THE MARVELOUS WONDERETTES: CAPS & GOWNS Gathers Supporters for Original Cast Album

The Marvelous Wonderettes: Caps & Gowns, the eagerly awaited sequel to the popular off-Broadway jukebox musical The Marvelous Wonderettes, will soon have its own cast album. The show opened July 7, 2012 at the Laguna Playhouse. Wonderettes creator Roger Bean has selected 32 songs for the new show and each one, from beloved classic to hidden treasure, will receive the signature Wonderettes touch for the new album.

To gather momentum for the original cast album, the creative team has initiated a fundraising campaign on the popular crowd-funding site Indiegogo. Indiegogo has launched over 45,000 campaigns and raises millions each month for projects ranging from a few hundred dollars to several million. The Sundance Film Festival, MTV, and Barack Obama’s Startup America have all utilized the site.

The Marvelous Wonderettes: Caps & Gowns cast recording will bring together audience favorites Bets Malone (originated the role of Suzy in The Marvelous Wonderettes, and has been featured in five of Roger Bean’s original musicals), Misty Cotton (Ellen in Miss Saigon on Broadway, Narrator in Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat national tour, and Missy in The Marvelous Wonderettes at Laguna Playhouse), Lowe Taylor (recently completed a critically acclaimed run in The Blank's The Cradle Will Rock, she is the first actress to have played all four roles in The Marvelous Wonderettes) and Jenna Coker-Jones (Holly Sullivan in Musical Theatre West's The Wedding Singer, Little Shop of Horrors at Ford's Theatre in DC, and Cabaret at L.A. Reprise Theatre).

Michael Borth's musical arrangements bring the signature '60s girl group sound to a whole new set of favorites including "River Deep, Mountain High," "Rock Around the Clock," and "Wonderful World." Roger Bean fans will be thrilled to find recognizable hits like "Dancin' in the Street," "Good Lovin'," and "Just One Look" as well as deeper cuts such as " Mr. Touchdown," "My Boy, Flat Top," and "Rock and Roll Waltz."

The original cast recording of The Marvelous Wonderettes was listed as #28 on the Amazon.com 100 top-selling girl group recordings in 2010. That award-winning show ran for two years at the El Portal Theatre in Los Angeles and for over 540 performances in New York, and continues to fill theaters all over the world.

To join the campaign go to www.indiegogo.com/capsandgowns. For more information about the current production, visit www.lagunaplayhouse.com, and for more about Steele Spring go to www.steelespring.com.

Photo credit: Ed Krieger