The album of the two-actor musical by composer-lyricist Neil Bartram and librettist Brian Hill is already available for shipping from the psclassics.com site, as are two other new recordings — the solo albums of 9 to 5's Stephanie J. Block ("This Place I Know") and Malcolm Gets ("The Journey Home"). All three discs are now available as digital downloads from iTunes, and all three will be in stores June 2.
Also on June 2, Gets and Chase will appear for a performance and CD signing of The Story of My Life at the Lincoln Center Manhattan Barnes & Noble at 5 PM.
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The entire cast — two actors — of The Story of My Life, the short-lived Broadway musical about the contours of a lifelong friendship, went into a recording studio March 13 to preserve the score.
Tommy Krasker, co-founder of PS Classics, is producer of the recording. The Story of My Life closed at Broadway's Booth Theatre Feb. 22 after 18 previews and five regular performances. The CD serves as a document of the score, but also as a calling card to encourage future productions. (MTI will handle future licensing. Visit mtishows.com.)
Brian Hill penned the original libretto (much of which is underscored), which shows small-town pals Tom and Alvin between the ages of six and 35. In the intermissionless 90-minute show, Chase's Thomas leaves town and finds fame as a fiction writer, while Gets' Alvin stays behind and cheer-leads from long-distance.
Following the closing, the writers got a spring gift: the musical was nominated for four Drama Desk Awards (Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Music (Bartram), Outstanding Lyrics (Bartram) and Outstanding Book (Hill).
The theatrical memory-play of a musical has orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick (A Catered Affair, 110 in the Shade, LoveMusik, Road Show). Musical director is David Holcenberg, whose Broadway credits include Good Vibrations, Mamma Mia! and Seussical.
In The Story of My Life, Tom processes the chapters of his life (literally thumbing through short stories that he wrote) and discovers a main character between the lines — Alvin.
Gets' Broadway credits include The Moliere Comedies, Amour (Tony nomination as Best Actor in a Musical) and concerts of Passion and Dreamgirls. Gets may be best known to audiences as Richard on the television comedy "Caroline in the City."
Chase's Broadway credits include High Fidelity, Aida, The Full Monty, Rent and Miss Saigon. He was Roger in the final Broadway company of Rent, which was recently captured on film for a "cinecast" presentation (now on DVD).
For more information about the collaborators, visit bartramandhill.com.
For more information visit www.thestoryofmylife.com. The track listing of The Story of My Life is:
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2. Mrs. Remington - Will Chase & Malcolm Gets
3. The Greatest Gift - Will Chase & Malcolm Gets
4. 1876 - Will Chase
5. Normal - Will Chase & Malcolm Gets
6. People Carry On - Malcolm Gets
7. The Butterfly - Will Chase & Malcolm Gets
8. Saying Goodbye (Part 1) - Will Chase & Malcolm Gets
9. Here's Where It Begins - Will Chase & Malcolm Gets
10. Saying Goodbye (Part 2) - Will Chase & Malcolm Gets
11. Independence Day - Will Chase & Malcolm Gets
12. I Like It Here - Will Chase
13. You're Amazing, Tom - Will Chase & Malcolm Gets
14. Nothing There - Will Chase & Malcolm Gets
15. I Didn't See Alvin - Will Chase & Malcolm Gets
16. This Is It - Will Chase & Malcolm Gets
17. Angels in the Snow - Will Chase & Malcolm Gets *
Founded in 2000 by Tommy Krasker & Philip Chaffin, and a four-time Grammy nominee (for its cast albums of Assassins, Nine: The Musical, Grey Gardens and Company), PS Classics celebrates the heritage of Broadway and American popular song through its through its critically acclaimed cast recordings; solo albums by such artists as Maureen McGovern, Victoria Clark, Jessica Molaskey, Rebecca Luker and Christine Andreas; and recording drawn from rare sound archives, including "Sondheim Sings." Recent releases include Steven Pasquale’s solo disc, "Somethin' Like Love" and songs from the GrooveLily musical Sleeping Beauty Wakes.
For more information, visit www.psclassics.com.
