Baby (1983 Original Broadway Cast)

Maltby and Shire's ode to impending parenthood Baby follows three expectant couples: unmarried college students (Liz Callaway, Todd Graff), empty nesters (Beth Fowler, James Congdon), and thirtysomethings who have been trying desperately to conceive (Catherine Cox, Martin Vidnovic). As the couples explore their different reactions to their situation, the songs alternate between humor and heart-tugging drama. In "I Want It All," the women weigh what they want out of their pregnancies and subsequent lives, while the men express their pleasure in the funky "Fatherhood Blues." In the emotional centerpiece of the show, "The Story Goes On," Callaway reacts after feeling her baby kick for the first time, while "The Ladies Singing Their Song" takes a gentle poke at well-meaning advice givers (Sondheim's ladies who lunch at a different phase of life). This long-awaited reissue of the 1983 original Broadway cast recording captures Jonathan Tunick's orchestrations of shimmering strings and sassy brass and also includes Fowler's solo "Patterns," a gem cut from the original production. Leading the strong cast is Callaway, who was nominated for a Tony (as was Graff and the show, score, book, director, and choreographer) and who later went on to star on Broadway as Grizabella in Cats, perform voiceovers for animation (Anastasia, the Aladdin sequels), and rerecord "The Story Goes On" as the title track of her 1995 solo album. This Baby is a most welcome arrival. --David Horiuchi