Ghostlight to Release Cast Album of A.C.T.'s Happy End

Ghostlight Records will release a cast recording of the American Conservatory Theatre's production of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht's Happy End.

Directed by A.C.T artistic director Carey Perloff, the production played the San Francisco theatre last summer, from June 8th through July 16th.  Of the show's first English-language recording, Perloff commented: "We are indebted to all the great people at Skywalker Sound and Ghostlight Records for helping to make this wonderful piece of musical theatre history available to the world. We believe this recording is a great addition to the musical theatre canon and we hope it inspires fond memories and perhaps even future productions of this thrilling piece. We hope that it will further A.C.T.'s reputation as a champion of innovative and unusual work."

Now available on Ghostlight's website, the album is produced by David Frost and Tom Lazarus.  It will also soon be available on A.C.T.'s website and in A.C.T.'s lobby.

The track listing is:

Prologue
"The Bilbao Song"
"Lieutenants of the Lord"
"March Ahead"
"The Sailors' Tango"
"Time in a Shot Glass"
"The Sailors' Tango" (Reprise)
"Brother, Give Yourself a Shove"
"Song of the Big Shot"
"Don't Be Afraid"
"In Our Childhood's Bright Endeavor"
"The Liquor Dealer's Dream"
"The Mandalay Song"
"Goddam It"
"Surabaya Johnny"
"Song of the Big Shot" (Reprise)
"Ballad of the Lily of Hell"
"Song of the Big Shot" (Reprise)
"In Our Childhood's Bright Endeavor" (Reprise)
Epilogue
"The Bilbao Song" (Reprise)

With Constantine Kitsopoulos as conductor, the recording will feature original A.C.T. Happy End cast members Linda Mugleston (Wonderful Town, Nine, Into the Woods) as the Lady in Grey ("The Fly"), with Charlotte Cohn, Peter J. Macon, Jack Willis.

Sab Shimono, Charles Dean, Rod Gnapp, Steven Anthony Jones, Joan Harris-Gelb, René Augesen, Lianne Marie Dobbs, Jud Williford, Brennan Leath, Celia Shuman, Jackson Davis, Dan Hiatt, Wendy James, Colin Thomson, Drew Hirshfield and Stephanie Saunders comprised the ensemble. 

Happy End featured choreography by John Carrafa.  "Set in a mythical gangland Chicago on the cusp of the Roaring Twenties, Happy End follows the struggle of passionate Salvation Army lieutenant Lillian Holiday to save the soul of down-and-out mobster Bill Cracker, whose gang is led by the mysterious Lady in Grey (also known as "The Fly"). Like The Threepenny Opera before it, Happy End pairs Brecht's biting and witty social satire with a thrilling score from Weill," A.C.T. notes stated.

Ghostlight Records is a division of Sh-K-Boom Records.  Visit www.sk-h-boom.com for more information.  Visit www.act-sf.org for more information on A.C.T.

Photo by Kevin Berne- Linda Mugleston in Happy End