Search - Original Cast :: Salvation (1969 Off-Broadway Cast)

AT LAST: THE "OTHER ROCK MUSICAL" IS BACK ON CD!

J. T Waldmann | Carmel, IN, home to the fabulous new Regional Perf | 08/22/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It all began with HAIR.



(from Wikipedia.com): "HAIR, subtitled THE AMERICAN TRIBAL LOVE/ROCK MUSICAL, is a musical about hippies and was a significant part of the drug, music and peace-love culture of the 1960s. It is famous . . . especially for its exceptionally popular score." HAIR premiered off-Broadway on October 17, 1967 before moving to the Biltmore Theatre on Broadway, where it ran for 1,742 performances.



SALVATION opened at the much smaller Jan Hus Playhouse on September 24, 1969, earning a profit, even though it ran for only 239 performances. The original cast recording of HAIR has never been out of print; in 1994 SALVATION appeared as part of the Angel Broadway series and then disappeared. Praise to DRG for this welcome and wonderful reissue.



The plot is fairly unstructured, and, according to C.C. Courtney, ". . . pretty much my life story." It's about his ". . . search to rediscover what he professed to believe in -- in the chaos of the modern world, how relevant is religion to men and women and society as a whole?" Critics were divided. Clive Barnes of The New York Times was in the plus column, calling it "fun and thoroughly endearing . . . A zany, zippy, and disarmingly frank show . . ." However, Jack Kroll of Newsweek called it ". . . a show of stupefying tastelessness, charmlessness, funlessness, tunelessness, witlessness . . ." Needless to say, I'm in the Clive Barnes camp. (quotes from the liner notes of the Angel Broadway release)



There are enough songs to delight and/or offend everyone, including Annie Rachel's poignant "Let the Moment Slip By," "Deadalus," "Let's Get Lost in Now," the it-could-have-been-recorded-by-Simon & Garfunkel "Forever," and the final anthem "Tomorrow Is the First Day of the Rest of My Life." Courtney, co-creator Peter Link, and the entire company are backed by an excellent rock ensemble and a driving Chicago ("25 Or 6 To 4") horn section.



My favorite moment is Chapman Roberts soulfully singing "1001." Amazon.com's review guidelines won't allow me to quote the lyrics, but for me, that song alone is worth the price of the recording.



Highly recommended.



(The above comments are based on the Broadway Angel release. Angel's sound is fine; however DRG's customary, exemplary remastering should make SALVATION sound even better.)

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