LML Music To Release Recording of Durang's 'Adrift'

LML Music will release the premiere recording of Adrift in Macao on May 13, 2008.  With book & lyrics by Christopher Durang and music by Peter Melnick, this musical had its New York debut with Primary Stages at 59E59 Theaters in 2007 in a limited Off-Broadway run.  The Adrift in Macao cast album is produced by Peter Melnick and Grammy® and Oscar® winner Joel Moss.
 
Adrift in Macao, a madcap musical parody of glamorous films noirs, features the leading lady who can't really sing yet somehow always manages to book a gig, and the mysterious leading man who can't go home for murky reasons he won't explain.  From the opium dens of China to seedy bars in New York, this hilarious romp from Durang and composer Melnick takes audiences through the post-WWII years with plenty of intrigue and wit, and a playfully melodic score.  In describing the style of this musical parody, Christopher Durang stated, "Films noirs makes people think of evil femme fatales like Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity, and brings to mind violence and gangsters.  Adrift in Macao doesn't focus on the crime aspects of films noirs, but more on the ambience - the smoky nightclubs, the alluring women, and the mysterious men with shady pasts."
 
Critics embraced Adrift in Macao when it bowed on the New York stage.  The New York Times wrote, "Melnick's music hops effectively among genres, evoking period music from Kurt Weill to big band," while Bloomberg News hailed "This musical takeoff on film noir is as light as a helium balloon…the music manages to be delightful pastiche and the frequently funny book is peppered with puns and the lyrics are always hilarious."  American Theater Web remarked "Durang's work as a lyricist is consistently on target.  Sometimes silly, sometimes witty, his words fit into Melnick's terrific songs with ease, and TalkinBroadway.com observed "Melnick demonstrates an affinity for melody and old-fashioned showmanship that link him to his grandfather Richard Rodgers" while praising the show's "unusually well-composed" songs.  Additionally, the show earned two Drama Desk nominations, including one for Outstanding Music.
 
Composer Peter Melnick toiled in film music composition for a dozen years before coming home to his first love, musical theater.  His collaboration with Christopher Durang on Adrift In Macao began in 2001.  Since then, the show has played Philadelphia (Philadelphia Theatre Company, November 2005) and Boston (Lyric Stage Company, January 2008), with future productions in the works.  Melnick is currently working with librettist Bill Russell on The Last Smoker in America, a futuristic fantasy about a dysfunctional family in a smoke-free America.  He has also composed the scores to Chinese Cabaret, and Twyla Tharp's Sextet.  His film and television scores include L.A. Story, Call Waiting, Convicts, the award-winning television movies "Indictment: The McMartin Trial" (HBO), "Lily Dale" (Showtime) and numerous PBS documentaries.
 

Book & lyricist Christopher Durang's credits on and off Broadway include: A History of the American Film (Tony® nomination), Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You (Obie Award), Beyond Therapy, Baby with the Bathwater, The Marriage of Bette and Boo (Obie Award, Hull Warriner Award), Laughing Wild, Betty's Summer Vacation (Obie Award), Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge and Miss Witherspoon, which had a double premiere at McCarter Theatre and Playwrights Horizons.  Miss Witherspoon and Mrs. Bob… are published in one volume by Grove/Atlantic Press.  As an actor, he has appeared in movies and in his own plays.  He appeared with Sigourney Weaver in their co-authored Das Lusitania Songspiel (both earned Drama Desk nominations), and with Julie Andrews in the Stephen Sondheim revue Putting It Together at Manhattan Theatre Club.  With John Augustine and Sherry Anderson, he performed his crackpot cabaret Chris Durang and Dawne (Bistro Award).  With Marsha Norman, he is co-chair of the Playwriting Program at Juilliard where they have jointly won the Margo Jones Award for their work with developing playwrights.  He is a member of the Dramatists Guild Council.
 

LML Music is an independent label dedicated to distributing the finest in Cabaret, Jazz and Broadway vocals.  All of the artists on LML have produced their own recordings; some independently and others with the incredible support of their friends and fans providing for some of the most incredible and heartfelt voices you shall ever experience.  Founded in 1995 by award-winning recording artist Lee Lessack, LML now distributes for over 65 vocalists in the US & Canada and have recently signed distribution deals in Australia, Ireland and the United Kingdom. In addition, LML has expanded their catalogue to include some of the finest LIVE concert recordings produced by the Actors' Fund of America and the S.T.A.G.E. organization.  In 2004 LML also signed distribution deals with two boutique labels, Midder Music and Ducy Lee.
 
TRACK LISTING:
1.                  Prologue
2.                  In A Foreign City
3.                  Grumpy Mood
4.                  Tempura's Song
5.                  Mister McGuffin
6.                  Pretty Moon Over Macao
7.                  Mambo Malaysian
8.                  Sparks
9.                  Adrift in Macao
10.              So Long
11.              Rick's Song
12.              The Chase
13.              I'm Actually Irish
14.              Ticky Ticky Tock

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