The 14-track album features Zaitchik as well as actresses Carey Anderson (Avenue Q, Mamma Mia!), Whitney Bashor (The Light in the Piazza), Jody Flader (The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island) and Emily Walton (August: Osage County, Saved). Additional talents lending their musical skills are Nathan Tysen (The Burnt Part Boys), Chris Sullivan (of Freestyle Love Supreme), Jeremy Bass, Lauren Riley-Rigby, Kate Mollica, Rob Jost and Michael Croiter.
"I am a big fan of thematic albums... I really wanted to make an album like this with Blue Bottle Collection – one that had an arc, variations on themes, a clear beginning and ending. It's a meditative summer journey," Zaitchik told Playbill.com. "It's music for driving with the windows down. I imagine that the album takes us from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Basically a little love letter to my favorite season, with songs that explore themes including nature, patience, aging, acceptance, joy, freedom, and wonder."
The concept album was previously staged at Urban Stages in December 2009. Michael Croiter at Yellow Sound Lab produced the album.
The tracklist follows:
"Zephyrus"
"Chocolate Malt"
"The Discovery of Popcorn"
"Traveling I"
"Sitting With My Distance"
"Lemon Poppy"
"Traveling II"
"Honey, I Know"
"Other People's Photographs"
"Oracle"
"Traveling III"
"Credo"
"Traveling IV"
"Summer (young & golden)" Zaitchik and the Blue Bottle Collection will celebrate the album's release with a special 8 PM concert on Feb. 18 at the Canal Room. Fans can "pay-what-you-can" for a hard copy of the album at the special Canal Room concert. "Summer of the Soda Fountain Girls" will be available for download later in February.
Zaitchik authored music and lyrics for "Soda Fountain Girls." He is also the creator of the musical Picnic at Hanging Rock, which received a workshop at Lincoln Center Theater and was presented at the O'Neill Music Theater Conference in 2009. He is currently at work on a musical commission from Ars Nova with playwright Jordan Harrison, titled Suprema. As an actor, he appeared in the world premieres of Craig Lucas' Prayer for My Enemy, the musical Saved at Playwrights Horizons and The Burnt Part Boys at Barrington Stage.
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