Judy Kuhn, Tony-nominated for her performance in this season's critically acclaimed musical Fun Home, will release her new album dedicated to the music of Richard Rodgers, his daughter Mary Rodgers and her son Adam Guettel on June 2.
The album is based on Kuhn's Feb. 4 American Songbook concert that focused on the musical legacy of the Rodgers family. Included are songs written by Richard Rodgers and lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II; Adam Guettel's Floyd Collins, Myths and Hymns and The Light in the Piazza; and a selection of rarities by the late Mary Rodgers, including songs from the little-known musicals The Griffin and the Minor Canon and the unproduced The Courtship of Miles Standish.
Heard here is the opening track, which combines "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning," the opening song from Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! with "The Call," the opening song from Adam Guettel's Floyd Collins.
"Rodgers, Rodgers & Guettel" has music direction and arrangements by Todd Almond (Iowa, Kansas City Choir Boy, Girlfriend), orchestrations by Joshua Clayton and includes guest appearances by Malcolm Gets and Shuler Hensley.
PS Classics co-founder Tommy Krasker will produce, with fellow co-founder Philip Chaffin and Elizabeth Armstrong as executive producers. "It's funny, Judy and Tommy and I first met in 2003 to discuss her doing an album with PS Classics. But at that time, we couldn't find the right project or make the timing work," Chaffin previously told Playbill.com. "It wasn't until a decade later we finally worked with Judy, and since then it's been four projects in two years: her last solo album, 'All This Happiness,' Passion, Fun Home and now this new CD. What I think I love most about this new project is that, even though Judy is paying tribute to three generations of songwriters, she and her music director Todd Almond make sure it never becomes dry or archival. It's very much about the material and lyrics and themes that Judy responds to most. When we heard the concert, Tommy and I both thought, 'This might well become the most personal album Judy's ever done.'"
The track listing is as follows:
"Oh, What Beautiful Mornin'"/"The Call" (R. Rodgers/Guettel)
"Am I?" (M. Rodgers)
"This Can't Be Love" (R. Rodgers)
"Dividing Day" (Guettel)
"If I Loved You" (R. Rodgers)
"We're Gonna Be All Right" (R. Rodgers)
"Nobody's Heart"/"Hey, Love"/"Love to Me" (R./M. Rodgers/Guettel)
"If You Ask Me" (M. Rodgers)
"Hello, Young Lovers" (R. Rodgers)
"Hero and Leander" (Guettel)
"Song of Love"/"A Wonderful Guy" (M. Rodgers/R. Rodgers)
"Daybreak" (Guettel)
"Through the Mountain" (Guettel)
"The Sweetest Sounds" (R. Rodgers)
"Migratory V" (Guettel)
Kuhn is a four-time Tony Award nominee for her work in Fun Home, She Loves Me, Les Misérables and Chess.
"Rodgers, Rodgers & Guettel" is currently available at PSClassics.com. Numerous cast albums are also available at PlaybillStore.com.