Broadway Cast Recordings You Should Buy Now

One of the great things about musical theater is that we get a chance to revisit and savor our favorite shows long after they've closed, thanks to cast recordings. Below is a decidedly selective sampling of some of my favorite recordings that have been released over the past few months. If you're like me, you buy everything anyway, but for those of you with a bit more self-restraint, here are ten essential recordings from the past season or so.

Oh, and while I have your attention: these are cast recordings, not soundtracks. Soundtracks are from movies. Cast recordings, or cast albums, are from stage shows. So, for instance, there is currently no soundtrack for Wicked, until such time as someone actually makes the movie version. Whereas The Phantom of the Opera has both numerous cast recordings as well as the movie soundtrack. Just sayin'.

1. The Bridges of Madison County

One of the best scores in many a year. Jason Robert Brown's The Bridges of Madison County recently won Tony Awards for Best Score and Best Orchestrations, despite having closed a few weeks before the ceremony. It's a rich and varied score, with touches of country and classical, all filtered through a modern sensibility. Plus, terrific vocal performances from Kelli O'Hara and Steven Pasquale. Simply gorgeous.Buy from Amazon »

2. Violet

One of the wonderful surprises of the last season was the rediscovery of Violet, an exhilarating musical that played a one-night-only concert last summer and recently transferred to a limited Broadway run. The good folks at PS Classics saw fit to record the revival, and results are stunning. The stirring vocal performances from Sutton Foster, Colin Donnell, and Joshua Henry make this recording a must-have, not to mention Jeanine Tesori's ravishing score.Buy from Amazon »

3. A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder

This show was the big winner of most of the awards this season, and for a very good reason: it's a delight. Much of the show's charm translates to the cast recording. The score to GGLAM is a mixture of Gilbert & Sullivan and Monty Python, and features a number of very fine vocal performances, particularly those of Bryce Pinkham, Lisa O'Hare and Lauren Worsham. I've seen the show three times, and the recording is in constant rotation in my car and on my iPod.Buy from Amazon »

4. Fun Home

My favorite musical from 2013, and a likely Broadway transfer for the 2014-2015 season. Fun Home is a shattering new musical with a score by Jeanine Tesori (also represented on this list with Violet). Fun Home concerns the unlikely subject of a lesbian growing up in a funeral home and dealing with the repercussions of discovering that her father is gay. Daring subject matter, handled marvelously by Tesori and her lyricist, Lisa Kron.Buy from Amazon »

5. The Last Five Years

Another Jason Robert Brown entry on this list, and quite deservedly so. The Last Five Years is a gorgeous piece, with complex characterizations and a varied and rich score. Although the original recording with Norbert Leo Butz and Sherie Rene Scott is also essential, the new recording features a fresh and illuminating take on the show, with appealing performances from both Adam Kantor and Betsy Wolfe.Buy from Amazon »

6. Beautiful: The Carole King Musical

The shows in the jukebox-musical genre are pretty hit or miss -- mostly miss. And the cast albums usually suffer in comparison to the recordings of the original artists. Beautiful: The Carole King Musical is a notable exception, mostly due to the presence of a number of outstanding performers, including Anika Larsen, Jarrod Spector and especially the luminous Jessie Mueller as Carole King. These new recordings of such classics as "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" and "I Feel the Earth Move" may never replace the originals, but they're certainly great to have alongside.Buy from Amazon »

7. Here Lies Love

I was a bit bemused by all the praise for Here Lies Love. To me, it felt like Evita Lite. But I went back to see the show again over the weekend, and I found a lot more to enjoy. I still don't think it's all that and a bag of chips, but I did enjoy the score a lot more the second time around. The music is by David Byrne of the Talking Heads and DJ/producer Fatboy Slim. The score is insidiously infectious, particularly the title number, even if the upbeat nature of the music doesn't always match the sober subject matter (i.e. the rise and fall of Imelda and Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines).Buy from Amazon »

8. The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World

When I saw The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World, I was tremendously moved by story of the infamous recording artists and their obsessive father. Not a lot of people shared my opinion, and the show sort of disappeared, until very recently when the cast recording finally came out. I'm hoping more people will give this admittedly quirky but nonetheless heartfelt show a chance. Even though the show is about a band who can't sing or play instruments, the score to the show is terrific, as are the vocal performances.Buy from Amazon »

9. Marry Me a Little

This little show sort of came and went, but thankfully there's a cast recording for those of us who weren't able to see the show live. Marry Me a Little comprises cut songs from the shows of Stephen Sondheim, arranged into an independent narrative that emerges clearly on the recording. I prefer this recording to the original, thanks to the sparkling presence of Lauren Molina and Jason Tam.Buy from Amazon »

10. Aladdin

I wasn't blown away by the current stage production of Disney's Aladdin, but there's no denying that the score is a winner. Alan Menken and Howard Ashman's terrific original songs are supplemented here with some new ones by Menken and lyricist Chad Beguelin. None of the new songs is in any danger of erasing "A Whole New World" from our collective memories, but there's plenty here to savor, particularly the addition of "Proud of Your Boy," a soaring solo for Aladdin that was written for but cut from the movie.Buy from Amazon »