From the Archives - The Broadway Sound

By Frank Byrne,

Brooke Knoll

Published October 30, 2023 at 10:02 AM CDT

Kansas City native Robert Russell Bennett was the most respected arranger/orchestrator of theater music in the golden age of Broadway. In the first of three shows about him, we sample a tiny fraction of the 300 Broadway scores that he worked on over his long and influential career.

Compositions and Recordings

'Show Boat' Overture
by Jerome Kern/Bennett
John McGlinn and the London Sinfonietta

'Girl Crazy 'Overture
by George Gershwin/Bennett
John McGlinn and the New Princess Theater Orchestra

'Anything Goes' Overture
by Cole Porter/Bennett
John McGlinn and the London Sinfonietta

Stiff Upper Lip
by George Gershwin/Bennett
John McGlinn and the New Princess Theater Orchestra

Selections from 'Oklahoma'
by Richard Rodgers/Bennett
Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops

Waltz from 'Cinderella'
by Richard Rodgers/Bennett
Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops

'On a Clear Day' Overture
by Burton Lane/Bennett
Theodore Saidburg and On A Clear Day Orchestra