This recap is available by email. Join the e-blast list on the front page of Talkin' Broadway, below the menu (on phones, at the bottom of the front page) to receive the recaps each week.

CDs Now Available:

Reefer Madness: New Los Angeles Cast Recording
(Yellow Sound Label - new on CD/digital)
Music by Dan Studney and lyrics by Kevin Murphy. Featuring the full cast from its critically acclaimed 25th Anniversary Los Angeles revival, including Nicole Parker, Thomas Dekker, Anthony Norman, Darcy Rose Byrnes, J. Elaine Marcos, and Bryan Daniel Porter. CD will feature two bonus tracks not available on the digital album. Album produced by Michael Croiter, Kevin Murphy, and Dan Studney. reefermadness.com.

Digital Music Now Available:

Liz Callaway: "There's Still My Joy"
(new digital single)
Liz Callaway sings song by Melissa Manchester, Beth Nielsen Chapman and Matt Rollings. With guitarist Peter Calo.

Books Now Available:

The Gershwins Abroad
(SCHOTT - Hardcover Book)
By Ira Gershwin. Michael Owen, editor. Ira Gershwin's account of the 1928 European trip. Vivid – oftentimes humorous – descriptions of the numerous parties given for the Gershwins; the concerts of George's compositions, and his work on the tone poem "An American in Paris"; meetings with such artistic luminaries as Sergei Prokofiev and Alban Berg; encounters with members of high society; Ira's wide-ranging choice of reading material; and entertaining anecdotes about the food and drink consumed along the way. First time in print. 256 pages.

It Happened at the Palace: A History of New York's Iconic Broadway Theater
(Broad Book Press - Hardcover Book/Kindle Edition)
By Stewart F. Lane. A historical account and love letter to the performing arts, a chronicle of New York's cultural evolution, and a business saga of revival and triumph. More than 175 photographs, untold stories, and intimate portraits of stage legends and the intricate process of preserving a landmark not only of bricks and mortar but of dreams and memories. 200 pages.

Newly Listed Recordings:

Mid-December:

Darling Lili
(Quartet Records - on 2 CDs)
1971 film with music by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer. Produced, restored and mastered by Chris Malone, working from the first-generation album master and mono and stereo elements provided by Paramount Pictures. Includes the RCA album with the original songs performed by Julie Andrews, Mancini's complete underscore for the film, plus some curious extras such as the demos played by Johnny Mercer before filming that include two unreleased Mancini-Mercer songs that were not included in the film. Instrumental versions of the songs round out the program. 57 tracks in total. Includes 24-page booklet with extensive liner notes by film music writer John Takis. More information at ScreenArchives.com Expected mid-December

January 17:

Ari Axelrod: A Place For Us: A Celebration of Jewish Broadway
(PS Classics - new on CD/digital)
Singer Ari Axelrod with 13-piece orchestra arranged and conducted by Mike Stapleton. "Migratory V," "Hatikvah," "Hope," "Everybody Says Don’t," "You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To / Papirosn," "So in Love," "Shalom / Milk and Honey / I Will Follow You," "You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught / Children Will Listen," "Some Enchanted Evening," "Shy," "Corner of the Sky," "God Knows Where," "Miracle of Miracles," "It Ain’t Necessarily So," "Lost in the Stars," "Cool," "Somewhere," "Bring Him Home," "Adrift on a Star." Additional arrangements by Larry Yurman. Produced by Tommy Krasker and Bart Migal, with Ron Thomas serving as executive producer. Special album release concert at New York’s 54 Below on Saturday, January 18 at 7:00 PM.

February 7:

Swept Away
(Joy Machine Records - new digital album)
OBC recording of score by The Avett Brothers (book by John Logan). Cast includes John Gallagher, Jr., Stark Sands, Adrian Blake Enscoe, Wayne Duvall. Produced by Brian Usifer, Chris Miller, Will Van Dyke, and Madison Wells Live. CD format expected in early 2025.

Compiled by Talkin' Broadway Staff.