The album is available digitally on Oct. 4, and in stores Oct. 25. To hear song previews and pre-order the CD, visit sh-k-boom.com.
The original release of Footloose's cast album has been out-of-print since Q Records (the original label) shut down in 2003. Footloose lyricist and co-book writer Dean Pitchford said in a statement, "I'm thrilled and grateful to the good folks at Ghostlight Records for giving a whole new life to our cast recording."
The re-release of Footloose features new album artwork by acclaimed Broadway graphic artist Frank "Fraver" Verlizzo, plus a brand-new track — "Still Rockin'" — a song cut from the show in its pre-Broadway run at the Kennedy Center and since reinstated to the licensed score. The song was recorded this year by Footloose original cast member Hunter Foster under the supervision of original musical director, Doug Katsaros, and backed by members of the show's original orchestra.
According to Ghostlight, "The album now reflects changes made to the show by the original writers after their lengthy Broadway run and countless productions all over the world — from Kyoto, Japan to Sydney, Australia to Cardiff, Wales."
Footloose, inspired by the film of the same name, features music by Tom Snow and lyrics by Dean Pitchford. The stage adaptation was co-written by Dean Pitchford and Walter Bobbie, based on Pitchford's screenplay for the original 1984 hit film. A 2011 film re-make gets released this fall. Additional music was contributed by Eric Carmen, Sammy Hagar, Kenny Loggins and Jim Steinman. The album was originally produced by Tommy Krasker and Tom Snow, and recorded and mixed by Joel Moss. The new track was produced, recorded and mixed by Joel Moss.
The Broadway cast included Jeremy Kushnier (the Toronto production of Rent) as Ren McCormack, the teen newcomer to a rural town where dancing is banned as sinful and dangerous; Stephen Lee Anderson as the local fundamentalist preacher, Reverend Shaw Moore; two-time Tony nominee Dee Hoty (The Will Rogers Follies, The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public) as Vi Moore, the Reverend's wife; Jennifer Laura Thompson (national tour of Carousel) as Ariel Moore, the Reverend's rebellious daughter, with whom Ren falls in love; Catherine Cox (Baby) as Ethel McCormick; and Tom Plotkin (Forbidden Broadway Strikes Back) as Ren's friend, Willard Hewitt. Also in the cast were Robin Baxter, Catherine Campbell, Rosalind Brown, John Deyle, Staci Francis, Billy Hartung, John Hillner, Adam LeFevre, Donna Lee Marshall, Nick Sullivan and Kathy Deitch.
Ensemble players included Jim Ambler, Billy Angell, Susan Bigelow, Angela Brydon, Ben Cameron, Bryant Carroll, Paul Castree, Hunter Foster, Kristen Leigh Gorski, Jamie Gustis, Artie Harris, Sean Haythe, Elizabeth Paige Hinton, Lori Holmes, Katherine Leonard, Brad Madison, Jeanine Meyers, Mary K. Myars, Orfeh, JoAnna Ross and Serena Soffer.
The track list for Footloose is as follows:
. Footloose/On Any Sunday
2. The Girl Gets Around
3. I Can't Stand Still
4. Somebody's Eyes
5. Learning To Be Silent
6. Holding Out For A Hero
7. Heaven Help Me
8. I'm Free/Heaven Help Me
9. Still Rockin'
10. Let’s Hear It For The Boy
11. Can You Find It In Your Heart?
12. Mama Says (You Can't Back Down)
13. Almost Paradise
14. Can You Find It In Your Heart? (reprise)
15. Footloose (finale)
Footloose premiered on Broadway in October 1998 and ran for 709 performances, earning four Tony Award nominations including Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical. The original cast recording received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Musical Show Album. Several U.S. national tours followed Broadway, as well as several U.K. tours and West End engagements. Footloose has been staged all over the world, from Europe to Asia, Africa to Australia. Licensed by R&H Theatricals, Footloose is consistently in the licensing house's top 10 out of more than 100 offerings. For more information, visit R&H Theatricals at www.rnh.com.
In the show, when teen-age "Ren and his mother move from Chicago to a small farming town, Ren is prepared for the inevitable adjustment period at his new high school," according to R&H's description of the show. "What he isn't prepared for are the rigorous local edicts, including a ban on dancing instituted by the local preacher, determined to exercise the control over the town's youth that he cannot command in his own home.
"When the reverend's rebellious daughter sets her sights on Ren, her roughneck boyfriend tries to sabotage Ren's reputation, with many of the locals eager to believe the worst about the new kid. The heartfelt story that emerges is of a father longing for the son he lost and of a young man aching for the father who walked out on him. To the rockin' rhythm of its Oscar and Tony-nominated top 40 score (the soundtrack album reached number one on the Billboard charts and has sold over 15 million copies!) and augmented with dynamic new songs for the stage musical, Footloose celebrates the wisdom of listening to young people, guiding them with a warm heart and an open mind."
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Sh-K-Boom with its imprint Ghostlight Records is a major producer of original Broadway cast recordings and theatre-related solo albums. Its library of over 100 records has been built in only 10 years. Founded by Kurt Deutsch and wife Sherie Rene Scott, the label was created by and for the Broadway community and has garnered acclaim not only for their high-quality recordings, but for their innovative marketing techniques and efforts to reach the next generation of Broadway music fans via iTunes, social networking, music videos and more.
Ghostlight recently celebrated a major milestone with their release of The Book of Mormon, which became the first Broadway cast recording to break into Billboard's Top 10 (topping out at #3) since the original 1969 release of Hair, as well as taking its place as the biggest-selling digital release of a cast recording of all time. (A special discount launch price helped boost those sales). Also just released on the label are the OCRs of Catch Me If You Can, Sister Act and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, as well as solo albums from some of Broadway's biggest stars: Sutton Foster, Kelli O'Hara, Alice Ripley, Christine Ebersole, Melissa Errico and Ben Vereen. In recent Broadway seasons, Ghostlight has preserved the scores of some of Broadway's most well-known musicals, including the Grammy Award-winning In the Heights, plus Next to Normal, Hair, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Legally Blonde, Everyday Rapture, Passing Strange, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and The Drowsy Chaperone.
Visit sh-k-boom.com.
