Listen: Matthew Scott's THE JESUS YEAR: A LETTER FROM MY DAD Out Now

PS CLASSICS, the label dedicated to the heritage of Broadway and American popular song, has announced the release of the debut album from actor-singer Matthew Scott, who has been lighting up the Broadway stage since making his debut in Jersey Boys. The Jesus Year: a letter from my dad, available in stores as well as on all digital and streaming platforms starting today, Friday, May 19, is drawn and expanded from the acclaimed one-man show Scott has performed at Merkin Hall, the O'Neill Center in Connecticut and at 54 Below. To celebrate the album's release, Scott will return to 54 Below on Tuesday, May 23. The album is produced by Bart Migal.

Listen to the album below!

The period of crisis and rebirth that can arrive at age 33 is often called the Jesus Year. For Matthew Scott's father, it manifested in a sinking feeling that he might not live to see his four young sons grow up. So he began writing them a letter - life lessons ranging from sex to communication to spirituality - that was found after his death, when Scott was only 13. For Scott, the letter became a cherished guide to growing up while he navigated intimate relationships, his professional career, challenges with anxiety, and the early years of fatherhood to two sons of his own. In December 2021, Scott - who had by then taken Broadway by storm in a string of hits that included Sondheim on Sondheim, Jersey Boys and An American in Paris - wove his father's letter, anecdotes from his own life and a collection of classic pop and Broadway songs (from Paul McCartney and Billy Joel to William Finn and Stephen Sondheim) into a moving and rousing one-man show.

With Joe Calarco directing and music director/arranger Vadim Feichtner at the piano, The Jesus Year premiered at Merkin Hall to ecstatic applause and acclaim, prompting further engagements at the O'Neill Center and 54 Below. Now, The Jesus Year: a letter from my dad - newly expanded orchestrally, with arrangements written specifically for this recording by John Baxindine - has been preserved on disc by PS Classics. This deeply personal exploration of the bonds between fathers and sons soars on Scott's "winning double-barreled combo of looks and voice" (The Washington Post). Brimming with levity and pathos, the album Scott calls "a gift to my boys" is about living, the meaning to be found in it, and the joy to be mined by surrounding yourself with love and laughter - lessons Scott learned from the letter left to him by his dad.

Scott notes, "I began writing this show for my father, who passed when I was just a boy. Without ever telling me or my three older brothers, he spent years writing us letters and tucking them away in his rolltop desk. One year after his passing, we stumbled upon them and were once again connected to our dad. In the midst of working on this piece, I too became a father. Not once. But twice! This show is my gift to my boys, and this album is my letter to them. I hope you enjoy it."

PS Classics Executive Producer Tommy Krasker added, "We first worked with Matt on the original Broadway cast recording of Sondheim on Sondheim. We were so enamored of his talent that we asked him to do several other studio-based recordings with us, including our Jerome Kern album The Land Where the Good Songs Go and our Noël and Cole. Back in 2019, Matt and I had talked about working on his debut album; when I saw him perform The Jesus Year two years later, I told him this needed to be that album. As I always say, you only get one chance to make a first album - you only get one chance to make a 'first impression' - and the show is so moving, and his voice so stunning on this material, it quite takes your breath away. We've added five additional musicians for the recording, but kept the intimacy and the sense of Matt sharing his story with the audience, in this case the listener; my goal was to create something just as affecting as the live show, but more richly textured. This is the kind of show that not merely draws crowds but makes them cry: exactly the kind of emotional journey Philip and I are most attracted to."

Matthew Scott is a five-time Broadway veteran. Matthew made his Broadway debut as a swing in the original company of Jersey Boys, where he covered nine roles including Frankie Valli. From there, he went on to star as Adam Hochberg in An American in Paris on Broadway and the National Tour. Matthew was featured in Sondheim on Sondheim, conceived and directed by James Lapine, and with a star-studded cast including Barbara Cook, Vanessa Williams, Norm Lewis and Tom Wopat. Scott also appeared on Broadway in A Catered Affair, written by Harvey Fierstein and John Bucchino, as well as Bess Wohl's Tony-nominated play Grand Horizons, starring Jane Alexander and James Cromwell. On the West End in London, Matt starred as Lee in I Loved Lucy at the Arts Theatre. Matthew's performance as Fabrizio in The Light in the Piazza at Philadelphia Theatre Company won him a Barrymore Award for Best Supporting Actor. Matthew also originated roles in First You Dream: The Music of Kander & Ebb, which was filmed for PBS, as well as the role of Sydney Chaplin in Limelight, for which he earned a San Diego Critics Circle Nomination. Scott's many regional credits include: Saturday Night (York Theatre Co.); Beaches, Company, ACE and Side by Side by Sondheim (Signature Theatre); A Wonderful Life (Goodspeed Opera House); Eden and Unknown Soldier (The O'Neill Theatre Center); Ragtime, My Fair Lady and Carousel (Paper Mill Playhouse); West Side Story (The Muny - Kevin Kline Award Nom.); Legally Blonde, Swing!, Les Misérables and Sunset Boulevard opposite Liz Callaway (Pittsburgh CLO). Mamma Mia! (TUTS). Matthew has performed with symphonies across the United States and Canada. His television credits include First You Dream: The Music of Kander & Ebb (PBS), All My Children and appearances on the 2006 and 2009 Tony Awards. Matthew is featured on multiple recordings, including Sondheim on Sondheim; Jerome Kern: The Land Where the Good Songs Go; Noël and Cole (all available from PS Classics). With Rebecca Luker, he recorded "The Enchanted Train" by Jerome Kern and P.G. Wodehouse. Matt serves on faculty at both the Manhattan School of Music and NYU Tisch's New Studio on Broadway. Matthew is a proud graduate of the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama. Matthew has two beautiful boys and has been married to his college sweetheart, Kirsten, for fourteen years.

PS CLASSICS, founded in 2000 by Tommy Krasker and Philip Chaffin, is a nine-time Grammy Award nominee for its cast albums of Assassins, Nine: The Musical, Grey Gardens, Company, A Little Night Music, Sondheim on Sondheim, Follies, Porgy and Bess, and Fun Home. The label's catalog includes award-winning cast recordings; solo albums by such artists as Cheyenne Jackson, Victoria Clark, Steven Pasquale, Liz Callaway, Tony Yazbeck, Stephanie J. Block, Judy Kuhn and Rebecca Luker; and restorations of long-lost musicals, including Vernon Duke's Sweet Bye and Bye, George Gershwin's Sweet Little Devil, and Vincent Youmans' Through the Years. Recent releases include Rebecca Luker's final album, All the Girls, Jeff Harnar's award-winning I Know Things Now: my life in Sondheim's words, and Victoria Clark's ravishing exploration of Maury Yeston's classic December Songs, with a 37-piece orchestra. www.psclassics.com

"THE JESUS YEAR: a letter from my dad" Track List

1. Prologue: Oh, Very Young

2. The World According to Snoopy

3. I Went Fishing with My Dad

4. "A yellow legal pad..."

5. Oh, Very Young

6. "My mom and dad met when they were just kids..."

7. Our Day Will Come

8. "My older brothers were popular..."

9. Captain Jack

10. "I never got the whole birds and the bees speech..."

11. You're My Home

12. "The 33rd year of life..."

13. There's Always Someone Cooler Than You

14. "I've got a crisis at work..."

15. Dreams Go By

16. Souvenir

17. "The 20 minute drive to the hospital..."

18. When the Earth Stopped Turning

19. "I feel balls..."

20. Calico Skies

21. Children Will Listen