Jellyfish Jive Productions announced the release of the original Off-Broadway cast recording, to feature the vocal talents of Tony and Emmy Award nominee John Tartaglia (Avenue Q and TV's "Johnny and the Sprites"), who created, wrote and stars in the glow-in-the-dark, undersea musical adventure. The show opened on March 31, 2010, at New World Stages in New York City, where it continues.
Tartaglia is the voice of ImaginOcean's fish friends Dorsel and Tank as well as Leonard, the lovable Octopus.
The interactive 50-minute musical has music, lyrics and orchestrations by William Wade, performed by a 14-piece orchestra and an ensemble of singers.
To celebrate the launch of the recording, Tartaglia and the cast will appear at Barnes & Noble (150 E. 86th Street at Lexington Avenue) on July 28 at 7 PM. Tartaglia and company will perform and sign copies of the cast recording.
The show's vocal performances include ImaginOcean director Donna Drake as the voice of Bubbles, the female fish of the trio; and ImaginOcean producer and veteran Broadway musical performer Michael Shawn Lewis, who lends his voice as Ripple, "the tiny but mighty Seahorse." The CD contains all the songs in the original production plus two additional "bonus tracks": a dance remix of "Jellyfish Jive" and "The Treasure" performed by a chorus of children.
The release is the first "cast album" produced by Michael Croiter and Bill Sherman of Yellow Sound Label. Previous Yellow Sound productions include projects for Chita Rivera and Alan Cumming.
Croiter also heads up Yellow Sound Lab and has been nominated for a 2010 Daytime Emmy for Sound Mixing for "The Electric Company" on PBS. He received an Emmy nomination for Mixing and Recording for "Johnny and The Sprites" and won the 2008 Daytime Emmy for Song of The Year, for "Chemistry" from "One Live to Live."
Sherman won the 2008 Tony Award for Best Orchestrations for In the Heights and the 2008 Grammy Award as the co-producer of the In the Heights original Broadway cast album.
John Tartaglia's ImaginOcean is produced by Jellyfish Jive Productions, a collaboration of John Tartaglia, Philip Katz (Broadway Theatrical) and Michael Shawn Lewis.
The original Off-Broadway cast recording is available now for pre-order at New World Stages and will be available nationwide for purchase on iTunes and through all music outlets on July 27.
Tickets for John Tartaglia's ImaginOcean are $39 and can be purchased through TeleCharge.com and at (212) 239-6200, and at the box office at New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street.
For more information about John Tartaglia's ImaginOcean, visit www.imaginoceanthemusical.com.
