Did we really need yet another recording of Gypsy, the 1959 classic by Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim? After all we already have albums headlined by the likes of Ethel Merman, Angela Lansbury, Tyne Daly and Bernadette Peters. The short, answer is an emphatic yes. The 2008 version stars Patti LuPone, superbly supported by Laura Benanti, Boyd Gaines and a luscious 36-piece orchestra. LuPone sinks her fangs into the role of the indomitable Mama Rose, and delivers the show’s epic anthems ("Some People," "Everything’s Coming Up Roses" and "Rose’s Turn") with the right balance of manic energy and slightly cracked vulnerability. Touted in the liner notes as "the most complete recording of Gypsy ever," the album only adds more ammo to the arsenal of those who hold the musical as possibly the best of all time. There is not a single weak cut here. And because this production was directed by the book’s author himself, Arthur Laurents, access was granted to seven goodies cut from the original production and tagged at the end. The highlight clearly is Rose’s "Who Needs Him?," a torchy number that manages to pack a punch in just over a minute.--Elisabeth Vincentelli

Track listing 1. Chicago: A Musical Vaudeville, musical play: All That Jazz - (from "Chicago") 2. Little Night Music, musical: Send in the Clowns, A - Gladys Johns (from "A Little Night Music") 3. I Could Have Danced All Night, song (from "My Fair Lady") - Philippa Bevans (from "My Fair Lady") 4. Hallelujah, Baby!, musical: My Own Morning - Leslie Uggams (from "Hallelujah, Baby") 5. West Side Story, film score: I Feel Pretty - Elizabeth Taylor/Marilyn Cooper/Carol Lawrence (from "West Side Story") 6. Goodbye Girl, musical play: How Can I Win?, The - (from "The Goodbye Girl") 7. Annie, musical: Tomorrow - (from "Annie") 8. Hello Young Lovers, song (from "The King and I") - Barbara Cook (from "The King And I") 9. Cry Me a River (for the film "The Girl Can't Help It") - Andrea Benanti (from "Swing!") 10. Sweet Charity, musical: If My Friends Could See Me Now - (from "Sweet Charity") 11. Jekyll & Hyde, musical: Someone Like You - (from "Jekyll & Hyde") 12. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, musical play: Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend - Carol Channing (from "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes") 13. I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair, song (from "South Pacific") - (from "South Pacific") 14. Bells Are Ringing, musical: The Party's Over - (from "Bells Are Rining")

Winner of 5 Tony Awards®, including Best Musical, the show the New York Post hailed as "a true original" and The Daily News called "brilliant, daring, innovative and divine" returns in a spectacular new production. The new broadway cast recording includes Antonio Banderas with music and lyrics by Maury Yeston.

When Pedro Almodóvar arrived in NYC in 1988 to show his new film at the New York Film Festival he became an instant sensation. Channeling the burst of energy and freedom in post-Franco Spain, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown was one of the most unusual and exhilarating new films in years. It was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, and quickly became not just a classic, but a favorite.

WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN is a new musical based on the film. Bartlett Sher (South Pacific) leads the extraordinary collaborators Jeffrey Lane (book) and David Yazbek (music and lyrics). Lane and Yazbek, the team behind Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, have taken Almodóvar's tale and infused it with their own wry, comic style and an irresistible Spanish beat.

Both touching and hilarious, it's a story about women and the men who pursue them... finding them, losing them, needing them, and rejecting them. At the center is Pepa (Sherie Rene Scott) whose friends and lovers are blazing a trail through 1980s Madrid. And why do they all keep showing up at her high-rise apartment? Gazpacho anyone?

Along with Pepa, there's her missing (possibly philandering) lover, Ivan (Brian Stokes Mitchell); his ex-wife of questionable sanity, Lucia (Patti LuPone); their son Carlos (Justin Guarini); Pepa's friend, Candela (Laura Benanti), and her terrorist boyfriend; a power-suited lawyer (de'Adre Aziza) plus a taxi driver (Danny Burstein) who dispenses tissues, mints and advice in equal proportion. Mayhem and comic madness abound, balanced by the empathy and heart that are trademarks of Almodóvar's work. And of Bartlett Sher's too.