Shortly after the show's run, the cast of the original production motored up to the excellent recording studio at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. The resulting CD contains all the music from the show, one dialogue scene, and one additional instrumental piece. Abundant annotations include all the song lyrics. It is, in short, the very best way to find out what "All About Love" is all about. The "All About Love" CD is $9.95 per CD plus $2 shipping and handling per order ($3 shipping and handling for orders outside the USA). There are two ways to order: 1. If you wish pay by credit card, or are ordering from outside the USA, you must use PayPal: Click here for PayPal orders. 2. If you both (a) live in the US and (b) would rather pay by check or money order, click here. |
Comments / Track List / Order the CD via PayPal / Order the CD via check or money order
"The story you're telling is a provocative one, and your score is refreshingly contemporary in tone. . . . I'm glad to have had the chance to become acquainted with your work."
--Clifford Lee Johnson III, Director, Musical Theatre Program, Manhattan Theatre Club
"I love it!"
--Gordon Rumson, Canadian Pianist and Composer, founder of Sikesdi Press
"That's some wonderful music."
--Michael Shea, Composer and Pianist
It's wonderful! The music is lush and romantic, the lyrics are smart and touching. ... You also found a fine cast to sing your songs.
--Patrick Brassell, Playwright
After listening to "All About Love" (several times), I must say I'm quite impressed with both the lyrics and the music. The Symposium is especially difficult, since even in the other dialogues where drama predominates over argument (e.g., the Phaedo), the argument is fairly clear - & Socrates always "wins." Here I'm not so sure there is a "winner" (is the "other half" myth of Aristophanes "wrong?")
Resetting the drama in the 20s creates an interesting "mirror" effect - & the "Cole Porter" music & lyrics create just the right sense of distance. (A contemporary setting would be problematic - a discussion about "love" in the narcissistic 90s?)
Rod Mortimer, Poet & Editor Top
1 |
Overture (instrumental) | 5:43 | The usual inspirational hodgepodge of show themes. Nothing from Alcibiades, though, who wasn't invited... |
2 |
Hangover Music (instrumental) | 1:19 | Some unutterably stupid music for the characters' entrance. |
3 |
Wherever Love Goes (Phaedrus and cast) Click here to view the lyrics. | 2:36 | Shallow, perky, fun, in 1930s style. |
4 |
Two Aphrodites (Pausanias) | 3:01 | Pausanias contrasts the two Aphrodites: the shallow one (who likes women and boys) and the mature one (who likes young men). Big band sound. |
5 |
Medicinal Love (Eryximachus with Agathon and Pausanias) | 3:18 | A gentle showtune in waltz time. |
6 |
Proud Round People (instrumental underscoring) | 1:02 | This mock-heroic music goes underneath Aristophanes' explanation of our origins - for which he uses a cheeseball as a prop. |
7 |
Sad Round People (the same, 'cept different) | :32 | The cheeseball is cut in half... |
8 |
Lost and Found (Aristophanes and cast) Click here to see a lead sheet of the first part. | 4:09 | A serious moment, blossoming into a very big showtune. |
9 |
This Is Love (Agathon with Aristophanes, Pausanias, and Phaedrus) | 4:11 | Agathon's song is light, pretty, and tough to put your finger on. The flute, oboe and harp weave garlands around the melody. |
10 |
Socrates' speech (dialogue between Socrates and Agathon) | 4:33 | Socrates gets Agathon to admit that love is exactly the opposite of what he thought, whatever that was. |
11 |
All About Love (Diotima) | 6:52 | Almost operatic in character, Diotima serves as Socrates' mouthpiece, exploring the eternal, ideal nature of beauty. |
12 |
Sketch of Alcibiades (instrumental) | 2:24 | Eight bars of entrance music expanded into a symphonic sketch of Alcibiades. |
13 |
Nothing At All (Alcibiades and cast) | 5:43 | A comic tango in which Alcibiades describes his attempt to seduce Socrates. |
14 |
Anthem (cast) | 3:30 | An ancient-sounding, faintly Irish hymn to love, followed by the show's coda. |
CD produced by Seat of Our Pants Productions
Arrangements were created on Opcode Studio Vision Pro; sound modules were a Roland JV-2080 with orchestral expansion board, an E-Mu Proteus 2-XR and Proteus 3-XR, and an Ensoniq SD-1.
Recording engineers for vocal session: David Rick, Seventh String Recording/Greg Heimbecker, University of Northern Colorado Recording Studio.
Recording engineer for instrumental sessions, mixdown sessions, and mastering sessions: David Rick
Copyright 1998, Mark Arnest, Lauren Arnest, and Murray Ross