Here is a schedule of upcoming releases from Varese Sarabande, including several world premieres and featuring many of Broadway's top performers.
Sondheim At the Movies, to be released Sept. 9, features songs written for movies such as The Birdcage, Reds, Dick Tracy and Evening Primrose. The recording includes two songs from the original but unfilmed screen musical, Singing Out Loud as well as "It Takes All Kinds," written for The Birdcage but unused, and the complete version of "Little Dream," from the same film. Featured on the recording are Christiane Noll, Jane Krakowski, Liz Callaway, Gary Beach, Susan Egan, Bryan Batt, Guy Haines and others.
Prime Time Musicals, set for an Oct. 7 release, will celebrate original musicals written for television. Music by Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, Bock and Harnick, Barry Manilow and Bacharach and Hal David is performed by Charles Kimbrough, Beth Howland, Liz Larsen, Jonathan Freeman, Sally Mayes, Michelle Nicastro and others.
Other recent Varese releases:
Filmed live at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, Jerry Herman's Broadway at the Hollywood Bowl will be released on video and DVD July 29. Featured performers include Bea Arthur, Carol Channing, Michael Feinstein, Davis Gaines, George Hearn, Florence Lacey, Angela Landsbury, Lorna Luft, Paul and Linda McCartney, Liza Minnelli, Rita Moreno, Karen Morrow, Lee Roy Reams and Leslie Uggams. Herman is the Tony Award-winning composer and lyricist of Hello, Dolly!, Mame and La Cage Aux Folles. The first ever recording of the 1965 musical comedy Drat! The Cat!, which ran for only 8 performances, will be released Aug. 12. Book and lyrics are by Ira Levin (Deathtrap, Rosemary's Baby, The Stepford Wives) with music by Milton Schafer. Songs from the show include the title song, "She's Roses" and "He Touched Me," made famous by Barbra Streisand. According to The Best Plays of 1965-1966, Drat! The Cat! is "a musical spoof of cops-and-robbers melodrama, in a tale of a larcenous heiress and a bumbling policeman. The original cast included Charles Durning, Elliott Gould and Leslie Ann Warren. The studio cast features Jason Graae, Susan Egan, Bryan Batt, Jonathan Freeman, Greg Jbara, Judy Kaye, Robert Nichols, Lee Wilkof and special guest Elaine Stritch.
Also set for an Aug. 12 release is Sondheim: A Celebration, recorded live at the 12th Annual S.T.A.G.E. Benefit in Los Angeles. Featured on the two-cd set are the Cassidy brothers, Carole Cook, Tim Curry, Joely Fisher, Michael Jeter, Glynis Johns, Sally Mayes, Billy Porter, Roger Rees and others. A portion of the proceeds will benefit AIDS charities. Michelle Nicastro's first solo album of theatre music, Michelle Nicastro - On Broadway, will be released Aug. 26. Nicastro created the role of Eponine in the Los Angeles company of Les Miserables and appeared on Broadway in Merlin. Shows represented on the album include Rent, Les Miserables, Jekyll & Hyde, Steel Pier, Once On This Island and others.
--By Laura MacDonald
