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ON THE RECORD: John Bucchino's It's Only Life and Noel Coward's Sail Away
By Steven Suskin
26 Nov 2006
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John Bucchino
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| photo by Aubrey Reuben | This week's column discusses the John Bucchino compilation revue It's Only Life and a reissue (with bonus disc) of the 1961 Noel Coward musical Sail Away.
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It's Only Life [PS Classics PS-639]
The songs of John Bucchino have been turning up, in cabarets and on recordings, for almost 20 years now. The songwriter and his friend Daisy Prince (director of Jason Robert Brown's Songs for a New World, among other things), decided to fit two dozen Bucchino songs into a compilation revue. It's Only Life was initially produced at the 2004 Summer Play Festival. Earlier this year, it was performed in concert as part of the American Songbook series at Lincoln Center. That version has been recorded by PS Classics, and the resulting CD tells us — yes, Bucchino really is that good.
The songs are varied in topic and tone, naturally enough. Many center on love or loss, or a combination of the two; Bucchino's lyrics make them especially contemporary to listeners living in big city jungles, circa 2000. The strength of the songwriter stems from his ability, again and again, to enchant and surprise us. He seems to have studied at the feet of Sondheim (who actually figures in the lyrics of two songs), but it is not a slavish homage. Bucchino is an original, as a composer; as a lyricist, he seems to talk like us and think like us. The words and images are rich and wonderfully human, speaking from the heart to the heart.
The songbook is filled with treasures. "Sweet Dreams," about a pair of mismatched runaways searching for gold in the Golden State; "Playbill," about a fellow at a bar flashing his Playbill from Sondheim's Passion; "On My Bedside Table," about a fellow suffering through a breakup; the uplifting "Grateful"; and "It's Only Life," in which Bucchino helpfully points out that "rhyme is what it doesn't have to do." These are joined by an assortment of always interesting and often beautiful songs: "Unexpressed," "That Smile," "This Moment," "If I Ever Say I'm Over You," and the bluesy "What You Need." "It Feels Like Home" is simply stunning, and perhaps my favorite at the moment.
Bucchino and Prince have been especially fortunate in their cast, drafting some of the finest dramatic singers working in the theatre today: Jessica Molaskey, Gavin Creel, Billy Porter, Brooks Ashmanskas, Andrea Burns. I needn't bother identifying the songs the individual singers sing; each of the singers has at least two wonderful solos.
This revue was devised in hopes of life on the stock and amateur circuit, and it is indeed available for licensing. While the Bucchino name is relatively unknown, It's Only Life is full of honest and rewarding material. Continued...
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