A musical of Gone With The Wind? Sounds crazy, no? But in the occasionally crazy world of musical theater, that’s exactly what happened. Premiering in London (after a production in Tokyo), Gone With The Wind had a book by Horton Foote (the playwright, and Academy Award-winning screenwriter of To Kill A Mockingbird) and music and lyrics by the great Harold Rome.

That London production, starring June Ritchie as Scarlett O’Hara and Harve Presnell as Rhett Butler, opened in 1972 at the Drury Lane Theater. Reviews were, in some cases, surprisingly good, and the show ran a year. The Evening Standard raved, “Choreography and music are brilliantly blended in a storytelling exercise that never stops for breath. There are no artificially set numbers to halt the momentum of the tale and every precise dance number propels the action forward.” “What a musical! Singing Scarlett is here to stay,” said the Daily Express. Thankfully, EMI made a cast album of the show, preserving the delightful and tuneful Harold Rome score. This CD was mastered from the original album masters housed at EMI in the UK.

1. Overture / Today’s The Day
2. We Belong To You
3. Tara
4. Two Of A Kind
5. Blissful Christmas / Home Again / Tomorrow Is Another Day
6. Lonely Stranger
7. A Time For Love
8. Which Way Is Home?
9. How Often, How Often
10. If Only
11. A Southern Lady
12. Marrying For Fun
13. Blueberry Eyes
14. Strange and Wonderful
15. Little Wonders
16. Bonnie Gone
17. It Doesn’t Matter Now / Finale