Telly Leung & Gary Adler to Release 'You Matter' With Virtual CD Release Party to Benefit BC/EFA

Recording studios may be closed, but Telly Leung (Aladdin, Allegiance, TV's "Glee") and Gary Adler (Altar Boyz, Avenue Q, Radio City Christmas Spectacular) have teamed up to create You Matter, a special pandemic EP featuring five songs. A virtual CD release party, including a livestream performance by Leung, will benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and stream Thursday, July 23, 2020.

Watch the free stream at 8 pm Eastern at broadwaycares.org/youmatter.

The online release party will feature Leung speaking with his collaborators on the project as well as music videos for each of the songs.

"You Matter started as a labor of love and came out of a deep need to keep creating music together, but apart, during this long COVID intermission," Leung said. "The project started off with a beautiful original song written by my music director, Gary Adler. The song was inspired by the pandemic. We did the whole thing virtually, without ever seeing each other in person. And we wanted to share some of this love with our friends at Broadway Cares, an organization near and dear to my heart. So many of the annual Broadway Cares events have been cancelled due to COVID-19 and we wanted to help."

Songs include two new Adler originals, "You Matter" and "Zoom with You," with lyrics by Phoebe Kreutz. Joining "Go the Distance/Hero" are Mary Ann McSweeney on bass, Brian Koonin on guitar and Michael Croiter on drums. Jojo Engelbert (regional productions of Fun Home, The Secret Garden) joins in a duet of "Somewhere" from West Side Story. The EP also includes a cover of "Proud of Your Boy" from Aladdin. JJ Johnson plays viola on three of the tracks. All music has been recorded at home and is being engineered by Eli Engelbert, who also created the beats to "Zoom with You."

You Matter will be available for download and streaming on all platforms beginning July 24, 2020.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Broski