Masterworks Broadway Says “Willkommen” to Dench in “Cabaret,” Broadway’s “Seventeen”

Masterworks Broadway is reopening the vaults for the latest two titles in its series of made-on-demand cast recording reissues, and proving that there truly is nothing like a Dame – one Dame Judi Dench, to be exact.  Dench, about to be seen on the big screen in the latest 007 epic Skyfall,  headlines the long out-of-print 1968 London Cast Recording of John Kander and Fred Ebb’s Cabaret, due from Masterworks and Arkiv Music on November 13, just days following the U.S. release of Skyfall.  Cabaret is preceded by the October 22 release of Walter Kent and Kim Gannon’s 1951 Broadway musical Seventeen.

Masterworks’ upcoming reissue marks the first authorized CD-era release of 1951’s Seventeen.  The musical featured a score by the team of Walter Kent and Kim Gannon (“I’ll Be Home for Christmas”) and produced by television’s Uncle Miltie, Milton Berle.  The coming-of-age musical set in Indianapolis circa 1907 was written by Sally Benson (Meet Me in St. Louis) based on a story by Booth Tarkington.  It starred Kenneth Nelson, later to find wider fame as the original Matt in The Fantasticks and Michael in The Boys in the Band.  Burt Bacharach’s first wife, Paula Stewart (Wildcat, Let It Ride!), had a small part as a singer in the orchestra and as an understudy.  Though the musical only managed a 182-performance run, it wasn’t without its charms, which should sparkle more than ever in the new remastering from the original tapes.  You’ll find Seventeen available through Arkiv Music and Amazon.com (digital download and CD-R) on October 22.

After the jump: Judi Dench comes to the Cabaret, and we have track listings for both titles!