TRIUMPH OF LOVE: The Recording Session
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Day 2

Joseph Day 2 of the recording has arrived, and this is the day I am most looking forward to, since Betty will record her show-stopping song from the show, “Serenity,” as well as her second-act number, “If I Cannot Love.” During the first 45 minutes of today’s session, the orchestra records the tracks for “Have a Little Faith” and “Anything,” so that the singers can record the vocals at a later time.

As 3 o’clock approaches, the musicians are rehearsing “Serenity,” which features a beautiful, tug-at-your-heartstring lyric by Susan Birkenhead, whose work throughout the piece is consistenly intelligent, soulful, and often, inspiring. Buckley is now in place at her microphone (John Yap informed me that he brought this microphone over from London expressly for Betty, the same mike he has used for some of the theatre’s other leading ladies over the years), and it is fascinating to watch her record this show-stopping tune: Not only does her voice fill the recording studio in a way that no one else has, but her whole body and face move in response to the song. After the first take, Buckley expresses her desire to “have a marriage of the voice and instruments, so that the sound resonates together.”

Another wonderful take of the song is completed, and Buckley joins the group in the sound booth to listen to the playback of both versions. She and lyricist Birkenhead discuss whether Betty should speak the word “cruel”–in the line “cannot beguile that cruel, untenable tyranny”–as she did in the show or sing it for the recording.

The two agree that even though speaking the word was very dramatic in the theatre, for the recording it would be better to sing the word. It is slight modifications in her work that make Buckley such a riveting performer, and when she returns to do a third take, her version is even more thrilling than before. Buckley requests one last take, and to everyone’s surprise, this version is the best of them all.

“Serenity” is completed by four o’clock, just as the show’s prince, Christopher Sieber arrives. The next half hour is spent recording his solo, “Issue in Question,” and Sieber, who has been cast as the Olsen twins’ dad on a sitcom for this fall, sounds great, building the song to a wonderful high note at the end. The orchestra records the three different sections of “What I Have Done,” for Egan to sing to on Tuesday. By this song’s conclusion, it is now time for dinner.

Immediately following the break, Nancy Opel, Roger, Kevin and Chris record “The Sad and Sordid Saga of Cecile.” By ten of seven Betty records the show’s wonderful closing line: “Maybe we’ll meet someone at the wedding,” and a few minutes later she readies herself to record her second-act solo, “If I Cannot Love,” which was cut during previews for storytelling purposes. Yap wisely realizes that Betty’s appearance on the album will be the main reason why most people will purchase the album, and he is anxious to record any tune that involved her.

While Betty rehearses, producer Margo Lion talks to me a about producing for the theatre. “It’s all about the process,” Lion admits “and [having] a joyful experience.” She relates that she has received many calls about a recording for Triumph, a show that she feels audiences enjoyed more than any other show she has produced.

By 7:50 Betty is ready for her first take of “If I Cannot Love,” and the results are spirit-rousing. To listen to the way she builds the song, from a quiet contemplative mode to the more joyful, full-voiced finale is a lesson in song interpretation. And her sound on the song’s final line–“If I cannot love, I’ll learn, I’ll learn, I’ll learn”–is nothing less than thrilling. Deciding that nothing could top hearing “Serenity” and “If I Cannot Love” recorded, I left the studio at 8:15. It’s been an emotional experience, not only to hear such wonderful voices and performances, but to realize how beautiful much of the score is. When I attended the show in the fall I was particularly impressed with “Serenity,” but did not realize how wonderful many of the other songs are.

Listening to the tunes during these past two days, I was struck by the beauty of much of Susan Birkenhead and Jeffrey Stock’s work, particularly “Teach Me Not to Love You,” whose lyric is as beguiling as the tune; “This Day of Days,” a bouncy, uplifting melody; and two of Buckley’s duets, one with Abraham (“The Tree”) and the other with Egan (“You May Call Me Phocion”). The Triumph of Love recording on Jay Records promises to be a terrific addition to the musical theatre canon.

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