Record Stores: Frustrations of a Musical Theatre Fan

I was at Borders and HMV Heeren last week, trying to scrounge for a couple of Original Cast Recordings (OCR) of musical theatre scores. A year ago, HMV Heeren had a semi-decent collection of what they called "Shows" recordings, lining half a wall on the third floor, taking up about two of their display racks. My recordings of Aspects of Love and Into the Woods were purchased from this store. Now, this section has been relegated to one third of a rack, tacked on at the end of a substantial display of movie soundtrack CDs. They even had more compilation albums (The Best of Broadway, the Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection etc) than recordings of individual shows.

Things were slightly better at Borders but not by much. A few years ago, I bought Sondheim's "Sunday in the Park with George" from Borders and the store was known for having copies of the not-so-blockbuster shows. The title cards in the display rack showed tantalising evidence of CDs that might once have been on sale but are now no longer in stock (or presumably on the inventory - show music is hard to move, so I suppose these titles are not high on the stockist's priority). The available recordings were strangely retro, with more than a few original Broadway cast recordings of shows that debuted in the 1950s and 1960s.

Neither Broadway nor the West End are anywhere close to being satisfactorily represented, but Broadway appears to have gotten the slightly longer end of the stick. OBCRs like Chicago and The Chorus Line at least had more than one copy on display. Even OLCRs of old standbys by ALW were hard to come by. The recording of The Woman in White, Lloyd Webber's latest West End offering, was available at HMV, but it was just one miserable copy, at the exhorbitant "import" price of $65. I know that pricing of these things has to do with exchange rates, but come on, $65???

You would also think that nobody on Broadway or the West End had mounted a new musical in years. Mamma Mia! does not count in my book - it's more of a pastiche revue than a musical. On that score, Smoky Joe's Cafe does not count either. In the two stores, I could get Julie Andrews and Angela Lansbury singing roles they originated in the theatre, but not recordings of the recent Broadway hits, Avenue Q, Wicked or even The Boys from Oz, Hugh Jackman's star-turn on Broadway. I can't figure it out - I know classics will always have their market, but would a modern hit musical not have some following? Maybe the classic recordings are just cheaper to bring in (it is all economics, I suppose).

Even the provision of the "staples" disappoint. Les Miserable has had 4 high-profile recordings. In both stores, only the 10th Anniversary recording was available. This is a excellent "live" recording, but best experienced with the visuals on the DVD. An enthusiast seeking a purely audio recording would have no options at all. The other block-buster musical, Phantom of the Opera, was available in both its full-length 2 CD and highlights versions. Still, the number of copies in-store was far fewer than the copies of the soundtrack for the movie version (found in the Soundtrack section, of course). I suppose we are now to accept Gerard Butler as an acceptable substitute for Michael Crawford (not even close, mate, no disrespect to Mr Butler) and Emmy Rossum for Sarah Brightman (I actually find Brightman's singing unpleasantly affected, but Rossum's uncertain technique is a far greater disadvantage on record). Heck, if they start making movie versions of all the big musicals (Sunset Boulevard seems a go, and Les Mis cannot be far behind), who would ever need cast recordings anymore?

Yes, both stores would say that if they can order in the titles that you want. That's all fine and dandy, but that means no browsing, considering of options (such as different recordings of the same show), no chance to have you eye caught by a CD cover design or the name of a performer. If I know exactly what I am looking for down to the CD number, I don't need to order at a store - Amazon.com is more convenient and just about as affordable. And for the more advanced, many sites offer legal digital downloads of entire albums. emusic.com is my latest find; it carries smaller labels and has OCR's such as 25th Annual Puttnam Spelling Bee and Falsettoland for download.

It's like musical theatre is a niche genre that cannot justify the inventory costs or shelf space. I think musical theatre is just as accessible as classical music, which is still decently represented (but more on that another time). It's certainly much less "difficult" than opera, and HMV has a whole rack of opera recordings, plus another of opera DVDs. Is it stuck in a vacuum - too high brow for some, too low brow for others? Or is it hampered by the relatively limited offerings of "live" musical theatre on the local stage? Does it really not enjoy much of a following here?

Or has it always has its share of admirers, but who have ceased to purchase from local record store? Perhaps they have discovered the joys of online shopping or purchase from overseas stores, either when travelling or through friends. Certainly, there are many viable options for fans, and the lack of options in local retail stores is not a crisis. But I do lament the loss of visibility for the genre, and the inevitable relegation to minority niche status.