Christine Andreas, the Tony Award-nominated actress remembered for the 20th anniversary revival of My Fair Lady, and revivals of On Your Toes and Oklahoma! — plus The Scarlet Pimpernel — will be heard on a new solo album, "Here's to the Ladies," a tribute to great divas of the musical theatre.
PS Classics announced July 9 it will release the disc Oct. 15. The 15-track disc is billed as Andreas' celebration of "the women who influenced her — from Martin and Merman to Lansbury and Cook — and the songs they introduced."
The disc will include "I Could Have Danced All Night," a nod to Julie Andrews. Andreas, of course, wowed audiences singing the Lerner and Loewe song in the 1976 My Fair Lady revival that starred Ian Richardson. Andreas was Tony nominated for On Your Toes and 1979's Oklahoma!
The genesis of the recording is a set of performances Andreas did at the Cafe Carlyle in the spring of 2001, but the song selection has evolved since then — Andreas rethought and tailored the program for CD. Unlike her Carlyle work, the songs are now sweetened by a 45-piece orchestra, with charts by Michael Starobin and Doug Besterman (The Producers, Thoroughly Modern Millie).
"Christine and I first worked together on a Gershwin concert back in 1989, but our paths hadn't crossed in over a decade," said PS Classics founder Tommy Krasker, whose label is devoted to the heritage of American popular song and musical theatre. "We got back in touch in February, because she and her husband, Marty Silvestri, had recorded her album — Marty had produced — but before they started post-production, they were looking for a distributor. They sent me a still-unmixed version, and I took a listen. I confess that even when I heard the unmixed CD, I was struck how many levels it worked on: Not only were the performances triumphant, but I found them especially moving because they all resonated with Christine's admiration for the women who'd introduced the songs, and for the artistry of the songs themselves. It was all deeply personal, which I think is remarkable in a collection like this." Krasker, Andreas, Silvestri and engineer Tom Lazarus collaborated on the post-production."
The disc will include the following musical numbers. The ladies who introduced the songs are in parentheses.
- "I'm Flying" (Mary Martin)
- "They Say It's Wonderful" (Ethel Merman)
- "I'm in Love With a Wonderful Guy" (Mary Martin)
- "Shall We Dance?" (Gertrude Lawrence)
- "Moonshine Lullaby" (Ethel Merman)
- "Some People" (Ethel Merman)
- "My Best Beau" (Angela Lansbury)
- "If He Walked Into My Life" (Angela Lansbury)
- "Bill" (Helen Morgan)
- "Don't Rain on My Parade" (Barbra Streisand)
- "I Could Have Danced All Night" (Julie Andrews)
- "Will He Like Me?" (Barbara Cook)
- "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" (Mary Martin)
- "The Music That Makes Me Dance" (Barbra Streisand)
- "My Ship" (Gertrude Lawrence)
— By Kenneth Jones