Talkin' Broadway Sound Advice Recap Week of 5/5/20 (updated 5/8/20)

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Please note that scheduling changes due to the coronavirus pandemic are being made as soon as we are aware of them. But there may be further changes in release dates in the future, as things play out.

See the complete list of Upcoming/Recent releases.

Earlier recaps:

2020: 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:

Cambodian Rock Band
(Yellow Sound Label - new on CD/on mp3/at iTunes)
Off-Broadway (Signature Theatre Company) cast recording. Songs by Dengue Fever. Cast includes Courtney Reed, Abraham Kim, Francis Jue, Moses Villarama, Jane Lui, and Joe Ngo. "Jeas Cyclo a," "Uku," "Old Pot Still Cooks Good Rice," "Family Business," "One Thousand Years of Tarantula," "Cement Slippers," "Champa Battambang," "Sni Bong," "Tooth and Nail," "I'm Sixteen," "Jeas Cyclo B," "Today I Learnt to Drink."

David Jenness: Forgotten Gems from Stage & Screen
(Harbinger Records - new on CD/on mp3/at iTunes)
First public release of album by David Jenness (1937-2017), author of the 2005 book "Classic American Popular Song." Backed by pianist Bert Dalton and other musicians. "Dancing on a Dime," "Introduction," "Nothing but You," "Have You Got Any Castles, Baby?," "Lonely Feet," "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary," "She Didn't Say Yes," "The Faraway Part of Town," "This Can't Be True," "Gus the Gopher," "Love Turned the Light Out," "Rap Tap on Wood," "Goodbye, Little Dream, Goodbye," "I've Been Alone Too Long," "It's Got to Be Love," "Low and Lazy," "Falling Out of Love Can Be Fun," "Here's What I'm Here For," "Happy as the Day Is Long," "Use Your Imagination," "Take Love Easy," "Tiny Room," "Have Feet, Will Dance," "Paris Is a Lonely Town," "Monday Morning Blues," "So Far, So Good," "Something Known." Digital booklet included with album purchase. Released 5/1/20.

Georgia Stitt: A Quiet Revolution
(Craft Recordings - new on CD)
Original songs theatre songwriter/composer Georgia Stitt features performances by Kate Baldwin, Laura Benanti, Andrea Burns, Brandon Victor Dixon, Sutton Foster, Joshua Henry, Jeremy Jordan, Norm Lewis, Emily Skinner, Jessica Vosk, Betsy Wolfe, and E.J. Zimmerman. "Maybe It's Me," "Mister Blue," "Casual," "The Great American Black And White," "Before I Lose My Mind," "The Water Is Wide," "Come Over," "Palimpsest," "Always Something More," "Prepared," "The Baby Song," "Onward, Beyond," "Stop." Previously released on mp3 and at iTunes. Released 5/1/20.


Books Now Available:

Broadway in the Box: Television's Lasting Love Affair with the Musical
(Oxford Univ Press - Hardcover Book/Paperback/Kindle Edition)
By Kelly Kessler. Explores this rich, decades-long history by traversing musicals, stars, and sounds from film, Broadway, and Las Vegas to the small screen. From Rodgers and Hammerstein's appearance on the first Toast of the Town telecast and Mary Martin's iconic Peter Pan airings to Barbra Streisand's 1960s CBS specials, "The Carol Burnett Show," "Cop Rock," "Smash," "Galavant," "My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend," Great Performances, and a string of one-off musical episodes of sitcoms, nighttime soaps, fantasy shows, and soap operas. 352 pages.

Sea Wall / A Life
(Audible audiobook)
By Simon Stephens and Nick Payne. Narrated by Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Sturridge, who starred in the 2019 Off-Broadway and Broadway productions. Available at Audible.com.

We Can Be Kind: Healing Our World One Kindness at a Time
(new audiobook)
David Friedman's 2017 book, now in audiobook format, with Nancy LaMott singing Friedman's "We Can Be Kind." Foreword by Lucie Arnaz. Through story, meditation and suggestions on how we can be kind not only to others, but to ourselves as well, Friedman encourages us to create new ways of building community. At LibraryTalesPublishing.com. Previously available in Paperback and Kindle formats.


STREAMING PLAY Now Available:

Squeamish
(streaming audio recording)
Aaron Mark's 2017 play starring Alison Fraser. Streaming at Pandemic Playhouse. Also available on Spotify.

Recordings RECENTLY MADE AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER:

Deanna Durbin Collection I
(Kino Classics - new 3-disc Blu-ray set)
Three musical films starring Deanna Durbin: 100 Men and a Girl, Three Smart Girls Grow Up, It Started with Eve. Extras: audio commentary by film historian Stephen Vagg (100 Men and a Girl); audio commentary by film historian Samm Deighan (It Started with Eve); theatrical trailers.

Rags: The Musical
(Ghostlight Records - new album on mp3/at iTunes)
London cast recording of Stephen Schwartz / Charles Strouse score. Recently played a limited run at Park Theatre, London. Carolyn Maitland, Dave Willetts, Sam Attwater, Debbie Chazen, Alex Gibson-Giorgio, Rachel Izen, Samuel Jones and Jude Muir, Martha Kirby, Oisin Nolan-Power, and Jeremy Rose, Arthur Boan, Angela Caesar, Adam Crossley, Drew Dillon, Matthew Gent, and Natasha Karp. Executive-produced by Stephen Schwartz. Nick Barstow, music producer and orchestrator. "Opening," "If We Never Meet Again," "Greenhorns," "Brand New World," "Edge of A Knife," "The Fabric of America," "Penny a Tune," "Bella's Song (Part One)," "Meet an Italian," "Friday Night Prayers," "No More Nightmares," "Little Lady," "Cheer Up, Chaimlet," "Blame It on the Summer Night," "For My Mary," "Take Our City Back," "Rags," "On the Fourth Day of July," "Yankee Boy," "Uptown," "Wanting," "Three Sunny Rooms," "Kaddish," "Bella's Song (Part Two)," "If We Never Meet Again (Reprise)," "Bread and Freedom," "Children of the Wind," "Finale." Joe Bunker, musical director. Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Joe and Nikki Davison at Auburn Jam Music. Also at GhostlightRecords.com.

Still Waiting in the Wings
(JJ Spotlight Productions - new on DVD/streaming)
Directed By Q. Allan Brocka. Written By Jeffrey A. Johns And Arie Gonzalez. Jeffrey A. Johns, Joe Abraham, Rena Strober, Adam Huss, Blake Peyrot, Harrison White, and Rebekah Kochan, with special appearances By Nick Adams, Ed Asner, Carole Cook, Lee Meriwether, Patricia Richardson, Chita Rivera, Seth Rudetsky, Sally Struthers, Bruce Vilanch and Cindy Williams. "A light-hearted musical tale following the triumphs and trials of actors dreaming of the Great White Way, mixing sweet aspirations with bitter drama." Previously titled Waiting in the Wings the Musical. Listed at Amazon.com, JJSpotlightProductions.com Soundtrack also available on CD.

Books/Plays RECENTLY MADE AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER:

The 24 Hour Plays Viral Monologues: New Monologues Created During the Coronavirus Pandemic
(Methuen Drama - Paperback Book)
Features original monologues by writers such as David Lindsay-Abaire, Clare Barron, Hilary Bettis, Hansol Jung, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Christopher Oscar Peña, Jesse Eisenberg and Monique Moses. A rich collection that can be enjoyed by actors, writers and those looking for creative responses to the global COVID-19 crisis. 144 pages.

Jagged Little Pill: The Stories Behind the Iconic Album and Groundbreaking Musical
(Grand Central Publishing - new Hardcover Book/Kindle Edition/Audiobook)
Chronicle of the Grammy-winning 1995 Alanis Morissette album and the new Broadway musical it inspired. Photos (Matthew Murphy) and interviews from Morissette, bookwriter Diablo Cody, creative team members, and cast members, as well as a full annotated libretto and an exploration of the album’s cultural significance. 224 pages.

The New York Times Theater Reviews, 1870-1990
(Routledge - Hardcover Book)
Details to come.

OTHER NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Added to June 5:

We Are Freestyle Love Supreme
(to stream at Hulu)
Documentary that chronicles Lin-Manuel Miranda's pre-Hamilton improv hip-hop group, Freestyle Love Supreme, and their reunion performances in New York City in 2019. Utkarsh Ambudkar, Andrew Bancroft, James Monroe Iglehart, Chris Jackson, Thomas Kail, Arthur Lewis, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Bill Sherman, Chris Sullivan, Anthony Veneziale. Directed by Andrew Fried.





Compiled by Talkin' Broadway Staff.

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