How Sondheim Found His Sound - by Prof. Steve Swayne

The cast of Out of the Box Theatrics’ Millennials Are Killing Musicals by Nico Juber, directed by Ciara Renée, will head into the studio this week to record its original cast album to be released this fall on Yellow Sound Label.  

Audible, Inc. has announced a new multi-project, exclusive deal with Ashé Audio Ventures, the newly formed podcast label from Viola Davis and Julius Tennon’s JuVee Productions and Maurício Mota and Katie Mota’s Wise Entertainment.

Released on May 26, 2023, brutalovechamp features Seabrook's stunning and malleable octet Epic Proportions, which includes percussionist and vocalist Nava Dunkelman, cellist Marika Hughes, bassists Eivind Opsvik and Henry Fraser, electronic musician and vocalist Chuck Bettis, John McCowen on clarinets and recorders, and Sam Ospovat on drums, vibraphone and percussion.

Tonight, Sunday, May 28th at 7pm EST, the Talking It Out Virtual Arts Festival in Support of Mental Health Awareness will host its next monthly Poetry Open-Mic Night for poets and spoken-word artists to come and share their poems, monologues, and other written work virtually across the world, and to watch and support the works of their fellow artists.

Dr Shashi Tharoor, Indian politician and Member of Parliament (MP) launched a new book titled 'Silver Lining - Overcoming Adversity to Build NephroPlus, India's Largest Dialysis Provider' written by NephroPlus co-founder and author Kamal Shah.

The next Musical Theatre Melodies broadcast, hosted by Rob Morrison on 96.5 FM on Tuesday, May 30 will mark the 70th anniversary of the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II musical ME AND JULIET from the original 1953 Broadway cast recording starring Isabel Bigley, Bill Hayes, Joan McCracken, Mark Dawson, Arthur Maxwell and Bill Fortier.

Into The Quiet is the second collaboration between electronic ambient visionary Deborah Martin and renowned English Horn player and Oboist Jill Haley. Their previous album was 2021's The Silence Of Grace, a pastoral collection that received numerous accolades including Zone Music Reporter's list of Top 20 albums of the year.

In the end, what you have in the cast album of KPOP is a fine KPOP album with lots of fun danceable music being sung by Broadway-caliber voices.

Truthfully, there is a lot to enjoy if you are unfamiliar with Disney’s THE LITTLE MERMAID, and even if you are, but taking all this on balance ... this new soundtrack comes off a bit thin

With The Rite of Spring – Spectre d’un songe, two of contemporary music’s most vital and innovative pianists – Sylvie Courvoisier and Cory Smythe – interpret and converse with one of the 20th century’s landmark compositions. On this breathtaking new recording, released May 19, 2023 from Pyroclastic Records, Courvoisier and Smythe perform Igor Stravinsky’s striking two-piano rendition of his iconic Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring), followed by a bold new Courvoisier composition that draws inspiration from Stravinsky as a launchpad for investigatory improvisation.

The official cast album for The Guava Tree / El Guayabo, a new bilingual musical for young audiences, is available digitally on all platforms. With book and lyrics by Diana Grisanti and music by Emiliano Messiez, the musical premiered at the renowned Creede Repertory Theatre in Colorado in 2021. It toured across the Southwest and was seen by more than 40,000 students. 

The Drama Book Shop will present a special event featuring acclaimed authors Caseen Gaines and Noble Sissle Jr. The evening will be dedicated to a captivating discussion about the new book, When Broadway Was Black: The Triumphant Story of the All-Black Musical that Changed the World.

GHOSTLIGHT RECORDS has announced that the new album from singer/songwriter Eleri Ward – Acoustic Sondheim: Live from Brooklyn – will be released in digital and streaming formats on Friday, June 2. 

PS CLASSICS, the label dedicated to the heritage of Broadway and American popular song, has announced the release of the debut album from actor-singer Matthew Scott, who has been lighting up the Broadway stage since making his debut in Jersey Boys. 

As we listened to John Pizzarelli’s STAGE & SCREEN, our initial thought was, “There aren’t really words to describe how good this is.”

Get an exclusive first listen to Matthew Scott's “When the Earth Stopped Turning” off his upcoming album The Jesus Year: a letter from my dad.

Matt Hawkins and Aurelia Williams talk with Michael Walters about their new concept album of the musical MY HEART SAYS GO.

Billy Recce’s hilarious new single is not a gay battle cry ... but a satirical reproachment that ultimately says, “COME OUT OF WHOEVER YOU ARE!”

Mystery Mike McHale and DinoDogz have announced the launch of their new fundraising program, DinoDogz has previously raised funds for various charities including WORTHY OF LOVE, TUESDAY'S CHILDREN and BELLA AND BUDDIES ANIMAL RESCUE through the sales of their first book DinoDogz: Eggzellent Adventure which is the first in a series. 

Though we do feel the creators should dig a little deeper to make their plot a little fresher for their show, it is a worthy concept.

The Drama Book Shop is hosting an exclusive in-person conversation with editor Catalina Florina Florescu and the authors of 'Borderless Thalia: A Multilingual, Pandemic Comic Collection'. This special event will feature authors Barbara Blatner, Sarah Congress, Tjaša Ferme, and Ornella Ohayon.

BILLY RECCE has released his effervescent new single “Come Out” on all digital and streaming platforms. Listen now!

These two Platinum-selling singer/songwriters have created a completely stylish duet for themselves, and there is nothing ALMOST about it.

Rickie Lee Jones is a consummate artist so it should not come as any surprise that she is a master of this kind of music as well.

If you love that wonderful down-home cross-section of musicals that include things like BIG RIVER, THE ROBBER BRIDEGROOM, BRIGHT STAR, or, let’s face it, OKLAHOMA, then you should definitely go get SHUCKED.

Taken all together, Ramin Karimloo’s THE ROAD TO FIND OUT series yields music that uplifts, haunts, and will make you sway a bit.

I’ll Drink to That! is a celebration of theatrical tradition, a souvenir of magic moments on stage, and a practical guide to make one-of-a-kind craft cocktail recipes inspired by the best of Broadway.

A cast album of songs Broadway vet and Tony nominee Bill Russell is set for release this summer. Production is under way on the 14 songs of Jim Brosseau's 'Locked and Loaded, an American Musical.'

Farah Alvin proves herself to be as wonderful a recording artist as she is a live performer.

On New York City’s Rehearsal Club “Recognition Day,” May 11th, Bear Manor is releasing its new title, -- Cinderellas of West 53rd Street: Stories from the Legendary Rehearsal Club, with a special book-signing event at The Museum of Broadway.