"Broadway Sings Blood Rock: The Musical," a new EP comprised of six songs from the acclaimed 2018 stage play "Blood Rock: The Musical" created by Michael Berns, has received a worldwide release on all streaming music platforms, including iTunes and Apple Music.
The new EP features the singing of four top Broadway stars: 2019 Tony Award nominee
Damon Daunno (Curly in Broadway's "Oklahoma!"); 1987 Tony Award nominee
Robert Torti (Greaseball from "Starlight Express");
Andy Mientus (Broadway's "Les Misérables" and the Pied Piper on the CW series "The Flash"); and Jennifer DiNola (Elphaba in Broadway's "Wicked").
"Broadway Sings Blood Rock: The Musical" is currently under consideration for a 2021 Grammy Award in the category of "Best Musical Theatre Album."
With original music by the show's creator Michael Berns, and with lyrics by Berns and Peabody Award winner Ralph Pezzulo (whose books include "Jawbreaker" and "Inside SEAL Team Six"), "Blood Rock: The Musical" is being retooled with plans for an entirely new and larger Los Angeles production. During the pandemic hiatus, Berns assembled a new creative production team, and produced this new EP, which includes four original songs from the "Blood Rock" 2018 theatrical presentation in Los Angeles - along with two brand new songs written in 2020.
Participating in the production of the EP along side Berns were the play's new team members, including director/choreographer
Kay Cole (an original cast member of "A Chorus Line" on Broadway); production designer
Andy Walmsley ("The
Buddy Holly Story," "American Idol"); and producer Conwell Worthington (Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" World Tour).
Berns said, "I am thrilled with this new project, which has its roots in our 2018 stage show. I've assembled a truly remarkable new team to both rework the original show and to produce this new, six-song EP,
James Walsh,
Matt Smith,
Kay Cole and Conwell Worthington and I all co-produced these six new songs over Zoom calls, FaceTime conversations, and via direct feeds from the two studios (NYC and Las Vegas) where the actors were physically located while recording. Given the current COVID environment, this virtual recording set-up allowed us to produce something unique - something that we are all very proud of!"
Blood Rock The Musical tells the story of two rival vampire gangs that have been living secretly in the city of Philadelphia for hundreds of years. Producers said, "The new show is akin to West Side Story, with vampires. Blood Rock is a great deal of fun - and jam packed with humor and irresistible songs. At our initial Los Angeles engagement, Blood Rock was enthralling for audiences of all ages."
Broadwayworld said Blood Rock is "an entertaining romp with transfusion of wonderfulness." In the show, The Blood Rock Gang, human-friendly vampires, have been running a blood bank to obtain donated blood that they can transform into the synthetic solid form of the 'blood rock' that sustains them. However they are threatened when new arrivals, The Carnoli Gang -- more traditional human-killing vampires -- require fresh blood to feed their eternal lives.
Bela Lugosi, Jr., son of the legendary movie "Dracula" actor said, "My father would have loved this - Blood Rock has drama, action, comedy, dance, romance, and best of all, lots of vampires! I'm sure he would have greatly enjoyed the show as much as my family and I have tonight!"
The recording studio personnel for the album consisted of Michael Berns and
James Walsh - the duo jointly produced the majority of the record from the site of Walsh's Threshold Studios located in New York City (with Berns remaining in Los Angeles) along with sound engineers Derek Rusinek and Andrew Yanchyshyn. Additional vocal performances were recorded at Adrenaline Studios in Las Vegas, with
Matt Smith as sound engineer and again with Berns stationed in Los Angeles.
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