A Little Princess

I had the pleasure of seeing the World Premiere of A LITTLE PRINCESS in Palo Alto, CA several years ago, and I will never forget how magical an experience it was. The show was an instant crowd-pleaser. It was the kind of family show that adults would enjoy as much if not more than their children. It was heartfelt, tender, emotional, funny, and featured one of the most beautiful and energetic scores I had ever heard. It got an instant standing ovation the night I saw it, and as I exited the theater the words "Broadway ready" were heard many a time.Sadly, the show never made it to Broadway, and that beautiful score never made it to CD until now. This studio album wonderfully captures the spirit and beauty of the show and will hopefully re-invigorate the Great White Way's interest in it.While every song on the CD is wonderful (I doubt you'll skip any track on the first or any subsequent listens) there are a few stand-outs. "Good Luck, Bonne Chance" is a rousing opening number complete with exotic African beats (The production substituted Africa for the Indian locales of the book, presumably because Africa is musically more interesting). "Live Out Loud" is a wonderful I-Want Song and will undoubtedly be the new audition song of many a young female belter. "Soldier On" is a fantastic anthem and Act One closer, and "Let Your Heart Be Your Compass" and "Timbuktu" are rousing show-stoppers. As a whole, the score sounds like a cross between WICKED and the stage version of MARY POPPINS with a little of THE LION KING mixed in for good measure. It may sound like a weird combination, but it works wonderfully.In terms of the cast, Julia Murney plays Miss Minchin with villainous delight. She delivers the lyrics in her number, "Lucky" as if she is savoring every last wicked word. Laura Benanti's angelic soprano is a perfect fit for Miss Amelia, and Will Chase, who I last saw and heard as Roger in RENT, is unrecognizable but thoroughly enjoyable as Captain Crewe.But the big stand-out of this recording is Sierra Boggess who plays Sarah Crewe. When I saw the original production, Sarah carried the show, and this entire recording falls squarely on Sierra's capable shoulders. While a bit too old to play Sarah on stage, Sierra sounds the part. Her voice has a golden innocence to it, but it is by no means weak. Just listen to her on "Soldier On" or her solo in the middle of "Almost Christmas," and you can hear how powerful and strong Sierra is. We've heard Sierra sing the roles of ingenues before as Ariel in THE LITTLE MERMAID and as Christine Daae in LOVE NEVER DIES, but those roles rarely gave her a chance to belt and let lose. This show does and it makes me very excited to see what this talented performer will do next.I highly recommend this album. If you are a fan of the original novel, musicals in general, or of Andrew Lippa, I guarantee you will not be disappointed.Good luck. Bonne chance.

I've been buying show music since the 1950s, probably a half dozen albums or CDs a year. I listen to each a few times and 90% of the time I put the CD away and never play it again. So I really enjoy only 10% of what I buy but it takes me a long time to decide if I like it. I know that music is so subjective that I rarely pay attention to what others say about the music. To me, the important things are the melodies. I usually like maybe two or three songs on a CD but sometimes I like several songs on a CD. This is one of them. During the past 15 years, there are only two CDs I bought that I really liked, namely "Wicked" and "Der Glockner von Notre Dame." To me, this has some of the best melodies since those two. I saw the show "The Wild Party" and really didn't care for the show or the music. So I figured that Andrew Lippa is not my type of composer. But I read much of what others had written about him and decided to give him another try. I'm glad I did. I'm not only anxious to see "A Little Princess" performed on stage, I'm convinced that Andrew Lippa could write great songs for animated movies. This CD contains many songs that I thoroughly enjoy.

Interesting CD...not quite what I expected, but it was nice to experience the music after hearing so many stories from friends who saw workshop productions of this piece.

The music and quality are great. It includes lyrics and information about the actors in the musical. Very nice!

In fact this product is not for my own.I bought it for one of my friend.And After she recieved it.She said that she was satisfied with it.

beautiful music and a fascinating story. I'm glad I bought this CD. I would like to see A Little Princess on stage.

Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel, A Little Princess, is one of my favorite books. Sadly, I have yet to see an adaptation that does it justice. Some don't even stay true to the story. (Sara's father really is dead. Don't change it!) When I discovered this musical version of it, I had hopes that it would surpass the existing versions. (Surely, someone would have gotten it right by now, I hoped.) Unfortunately, I was disappointed yet again. The songs do not fit the story at all. They are too modern, too busy, and too "belty." The magic and wonder of Frances Hodgson Burnett's story is lost in this rendition. (A big choral number about Timbuktu??? Did the writers even read the book??) If you separate the music from the story, I suppose some of the songs could be kind of fun, and the song "Soldier On" is pretty good, but it still sounds too much like a lot of other recent musicals. Some people like this style. I do to an extent, but am of the opinion that it does not belong to this story. Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess is a wonderful book and it deserves much better treatment than this.

As usual first class