Dear World is an album containing a recording of the 1969 Broadway musical Dear World made by its original cast, with Angela Lansbury in the lead role. Music and lyrics were written by Jerry Herman. Produced by Thomas Z. Shepard, the album contained 14 tracks. Columbia Records released the album on February 21, 1969. Dear World has been released in several formats since then, including a remastering of the songs for the CD rerelease in the 1990s.

The album received mixed reviews, with a reviewer for High Fidelity calling out the "hypocrisy," while a retrospective by Ruhlmann at AllMusic said that there was a "bad mix of talented creators" present. Other reviewers for Cashbox and Record World magazines instead praised Herman's songs. Despite the mixed critical response, the album reached the bottom half of the US album charts at peak positions varying from No. 128 to No. 75, and two songs were taken from it to form a single released on February 25, 1969. However, the single did not chart.

Background and content Songwriter Jerry Herman received immense success in the mid 1960s with his musicals Hello, Dolly! and Mame, and their soundtracks. Herman cast actress Angela Lansbury, like in Mame, for a lead role in his following musical Dear World. Two songs, "Kiss Her Now" and the title track, had already become easy listening hits in late 1968 for Ed Ames and Jimmy Durante & Maurice Chevalier. Based on a play by Jean Giraudoux, the musical was expected to be another success. After opening on February 6, 1969, the show closed just a few months after with only 132 total performances. The show itself received mostly negative reviews, but Lansbury managed to win the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in April 1969.

Herman used a flavor of French-sounding music for the songs in the musical, which was set in Paris, France. The theme was described as "anti-establishment", with topics such as pollution addressed with songs like "The Spring of Next Year". Songs included ballads like "And I Was Beautiful," a marching song "One Person," a waltz, "I Don't Want to Know," and a medley of songs under the title of "The Tea Party", performed by Jane Connell, Carmen Mathews, and Lansbury. "And I Was Beautiful" was also the song Herman was most fond of. In total, Lansbury appeared as the lead singer in eight of the main songs in the soundtrack.

Recording and release The album was recorded on February 9, 1969, at Mark Hellinger Theatre located in New York City. The theatre was where the musical itself premiered as well. 12 days later, Columbia Records released the album in the US. Dear World was Columbia's first soundtrack album to be released in 1969, and was available in LP, 8-track cartridge, and 4-track cartridge tape formats. "I Don't Want To Know" was released as a single, backed by "One Person" on the B-side. In the 1990s, the album's producer Z. Shepard remastered the recordings and released them again. By the 2020s, the album was released for streaming on digital platforms.

Critical reception

Contemporary reviews Contemporary reviews were mixed, either praising the songs or disliking the idea. Cashbox magazine stated that "While critics didn't quite say, 'welcome,' Dear World, the cast LP is quite pleasurable," Adding that "And it's the warm and graceful tunes and deft lyrics of Jerry Herman that make it so." Record World called Herman's songs "evocative" and believed that Lansbury performed them "winningly." On the other hand, High Fidelity took issue with the "blatant hypocrisy," saying that "Jerry Herman is an Establishment songwriter, writing for the Establishment, Broadway theater", saying that it's an "Establishment so cunning that it complains about itself–for a price." The Edmonton Journal believed that "nothing about the actual play is revealed in the soundtrack recording," saying that they "keep it a deep, dark secret hidden away as is par for [...] most soundtracks."

Retrospectives

In his retrospective review for AllMusic, William Ruhlmann said that "Herman was able to get into the material only to the extent of lamenting for an earlier time when life was glamorous, unlike the late '60s." He added, "he wrote a title song that was clearly intended to have the same pop appeal as 'Hello, Dolly!' and 'Mame,' as well as one of his trademark march songs, 'One Person.' He also came up with the seven-minute 'The Tea Party,' a colloquy among crazy women that was far from his usual style." Ruhlmann believed that the project "was a bad mix of talented creators and good source material that just weren't suited to each other."

Chart performance While the musical was considered a failure, the soundtrack album managed to chart. It debuted on Billboard magazine's Top LP's chart in the issue dated April 5, 1969, peaking at No. 128 during an eight-week run on the chart. The album entered the Cashbox magazine's Top 100 Albums chart in the issue dated March 29, 1969, peaking at No. 75 during a five-week run on it. Dear World debuted on the Record World 100 Top LP's chart in the issue dated April 5, 1969, reaching a higher No. 70 during a five-week run on it as well.

Track listing Vinyl version

Digital version

Charts +Weekly chart peaks for Dear World Chart (1969) Peak position US Billboard Top LP's 128 US Cashbox Top 100 Albums 75 US Record World 100 Top LP's 70

Personnel All credits are adapted from the liner notes of Dear World.

Maurice Valency – adapted by Dorothea Freitag – dance and incidental arrangements Donald Pippin – vocal arrangements, music director Thomas Z. Shepard – album producer Jerry Adler – production supervisor Hildy Parks – co-producer Roy A. Somlyo – co-producer Milo O'Shea – featured performer; vocals as the Sewerman Carmen Mathews – featured performer; vocals as Constance Jane Connell – featured performer; vocals as Gabrielle Kurt Peterson – featured performer; vocals as Julian Pamela Hall – featured performer; vocals as Little Nina Fay Gage – illustration Charles Burr – liner notes Jerry Herman – music and lyrics Philip J. Lang – orchestrations Jean Giraudoux – based on a play by Jerome Lawrence – book Robert E. Lee – book

Release history +Release history and formats for Dear World Region Date Format Label Ref. United States and Canada February 21, 1969 Columbia Records February 1969 8-track cartridge tape 4-track cartridge tape United States and United Kingdom 1992 Compact disc Sony Broadway WorldwideCirca 2020 Sony Music Entertainment

References