Talkin' Broadway Sound Advice Recap Week of 10/20/20 (updated 10/23/20)

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See the complete list of Upcoming/Recent releases.

Earlier recaps:

2020: October 13, 6 | September 29, 22, 15, 8, 1, August 25, 18, 11, 4 | July 28, 21, 14, 7 | June 30, 23, 16, 9, 2 | May 26, 19, 12, 5 | April 28, 21, 14, 7 | March 31, 24, 17, 10, 3 | February 25, 18, 11, 4 | January 28, 21, 14, 7

2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015


CDs Now Available:

Disney Goes Classical
(Decca - on CD)
Performed by The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. "Mary Poppins Overture," "How Far I'll Go," "A Whole New World," "Can You Feel The Love Tonight," "Almost There," "Go The Distance," "Colors Of The Wind," "When She Loved Me," "The Bare Necessities," "Part Of Your World," "Beauty and the Beast," "I See The Light," "Let It Go," "Reflection," "When You Wish Upon A Star." Expected vinyl on 12/4/20. Released earlier on mp3 and at iTunes.

Laura Benanti
(Sony Masterworks - new on CD/mp3/at iTunes)
Debut solo album with Sony Masterworks for Tony Award winning Laura Benanti. "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk," "Someone You Loved," "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?," "Sucker," "The Boy From...," "Go Slow," "Don't Worry 'Bout Me," "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover," "Lose You to Love Me," "Wives and Lovers," "The Party's Over."

Luba Mason: Triangle
(new on CD/on mp3/at iTunes)
"Bach, Stevie Wonder and Janelle Monáe," "Haled's Song About Love," "Ticket to Ride," "Waters of March," "Ceresne," "In Walked Bud," "Inolvidable," "Toxicity," "Say It," "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover." Recorded live at the legendary Power Station studios with Joe Locke on vibes and James Genus on acoustic and electric bass.


DIGITAL MUSIC Now Available:

"The Enchanted Train"
(PS Classics - new digital single on mp3/at iTunes)
Music by Jerome Kern; lyrics by P.G. Wodehouse. Performed by Rebecca Luker and Matthew Scott. orchestrated and music directed by Joseph Thalken, produced by Tommy Krasker, and mixed by Bart Migal. Released 10/16/20.

"If Donald Got Fired"
(Broadway Records - new digital single on mp3/at iTunes)
Patti LuPone and Randy Rainbow political spoof song. Released 10/7/20.

Maury Sings Yeston: The Demos - digital
(PS Classics - new on mp3/at iTunes)
Professionally recorded in studios over a forty-year period. "The Bells of St. Sebastian," "Unusual Way," "The Germans at the Spa," "Simple," "The Queen of Basin Street," "Salt ’n’ pepper," "Mississippi Moon," "Bad News," "The Mardi Gras Ball," "Alive!," "More and More," "Life’s a Joy," "Roberto’s Eyes," "Something’s Happened," "Viva España," "Picture It," "I Will Paint Sounds," "Bon Soir," "Doing the Latest Rag," "Barrett’s Song," "Lady’s Maid," "Sitting at the Captain’s Table," "The Proposal/The Night Was Alive," "No Moon," "Kolya," "Soviet Union Blues," "Tell Me About Your Wife," "To the Future," "Baby at 110," "New Words," "One for a Rainy Day," "My Brother Abel," "The Nileside Cotillion," "No Man’s as Wonderful," "Three Steps Forward," "Down on the Farm," "Nowhere to Go but Up," "Another Day in the Modern World," "Valentine," "December Time." The iTunes download will come with a full 29-page booklet, which includes an essay by Yeston, all the lyrics, and information about songs that were cut or revised, and why. It also "sets up" the songs that benefit from a little exposition. 2-CD set to be released 12/4/20.

Night of the Living Dead! The Musical!
(Broadway Records - new on mp3/at iTunes)
Original concept album. Score by Jordan Wolfe. The musical premiered in 2019 at Theatre Row. Album produced by Wolfe and James Morgan. Jaime Cepero, Meg Lanzarone, Michelle Dowdy, Michael Buchanan, Susan J. Jacks, Jordan Wolfe, Richard Binder, and Steven Amendola.

Over the Moon digital
(Sony Music Masterworks - new on mp3/at iTunes)
Soundtrack for new Netflix animated film. Songs by s Christopher Curtis, Marjorie Duffield and Helen Park. Original music score by Steven Price. Performing cast includes Phillipa Soo, Ruthie Ann Miles, Ken Jeong, Cathy Ang, and Robert G. Chiu. CD to be released 11/13/20.

Whirlwind: Live at Sam First
(new digital album on mp3/at iTunes)
Pianist/composer Max Haymer. David Robaire on bass and Dan Schnelle on drums. "So in Love," "Whirlwind," "Proof of Evil," "Speak Low," "Gold Plated Dime," "Welcoming," "Killing Time," "Passed Time," "Love for Sale."


Books Now Available:

The Best New Ten-Minute Plays, 2020
(Applause - Paperback Book/Kindle Edition)
By Lawrence Harbison. Part of Applause Acting Series. Thirty new ten-minute plays. 256 pages.

Nichols and May: Interviews
(Univ Press of Mississippi - Paperback Book/Kindle Edition)
By Robert E. Kapsis. Twenty-seven interviews and profiles ranging over more than five decades tell Mike Nichols and Elaine May stories in their own words. 328 pages.

Sistuhs in the Struggle: An Oral History of Black Arts Movement Theater and Performance
(Northwestern Univ Press - Paperback Book/Kindle Edition)
By La Donna Forsgren. Documents how black women theater artists and activists—many of whom worked behind the scenes as directors, designers, producers, stage managers, and artistic directors—disseminated the black aesthetic and emboldened their communities. Draws on nearly thirty original interviews with well-known artists such as Ntozake Shange and Sonia Sanchez, as well as less-studied figures including distinguished lighting designer Shirley Prendergast, dancer and choreographer Halifu Osumare, and three-time Tony-nominated writer and composer Micki Grant. 296 pages.

The Song Is You: Musical Theatre and the Politics of Bursting into Song and Dance
(Univ of Iowa Press - Paperback Book/Kindle Edition)
By Bradley Rogers. Are the musical's progressive politics rooted in its embrace of regressive entertainments like burlesque and minstrelsy? Shows how musicals return again and again to this question, and grapple with a guilt that its joyous pleasures are based on exploiting the laboring bodies of its performers. Rogers argues that the discourse of "integration"—which claims that songs should advance the plot—has functioned to deny the radical work that the musical undertakes every time it transitions into song and dance. Looking at musicals from The Black Crook to Hamilton, Rogers confronts the gendered and racial dynamics that have always under-girded the genre, and asks how we move forward. 270 pages.


Recordings RECENTLY MADE AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER:

Anyone Can Whistle
(JAY Records - new on 2-CDs)
Studio cast recording of Stephen Sondheim score. Maria Friedman, John Barrowman, Arthur Laurents, Julia McKenzie. National Symphony orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards. Currently at JAYRecords.com.

Brickman for Broadway Christmas
(new on two CDs)
Includes duet performances with Megan Hilty, Santino Fontana, Kelli O'Hara, Norm Lewis, Adrienne Warren, Shoshana Bean, Max von Essen, Sierra Boggess and Matt Doyle. "You Will Be Found", "It's Quiet Uptown", "For Good", "True Love" and 12 more. Will benefit The Actors Fund. Currently at JimBrickman.com.

Mary Poppins 2020
(First Night Arts Music - new on CD/mp3/at iTunes)
2020 London cast recorded live at the Prince Edward Theatre, London. Score by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman with new songs and additional music by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe. Zizi Strallen, Charlie Stemp, Joseph Millson, Amy Griffiths, Petula Clark, Claire Moore, Claire Machin, Jack North, and Paul F Monaghan. "Prologue/Chim Chim Cher-ee," "Cherry Tree Lane/The Perfect Nanny," "Practically Perfect," "Jolly Holiday," "Let's Hope She Will Stay," "A Spoonful of Sugar," "Precision and Order," "Feed the Birds," "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," "Playing the Game," "Chim Chim Cher-ee," "Entr'acte," "Brimstone and Treacle Pt. 1," "Let's Go Fly A Kite," "Good for Nothing," "Being Mrs. Banks," "Brimstone and Treacle Pt. 2," "Step in Time," "A Man Has Dreams/A Spoonful of Sugar," "Anything Can Happen," "The Task Is Done," "A Shooting Star," "Finale."

Sweeney Todd soundtrack
(Nonesuch - new vinyl LP)
2007 movie soundtrack on vinyl. Score by Stephen Sondheim. Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter,Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jayne Wisener, Jamie Campbell Bower, Laura Michelle Kelly, Ed Sanders, Anthony Head, Peter Bowles.


Books/Plays RECENTLY MADE AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER:

Don't Lose Your Head: Life Lessons from the Six Ex-Wives of Henry VIII
(Ulysses Press - Hardcover Book/Kindle Edition)
By Harriet Marsden. "An Unofficial Survival Guide for Fans of the Musical Six." Witty book of essential life advice, history, and trivia ... written from the perspectives of each of the different women around Henry VIII. 192 pages.

Conversations with Lorraine Hansberry (Literary Conversations Series)
(Univ Press of Mississippi - Paperback Book)
Mollie Godfrey, editor. The first volume to collect all of Lorraine Hansberry's substantive interviews in one place, including many radio and television interviews that have never before appeared in print. 240 pages.

Muse of Fire: Reflections on Theatre
(Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press - Hardcover Book)
Raymond-Jean Frontain, editor. Collection of Terrence McNally's meditations on the need of the playwright to first change hearts in order to change minds and thereby foster a more compassionate community ... originally written to be delivered on both highly formal occasions (academic commencement exercises, award ceremonies, memorial services) and as off-the-cuff comments at highly informal gatherings. 200 pages.


OTHER NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Added to November 27:

Thankful: A Benefit Album For Jerad Bortz
(Rock-It Science Records - new digital album)
Twenty-two original songs written by Steven Skeels. Annaleigh Ashford, Shoshana Bean, Stephanie J. Block, Jerad Bortz, Alex Brightman, Breedlove, Lisa Brescia, Norbert Leo Butz, Liz Callaway, Gaelen Gilliland, Jin Ha, Megan Hilty, Cheyenne Jackson, Christopher Jackson, Andy Karl, Beth Leavel, Norm Lewis, Julia Murney, Q. Smith, Ali Stroker, Steven Skeels, Marty Thomas, Katie Thompson, Ryan Vasquez, Ann VanCleave and Ben Vereen with Jerad Bortz Jared Bradshaw, Kathy Coppolino, Michael Di Liberto, Olivia Donalson, Hannah Dowdy, Stacia Fernandez, David Gilleo, Gaelen Gilliland, Courtney Iventosch, Craig Jessup, Eddie Marco, Samuel Moffatt, Brian Munn, Lindsay Northen, Tori Palazola O’Rourke, Andy Redeker, Jonathan Ritter, Mesghan Sands, Steven Skeels, Ann Van Cleave, and Laura Woyasz. Arrangers and orchestrators include Martyn Axe, Simon Beck, Ben Cohn, Carmel Dean, Ray Fellman, Josh Harris, Alex Lacamoire, Daniel Lincoln, Bryan Perri, Will Reynolds, Richard Rockage, James Sampliner, Brian Usifer and Scott Wasserman. Produced by Lynn Pinto and Steven Skeels. Funds to benefit Jerad Bortz (Wicked), who was seriously injured in a 2018 car accident. Pre-ordering to begin 10/23/20.





Compiled by Talkin' Broadway Staff.

Corrections and questions may be directed to SoundAdvice@talkinbroadway.com