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PS CLASSICS is set to unveil the original cast recording of Ricky Ian Gordon’s autobiographical musical Sycamore Trees across all digital and streaming platforms on Friday, August 30. Following closely on the heels of Gordon’s widely praised memoir, Seeing Through: A Chronicle of Sex, Drugs, and Opera, a limited edition of 250 CDs will be available starting September 20. This album features contributions from renowned Broadway performers including Farah Alvin, Marc Kudisch, Judy Kuhn, Jessica Molaskey, Matthew Risch, Diane Sutherland, and Tony Yazbeck. It captures Gordon’s poignant exploration of his challenging childhood and formative years through musical and dramatic expression. Preorders are currently accessible through Amazon, with sound clips available on the PS Classics website.
Sycamore Trees made its debut in 2010 at Virginia’s Signature Theatre, receiving multiple Helen Hayes awards, including the prestigious Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play or Musical. However, at that time, no studio recording was produced. Fortunately, original sound designer Matt Rowe had documented excerpts from a live performance for archival purposes. Recent advancements in audio technology, combined with the willingness of the original cast members to return to the studio nearly 14 years later to fill in missing sections, have enabled the transformation of that archive into a fully-realized cast album. This recording successfully marries the vibrancy and spontaneity of a live performance with the detailed craftsmanship of studio production. This marks the fifth project of Gordon’s to be released by PS Classics, following his works including the opera The Grapes of Wrath and musicals My Life with Albertine, Dream True, and the song cycle Only Heaven.
The album boasts orchestrations by Tony Award-winning Bruce Coughlin. Conducted by Fred Lassen, an eight-piece orchestra accompanies the recordings, with Andrew Resnick on piano. The original production was helmed by director Tina Landau and features a book co-written by Gordon and Nina Mankin. Production of the new album was a collaborative effort led by Tommy Krasker and Bart Migal, with Migal overseeing the audio restoration. The project received substantial support and funding from the Ted & Mary Jo Shen Charitable Gift Fund and So-Chung Shinn.
Reflecting on the album’s release, Gordon expressed his excitement, saying, “Having this original cast recording being born into the world 14 years after its premiere is like getting the best birthday present of all time. It was so far away from anything I ever thought possible, this incredible cast, these amazing players. My gratitude for all that has been done to make this happen – to everyone who said yes, to everyone who supported it, to all who worked on it, and, of course, to my lifelong friend Tommy Krasker – is infinite, immeasurable.”
Tommy Krasker, co-founder of PS Classics, shared his perspective on the project, noting, “Philip [Chaffin, co-founder of PS Classics] and I were fortunate to see a performance of Sycamore Trees in 2010. We wanted to record it then, but it was such a crazy time for us; we were focused on live albums with various artists and had already committed to several other projects. Over the years, we both expressed regret for not being able to produce an original cast album, particularly with such an extraordinary cast. However, when Ricky’s autobiography plans came together this year, he suggested revisiting the live recording of Sycamore Trees to see if it could be salvaged. Technology has made incredible leaps in recent years, allowing us to remix and enhance performances that were once just archival material. While it may not sound identical to a studio recording, I was astonished by how close we managed to get through the restoration process. I’m thrilled that we finally had the chance to release a proper recording of this important work.”
Track Listing for Sycamore Trees
1. Let There Be Light
2. Ours
3. The Last Time I Saw Him
4. Sycamore Trees
5. Pigeons
6. Poem
7. “Haunted, a poem”
8. “The dinner table”
9. My Mother Is a Singer
10. I Gotta Get Outta Here
11. Maybe a Work of Art
12. I Don’t Know What to Write
13. I Don’t Know What to Write/I’ll Get Clean
14. Two Men
15. Father’s Song
16. Self-Help
17. Watercolor
18. Healing
19. Far Away
Source
www.broadwayworld.com