ZARA and Nerestan, Christian slaves, had grown up in the palace of Osman, Sultan of Turkey. Zara was but a baby when she was brought to the palace. In fact, the only proof that she was a Christian lay in the ornamental cross she wore. Consequently she had found no difficulty in accepting the Moslem faith. Nerestan, however, though but a young lad when captured, took his obligations to Christianity and his fellow slaves seriously. Two years before the opening of the play he had secured from the Sultan permission to go to France to seek ransom for his comrades, promising on his honor to return.
After his departure, Zara, budding into a lovely womanhood, fell deeply in love with the splendid young Osman. When she discovered that her love was requited and that Osman would make her his only wife and empress, her happiness was complete. On the day of her appointed nuptials, Nerestan returned from his long absence. He had been able to secure ransom for ten Christians only, but was willing to become again a slave if Zara were included in the ten. Even the hundred slaves freed through the Sultan's generosity, Nerestan included, did not make up for his bitter disillusionment when he found that Zara was about to marry the Sultan. He was gravely disappointed, too, that the Sultan had not felt it politic to release the aged Lusignan, descendant of the ancient kings of Jerusalem.
Zara, however, pleaded so successfully for the old man that presently she was enabled herself to conduct him, a free man, to join Nerestan's party. Through the cross she was wearing as an ornament, Lusignan recognized her as the baby daughter lost in the sack of Jerusalem by the Moslems. By means of certain scars, he likewise identified Nerestan as his son.
Horrified at the thought of Zara's proposed marriage to a Moslem, the two men obtained from her the promise that she would be baptized that day in Nerestan's presence and follow the priest's instructions. They also made her swear to keep the whole affair secret from Osman until they were gone.
Zara's plea that their nuptials be delayed for a day roused Osman's suspicions. The interception of Nerestan's letter bidding Zara meet him that night convinced the Sultan that she was faithless. Going himself to the appointed place, he stabbed the girl and had Nerestan seized. Only then did he learn the story and, unable to forgive his own lack of faith in his beloved, stabbed himself with the dagger that killed her.
Theater star and Nashville recording artist RACHEL POTTER – best known for appearances on Fox TV’s “The X Factor” and the Broadway musicals The Addams Family and Evita – has released “The Animazement Trio.' Listen here!
Jeffrey Seller, the Tony Award-winning producer behind Hamilton, Rent, Avenue Q, and In the Heights is releasing his new memoir Theater Kid—and he's taking it on the road. Learn more about upcoming events.
Dolly Parton has announced the release of her upcoming book, STAR OF THE SHOW: My Life on Stage. A celebration of Dolly Parton’s iconic career as a performer, the book features entertaining personal stories alongside 350 full-color photographs.
In celebration of DRAG: The Musical’s dynamite off-Broadway run at New World Stages, the team behind the show will release ‘DRAG: The Musical LIVE (The Cast Recording)’ on April 25th.
The American Composers Orchestra (ACO) is set to release the world premiere recording of composer Huang Ruo and librettist David Henry Hwang’s moving and timely opera An American Soldier digitally via Platoon on Friday, May 23, 2025.
Theatre Communications Group will publish Stereophonic by David Adjmi, featuring original songs by Will Butler of Arcade Fire. Learn more about Stereophonic here!
To celebrate Record Store Day 2025, multi-platinum artist and songwriter Sam Smith will release a very special recording of their acclaimed BBC Proms performance from London’s iconic Royal Albert Hall on 2xLP vinyl on April 12th.
Ridley Scott’s epic Kingdom of Heaven will receive a new restored and remastered release of the Director's Cut, hitting digital retailers and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc on May 27.
Singer-songwriter Jill Sobule has announced the cast recording of her New York Times Critic’s Pick, Drama Desk-nominated autobiographical musical F*ck 7th Grade, to be released on June 6.
The 2024 Broadway revival, led by six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald, has recorded a cast album which is set to be released digitally on April 25. The first single, 'Together, Wherever We Go,' will be available to stream on April 11.
Craft Recordings will reissue six records from Original Jazz Classics, including newly remastered editions of Bill Evans’ Interplay and Moon Beams, Lee Morgan’s Here’s Lee Morgan, and more.
The Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording of WAITING IN THE WINGS is now available. WAITING IN THE WINGS: The Musical is based on the popular 2014 film (of the same name). Listen here!
The original cast recording of Broadway's Hamilton has been selected to join the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress, joining a selection that also includes the original recordings of Guys and Dolls, Gypsy, and Sweeney Todd.
An Original Cast Recording of CAT KID COMIC CLUB: THE MUSICAL is in the works, featuring a book and lyrics by Kevin Del Aguila and music by Brad Alexander. Learn more here!
Real Women Have Curves: The Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording) is set to be released in June. Learn more about the production, currently running on Broadway, and see how to purchase tickets.
Sutton Foster, Michael Urie, Daniel Breaker, Will Chase, Ana Gasteyer, and Nikki Renée Daniels will appear at The Museum of Broadway on April 22nd to perform a few selections from the Once Upon a Mattress cast recording and to sign CDs.
17-time GRAMMY Award-winning artist and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Sting is set to release STING 3.0 LIVE worldwide on April 25, available digitally, on CD and on 180g vinyl, with the exclusive Record Store Day Deluxe Edition out April 12 (US only).
Your Lie in April, one of the most popular romantic stories and greatest tearjerkers in the history of Japanese manga – which is a popular form of graphic novel – features music by multi-Grammy, Tony, and Emmy Award-nominated Broadway composer Frank Wildhorn (Jekyll & Hyde, Bonnie & Clyde, Death Note: The Musical) with lyrics by Carly Robyn Green and Tracy Miller.
The Sound of Murder, a new musical theater-themed mystery novel from composer Joseph Zellnik, is now available in paperback and eBook on major online book retailers.
Dramatists Play Service has published Just for Us, the solo play by writer-performer Alex Edelman. Learn more about Just For Us's stage history and more about Edelman here.
Frank Wildhorn’s Your Lie in April: The Musical (Original London Cast Recording) will available in streaming and digital formats Friday, April 4. BroadwayWorld has your exclusive first listen to '4.9 (Speed of Sound)' from the album here!
The creators of Larry the Musical: An American Journey will release the concept album on Saturday, April 5, 2025, available digitally and on vinyl. Learn more!
The book—like the documentary—describes how the first scrappy local production of Godspell launched the careers of Eugene Levy, Martin Short, Gilda Radner, Victor Garber, Paul Shaffer, Andrea Martin, and Dave Thomas.
Regina Spektor will reissue five of her acclaimed albums on limited edition color vinyl: Begin To Hope, Far, What We Saw From The Cheap Seats, Remember Us To Life, and Live in London. She will also return to the road this summer on her Midsummer Daydream Tour.
Multi Grammy-nominated vocal powerhouse Ryan Shaw and acclaimed pianist/composer/arranger Ray Angry (The Roots) have teamed up for OFF BROADWAY. Learn more about the album.
From composer Thomas Newman comes the premiere recording of his debut ballet score, Of Mice and Men. Composed for The Joffrey Ballet’s critically acclaimed 2022 production, the album will be released on April 25, 2025.
Vocal powerhouse Ryan Shaw and acclaimed pianist/composer/arranger Ray Angry (The Roots) have teamed up for Off Broadway, a new studio album featuring R&B, soul, jazz, rock, reggae, house, and classical-inspired takes on classic Broadway hits.
Now in its 7th year, the October Project Poetry Contest, the international poetry contest co-founded by award-winning poet/lyricist Julie Flanders, vocalist Marina Belica and composer Emil Adler of internationally-acclaimed October Project Music, will be held again this April during National Poetry Month.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Darren Criss, Annaleigh Ashford, and more will lend their voices to the audiobook version of Broadway producer Jeffrey Seller's memoir Theater Kid, dropping on May 6.
Tom Santopietro’s AUDREY HEPBURN A LIFE OF BEAUTIFUL UNCERTAINTY includes rarely published details, photographs and stories about the lasting impact of Audrey Hepburn's remarkable life. Learn more about the book!