'Give My Regards to Broadway' by Dean Regan
Dean Regan’s album Give My Regards to Broadway is filled to the brim with cover versions of Broadway classics from shows like Man of La Mancha and heartwarming ballads that show off Regan’s varied vocal range. If you’re a fan of Broadway, the feel and tone of this album is right up your alley.
The opening track is the title track. In it, listeners will hear right off the joy in Regan’s voice as he sings about the Great White Way and some of New York City’s most treasured, not to be missed landmarks. A mystical intro then piano and drum playing in the background lead into Regan’s cheerful lyrics like, “Give my regards to Broadway. Remember me…tell all the gang…that I will soon be there…to mingle…give my regards to old Broadway. Say hello to dear old Coney Isle, if there you chance to be. When you’re at the Waldorf, have a smile and charge it off to me. Mention my name everywhere you go as you round the town you roll.” Regan’s giddy tone interspersed with saxophone is sure to make listeners yearn to visit the “City that Never Sleeps.”
The second track, “Luck Be A Lady” is a classic from the famed Broadway musical Guys and Dolls and was written by Frank Loesser in 1950. Regan adds his unique vocal stirrings to the song accompanied by piano and drums in the background as he croons lyrics such as, “They call you lady luck. But, there is room for doubt. At times, you have a very unlady like way of runnin’ out… and yet before the evening is over, you might give me the brush. You might forget your manners. You might refuse to stay. So, the best that I can do is pray…Luck be a lady tonight.” Then, saxophone and drums enter the song with quick wit as Regan belts out this well-known ditty.
“The Music of the Night” is the album’s fifth track. This haunting ballad is from the incredibly successful Broadway musical The Phantom of the Opera and was written by the gifted Andrew Lloyd Webber. Michael Crawford made this song unforgettable in his performances of it in the West End theatre in London and on Broadway. Regan attempts to mimic Crawford mesmerizing tone as he emotes lyrics like, “Night time charms. Heightens each sensation…silently the senses have weakened their defenses. Slowly, gently, life unfurls its splendor…turn your face from the garish light of day and listen to the music of the night. Close your eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams.” Regan’s version isn’t nearly as powerful as Crawford’s but it will bring the song’s message of love turning to obsession across to listeners as the light piano swells along with Regan’s vocal intonation at the precise time in the song when Crawford made the audience tingle.
“Being Alive,” is the album’s seventh track. Slow, methodical piano playing starts the track as Regan achingly sings lyrics such as, “ Somebody held me too close. Somebody hurt me too deep. Somebody sit in my chair and ruin my sleep and make me aware of being alive. Being alive. Somebody need me too much. Somebody put me through hell…make me alive.” The piano swells again as Regan vocally conveys his overwhelming need.
The tenth track on the album is Gilbert and Sullivan’s song from the comic opera The Pirates of Penzance. on this track, Regan playfully emotes the swift lyrics of this humorous song with lyrics like, “I am the very model of a modern major general…I quote the facts historical…I am very well acquainted to with the matters mathematical. I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical…with many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse, with many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse, with many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse, with many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse. I am very good at integral and differential calculus…I am the very model of a modern major general.”
The final track on Give My Regards to Broadway is “For Good.” It has a dreamy opening as Regan croons about a person who has had a major effect on his life and himself as a person. He explains this with lyrics like, “I’ve heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason. Bringing something we must learn…to those who help us most to grow, if we lt them and we help them in return. I don’t know if I believe that’s true, but I know I am who I am today because I knew you. Like a comet pulled from orbit as it passes the sun. Like a stream that needs a boulder…who can say I’ve been changed for the better because I knew you. I’ve been changed for the good.” As Regan continues vocally discussing how this one person has changed him, guitar enters in the background.
In conclusion, Dean Regan’s album Give My Regards to Broadway is perfect one for Broadway lovers and those who just like to hear a song with a true, undeniable message.