Originally released in 1952,
Three Wishes for Jamie features an amiable, sweet, and whimsical score by lauded composer Ralph Blane (Meet Me in St. Louis). The cast includes John Raitt, Anne Jeffreys, Bert Wheeler, Robert Halliday,
Charlotte Rae, and Peter Conlow. The show itself had such a difficult time getting to Broadway, that the cast album -- despite a commitment from Capitol Records to record it, made when it was still running in Los Angeles -- is something of a miracle. At the time of the original run, and the release of the album in 1952, the show seemed too much like Brigadoon and Finian's Rainbow for its own good -- with the distance of time, the amiable score and Raitt's vocal charms (and those of Anne Jeffreys et al) more than justify owning the CD. Additionally, for fans of the movie team of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey, this is one of the more charming audio documents of Wheeler's later work. And the annotation, telling of the tangled tale of troubled out-of-town tryouts and casting, as well as the cliffhanger of whether the recordings would ever be made, makes for engrossing reading in and of itself, of a time when theatrical productions played a much larger role in the cultural life of the nation. Additionally, the 1952 vintage recording has held up well, and offers some great moments from John Raitt. ~ James Christopher Monger & Bruce Eder