The recent Laguna Playhouse's production of the mystery musical Gunmetal Blues was recorded as an original cast album compact disc just before the show closed out its recent six-week run. It is rare for a West Coast production to become the source for an original cast album, and the recording marks the first time a Laguna Playhouse production has been tapped to preserve a musical theatre work. It is also the first time that a LORT theatre outside of New York has ever recorded an original cast album.
Gunmetal Blues has music & lyrics by Craig Bohmler and Marion Adler, book by Scott Wentworth. The show received a workshop production in 1989 at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center and was produced Off-Broadway in 1992.
Jules Aaron directed the Laguna production. The cast for the show includes the Playhouse's artistic director Andrew Barnicle, Tracy Lore and Jeffrey Rockwell. All three performers will be featured on the CD, which was produced by Ronda and Kim Espy of Bob-a-Lew Music.
Laguna Playhouse is the oldest continually operating theatre on the West Coast, having been founded in 1920. Its 420-seat Moulton Theatre is located at 606 Laguna Canyon Rd, Call (949) 497-2787.
-- By Willard Manus
Southern California Correspondent
