AmericanTheaterWeb Original News & Reviews

One of the things that's really most exciting about getting a package of CDs from Original Cast Records is not knowing what to expect. Recently the company sent over three of the newest discs that they've got in stock and what an intriguing assortment it is. (This doesn't include a fourth disc that was in the package – the most welcome Broadway Unplugged 4).

First off, OCR is distributing the London cast recording of Zorro (from First Night Records), the West End musical that features songs from The Gipsy Kings. For those familiar with the work of this renowned Latin pop group, it should come as no surprise that Zorro is an aural pleasure. The melodies throughout are infectious, particularly with the trio of guitarists strumming away with delicate passion in the band, and in some instances (the early women's chorus number "Libertad" for example) also quite rousing.

Matt Rawle makes for an engaging Diego (a.k.a Zorro). He delivers the show's power ballad "Hope" with gusto and shows a more sensitive side in "A Love We'll Never Live," a duet sung with Emma Williams late in the show. Williams plays Luisa, and this latter song makes it pretty obvious that she is Diego's love interest, but, for want of a synopsis in the booklet that accompanies the CD (the notes are dedicated to the history of the legend of Zorro and its various incarations over the year), it's difficult to say much more about this character, or others such as the seemingly fiery Inez, played by Leslie Margherita who marvelously delivers what might be most famous song from The Gipsy Kings, "Bamboleo." This tune, like many of the songs originally written and performed in Spanish, has been outfitted with some intriguing English lyrics by Stephen Clark. The words don't bear much of a resemblance to the original ones, but they do serve well here, where the song is used as an exuberant number for the show's ensemble.

The Zorro disc, I believe, will serve one of the purposes that most cast recordings should, giving those who have seen the musical a means by which they can relive their experience in the theater. Unfortunately, the absence of a plot outline in the liner notes means that the disc won't necessarily serve a cast recording's second purpose, which is to give those musical fans who've not seen the show a chance to experience it aurally. (Interestingly, even the musical's website is surprisingly light on plot description.) Ultimately, it doesn't matter, though, because Zorro is simply a musical treat, thanks to The Gipsy Kings tunes, which have been adapted and beautifully orchestrated by John Cameron.

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