Using themes by 19th-century Russian composer Alexander Borodin to musicalize a play set in ancient Baghdad seems the kind of harebrained idea only a crazed producer would have. And we should thank him for it. For Kismet is Broadway at its most demented--just the way we like it. Robert Wright and George Forrest reworked Borodin's music so that it would function as the basis for show songs. And what songs: "Stranger in Paradise" and "Baubles, Bangles and Beads" have become classics, and the rest of the score is delightfully kitsch. Alfred Drake equals his performance in Kiss Me, Kate in a bombastic tour-de-force, and to top it all off, Borodin got a posthumous Tony. Fans (you know who you are) will enjoy the bonus interviews with the leads.
1. Overture / Sands Of Time - Richard Oneto
2. Rhymes Have I - Alfred Drake/Doretta Morrow
3. Fate - Alfred Drake
4. Bazaar Of The Caravans
5. Not Since Nineveh - John Diener/Henry Calvin
6. Baubles, Bangles And Beads - Doretta Morrow/Richard Oneto
7. Stranger In Paradise - Doretta Morrow/Richard Kiley
8. He's In Love! - Hal Hackett
9. Gesticulate - Alfred Drake/Joan Diener/Henry Calvin
10. Night Of My Nights - Richard Kiley
11. Was I Wazir? - Henry Calvin
12. Rahadalkum - Alfred Drake/Joan Diener/Lucy Andonian
13. And This Is My Beloved - Alfred Drake/Doretta Morrow/Richard Kiley/Henry Calvin
14. Olive Tree, The - Alfred Drake
15. Zubbediya, Samahris' Dance - Lucy Andonian
16. Sands Of Time (Finale) - Alfred Drake/Doretta Morrow/Richard Kiley
17. In The Studio
18. Interviews with Alfred Drake, Doretta Morrow, George Forrest
Kismet
