Ghostlight Records will release a new cast album of Jason Robert Brown's Songs for a New World, capturing the performances of Encores! Off-Center's June 2017 production at New York City Center. The cast includes Shoshana Bean, Mykal Kilgore, Solea Pfeiffer, and Colin Donnell. The album is set to release this fall.
The song cycle—Jason Robert Brown's debut professional work—premiered Off-Broadway at the WPA Theatre in 1995, with a cast that included Billy Porter, Andréa Burns, Jessica Molaskey, and Brooks Ashmanskas. Brown revised and expanded the arrangements and orchestrations for the Encores Off-Center production, newly featuring a nine-piece band with a string quartet.
The cast recording is being produced by Jeffrey Lesser and Brown, with Stacey Mindich serving as executive producer.
The Encores! Off-Center production was directed by Kate Whoriskey and choreographed by Rennie Harris, who incorporated an ensemble of dancers including Phil S. Cuttino Jr., Virgil Gadson, Mai Lê Hô, Samantha Shepherd, and Danzel Thompson-Stout.
Tom Murray served as music director, and James Sampliner led a band that included Monica Davis and Katherine Livolsi (Violin), Yuko Naito-Gotay (Viola), Mairi Dorman Phaneuf (Cello), Randy Landau (Bass), Lorraine Faina (Drums), Benny Koonyevsky (Percussion), and Hidayat Honari (Guitar).
