"Little Princess" by Andrew Lippa gets studio recording with Boggess, Benanti, et al. and concert staging
"Little Princess" by Andrew Lippa gets studio recording with Boggess, Benanti, et al. and concert staging
jacobsnchz14
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/13/06
#1"Little Princess" by Andrew Lippa gets studio recording with Boggess, Benanti, et al. and concert staging
Posted: 9/7/11 at 6:39pm
A new version of the Andrew Lippa-Brian Crawley musical, A Little Princess, based on the classic novel, will get a concert version by Texas State University's musical theatre department Oct. 16-19. The final performance will be live-streamed on the internet.
The San Marcos, TX, staging reflects changes made to the property — which has music by Tony Award nominee Lippa, and book and lyrics by Crawley — since its world premiere by TheatreWorks in Palo Alto, CA, in 2004.
Thus four-night concert version of the show "will provide the authors the opportunity to finalize the script, score and orchestrations," according to director Kaitlin Hopkins, who heads the musical theatre program at Texas State.
The TSU musical theatre program is producing the concert. A 20-piece orchestra will be conducted by Lippa, whose scores include The Addams Family, The Wild Party and jon and jen. Crawley wrote the book and lyrics for Violet (with composer Jeanine Tesori), which won the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical as well as the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical. For the libretto of Violet, Crawley won the Kleban Award.
Music Theatre International (MTI) will exclusively represent the performance rights for the show around the world.
Ghostlight Records is releasing the world-premiere studio recording of A Little Princess on Sept. 13 to coincide with publisher Hal Leonard's release of the vocal selections. In addition to directing the concert, New York City theatre veteran Hopkins (Noises Off, Bat Boy, Anything Goes) will also be performing the role of Miss Minchin. Her husband, faculty member and Broadway actor Jim Price (Civil War, Bat Boy), will perform the role of Captain Crewe. The rest of the roles will be played by students in the musical theatre program.
Loosely adapted from a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, this new musical version was written by Brian Crawley (book & lyrics) & Andrew Lippa (music). The recording features Sierra Boggess, Will Chase, Julia Murney, Laura Benanti, Nikki Renee Daniels, Titus Burgess, Remy Zaken, Morgan James, Michael McElroy and many more.
This album will be released on September 13, 2011 on Ghostlight Records.
#2Re: Little Princess
Posted: 9/7/11 at 7:44pmI'm excited to hear the new recording. The old demo is pretty good and "Live Out Loud" is one of my favorite Lippa songs.
#2Re: Little Princess
Posted: 9/7/11 at 9:16pmI truly hope he has finally come up with an interesting score.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
#3Re: Little Princess
Posted: 9/7/11 at 9:21pm
I'll drink to that, Matt.
And if anyone is interested, the 1995 film version is one of the best films ever made.
#4Re: Little Princess
Posted: 9/7/11 at 9:26pm
And if anyone is interested, the 1995 film version is one of the best films ever made.
You have impeccable taste in films.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
#6Re: Little Princess
Posted: 9/7/11 at 9:36pmNo, not at all! That's quite high on my list of favorites. Well acted, beautifully designed and never ever fails to make me cry.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
#7Re: Little Princess
Posted: 9/7/11 at 9:40pm
Oh good. It really is one of the most beautiful films ever shot, in my opinion. Back when it first came out in video I was working for Blockbuster and I can tell you with complete honesty that every single person I recommended it to returned it and either bought a copy there or placed a special order for it (1995, the days before amazon. Remember special ordering?? Lol)
I'm going to put it in now, actually. (That's what she said)
ttalovebug
Swing Joined: 8/13/11
#8Re: Little Princess
Posted: 9/7/11 at 11:26pmJust had to reply and say I agree 100%- no exaggeration, I think it's one of the best films I've ever seen. And as an added bonus, the score is exquisite. The first thing I thought when I clicked on this is that I don't think I could ever really get in to a musical version of the story, because the score from the 1995 film will always be the first thing that comes to mind.
#9Re: Little Princess
Posted: 9/7/11 at 11:33pm
And it's actually hard trying to get people to watch it, but once they do they wonder why they didn't see it years ago. It was the first time I was introduced to the brilliance of director Alfonso Cuaron, who has become one of my favorite directors (his first new film in 6 years just finished filming and stars George Clooney & Sandra Bullock).
Seriously, if you haven't seen it I'm BEGGING you to give it a chance. You can stream it on Netflix right now. It is truly one of the most beautiful things I have or will ever see.
#10Re: Little Princess
Posted: 9/7/11 at 11:43pmI like it when a guy begs. Maybe I'll add it to my queue now.
#11Re: Little Princess
Posted: 9/8/11 at 12:16am
Just had to reply and say I agree 100%- no exaggeration, I think it's one of the best films I've ever seen. And as an added bonus, the score is exquisite. The first thing I thought when I clicked on this is that I don't think I could ever really get in to a musical version of the story, because the score from the 1995 film will always be the first thing that comes to mind.
I listen to the score quite frequently, and also wondered why someone didn't take the score and try to adapt it to the stage.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
#13Re: Little Princess
Posted: 9/8/11 at 12:22amDoes anybody know who it is singing "Live Out Loud" on the demo?
-Benjamin
--http://www.benjaminadgate.com/
--http://www.benjaminadgate.com/
#15Re: Little Princess
Posted: 9/8/11 at 5:04am
I know there's a few versions of "Live Out Loud" out there - one is Shoshana Bean, one is Andrew Lippa himself, and one is Megan McGinnis.
"Anybody that goes to the theater, I think we’re all misfits, so we ended up on stage or in the audience.” --- Patti LuPone.
Updated On: 9/8/11 at 05:04 AM
#16Re: Little Princess
Posted: 9/8/11 at 5:04amDouble post.
"Anybody that goes to the theater, I think we’re all misfits, so we ended up on stage or in the audience.” --- Patti LuPone.
Updated On: 9/8/11 at 05:04 AM
#17Re: Little Princess
Posted: 9/12/11 at 11:22pmThe songs are up on itnues now! Anyone get it yet? I'm super excited.
philly03
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/07
#18Re: Little Princess
Posted: 9/12/11 at 11:50pmI always loved Andrew Lippa's "Almost Christmas" from this one for whatever reason. Lippa is not a favourite composer of mine by any means, but he is so good at writing little variations: The overture to the Addams Family musical, for example, is probably the best part of the show.
#19Re: Little Princess
Posted: 9/13/11 at 12:31am
I presume Sierra Boggess is attempting a British accent on "Live Out Loud," but is it... by way of Brooklyn? At some points, she drops it completely, and at other points it's just unbearable to listen to. Whatever she's doing has to be one of the strangest, most inconsistent dialects I've ever heard.
That being said, her belt sounds lovely otherwise. It's nice to hear her utilize the brassier part of her register that she so rarely gets to showcase.
Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
Updated On: 9/13/11 at 12:31 AM
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
#20Re: Little Princess
Posted: 9/13/11 at 12:40amWhy is the finale track 2 and the overture track 12?
#21Re: Little Princess
Posted: 9/13/11 at 8:36pm^ That can easily be fixed. I really love this score. I reminds me a lot of Little Women, which I realize could be an insult, but I really liked the score to Little Women so coming from me it's meant as a compliment.
#22Re: Little Princess
Posted: 9/13/11 at 8:38pmI know that's easily fixed but what other songs are out of order?
#23Re: Little Princess
Posted: 9/13/11 at 8:42pm
It should be like this...
Overture
Good Luck, Bonne Chance
Soon, My Love
Live Out Loud
Let Your Heart Be Your Compass
Isn’t That Always the Way?
Lucky
If the Tables Were Turned
Soldier On
Another World
Almost Christmas
Once Upon a Time
Broken Old Doll
Timbuktu
Soon
Finale
#24Re: Little Princess
Posted: 9/13/11 at 9:33pm
"And if anyone is interested, the 1995 film version is one of the best films ever made."
Unfortunately, I was very disappointed by that version. The cinematography was excellent as were the designs and film score. But they took far too many liberties with a story that is most effective as originally told in the novel.
I'm also spoiled by the much more faithful 1986 PBS miniseries that I watched over and over as a kid and that I just happen to be currently uploading to my YouTube!! (See link below)
The 1995 film's Minchin was poor in comparison to the 1986 miniseries' definitive Minchin as portrayed by the brilliant Maureen Lipman!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCWROp8taeU (Skip to 16:09 for a sample)
I've never heard of the musical version and knowing there is one is exciting as a fan of the story (which isn't just for little girls, lol).
Recreation of original John Cameron orchestration to "On My Own" by yours truly. Click player below to hear.
Updated On: 9/13/11 at 09:33 PM
