Unknown Soldier: Original Cast Recording 2021

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About the Album: Unknown Soldier is a sweeping, elegiac musical about a woman’s journey to unearth the secrets buried in her family’s past. Beginning as Ellen Rabinowitz discovers a mysterious photograph of an anonymous soldier, tucked away in a box of keepsakes while cleaning out her grandmother’s home. Spanning three generations, the show unravels a delicate tangle of family lore, as Ellen chases the extraordinary story that unlocks her history — and charts her future.

GHOSTLIGHT RECORDS has announced that Unknown Soldier: Original Cast Recording – one of the final scores from the beloved late Obie Award-winning songwriter Michael Friedman – will be released in digital and streaming formats on Friday, September 24, the date that would have been Friedman’s 46th birthday. Unknown Soldier features music by Michael Friedman; lyrics by Michael Friedman and Daniel Goldstein; and book by Daniel Goldstein. The original stage production was directed by Trip Cullman. The album is produced by Dean Sharenow, and co-produced by Daniel Goldstein, with Hunter Arnold, The Civilians, and Kurt Deutsch serving at executive producers. It features the cast of Playwrights Horizons’ New York Premiere of the musical and orchestrations by Michael Friedman and music supervisor Marco Paguia, and is conducted by music director Julie McBride. To pre-save the album, please visit ghostlightrecords.lnk.to/unknownsoldier

“It was such a thrill to revisit our musical, Unknown Soldier, as we came together for two days to record our cast album,” says co-creator Daniel Goldstein. “We opened the show at Playwrights Horizons on a Monday, had our next and last performance on Wednesday and then the theater world shut down for more than a year and a half, due to the global pandemic. Though we were unable to complete our run or reopen now that theater is bravely coming back, the musical lives on in this near complete recording of the show. It is the most lush, romantic and lyrical of all of Michael’s scores, and the recording tells the story of the show beautifully. We recorded the show all together, musicians and actors, rather than musicians one day and actors the next. We came together and made music together, and the humanity of the record shows through in every note.”

“Unknown Soldier was the last musical I saw before theater shut down” says label founder Kurt Deutsch. “The situation is bittersweet, not only because this will be Ghostlight’s first cast album released now that shows are returning, but also since the release day is Michael’s birthday. This is his most mature score, but it is truly all Michael. He was a musical theater treasure and I miss him, but his peerless work and immense legacy live on.”

The New York Times hailed the show “a thoughtful, history-spanning portrait of elusive identities that celebrates the urge to fully know people – in the present and the past.” It was called “a compelling story, amplified by some of Friedman’s most soaringly romantic melodies” by The Wrap. According to New York Stage Review, “Friedman’s music is warm and wistful, and his and Goldstein’s lyrics are witty and wise. The songs dig deep.” Theater Pizzazz praised “Friedman’s uncanny facility to write wonderful songs in such a wide variety of styles.”

Unknown Soldier had its New York premiere at Playwrights Horizons, from February 14 to March 11, 2020, when it was shuttered by the COVID-19 pandemic. The show made its world premiere at the Williamstown Theater Festival, in Williamstown, Massachusetts, in 2015. Both productions were directed by Trip Cullman.

The cast of Unknown Soldier features Kerstin Anderson, James Crichton, Zoe Glick, Emilie Kouatchou, Erik Lochtefeld, Jay McKenzie, Jessica Naimy, Estelle Parsons, Margo Seibert, Thom Sesma, and Perry Sherman. The band includes music director and conductor Julie McBride on piano, Hiroko Taguchi on violin, Deborah Assael on cello, Ben Kono on reeds, Mike Thurber on bass, Mike Dobson on percussion, and Jim Hershman on guitar.

The Unknown Soldier cast album is a part of The Michael Friedman Collection, a long-term project that will eventually comprise the premiere recordings of nine new musicals, in addition to Ghostlight’s previous acclaimed albums of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, The Fortress of Solitude, Love’s Labour’s Lost, and Pretty Filthy. The Michael Friedman Collection is made possible by the generous donors to the Michael Friedman Legacy Fund, The Civilians, and by the artistic contributions of his many collaborators. More information is at www.TheMichaelFriedmanCollection.com