Steven Suskin recommends the YANK! CD for your Holiday Shopping pleasure! And we wind up top of the list! Thanks Steven :)
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"Yank! is the story of two soldiers who meet in boot camp in 1943 and go to war, developing what they used to call a forbidden relationship. The show would seem to call for a pastiche score, filled with Andrews Sisters-type songs. That's where the Zellniks surprised us; the writing is at once raucous — in a WWII soldier sort of way — and incredibly tender. "A Couple of Regular Guys," in fact, is one of the most moving show tunes we've heard in the last five years. "Rememb'ring You/Letters," "You, You," "Click" and "Your Squad Is Your Squad" all impress, with special orchestrations for the album by Jonathan Tunick. The cast was led by Bobby Steggert — who has become a frequent Broadway presence since the York production — and Ivan Hernandez, with a major assist from tap-dancin' Jeffry Denman (who also choreographed).
While the Yank! cast album was not released until February 2014, keep in mind that the new Broadway musicals at the time (2009-10) were Memphis, The Addams Family and 9 to 5. This placed Yank! at the top of that season's list along with The Scottsboro Boys, which opened a few weeks after Yank! at the Vineyard and which did — thanks to the starpower of Kander, Ebb and Stroman — make the jump to Broadway."
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"Yank! is the story of two soldiers who meet in boot camp in 1943 and go to war, developing what they used to call a forbidden relationship. The show would seem to call for a pastiche score, filled with Andrews Sisters-type songs. That's where the Zellniks surprised us; the writing is at once raucous — in a WWII soldier sort of way — and incredibly tender. "A Couple of Regular Guys," in fact, is one of the most moving show tunes we've heard in the last five years. "Rememb'ring You/Letters," "You, You," "Click" and "Your Squad Is Your Squad" all impress, with special orchestrations for the album by Jonathan Tunick. The cast was led by Bobby Steggert — who has become a frequent Broadway presence since the York production — and Ivan Hernandez, with a major assist from tap-dancin' Jeffry Denman (who also choreographed).
While the Yank! cast album was not released until February 2014, keep in mind that the new Broadway musicals at the time (2009-10) were Memphis, The Addams Family and 9 to 5. This placed Yank! at the top of that season's list along with The Scottsboro Boys, which opened a few weeks after Yank! at the Vineyard and which did — thanks to the starpower of Kander, Ebb and Stroman — make the jump to Broadway."
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