The rat-tat-tat of Meredith's Willson's beloved score for The Music Man will be heard anew June 13 when Q Records releases a cast album of the Broadway revival.
The Tony Award-nominated company's work was committed to disc May 1, complete with the production's much-talked-about, new finale/curtain call (using about 30 trombones, four saxes and a glockenspiel) and reprise material.
The new disc will have fresh sounds for longtime fans of the Americana laced 1957 musical by composer-lyricist-librettist Willson, according to producer High Fordin, who helms the disc (he's a resident producer at DRG, usually).
In addition to the beloved score, the disc will include:
• The Act Two reprise of "Pickalittle" (where Marian is invited to join the ladies' dance ensemble). • The Act One "ice cream" section, which unites the school board quartet in harmony.
• Lead-in dialogue to some songs (including "The Sadder-But-Wiser Girl").
• Harold Hill's rendition of "Gary, Indiana," with the lesser-known verse ("Gary, Indiana/What a wonderful name/Named for Albert Gary/Of judiciary fame"), and Winthrop's version, too.
The disc also has the complete lyrics in the liner notes, for those who have had difficulty over the years doping out the words to the train-song, "Rock Island" (such arcana as "noggins," "piggins," "firkins" will have most running to the dictionary).
Q Records, which previously released an original Broadway cast album of Footloose, recorded Craig Bierko as Prof. Harold Hill and Rebecca Luker as Marian Paroo, with the entire company, four days after the April 27 opening.
The new Susan Stroman-directed (and -choreographed) revival continues at the Neil Simon Theatre, 250 W. 52nd Street, in Manhattan.
The cast also features Max Casella as Marcellus Washburn, Paul Benedict as Mayor Shinn and Ruth Williamson as his wife, Eulalie MacKechnie Shinn.
The creative team includes Thomas Lynch (sets), William Ivey Long (costumes), Peter Kaczorowski (lighting), Jonathan Deans (sound) and David Chase (musical direction), Doug Besterman (orchestrations) and David Krane (dance and incidental music arrangements).
The musical includes songs that have sunk into the American consciousness: "Trouble," "Seventy-Six Trombones," "Gary, Indiana," "Goodnight, My Someone," "Till There Was You," "The Wells Fargo Wagon" and more.
For Music Man mavens, this is the fourth major recording on the market: Look for the original cast album with Robert Preston and Barbara Cook, the film soundtrack (with Preston and Shirley Jones), a studio recording on the Telarc label (representing film and stage songs).
For ticket information, call (212) 307-4100 or (800) 755 4000.
