Showtunes (Stephin Merritt and Chen Shi-zheng album)


Showtunes is the result of collaboration between Stephin Merritt with Chen Shi-zheng on three pieces of musical theatre; Orphan of Zhao, Peach Blossom Fan, and My Life as a Fairy Tale. Select tracks from these are featured on this album. It was released on Nonesuch Records on March 16, 2006 but was available from peer-to-peer networks from February 20, 2006. The remainder of songs from the shows were released exclusively through online music stores.

Reception

The album received generally favorable reviews from critics; on Metacritic, it has a score of 69 out of 100.

Track listing

  1. "Theme from The Orphan of Zhao" – 00:59
  2. "At Madam Plum's" – 02:35
  3. "The Top and the Ball" – 01:49
  4. "What a Fucking Lovely Day!" – 01:22
  5. "Auntie Toothache" – 02:48
  6. "It's Hard to Be the Emperor" – 01:08
  7. "Sounds Expensive" – 01:36
  8. "The Red Shoes" – 01:43
  9. "Fan Dance Cha-Cha" – 01:17
  10. "The Little Maiden of the Sea" – 03:53
  11. "Ukulele Me!" – 01:08
  12. "Train Song" – 01:17
  13. "The Little Hebrew Girl" – 02:10
  14. "Shall We Sing a Duet?" – 00:55
  15. "The Song of the Humble Serf" – 00:56
  16. "The Collar and the Garter" – 01:40
  17. "Shall We Sing a Duet?" – 01:38
  18. "Sorry, Wrong Show" – 01:41
  19. "The Storks" – 01:24
  20. "In the Spring, When I Was Young" – 02:02
  21. "The Ugly Little Duck" – 03:41
  22. "And He Would Say..." – 03:02
  23. "The World is Not Made of Flowers" – 01:14
  24. "Behold the Lowly Centipede" – 01:41
  25. "In China, Said the Moon..." – 03:37
  26. "Hail! Son of Heaven" – 01:06