Mark Reeves Music

I was totally disapointed with the new orchestrations for this production. While Russell Bennett's original orchestrations were performed by a full pit orcestra, and were sophisticated, yet witty, these new orchestrations are so thin that they are "painful to the ear." There must by only a handful of musicians in the orchestra. I definitely do not recommmend this recording. I will continue enjoying the Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews original. You cannot improve upon perfection.

Daryl

This cast album to the 2001 London revival of MY FAIR LADY is simply superb, despite the presence of Martine McCutcheon, who turned out to be a problematic choice for the role of Eliza Doolittle.

Coming via the prestigious National Theatre, this lavish revival of MY FAIR LADY moved to the West End for a triumphant run of nearly 3 years. Jonathan Pryce (MISS SAIGON) is perfect for the role of the irascible Henry Higgins, the phonetics professor who unwittingly takes Eliza under his wing and transforms her into a lady who rides to success at the Embassy Ball.

Martine McCutcheon was perhaps a smart choice for Eliza (at that time), but her light-pop voice hardly does justice to the material. McCutcheon repeatedly made headlines with her frequent illnesses, culminating in a blood-clotting condition which left her hospital-bound for a month. The role of Eliza generally calls for a "legit" soprano voice, (eg- Julie Andrews, Sally Ann Howes, Liz Robertson).

Dennis Waterman is ideal for the role of the oh-so-cockney dustman Alfred P. Doolittle. He is simply infectious with all his numbers, "With a Little Bit of Luck" and "Get Me to the Church on Time". Very much the modern-day equivalent of Stanley Holloway.

The cast is rounded out by Nicholas le Prevost (as Colonel Pickering), Mark Umbers (as Freddy Eynsford-Hill), Patsy Rowlands (as Mrs Pearce) and Caroline Blakiston (as Mrs Higgins).

All-in-all, this new cast album of MY FAIR LADY is superb, featuring sparkling new performances and lovely new musical arrangements by William David Brohn.

I saw this production in London last summer (2002) and was absolutely blown away. I KNEW I had to get the CD so I could relive the magic of the whole show.

I do enjoy this CD. Dennis Waterman is as funny on the CD as I remembered as Alfred P. Doolittle. Jonathon Pryce is truly amazing on the CD as Prof. Higgens. I saw Alex Jennings, so it was kind of fun to hear Pryce's interpretation of Higgens. I absolutely adored Joanna Riding as Eliza, so I figured that Martine could not be too bad since she had the role first. It really is too bad that Joanna did not get to be Eliza on this recording since she was amazing and Martine is less than stellar. Mark Umbers shines as Freddy Eynsford-Hill, as did Peter Prentice when I saw him in this role.

The music does have a few surprises for the listener who is used to Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison or Audrey Hepburn (Marni Nixon) and Rex Harrison. Stanley Holloway would have fun with the changes in his music that Dennis Waterman gets to play with.

All in all the recording is excellent. If you're like me and sing along with the music, sing over Martine and you'll be fine!

Over here in the UK, there has been a lot of controversy about this production of "My Fair Lady". Initially, the casting of a TV soap star in the lead part of Eliza caused some raised eyebrows, but after superlative reviews from the press, Ms. McCutcheon's subsequent acute blood clotting and throat infection got even higher brows as she failed to play even half of the performances at the National Theatre.

No doubt Ms. McCutcheon was still ill during the recording of this show, since she has to be the weakest link. It is a shame that with all other performances glowing - both in the acting and singing departments. The orchestra under William Brohn's orchestrations sounds wonderfully rich and spirited and plays brilliantly.

Unfortunately, Martine McC. sings like an untrained school girl: often flat, her voice lacks warmth and dimension, and when trying to "sing" "poshly" her accent goes down the drain to form a most unpleasant hybrid.

I give this recording 4 stars simply because it is truly stunning - a better bet for your money than any of the others. However, you may just have to skip through Eliza's tracks.

Granted the book was a little long and could have done without certain sections in the book. But the book was still well written and had a good story. I guess the book was supposed to immortalize Zephram Cochrane much like Shatner and the Nexus have done to James T. Kirk and TNG with Scotty.

One of the few books I have read more than once and every time it's wonderful.

Rock on.

I have read a number of Star Trek novels, some better than others, some I did not bother finishing. I hated putting this one down and I hated worse when it was over. I didn't want it to end. A great read. Buy it.

I am not going to go into as much detail as the prior reviewers. However, I heartily concur with their reviews of this book and the suggestion by one reviewer that this would have made a better movie as Trek movies crossed from the original crew to the New Generation. Suffice it to say that I felt this was this best Star Trek book I have ever read. The plot line development took a bit getting used to right off the bat, but I soon recognized what the authors were doing. That was probably because I went in expecting a standard Trek book and got this. So it took me a bit for the "shock" to wear off. The plot development is a bit like the movie "Syriana" (sp?). In that, instead of the traditional plot line taking you from point A to point B, the plot here started out at multiple then all those plot lines converged on a central point. Either way, as I said, definitely the best Trek book I have read.

Years go by, and a book comes along, that makes you wonder what is fact, what is fiction, what is faction; a book that makes you want to read it all over again; that makes you read each and every single word from the front cover of the dust jacket to the last bar code on the back of the jacket; that makes you stay awake in fear lest if you fall asleep you might break the rhythm of the story, or, be afraid like a child that the adventure might proceed without you to witness it...

This is it.

"Federation" is a story encompassing the biggest figures in the ST Universe, right from Kirk, to Picard, to Cochrane, to Sarek, and the crews from two different Enterprises. It spans 3 centuries, and countless worlds, and goes from here to eternity (and back!) - and I don't just mean literally.

Its the 21st century, and Zephram Cochrane is being celebrated for giving humanity the gift of the First Warp Drive, but not everyone is following Cochrane to shake his hand and to congratulate him. There is someone out there to whom Cochrane is an asset to be acquired and contained and exploited. Incalculable horrors lie in store, not just for Cochrane but for the entire human race, if he gives in. So he must escape.

Meanwhile, its the 22nd Century, and Kirk is battling to escape the scrutiny of a diligent Starfleet Admiral, intent on proving that Kirk is involved in a conspiracy that runs so deep into Starfleet, it could shake the Starfleet to its core, and in fact could mark a premature extinction bell for the entire Federation. Kirk must save his name and his life (in that order) and prove that he is not a traitor, by going against all the rules in the book. The problem is, can he do it before his time runs out?

Meanwhile, its the 23rd century, and Picard is trying his best to see through the double dealings of an extremely shrewd Ferengi, whose agenda is not at all what it seems. Enter the Romulans, and the picture becomes skewed. Enter an ancient evil from two centuries ago and there's no picture any more. But then, how could someone (or something!) survive more than 200 years, and what could be so important that it has to be pursued for more than two centuries?

These three seemingly unrelated stories appear in the book, and the authors expertly intertwine these three threads into a single explosive climax that blew my mind away!

But I'm jumping the gun... the book is much more than just a far-fetched and stretched out climax. It is a treatise, written with the love and respect that the History of the Star Trek Universe deserves in the minds of every die-hard Trekkie. Concepts like warp drive, what exactly is supra-light travel, how is it possible (agreed fictional, but still more convincing than most stuff I've read!), the story of Cochrane's personal journeys through the stars, the origin of the Starfleet Badge Insignia, to name a few. This last element, in my opinion, is the crowning achievement of this book. It melds fact and fiction with such adroitness that it's capable of making converts out of non-believers!

I would recommend this book to all Trekkies out there, as well as all non-Trekkies; if there's one book you want to read about ST, this gets my vote.

Absolute 5 / 5 stuff!