Skylar Astin Performs Guest Track on Pasek & Paul's JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH Cast Album

Tony-nominated songwriters Justin Paul and Benj Pasek and playwright Timothy Allen McDonald will release the highly anticipated ultimate cast recording for Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach on Tuesday, April 21. The album features a previously unannounced special guest track by Skylar Astin (Spring Awakening, "Pitch Perfect").

Megan Hilty, Christian Borle, Brian d'Arcy James, Jackie Hoffman, Mary Testa, Luca Padovan, Marc Kudisch, Daniel Breaker, and Sarah Stiles also perform on the recording. The musical is based on the beloved best-selling book of the same name by Roald Dahl.

"Writing for this fantastically bizarre world in which human-sized, anthropomorphized insects sing and a giant peach flies through the sky gave us the freedom to explore all these different musical stylings," says Pasek. "We wrote in what felt right for the moment and characters. You'll hear the evil aunts singing vaudeville, the insects performing big band, swing and gospel, and at one point Earthworm performs a show-stopping salsa number," adds Paul.

"The artists on this album don't just represent the best from Broadway. They are all invested in making a difference in the lives of young people worldwide. We can't wait to see what happens when families around the globe experience the magic of Roald Dahl in this new way," says McDonald.

Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach tells the story of a young orphaned child who finds a loving family in a most peculiar way. Sent by his mean, conniving aunts to chop down their old fruit tree, James discovers a magic potion that results in a tremendous peach occupied by some not-so-normal characters. From the center of the gigantic fruit, James and the unlikely crew launch a journey of enormous proportions. Together they discover that while we are all born into a family, we then go on to create a family of our own.

The musical has been acquired for licensing in the TYA, student and community theater markets by Music Theatre International (MTI).

The Dahl family and the Dahl estate have been part of the show's transformation from the page to the stage. McDonald first collaborated with the Dahls when he and Leslie Bricusse were selected to adapt Charlie and the Chocolate Factory into a musical. The show premiered in 2004 at the Kennedy Center, enjoyed a two year U.S. tour and was performed at the White House.

Photo by Walter McBride