Cryer and Ford: Hidden Treasures

It was Gretchen Cryer and Nancy Ford who wrote the first mainstream feminist musical, I’m Get- ting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road. Produced by Joseph Papp’s Public Theater in 1978, this eloquent and witty musical immediately became an iconic statement, running for more than 1,000 performances in New York and receiving countless productions around the world.

But there is so much more to the Cryer & Ford story, as this deluxe 3-CD set demonstrates through- out its 66 tracks and 56-page booklet. They were (and remain) the first and only female team produced in New York. Now in their mid-80s, they have collaborated since meeting as students at Indiana’s DePauw University.

Cryer & Ford
Harbinger’s sixth “Hidden Treasures” set charts their songs from 1967–2020: the first retrospective of a body of work that includes not only the first feminist musical, but the first antiwar musical of the Vietnam era (Now Is the Time for All Good Men) and the first musicals to warn us of the dangers of technology in separating us from each other and ourselves (The Last Sweet Days of Isaac and Shelter).

In addition to one or several cuts from many of their musicals, the collection includes the first complete scores of Shelter, the sequel Still Getting My Act Together and Eleanor, a “musical fantasy” about Eleanor Roosevelt. This is unique and heartfelt writing; virtually all their musicals are socially conscious.

“Producing this set turned out to be a three-year undertaking,” said Bill Rudman, who conceived it. “Cryer & Ford were in the thick of the project every step of the way, unearthing archival material that would have been lost without this preservation effort and recording new versions of a number of songs. It is astonishing how relevant their work remains—in some cases, these musicals are more than 50 years old.”

More than 30 vocalists make appearances including Tony Award winner Karen Ziemba, Austin Pendleton (who also wrote the forward), Heather Mac Rae and Gretchen Cryer herself, who starred in the first production of I’m Getting My Act Together...

“Quite frankly,” said Rudman, “this was a labor of love for all of us.”

Track List 

1 Natural High (Live)
2 My Holiday
3 All Alone (Live)
4 See Everything New (Live)
5 A Transparent Crystal Moment
6 My Most Important Moments Go By
7 Somebody Died Today 
8 Changing
9 Welcome to a New World
10 Woke Up Today
11 It's Hard to Care
12 Mary Margaret's House in the Country
13 Woman on the Run
14 Let It Be What It Will Be
15 Sleep, My Baby, Sleep
16 I Bring Him Seashells
17 She's My Girl
18 Shelter / Welcome to a New World (Reprise)
19 Too Many Women in My Life
20 He's a Fool
21 Changing (Reprise) / Goin' Home with My Children
22 Sleep, My Baby, Sleep (Reprise)
23 You Know My Music
24 I Don't Want to Be Free of You
25 Put in a Package and Sold (Live)
26 Dear Tom
27 Happy Birthday (Live)
28 Fly Like the Wind (Live)
29 Flying Solo
30 Around the Bend
31 Hello, World (Prologue)
32 Hang On to the Good Times
33 Change Doesn't Happen Overnight
34 Here to Say I Love You
35 Joy
36 The Road Not Taken
37 Big Daddy
38 Window of Opportunity
39 Easy Love (Randy)
40 Think Outside the Box
41 It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over
42 Friday Night You're Mine
43 Never There / Here to Say I Love You (Reprise)
44 Finale
45 A Fabulous Party
46 When One Marries an Extraordinary Woman / Lucy Smiling
47 A Feeling in My Chest
48 Eleanor
49 We'll See the World Together
50 Will He Remember Me?
51 To Gambol on the Green
52 Isn't She Lovely? / Supremes de Volaille
53 Washington Summers
54 The Things We Leave Unspoken 
55 War Is Bully / Sensible Decisions
56 What're We Gonna Tell 'Em in Ohio
57 Waltz / What a Team!
58 I Could Teach Her
59 Eleanor (Reprise)

60 I Could Teach Her (Reprise) / Now That I'm First Lady / First Lady Strut
61 If I Could Make a Difference
03:50
62 I Can't Do a Thing With the Missus
63 She / He Needs Me
64 No Remorse
65 Gotta Get My Act Together
66 Old Friend (Live)
67 Cryer & Ford: Hidden Treasures, 1967-2020