Swingtime Canteen - CD - Original Cast Recording

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A musical employing vintage songs from its 1944 setting, Swingtime Canteen ran over 300 performances after its off-Broadway opening on March 14, 1995, goosed by such guests as Emily Loesser, Mary Cleere Haran and Maxene Andrews (who died during the run). It took another year for the Performing Arts Preservation Association (PAPA) to undertake this cast recording. One good reason for the delay is that, as with other shows filled with familiar material, whatever the merits of the stage version, a cast album isn't much more than a collection of those songs, which are forced to compete with the more familiar recordings. The spirited, five-woman cast does its best, but they aren't likely to make you forget the Andrews Sisters, Betty Hutton or the others who put their stamp on these songs. As Haran and Loesser turn up for a song each, and Andrews provides a spoken introduction.

William Ruhlmann