Oklahoma! Tony nominee Mary Testa stars in the premiere studio cast recording of Michael Friedman's 2006 musical (I Am) Nobody's Lunch, released August 14.
Joining Testa on the album are her Oklahoma! co-star Rebecca Naomi Jones, Adam Chanler-Berat, Nick Blaemire, Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Brad Heberlee, Daoud Heidami, Osh Ghanimah, Ashley Pérez Flanagan, Jennifer R. Morris, Sarah Beth Pfeifer, and Brian Charles Rooney, with Stephen Schapero and Jacob Keith Watson joining in the ensemble.
Get a first listen to Testa on the track "The Song of Progressive Disenchantment" below.
(I Am) Nobody's Lunch was the result of extensive interviews conducted by The Civilians about American public culture and the politics of information, delving into how we can know what we know when everyone in power seems to be lying. The piece was premiered by The Civilians at 59E59 Theaters in New York City in 2006, with a London debut at Soho Theatre later that year.
The premiere recording from Ghostlight Records and The Civilians is part of the second installment of albums in the Michael Friedman Collection, an initiative to release premiere recordings of nine musicals penned by the late composer-lyricist that was announced last year. (I Am) Nobody's Lunch and Paris Commune, also released August 14, follow the October 19 release of The Great Immensity, The Abominables, and This Beautiful City.
Both albums are produced by Steve Cosson and Kurt Deutsch and co-produced by Ian Kagey, orchestrator Wiley DeWeese, music director Dan Lipton, and Amy C. Ashton. Cover art has been illustrated by Josh Neufeld.
Friedman is best known as the co-creator of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, which premiered at The Public Theater before transferring to Broadway in 2010. Other musicals include Fortress of Solitude, Unknown Soldier, and Love's Labour's Lost. Friedman was a founding associate artist of The Civilians theatre company, working on such shows as Gone Missing, In the Footprint, The Great Immensity, Paris Commune, (I Am) Nobody's Lunch, The Abominables, and This Beautiful City. He passed away in 2017.
