Chaffin said that although the street date is the first Tuesday in October, he expects the company will begin selling at its website several weeks prior to that time, as is the independent label's custom.
"We never expected to release these two shows at the same time when we recorded them — the timing just worked out that way," Chaffin said. "But each show has a passionate and devoted following, and if the dual release allows someone who's looking to buy one CD to sample the other, we figure what's wrong with that? You couldn't ask for more disparate scores than Zanna and Albertine, and we hope it shows the range PS Classics is embracing in theatre music, whether it veers more towards the classical or more towards pop."
Both shows bowed Off-Broadway in the 2002-03 season. Composer-lyricist Ricky Ian Gordon collaborated with book writer and co-lyricist Richard Nelson to create the European, rarefied, romantic world of My Life With Albertine, a chamber musical drawing on a section of Marcel Proust's "Remembrance of Things Past." Playwrights Horizons offered the world premiere, with a cast that included Brent Carver, Chad Kimball, Emily Skinner, Kelli O'Hara and more.
Zanna, Don't!, by lyricist-librettist-composer Tim Acito, is the bubble-gum pop musical comedy that seems to turn Bye Bye Birdie on its head: It's set in a high school where the universe is gay and two characters struggle with their heterosexuality.
A satire with big heart, a wide range of musical styles and a title character who is a magical matchmaker, Zanna, Don't! was an audience and critics' favorite in a developmental run in fall 2002, and had a short spring 2003 run Off-Broadway. The latter was acclaimed but didn't generate enough business to keep it going in the relative shadows of Off-Broadway. As previously reported by Playbill On-Line, Zanna producer Jack M. Dalgleish is working on a plan to bring the show to Broadway, where it might thrive with more exposure.
For more information about PS Classics, founded by Chaffin and Tommy Krasker — and devoted to the heritage of musical theatre and American song — visit www.psclassics.com.
