for tourists) and the concluding number, "Why Do the Wrong People Travel?," both of which Stritch nails. Also full of biting humor are the twin songs "The Passenger's Always Right" and "The Customer's Always Right," sung by the same actors, alternately playing ship stewards and street vendors, led by Charles Braswell, and "Beatnik Love Affair," sung by Grover Dale. The love songs, in contrast, such as Stritch's "Something Very Strange" and "Where Shall I Find Him?," just can't compete, which may explain why the show is more amusing than moving. ~ William Ruhlmann
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Works on This Recording

1. Sail Away by Noel Coward
Performer:  Elaine Stritch (Voice), Charles Braswell (Voice), Patricia Harty (Voice),
James Hurst (Voice), Grover Dale (Voice), Paul O'Keefe (Voice)
Period: 20th Century 
 Date of Recording: 1961 

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review:  ( 1 Customer Review )
 Loved the show in London May 27, 2012 By William K. (Rochester, MN) See All My Reviews "I saw the show in London, and immediately bought this New York Cast recording on vinyl, which I still have. I thought the show was a hoot, particularly the comedy numbers, "The Little One's A B C", "The Passenger's Always Right", and "The Customer's Always Right". I caught Elaine Stritch chatting about her career on TV recently, but she didn't mention the show.

I'd certainly buy a ticket if it came anywhere near me." Report Abuse
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