All that wonderful Mancini music from the 1982 cabaret-comedy classic PLUS 10 unissued songs! Le Jazz Hot; Gay Paree; Alone in Paris; Cat and Mouse , and the rest of those enchanting songs sung by Julie Andrews, Robert Preston, Lesley Ann Warren et al join unheard gems. Largely moribund since the mid-'60s, the Hollywood film musical has only occasionally piqued the interest of an ambitious filmmaker in the decades since. Nineteen eighty-two's transgender-themed, depression-era romp once again teamed director Blake Edwards with longtime musical collaborator Henry Mancini (whose work here alongside lyricist Leslie Bricusse netted him a Best Song Score Oscar®). But the real news was Edwards's casting of screen musical legend Julie Andrews--his wife--in the typecasting-be-damned lead role of the down-on-her-luck singer who eventually triumphs by passing herself off as both sides of a female impersonator cabaret act. Mancini's score is as playful as the premise, lampooning everything from stuffy operatic clich?s to the "hot jazz" of '30s Parisian cabaret with his deft melodic touch, while he and Bricusse serve up a spare, if nigh-perfect slate of songs to match. Highlighted by Andrews's diva-mocking "Cherry Ripe," sultry takes of "Le Jazz Hot" and "The Shady Dame from Seville," and the show-stopping "Crazy World," the soundtrack also gets masterful turns from fellow musical-comedy legend Robert Preston on the campy "Gay Paree" and an outtake of "You and Me"(a duet with Andrews) as well as Lesley Ann Warren's ditzy delight, "Chicago, Illinois." This remastered 20th-anniversary edition is also fleshed out by 10 previously unreleased cues from Mancini's evocative orchestral score and a rehearsal take of "Shady Lady from Seville." --Jerry McCulley
