BWW Blog: Blueprint Recording Release

Okay, I know what you're thinking: "Cassie, you already wrote a blog about this." Okay, you caught me! Yes, I wrote about 'blueprint: a new musical' a while back, but you see, I absolutely had to write about it again because I have exciting news. Guess what... The original cast recording is being released on all platforms February 12, 2021!

'blueprint' follows Mason Weber as he begins his first semester at Smithsdale College, where he meets Olivia, Charlie, and Anthony. Each of them faces their own difficult challenges in life as they yearn for an escape. For a class project, together, they create their escape to utopia through virtual reality. "However, even in a perfectly designed world, there are still things out of their control." With Matt Copley at the helm, C.C. Preston and current CCM MT ('22) student Stone Mountain currently serve as book writers for the musical, which was workshopped at CCM in December 2019.

Back then, before the you-know-what hit the fan, Matt Copley couldn't have imagined the abundance of praise he would receive for his initial reading of blueprint, of which he was the director, composer, and lyricist. The reading was welcomed with a standing ovation and many questions of what was next for Matt and his new musical. He knew that, of course, he wanted to continue developing the show. What he didn't know then was that he would soon win Taylor Louderman's 2020 Write Out Loud songwriting contest for blueprint's hit song 'Coffee In The Morning', there would be a global pandemic, and in the midst of it, he would arrange, record, and produce blueprint's original cast album.

"Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined releasing a musical album," says Matt. "I'm so incredibly inspired by my team of artists, and I'm so lucky to have an immensely talented cast alongside some of the most creative minds in the industry. It's been a crazy journey for this musical so far, but we're just getting started."

I've been lucky to be a part of the blueprint journey essentially since it's conception. I started out and remain in the role of supportive girlfriend (yes, Matt's my guy!) as he began to develop his first ideas of the show. My next role was as the monitor for blueprint's first staged reading auditions. Then, for the reading, I ran sound - not my particular skillset at all, but I loved the challenge, and I absolutely loved staying involved. Most recently, I got to participate in the cast recording! Taking place in a pandemic, it was difficult to gather everyone back from that first workshop, so a few spots had to be filled. Luckily for me, I was given this opportunity to record the concept album for this new musical, and I soaked up every minute of it. I'd never recorded music before, and as unconventional as this recording was given the circumstances, I still learned so much.

The group of us that got to record were quite the bunch! Such a fun conglomeration of CCM students and recent graduates, all passionate about this craft. We were all quarantined and tested prior to recording, and we podded up for the week-long experience. Everyone was safe and well before, during, and after recording. Having been locked down in my house several months before this, I know I had a blast just having social, human interaction for the first time in forever. Like I said, this was such a great, talented, fun group of people, and they made it so easy to enjoy myself. Hanging with them and recording an original cast album for a brand-new musical?! It doesn't get better than that.

If you're interested in getting to know these goofballs and myself (a fellow goofball), follow @blueprintthemusical on Instagram! The account is going to be very active these next few weeks leading up to the album release, which is February 12, hosting songwriter Q&A's, posting cast dance and freestyle rap battles, and more. You don't want to miss it! Follow and stay tuned so you can be one of the first people to hear the official blueprint: a new musical original cast recording!

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