‘Front Row’ a Showcase for an Eclectic Set of Show Tunes

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VARIOUS ARTISTS

“Front Row Center--The

Broadway Gold Box,

1935-1988”

MCA

This four-disc collection is blessedly not a roundup of the usual suspects--nothing from “Hello, Dolly!” . . . no “Chorus Line,” not even one Sondheim song.

Instead, the discs offer a much more eclectic brew.

This is a wide-ranging assembly of 93 songs from performers, both well known and nearly forgotten, who were once mainstays of American entertainment.

The collection showcases Beatrice Lillie’s droll style, Eddie Cantor’s vaudeville snap, Ethel Merman’s verve (she’s the most represented performer: seven songs), Sammy Davis Jr.’s rhythmic genius, right through to Ralph Bruneu.

Ralph Bruneu?

Yes--from “Doonesbury.”

By the 1980s, the wattage on Broadway had dimmed, though not nearly so much as is suggested here. Aside from “Doonesbury,” the ‘80s musicals represented are “Big River,” “Me and My Girl” and “Romance Romance.” And that’s it.

That’s because other labels (RCA Red Seal, Sony Broadway, Columbia, Geffen) have recorded and reissued most of the great musicals since the 1960s. This collection is heavily weighted toward the treasure trove that MCA owns--the Decca Records catalog, which it bought along with the company in 1962.

Some of the more well-known shows included are “Oklahoma!” (featuring three previously unreleased cuts), “Guys and Dolls,” “Carousel” and “Evita.”

“Front Row Center” comes with a gold booklet featuring a breezy if lackluster commentary that should have done more to help the listener imagine bygone performance styles.

Instead, Max O. Preeo,

editor of Show Music magazine, takes up his limited space with arcana about exterior careers (Carol Burnett’s progress in television) or with cliches (“there had never been a Broadway performer with the brassy sass of Ethel Merman”) rather than describing important ephemera--such as what was happening in the numbers on stage, or why the shows or the songs were important to the history or development of the musical.

But, as it is, some once very famous and now obscure musical numbers speak for themselves--Susan Johnson and Eddie Foy Jr. singing “I Wouldn’t Bet One Penny” from “Donnybrook” are utterly charming, for example.

Even some of the terrible stuff is interesting, such as the dated trilling and overly lush sentiment of “Strange Music” from “Song of Norway,” or the fantastic failures--Katharine Hepburn warbling “Coco,” as if she believed in its tripe with all her heart.

If you love the musical theater, the first 3 1/2 discs will not only be a good supplement to your collection, they will be a pleasure.

* Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).