AUDIO

This page contains reviews of audio tapes recorded by Alan Rickman.

Since Mr. Rickman's fans are very taken (in a figurative way, of course) by his sexy hands, everything we review will be rated with hands. Five hands = best rating. No hands = lowest rating.

Your reviews are welcome, and I will gladly post them, so please send a review!

A March 2001 article in The Observer states "the actor Alan Rickman has Britain's favourite bedtime reading voice". This page lists several of his audio works. (link courtesy of Trisha)

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The Reviews

Billy And Me, not reviewed yet, but some information about it.
The following are reviewed
A Little Like Drowning, 1989, in its own page
NEW! A Trick To Catch The Old One
Blind Corner, in its own page
Blood Wedding, the first audio to get its own page
Magic Of My Youth, reviewed by Raffaella
The Return Of The Native, in its own page
Rope, in its own page
That Man Bracken, reviewed by Anon.
Things Change
Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells II
Victoria Wood
Released on February, 2002 When Love Speaks

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Billy And Me

Broadcast on BBC Radio 4

The Peter Barnes site, a link of interest to theater fans, quotes,

Alan Rickman in Billy and Me

Billy is a dummy created by Jennings, a ventriloquist who has gone mad and who converses with them as part of his act and of his delusion that they live; partly recognising his condition, Jennings tells Billy, "The fact that you're becoming more independent is a sure sign I'm becoming schizophrenic" but as his madness overcomes his reason, he accepts Billy's order, "Now we've got some practising to do. After all, you may be schizophrenic but you're still a pro."

As far as I can ascertain this audio tape is not currently available. If you have more information, please e-mail me. Thank you.

I wasn't sure if I would enjoy or even understand this early 17th Century play by Thomas Middleton, but with surprisingly minor adjustments, Peter Barnes' radio adaptation manages to update and clarify it so that even I can delight in the broad and often lewd humor that must have had its original audiences rolling with laughter.
"A Trick to Catch the Old One" takes place in a society where money is everything and deception and scheming in its pursuit are par for the course. Alan Rickman's character Theodorus Witgood begins the story, lamenting the loss of his assets through "brothel, drink and danger." Most distressing of all, the mortgage of his lands is now in the hands of his uncle, Pecunius Lucre. Witgood soon devises a plan to get some cash by passing off his courtesan Flavia as a rich widow, soon to be his wife. He knows that his avaricious uncle will be more than willing to loosen his purse strings to secure a match that would bring wealth to his nephew, which, through his nephew's folly, might in time come to himself. The ruse snowballs to include other equally greedy and scheming characters, most notably Lucre's adversary, Walkadine Hoard, hilariously voiced by Peter Bayliss. Alan Rickman's Witgood is a major character so there's plenty of him to enjoy and it is a joy to hear him in this play. His laughter alone, more raucous than I've ever heard from him before, is enough to compel me to give this radio play a rating of 5 hands in both categories

Magic of my Youth is the incomplete* (?) autobiography of Arthur Calder Marshall. There is no real plot: all we hear is a man recalling funny episodes from his youth.

The narration is highly entertaining and the rythm of the prose immediately attracts our attention. The narrator, who once was a young student equally interested in poetry and...black magic, introduces us to a host of bizarre characters: sorcerers, poets, bores, would-be witches. Auntie Helen, a paranoid, spirited, artists-loving spinster and Hugh, an annoying fellow student, stand out among them.

Mr Rickman's characterization is impressive and often exhilarating; all the characters have their own distinctive way of speaking: Auntie Helen's almost epic intonation and Hugh's deep, sleepy voice are unforgettable, but we can actually admire Mr Rickman's wit and ability as a reader in the handling of minor characters such as the surrealistic, speedy speaking dean.

I suppose Magic of my Youth is very hard to find. I had a copy from a kind fellow Rickmaniac (thank you again!), but the recording is barely audible. Anyway, if you can grab it, you won't be disappointed at all.

back to the top of the page The Return Of The Native, in its own page

Rope, in its own page

Things Change

1995

Reviewed by Georgiana, 27 March 2002

The little-known and hard-to-find 1995 CD, "Things Change," by erstwhile British pub rocker Charlie Dore contains a track entitled "Refuse to Dance," with the credited speaking voice of Alan Rickman.

Rickman's beloved and distinctive baritone underlies the first strains of music with "Wouldn't you dance? Everyone else is..." then serves as sort of percussion under the refrain ("Refuse to dance...") with a total of 11 repetitions of the phrases:

"Fox trot,
"Tango,
"Quick step,
"Samba."

"Slow,
"Slow,
"Quick, quick,
"Slow."

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Tubular Bells II

Not rated as an audio book

You might want to listen to the CD before you purchase it, since, to me, at least, listening to Mr. Rickman speak a few dozen recorded words is not worth the price. If you enjoy the music, then buy it. Don't buy it just to hear AR.