Who are Broadway's Greatest Leading Men? A most talented and diverse group of actors whose show-stopping performances are unforgettable. They come from different generations and divergent genres of theater. Each performer has a totally unique style. And yet, as we celebrate on this album, all share the star qualities of charm, charisma and personality. If there is a "grandfather" to the fine gentlemen featured on this album, it would have to be George M. Cohan, America's first great Broadway Leading Man. Cohan was industrious - writing, directing and starring in his own musicals. And like this entertainment pioneer, many of the Broadway stars who followed were personalities rather than trained actors or singers. We remember Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor and Bob Hope more for the way they performed than for the shows in which they appeared. Fred Astaire became a dancing legend and an actor of depth in Hollywood, but on Broadway in the 1920s and early '30s, he was simply considered a nimble performer in lightweight fare. In the 1940's, however, an evolution occurred in the theater. Composers such as Rodgers & Hammerstein began to create original shows with fully integrated stories and music. Oklahoma! (1943) and Carousel (1945) even had full passages of dialogue sung or set to music. Musical numbers now came out of dramatic scenes, and it made sense to have a Broadway Leading Man who could 'act' in song as well as in dialogue. This is the versatile performer showcased in Broadway's Greatest Leading Men.
   Over the last sixty years Broadway has been home to the finest performances by leading men in musicals. Decca Broadway offers a sampling of these titanic talents, preserved on disc in newly re-mastered audio glory. They include: The Romantics Alfred Drake (Oklahoma!), John Raitt (Carousel) and Richard Kiley (Man of La Mancha), melting hearts with their golden baritone voices; The actor/singers Yul Brynner (The King and I), Joel Grey (Cabaret), Robert Preston (Mack and Mabel) and Jonathan Pryce (Miss Saigon), bringing life to charming and mercurial characters; Razzle-dazzle showmen like Sammy Davis, Jr. (Mr Wonderful), and Anthony Newley (Stop The World I Want to Get Off; and finally, such stars as Colm Wilkinson (Les Miserables) and Murray Head (Chess) representing the contemporary musical. Curtain Up on our first edition of Broadway's Greatest Leading Men...