This show put average teenagers on the map. It also satirized the saga of Elvis going into the army and tackled racism toward Hispanic Americans. And, it produced several hit songs, including “A Lot of Living to Do”, “Put On a Happy Face”, and “How Lovely to Be a Woman”. It played for more than 600 performances and was made into a very successful movie that except for downplaying the racial aspect was reasonably faithful to the original. The recording always has sounded good, but I was totally unprepared for just “how” good this 20-bit reissue would prove. All the voices sound three-dimensional and have great presence without angst, and the orchestra is solid, with an unusually tight bass line. But what impresses most is the clarity of ensemble scenes. In a complicated number like “One Last Kiss”, which has power guitar on the right, violins on the left, brass center to right rear, Dick Gautier’s vocal dead center front, and screaming kids all over the place, you can hear everything without clearly having to sift through any distortion or overlap. It’s almost like being there. You’ll hear more of this show than ever before, and you’ll wish that all Sony Broadway recordings sounded like this–and it’s one of the few times you’ll hear me say “junk your old 1988 CD copy.” You won’t regret it. [4/21/2002]
