Musical Treatment and Recording
One source of Rodgers's excitement for the concept that became Me and Juliet was his view that a contemporary musical gave him the opportunity for a contemporary score. At the time Rodgers wrote the score, a Latin dance craze had swept the United States, and its influence found its way into the music for Me and Juliet. Rodgers put an onstage jazz trio in the production and encouraged the members to improvise. Among the trio was jazz artist Barbara Carroll as Chris, rehearsal pianist. According to author and composer Ethan Mordden, Rodgers's score "found going for impish, nimble, the sound of the Hit Parade as reimagined by ". Rodgers borrowed the music for "No Other Love" from his award-winning score for Victory at Sea.
RCA, which had the recording rights, arranged for singer Perry Como to record "No Other Love". The recording was rushed onto the market to coincide with the show's Broadway opening, and became a number-one hit for Como on the Disc Jockey chart, though #2 as a best seller, remaining on the charts for 22 weeks.
Hischak described the original cast album as "surprisingly lively and mostly enjoyable for a musical that was considered so dull on stage." He pointed to "Intermission Talk" as a number which probably works better in a recording than on stage and states that "there is no mistaking the hypnotic power of 'No Other Love'". The original cast recording was released on compact disc in 1993.
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