More on Michelle Nicastro

I mentioned that I first encountered Michelle Nicastro's voice on the classic "Unsung Musicals" CD. I bought that CD to hear Jodi Benson belt out her hauntingly poignant rendition of an obscure Hamlisch & Menken masterpiece, "Disneyland" (from the short-lived Broadway musical, "Smile"). There were many other treasures on that CD, but one of the tracks that stood out the most was Michelle's performance of "There are Days and There are Days". She lent the song such a captivating, lilting quality that I just had to learn more about this performer.

Mind you, this was still a few years before the Worldwide Web had spread its silken tentacles across the globe. without any websites to google, I turned to the closest thing at the time—a glorious thing called USENET. Some kind soul on rec.arts.theatre.misc told me that Michelle was coming out with a CD of children's music, and so I awaited it with bated breath.

I was not disappointed. "Toonful", while ostensibly geared toward children, was still a delight to listen to, especially with all the modern Disney classics that Ms. Nicastro performed. Oh, and while I did purchase the CD for her hauntingly lovely voice, the photo in her CD sleeve (shown on the right) made it clear that her physical charms matched the beauty of her voice.

Her follow-up album, "Toonful, Too", wasn't as good, I regret to say. This wasn't due to lack of skill on her part, mind you. Personally, I think that the musical selection just wasn't as engaging.

Her "Reel Imagination" CD was pretty good too, but I thought this was outclassed by the Broadway numbers on her "On My Own" recording. What a treasure! I would have liked to hear her perform some numbers from Crazy For you or Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, but that's mostly just a personal preference. Her duet with Brian Lane Green was rapturous, as was her rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables. My only complaint is that her best performance came in the form of a hidden track—a rendition of the aforementioned "Disneyland" heartwrencher. Keep the CD player on for about two minutes after the fifteenth and "final" song, and you'll see what I mean. Michelle's performance was on a par with Jodi Benson's own captivating recording.

These last two images were from her "On My Own" CD sleeve, and if they're any indication, I'd say that Michelle is one of those proverbial "natural beauties." This sentiment was echoed in the introduction from her producer, Bruce Kimmel, who said, "The fact that this beautiful voice comes out of an incredibly beautiful woman doesn't hurt either. The fact that this beautiful voice and beautiful woman are all part of a beautiful person, well, I told you it was going to get gooey."

In the same intro, Kimmel says, "Shes's got one of those voices that just makes you smile. That makes you feel comfortable. Like everything's right with the world." I have to agree. There's no better way to describe her talent.

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