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Center Stage
Center Stage
Studio album by Helen Reddy
Released	September 22, 1998
Recorded	1998
Studio	Westlake (Los Angeles, California)
Genre	Pop rock
Length	47:05
Label	Varèse Sarabande
Producer	Bruce Kimmel
Helen Reddy chronology

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[1]
Billboard	positive^[2]

Center Stage is the sixteenth studio album by Australian-American pop singer Helen Reddy that was released in 1998 by Varèse Sarabande. Reddy describes the album as the perfect melding of two areas of her career: "the recording studio and the theatrical stage. I tried to select songs from various songwriters in different eras. I've also included (of course) a song from each of the musical shows I've performed in."^[3]

Singles

The album version of "Surrender" and a longer dance version were released together as a CD single but did not have any appearances on Billboard's Hot 100^[4] or Adult Contemporary charts.^[5] Of the album version, Reddy writes, "Andrew Lloyd Webber is very rigid about his songs being sung exactly as written. I gave him his due in the first pass at this song from Sunset Boulevard (originally sung over the body of a dead monkey). However, my need for self-expression found its voice in the second half."^[6]

Reception

Joe Viglione of Allmusic described the album as "masterful"^[1] and writes, "The song selection is tremendous, and the performance is a milestone for a singer who has already conquered other formats. Center Stage is a delightful treat and will be a considered a classic years down the road, on that you can be sure."^[1] Billboard clarifies, "It's not that she has refashioned her vocal approach -- it remains an affecting ballad voice. But it's employed in the interest here of classy, mostly rarely recorded ballads from the world of musical theater."^[2] They conclude, "Reddy makes daring choices throughout this album and meets the challenge every time."^[2]

Track listing

"Blow, Gabriel, Blow" from Anything Goes (Cole Porter) – 3:06
"I Still Believe in Love" from They're Playing Our Song (Marvin Hamlisch, Carole Bayer Sager) – 3:04
"A Boy Like You" from Street Scene (Langston Hughes, Kurt Weill) – 2:38
"The Writing's on the Wall" from Drood (Rupert Holmes) – 2:41
"With Every Breath I Take" from City of Angels (Cy Coleman, David Zippel) – 3:25
"Knowing When to Leave" from Promises, Promises (Burt Bacharach, Hal David) – 2:10
"Love, Look Away" from Flower Drum Song (Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Rodgers) – 4:02
"Surrender" from Sunset Boulevard (Don Black, Christopher Hampton, Andrew Lloyd Webber) – 3:46
"You're Just in Love" from Call Me Madam (performed with Richard Hillman) (Irving Berlin) – 4:25
"Tell Me It's Not True" from Blood Brothers (Willy Russell) – 4:05
"Speak Low" from One Touch of Venus (Ogden Nash, Kurt Weill) – 3:52
"My Friend" from The Life (performed with Jessica Williams) (Cy Coleman, Ira Gasman) – 3:26
"Fifty Percent" from Ballroom (Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Billy Goldenberg) – 3:26
"The Party's Over" from Bells Are Ringing (Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Jule Styne) – 2:59

Personnel

Helen Reddy – vocals
Bruce Kimmel – producer
Ron Abel – arranger and conductor (except as noted)
Steven Orich – orchestrations (except as noted); music preparation
Joseph Baker – arranger and orchestrations ("Tell Me It's Not True")
Vincent Cirilli – engineer
Michael Parnin – assistant engineer
Markus Ulibarri – assistant engineer
Joe Gastwirt – mastering
Brian Giorgi – album coordinator
Esther Monk – assistant to the producer
Kevin Merrill – photography
Samantha Weaver – hair and makeup stylist
Michael Caprio – CD package design
Peyce Byron, Sabrina Cowans, Michele Mais, Brenda Silas Moore, Wayne Moore – "Surrender" vocal ensemble
recorded at Westlake Audio, Los Angeles, California
mastered at OceanView Digital Mastering, Los Angeles, California

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Center Stage - Helen Reddy". allmusic.com. All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Reviews & Previews". Billboard. 5 December 1998. p. 84.
^ (1998) Center Stage by Helen Reddy [CD booklet]. Studio City: Varèse Sarabande VSD-5962.
^ Whitburn 2009, p. 805.
^ Whitburn 2007, p. 227.
^ (2006) The Woman I Am: The Definitive Collection by Helen Reddy [CD booklet]. Los Angeles: Capitol Records 09463-57613-2-0.

References

Whitburn, Joel (2007), Joel Whitburn Presents Billboard Top Adult Songs, 1961-2006, Record Research Inc., ISBN 0-89820-169-1
Whitburn, Joel (2009), Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 1955-2008, Record Research Inc., ISBN 0-89820-180-2