The score was preserved by the PS Classics label, which made the album available in late 2004 to coincide with a California run of the show — and to dovetail with the holidays. The show, set during the New Year holiday, is billed as a "rewired version of Hans Christian Andersen's Little Match Girl."

GrooveLily performed the piece for a month at TheatreWorks in Palo Alto, to Jan. 8, 2005.

The disc represents the best of performances heard Sept. 11-12, 2004, at Symphony Space in New York City, where Striking 12 was part of "Preludes," a new-musicals series presented by Melting Pot Theatre Company.

The new musical is by Brendan Milburn, Rachael Sheinkin and Valerie Vigoda and is performed by the pop band GrooveLily: Vigoda (vocals and electric violin), Milburn (vocals and keyboards) and Gene Lewin (vocals and drums).

"This is something that we've wanted to do for a long time," Vigoda tells the crowd. "It's a cross between a GrooveLily concert and a holiday story." The disc has been one of the biggest sellers for PS Classics. "GrooveLily, of course, has a built-in following, and folks have been hearing this show for the last few years at performances at the Old Globe, at the Prince Music Theatre, and at Symphony Space, so there was definitely a thirst for it," PS Classics' co-founder Tommy Krasker previously told Playbill.com. "What's surprised us is how many folks have been purchasing 5 and 10 copies of the CD — but of course, with its clever folk-pop updating of the Little Match Girl story, it's the perfect holiday gift. And Valerie, Brendan and Gene had the smart idea to outfit the CD booklet with 32 pages of original color illustrations, so customers are getting an additional treat."

Krasker added, "We heard about the piece over the summer, saw it in performance in September at Symphony Space, and knew we wanted to be involved. So we worked to close the deal quickly."

The disc is produced by GrooveLily.

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The Melting Pot performances of Striking 12 represented the New York concert premiere of the unique show.

What's the show about? According to MPTC, "A wacky rewiring of Hans Christian Andersen's 'The Little Match Girl,' Striking 12 is a festive fairy tale that features the acclaimed trio GrooveLily, one of the hottest bands in the country. Their sweet, witty concert-play is a clever mix of musical comedy, pop-rock tunes, and old-fashioned uplift, illuminated by an incandescent salesgirl whose holiday spirit just can't be matched."

Milburn and Sheinkin are alumni of the prestigious New York University Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. Vigoda, Milburn, and Lewin comprise the "smart pop" trio, GrooveLily, and have been touring the country since 1995. They have released five albums of their own songs.

Striking 12 was previously produced at the Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia in 2002 and the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego in 2003, as well as TheatreWorks.

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PS Classics recently snagged a Grammy Award nomination for its cast album of Assassins. Its catalog also includes cast albums of Fiddler on the Roof, Nine and Stephen Sondheim and Nathan Lane's The Frogs. Visit www.psclassics.com.