Lincoln Center Theater (under the direction of Andre Bishop, Artistic Director, and Bernard Gersten, Executive Producer) has announced that PS Classics, the label dedicated to the heritage of Broadway and American popular song, will record the original cast album of its current production of the musical A MINISTER'S WIFE. The album, which will be recorded on Sunday, June 26 and released later this summer, will be produced by PS Classics co-founder Tommy Krasker, who also produced the original cast recording of composer Joshua Schmidt's "Adding Machine: The Musical."
The production, featuring
Liz Baltes,
Kate Fry,
Drew Gehling,
Marc Kudisch and
Bobby Steggert, all of whom will recreate their performances on the recording, is currently playing at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater where it will end its limited engagement run this Sunday, June 12.
Directed and conceived by
Michael Halberstam, A MINISTER'S WIFE has a book by
Austin Pendleton (Booth, Orson's Shadow and Uncle Bob), music by
Joshua Schmidt (Adding Machine) and lyrics by
Jan Levy Tranen (Night in Sarajevo, Crazy Mary), based on Candida, by
George Bernard Shaw. The production has orchestrations by
Joshua Schmidt, with musical supervision by
Richard Carsey and is conducted by Tim Splain. The design team includes
Allen Moyer (sets),
David Zinn (costumes),
Keith Parham (lighting) and
Scott Stauffer (sound).
A MINISTER'S WIFE, which had its world premiere in 2009 at the Writers' Theatre in Glencoe, Illinois, explores the fires burning beneath the surface of a seemingly ordinary marriage. The Revered James Morell (played by
Marc Kudisch) and his wife, Candida (
Kate Fry), are happily married - or at least they think - until a romantic young poet, Marchbanks (
Bobby Steggert), enters their life. The New York Times called the production a "lovingly composed chamber musical of Shaw's comedy about the mysteries of marital love." The Wall Street Journal hailed it as an "exquisite musical version of Candida". Newsday found it "rich, original and handsomely performed, with ravishing music."
Founded in 2000 by
Tommy Krasker &
Philip Chaffin, and a six-time Grammy nominee (for its cast albums of Assassins, Nine: The Musical, Grey Gardens, Company, A Little Night Music and Sondheim on Sondheim), PS Classics celebrates the heritage of Broadway and American popular song through its award-winning cast recordings; solo albums by such luminaries as
Maureen McGovern,
Victoria Clark,
Jessica Molaskey and
Christine Andreas; and recordings drawn from rare sound archives, including Sondheim Sings. Upcoming releases include studio cast albums of the Gershwins' 1930 Strike Up the Band and the long-lost
Vernon Duke/
Ogden Nash musical Sweet Bye and Bye. Visit the label's website,
www.psclassics.com.
In addition to A MINISTER'S WIFE,
Lincoln Center Theater is currently producing, with the National Theater of Great Britain in association with
Bob Boyett, the National Theater's critically acclaimed production of
War Horse, based on the novel by
Michael Morpurgo, adapted by
Nick Stafford with the Handspring Puppet Company and directed by
Marianne Elliott and
Tom Morris, at the Vivian Beaumont Theater and the LCT3 production of the new play 4000 Miles by
Amy Herzog, directed by
Daniel Aukin, opening Monday, June 20 and running through Saturday, July 2 at The Duke on 42nd Street.
