These discs are not yet in stores (A Catered Affair and Adding Machine hit stores on May 27 and June 3, respectively), but PS Classics has begun accepting orders and shipping from its website, www.psclassics.com.
A Catered Affair is the new Broadway musical with a book by Harvey Fierstein and score by John Bucchino, about a mother and father's decision to throw a big wedding for their only daughter — and the tension it causes in their working class family. Faith Prince, Tom Wopat and Fierstein himself star. The musical marks the Broadway debut of composer-lyricist John Bucchino. Performances continue at the Walter Kerr Theatre.
Adding Machine, inspired by the 1923 play The Adding Machine, by Elmer Rice, has a score by Joshua Schmidt and libretto by Jason Loewith and Schmidt. Critics have embraced the show in New York and in its earlier Chicago premiere. The musical won the 2008 Lucille Lortel Award as Outstanding Musical, and continues at the Minetta Lane Theatre Off-Broadway (the disc reflects the New York cast). In the show, Mr. Zero's life is changed (explosively) when, after 25 years of service to his company, he's replaced by a mechanical adding machine.
"Fath, Trust & Pixie Dust" has Kerry Butler — currently the star of Broadway's Xanadu — singing 70 years of unforgettable Disney material. Expect "When You Wish Upon a Star," "Baby Mine," Randy Newman's "When She Loved Me," Jonatha Brooke's "I'll Try" and more. Alan Menken's "This Only Happens in the Movies" receives its premiere recording here.
"One Ounce of Truth," meanwhile, "combines the sultry and soaring voice of Capathia Jenkins with the inspired melodies of composer Louis Rosen that mix jazz, blues, soul, and American roots music," according to PS Classics. It's billed as "a lush and memorable collection based on the vivid words of Nikki Giovanni, the Grammy-nominated poet recently chosen as one of Oprah Winfrey's Living Legends." *
Founded in 2000 by Tommy Krasker and Philip Chaffin, and a four-time Grammy nominee, PS Classics has helped preserve the heritage of American popular song through its critically acclaimed cast recordings (including the current Xanadu and Sunday in the Park With George); solo albums by such artists as Maureen McGovern, Victoria Clark and Jessica Molaskey; and recordings drawn from rare sound archives, including "Sondheim Sings." Visit www.psclassics.com.