DOGFIGHT Cast Album Signing Set for Barnes & Noble Today

Benj Pasek and Justin Paul celebrated the new Ghostlight Records cast recording of Dogfight with a special concert at Joe's Pub at The Public on Wednesday, May 15 at 9:30 PM, which featuresd performances by the original cast of the Second Stage Theatre production and other special guests.

Pasek and Paul - along with Lindsay Mendez, Derek Klena and other original cast members - will also appear at an in-store performance and CD signing at Barnes & Noble on the Upper East Side (150 East 86th Street, between Lexington and Third Avenues) tonight, May 23 at 7:00 PM. Call (212) 369-2180 for details.

Dogfight was released to digital media outlets on April 30 and that day it hit the iTunes Top 50 and reached #3 in the Soundtracks category. Dogfight CDs are in stores May 21, but concert attendees will have the opportunity to purchase physical copies (including signed) at the concert on May 15 at Joe's Pub. Dogfight has been nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award for "Outstanding Musical," Outer Critics Circle Awards for "Best Off-Broadway Musical," "Best Score" and "Best Book" in addition to a Drama League Award for "Outstanding Production of a Musical." Their debut Broadway musical A Christmas Story just received three Tony Award nominations including "Best Musical" and "Best Original Score" and six Drama Desk Awards, including "Outstanding Musical" and "Outstanding Music," in addition to "Best Broadway Musical" from the Outer Critics Circle. After making their New York concert debut at Joe's Pub in 2005, Pasek and Paul will return to the venue to cap off an exciting theatrical season, which includes not only these two shows but also James & The Giant Peach, and songs on the NBC-TV program "Smash."

To order the album, please visit www.sh-k-boom.com/dogfight.html.

In addition to music and lyrics by Pasek and Paul , Dogfight features a book by Peter Duchan (IFC Films' Breaking Upwards) and directed by two-time Tony Award winner Joe Mantello (Wicked, Glengarry Glen Ross). DOGFIGHT is based on the Warner Bros. film and screenplay by Bob Comfort. When the show opened in July 2012, it was praised for its "melodic grace" by The New York Times and called "tuneful and engaging" byThe Hollywood Reporter and an "intimate little heartbreaker of beguiling freshness" by Newsday. The album - which features a full color 28 page booklet, complete lyrics and a plot synopsis - was produced by Kurt Deutsch, Lawrence Manchester, Justin Paul and Benj Pasek.

The cast features Annaleigh Ashford, Becca Ayers, Nick Blaemire, Steven Booth, Dierdre Friel, Adam Halpin, F. Michael Haynie, Derek Klena, Lindsay Mendez, James Moye and Josh Segarra.

It's November 21, 1963. On the eve of their deployment to a small but growing conflict in Southeast Asia, three young Marines set out for one final boys' night of debauchery, partying, and maybe a little trouble. But when Corporal Eddie Birdlace meets Rose, an awkward and idealistic waitress he enlists to win a cruel bet with his fellow recruits, she rewrites the rules of the game and teaches him the power of compassion.

Benj Pasek and Justin Paul wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musical A Christmas Story (dir. John Rando, chor. Warren Carlyle), which opened in November of 2012 and enjoyed a critically-acclaimed, record-breaking run at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. Their cast album for the show was recorded and produced by Sony Masterworks and is published through Warner/Chappell Music. Their original songs are featured on Season 2 of the hit NBC show "Smash."

The duo made their debut as songwriters with their widely-acclaimed song cycle Edges, which is licensed by Music Theatre International and has had hundreds of productions worldwide, including South Korea, Australia, China, South Africa, the Philippines, Denmark and more. Other theatrical works include James & the Giant Peach (Kennedy Center, Goodspeed Musicals, dir. Graciela Daniele, chor. Pilobolus), and Duck for President and If You Give a Pig a Pancake (Theatreworks USA). Their musical work for TV can also be seen on "Sesame Street" and "Johnny & the Sprites" (Disney TV series). Performances of their songs have been featured on "The View," "Good Morning America," "CBS Sunday Morning," "VH1 Morning Buzz," "The Rosie Show," "Fox & Friends," and more.

Benj and Justin are the recipients of the 2011 Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theatre from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a 2011 Sundance Institute Fellowship, the 2011 ASCAP Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award, the 2011 ASCAP Songwriters Fellowship Award, and a 2007-2008 Dramatists Guild Fellowship. They are the youngest recipients of the Jonathan Larson Award (2007) in the foundation's history. They have participated in ASCAP's Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project and were named one of Dramatist Magazine's "50 to Watch" in Contemporary Theatre.

As performers, Benj and Justin have traveled throughout North America, Europe & Australia performing concerts of their own work. They also teach master classes in songwriting and performance at universities around the world. They are proud graduates of the University of Michigan BFA Musical Theatre program. They are currently at work on a new original musical with playwright Steven Levenson.

TRACK LISTING

1. Prelude: Take Me Back
2. Some Kinda Time
3. Hey, Good-Lookin'
4. Come to a Party
5. Nothing Short of Wonderful
6. Come to a Party (Reprise)
7. That Face
8. Dogfight
9. Pretty Funny
10. Hometown Hero's Ticker Tape Parade
11. First Date/Last Night
12. Before It's Over
13. Give Way
14. Some Kinda Time (Reprise)
15. Come Back
16. Finale: Take Me Back