Wright and Forrest's Anya! The Musical Headed to CD in April
By: Robert Diamond Mar. 05, 2009
Kritzerland will present the first ever CD release of the Original Cast Recording of Anya, with a score by Robert Wright and George Forrest (based on themes by Sergei Rachmaninoff).
Anya, the musical version of Anastasia, opened on Broadway at the end of 1965 at the Ziegfeld Theater and lasted a mere fifteen performances. Nobody would have predicted that a new musical by the team that wrote Kismet (here doing to Rachmaninoff what in Kismet they did to Borodin), written by George Abbott and Guy Bolton, and direction by George Abbott would end up being such a troubled production and such a huge flop. Happily, United Artists Records went ahead and recorded the cast album and just as happily we're thrilled to finally bring it to CD. Whatever the show's problems (it's been revised several times since), the album is filled with glorious music, excellent performances, and is indeed a most musical musical. The Rachmaninoff "themes" are masterfully used by Wright and Forrest (no one was better at that sort of thing than they were), and Don Walker's orchestrations and Harold Hastings' musical direction make the most out of all of those gorgeous melodies.
The cast includes Constance Towers, Michael Kermoyan, Lillian Gish, and Irra Petina, as well as the still alive and kicking George S. Irving. New liner notes are by Walter Willison (Tony-nominee for Two By Two), who was very close to Wright and Forrest.
The CD is a Limited Edition of 1000 copies only.
Digitally remastered from the original album master tapes. The price is $19.98 plus shipping.
CDs will ship the second week of April - however, preorders placed directly through Kritzerland usually ship one to three weeks ahead of the street date.
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