Off Broadway Cast Recording Of THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO HEATHER To Be Released On JAY Records

Raise Your Hands! The Off Broadway cast recording of The Gospel According To Heather, a new musical with a book, music and lyrics by Paul Gordon. will be released on JAY Records. Produced by John Yap, the recording will feature the original cast of the Off Broadway production who gathered this week at Manhattan Studios to lay down the tracks.

Produced by Amas Musical Theatre (Donna Trinkoff, Artistic Producer) in association with Jim Kierstead, Broadway Factor, Linda Karn and David Bryant, The Gospel According To Heather, recently announced a one-week extension at Theater 555 (555 West 42nd Street) with performances through Sunday, July 16, 2023.

"I could not be happier to be having my third collaboration with John Yap and JAY Records," shares Producer Jim Kierstead. "I can't wait to hear the magic he makes in keeping our production alive!"

In The Gospel According To Heather, Heather Krebs just wants a boyfriend. But how can she even navigate her way through high school if she might be the New Messiah? A small town in Ohio grapples with politics, religion and teenage romance in this eclectic pop musical.

Directed by Rachel Klein, the cast features Lauren Elder (Hair), Badia Farha (School of Rock), Maria Habeeb, Jeremy Kushnier (Atomic, Footloose), Maya Lagerstam, Zach Rand, Katey Sagal (“The Conners,” “Married…With Children,” “Sons of Anarchy”), Carson Stewart, Brittany Nicole Williams (The Prom) and Wayne Wilson. Understudies are Armando Gutierrez, Georgia Kate Haege, and Sarita Amani Nash.

The creative team is: Jonathan Bauerfeld (music direction), Jodie Moore (music supervision), Christopher and Justin Swader (set design), Jamie Roderick (lighting design), Saawan Tiwari (costume design), Sean Hagerty (sound design), Brendan McCann (props design) and Timothy Ellis Riley (fight direction). Josh Iacovelli is Production Manager. The stage manager is Morgan Holbrook and Kelly Merrit is assistant stage manager. Casting by Stephanie Klapper Casting.

Tickets are $39-$49 (Premium tickets are $59) and may be obtained online here and in person at the Theater 555 box office (555 West 42nd Street). The performance schedule is Thursday at 7:00pm, Friday at 8:00pm, Saturday at 2:00pm & 8:00pm and Sunday at 3:00pm.

John Yap started JAY/TER Records in 1980 with a 'live' recording of the revue Nashville, New York (Music by Kurt Weill and Vernon Duke, Lyrics by Ogden Nash) at The King's Head Theatre. London. Even though this was a Fringe production, it is quite clear that the quality of the works is inherent and important to TER/JAY's choice of recordings, a standard that has endured to this day. In over 35 years John has produced hundreds of recordings, including works by Stephen Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein, Lerner and Loewe, Kander and Ebb, Kurt Weill, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern and virtually every significant Broadway and West End writers and composers. In addition to recording Original Broadway Cast, West End Cast, European Cast and Off-Broadway Cast albums, he has worked with and recorded productions by The Royal Opera House, The English National Opera, The D'Oyly Carte Opera, Scottish Opera, Opera North, The Royal Shakespeare Company, Chichester Festival Theatre and, in the USA, The Kennedy Center and The Lincoln Center Theatre. John has worked with and recorded many stars from the stage, opera, TV and movies. They include Liza Minnelli, Judi Dench, Jim Dale, Glenn Close, Richard Harris, Thomas Allen, Valerie Masterson, Chita Rivera, Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lee, Brian May (of Queen), Cleo Laine, Anthony Newley, Betty Buckley, Sarah Brightman, David Hyde Pierce, John Barrowman, Michael Ball, Elisabeth Welch, Willard White, Patti LuPone, John Houseman, Dora Bryan, Honor Blackman, Natalia Makarova, Julia Migenes, Brian Cox, Pat Suzuki, Ron Raines, Sian Phillips, Elaine Paige, Christian Borle and Carol Channing, among many others. John/JAY Records have a strong and happy relationship with The York Theatre that started in 2002 and together have recorded over 17 Original Cast albums, including Closer Than Ever, The Musical of Musicals, Enter Laughing, Lucky Stiff, Summer of '42, Busker Alley (with Jim Dale and Glenn Close) and John is thrilled to add the recording of Rothschild & Sons to the expanding list. Some recent releases by JAY Records include the first Complete Recording of One Touch of Venus starring Melissa Errico, Ron Raines, Brent Barrett, Victoria Clark and Judy Kaye, The Scottsboro Boys (both Off-Broadway and London Casts), Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (Regent Park's Theatre cast), and Other Songs: The Story Songs of Michael Colby (Off Broadway Cast). Recently, in addition to various Original Cast albums, John released the First and Only Complete Recordings of 42nd Street, The Man of La Mancha, The Dancing Years, and Anyone Can Whistle (in which Sondheim departed from his stance of not publicly endorsing any recordings, endorsed this recording with the following, “The brilliance of this recording gives the show more energy and sparkle than it's ever had. It made me proud of it.”) John has just recorded the Original Off Broadway Cast albums of Romeo and Bernadette, as well as the First and Only Complete recording of The Fantasticks (the complete Play) with an All Star Cast featuring the lyricist, Tom Jones as the Old Actor, returning to the part that he played in the very first Production of The Fantasticks.

Paul Gordon (Book/Music/Lyrics) was nominated for a 2001 Tony Award for composing the music and lyrics to the musical Jane Eyre. He won the 2015 Jeff Award for Best New Work for his book, music and lyrics for Sense and Sensibility. He is the recipient of the 2009 Ovation Award for his music and lyrics to Daddy Long Legs which has had productions all over the world, and was nominated for two Drama Desk Awards, an Off-Broadway Alliance Award and three Outer Critic Circle awards. His musicals Pride and Prejudice, Emma, No One Called Ahead and Estella Scrooge can be streamed on StreamingMusicals.com. paulgordonmusic.com

Rachel Klein (Director/Choreographer) Off-Broadway Direction: Red Roses, Green Gold (Minetta Lane Theatre/featuring the music of the Grateful Dead); Around the World in 80 Days (The Davenport Theatre); The Anthem ( "What makes this show pop is the bracing vision of its director, Rachel Klein."-The New York Times). Selected NYC: Tink! (NYMF); More Than All the World (adapted from Marlowe'sEdward II); Circus of Circus (The House of Yes). Selected Regional: The Suffragist (Gallagher Bluedorn Theatre, IA), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Co-Lab Arts NJ), 54 The Musical (The House of Independents NJ). Ms. Klein is the director/showrunner of the hit audio series, The World to Come, frequent choreographer for Night of 1000 Stevies, founding member of Iconoclast Theatre Collective, and directed the charity roast of Michael Musto raising funds for the Callen Lorde Community Health Center, which featured appearances by Rosie O'Donnell, Bruce Vilanch, and Bianca Del Rio. For more info: www.rachelkleindirector.com.

Jonathan Bauerfeld (Music Director) is a musical theatre composer, orchestrator, and music director. Music Director: Off-Broadway: Single Rider (Player's Theater), The Pout-Pout Fish (New Victory, TWUSA). As composer: The Jury (A.R.T. Gural Theatre NYC) and The Book of Names (Edinburgh Festival Fringe) with Casey Kendall; Book Lovers (MTI) with Talaura Harms; and Short Shakespeare! The Comedy of Errors (Chicago Shakespeare Theater). Orchestrations: Off-Broadway, NYMF, the Actors Fund Gala, Green Room 42, Symphony Space, and more. As a member of the music team: Hamilton (Chicago, First Nat'l), King Kong (Broadway), Escape to Margaritaville (Broadway), Summer: The Donna Summer Musical (Broadway),Trading Places (Alliance Theater), and Pride and Prejudice (TheatreWorks Silicon Valley). www.jonathanbauerfeld.com.

Amas Musical Theatre (Donna Trinkoff, Artistic Producer) is a non-profit, multi-ethnic theatrical organization founded in 1968 by Ms. Rosetta LeNoire. Amas (“you love” in Latin) is devoted to the creation, development and professional production of new American musicals, the celebration of cultural equity and minority perspectives, the emergence of new artistic talent, and the training and encouragement of inner-city young people. Amas celebrates its impact in pioneering multi-ethnic casting in the American Theatre and reiterates its commitment to this reflection of our diverse society. In recent years, Amas has emerged as a leading not-for-profit laboratory for new musicals, the most recent being Hip Hop Cinderella, Romeo & Bernadette: A Musical Tale of Verona and Brooklyn, ¡Americano!, Broadway and the Bard, starring Len Cariou and Red Eye of Love, which was awarded the Joseph A. Callaway Award for Outstanding Choreography. Its production of The Other Josh Cohen received six 2013 Drama Desk nominations including Outstanding Musical, a 2013 Lucille Lortel nomination for Outstanding Musical, and a 2013 Off-Broadway Alliance nomination for Best New Musical. Other shows that Amas has developed include A Taste of Chocolate, Triassic Parq, The Countess of Storyville, Distant Thunder, Marry Harry, Me and Miss Monroe, Aesop & Company, Signs of Life, Wanda's World, Shout! The Mod Musical, Lone Star Love, From My Hometown, Zanna, Don't!, 4 Guys Named Jose and Stormy Weather: Reimagining Lena Horne. Amas education programs include the Rosetta LeNoire Musical Theatre Academy, Lens on Live Theatre and in-school theatre arts residencies designed in partnership with elementary, middle, and high schools.

Jim Kierstead (Producer) is a Grammy-nominated, Emmy, Olivier, and six-time Tony Award-winning producer of the Broadway, touring, Toronto, and London productions of Kinky Boots, Pippin, Hadestown, The Inheritance, The Lehman Trilogy, and Company. In addition, he has been a co-producer of 25 Broadway productions and is currently represented on Broadway with Sweeney Todd and Hadestown. Off-Broadway projects include Titanique, Stranger Sings, Unexpected Joy, Yank!(Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel Nominees), Bright Colors and Bold Patterns, and Thrill Me (Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Nominees). He has also produced extensively in London's West End and produced Miami's hit immersive show Amparo. Jim is on the Board of Directors of The York Theatre Company and The Abingdon Theatre Company and is the founder of the digital theatre content creation company Broadway Virtual. www.kiersteadproductions.com

Broadway Factor is a theatrical production company dedicated to promoting diversity and fostering new voices in American theater. It was co-founded by Jim Kierstead, William Fernandez, Deborah Ramirez, and the late George Cabrera. Broadway Factor served as executive producer of Miami's longest-running immersive play, The Amparo Experience.

Linda Karn (Producer) Theater credits include producing The Adult in the Room in Chicago and co-producing Mrs. Doubtfire and part of Sweeney Todd on Broadway. Linda is an Emmy winning producer for “Matt Shepard Is A Friend of Mine” and produced the Netflix documentary series “Happy Jail” and executive produced the award-winning documentary film Mossville: When Great Trees Fall.

David Bryant (Producer) Broadway: A Beautiful Noise, Kite Runner, Getting the Band Back Together, Come From Away (Michael Alden Productions), A Time to Kill, Tale of Two Cities. Off-Broadway: Daddy Long Legs, Wiesenthal Streaming; Estella Scrooge. Film: Lilly (Actor) Broadway: Amadeus, Sunday in the Park with George, Show Boat, Les Misérables (original Marius).

 

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