Listen: Julie Benko Sings' I'll be Here' From THE FITZGERALDS OF ST. PAUL

Brainstorm Records has released the new single “I’ll Be Here” – featuring Broadway sensation Julie Benko – from The Fitzgeralds of St. Paul, the new musical by Christie Baugher. Listen here! 

The Fitzgeralds of St. Paul is a two-actor chamber musical that dramatizes the tumultuous marriage of Jazz Age literary legends F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. Benko, who broke out in her acclaimed star turn in Broadway’s Funny Girl, is joined by a 12-piece orchestra with a lilting arrangement by Frank Galgano & Matt Castle. Listen to the song on Spotify, Apple Music, and other services.

“I’ll Be Here,” and the upcoming music video, will serve as a first listen to the material, ahead of an industry presentation in the Spring of 2026, followed by a commercial Off-Broadway production that fall. The show will be directed and choreographed by Danny Mefford (Broadway’s Kimberly Akimbo, Fun Home, Dear Evan Hansen, and upcoming Off-Broadway productions of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Bigfoot!) and produced by Brainstorm Live Entertainment.

“I’m so excited to share Julie Benko’s gorgeous rendition of ‘I’ll Be Here’ with the world,” says Christie Baugher, the show’s creator. “This song – one of the very first I wrote for The Fitzgeralds of St. Paul – is both the opening and closing number and is such a perfect introduction to the sonic and emotional world of the show. My hope is that audiences lose themselves in the lush, delicate contours of memory as Zelda does in the show, and that the brilliant 12-piece orchestrations and Julie’s beautiful and heartbreaking performance transport listeners to a place that leaves them wanting more.”

In The Fitzgeralds of St. Paul, two brilliant artists struggle with addiction, mental illness, professional jealousy and secret ambitions. Featuring book, music and lyrics by Christie Baugher, winner of the American Theatre Wing’s 2022 Jonathan Larson Grant and the ASCAP Foundation’s Harold Adamson Lyrics Award, The Fitzgeralds of St. Paul is part memory play, part gin-soaked vaudeville – dreamlike and hypnotic, witty, and heartbreaking – a devastating love story that spans decades and continents. 

A preview production of The Fitzgeralds of St. Paul was staged last year at the Irish Classical Theatre Company in Buffalo, directed and choreographed by Danny Mefford and starring Shannon O’Boyle and Jewell Wilson Bridges. This limited-run engagement gave audiences the opportunity to experience the show's captivating story and unforgettable music. The show had a 2023 ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop in Los Angeles, it was an official selection of the 2020 Pacific Playwrights Festival, South Coast Rep, and sold out in concert at Joe’s Pub in 2019.