Frank Wildhorn's Tears of Heaven Album, With Linda Eder, Morgan James and Rob Evan, Released in U.S.

By Adam Hetrick
03 Nov 2011

Frank WIldhorn
Frank WIldhorn
Photo by Beth Kelly

A concept recording of the Frank Wildhorn-Robin Lerner Vietnam-set musical Tears of Heaven, featuring Linda Eder, Morgan James, Christianne Noll and Rob Evan, is now available from Globalvision Records.

Lerner penned lyrics to Tears of Heaven, which has music by Wildhorn and a book by Phoebe Hwang. The musical was staged in Korea earlier this year under the direction of Gabriel Barre.

The 20-track album was released digitally Nov. 1 on iTunes and Amazon.com. It is also available in stores. The download features a 33-page digital booklet, while the hard copy promises a 24-page booklet and full lyrics. The concept album was previously available in Korea.

In addition to Wildhorn's Jekyll & Hyde veterans Eder, Noll and Evan, the album features James (Godspell), James Barbour (A Tale of Two Cities), Jackie Burns (Wicked) and Michael Lanning (The Civil War). Actress Deborah Lew, who appeared in the 2009 workshops of Tears of Heaven performs two bonus tracks on the album.

According to the authors, "The year is 1967 and Vietnam is in the midst of a civil war involving many nations and taking countless lives. When Joon, a young Korean soldier at the end of his tour, falls in love with Linh, a beautiful Vietnamese singer, their lives are forever altered in this bittersweet tale of love, faith, and redemption."

Tears of Heaven was commissioned for a Korean debut and received a 2009 New York City workshop with Lew, Paolo Montalban and John Cudia in the starring roles.

Visit www.globalvisionrecords.com/tears1.html for information.