My one complaint about this recording is, "Too Much Shouting!" Yes, in these days of "American Idol," this is very much in vogue, but good golly! In the song "White Boys," for example, the three singers, all of whom have powerful voices, seem to be trying to outsing each other. Normally, I like Jennifer Hudson's singing, but her rendition of "Easy to Be Hard" might as well be called, "Easy To Be Loud". That written, this endeavor has much to admire. The musical direction is tight, and the diction is excellent. The quality of the voices is uniformly good, and polished. A good deal of variety also exists here, from Harvey Fierstein hacking out the song "Air," to Laura Benanti triumphantly capping off "Initials" with an operatic high C.