Ghostlight Records has announced the release of the Original London Cast Recording of Stephen Schwartz’s WORKING on Friday, March 2. The album is being released following a hugely successful run at Southwark Playhouse, directed by Luke Sheppard in Summer 2017. This will be the first recording of WORKING since the Original Broadway Cast Recording in 1978 and will feature never before released tracks by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Customers that pre-order the digital album on iTunes and Amazon will immediately receive the track “It’s An Art.”
The European Premiere production featured an outstanding ensemble cast of notable British theatre performers, and created six new roles, all filled by graduates making their professional debut. Since launching their careers in WORKING, they have gone on to successful theatre and film projects across the country. The production has been Nominated for Best Off West End Production at the Whats On Stage Awards, and as a finalist for the Off West End Awards of Best Musical Production, and Peter Polycarpou for Best Male Performance.
The recording will include all original London cast members: Gillian Bevan, Dean Chisnall, Krysten Cummings, Siubhan Harrison, Peter Polycarpou and Liam Tamne, as well as Patrick Coulter, Nicola Espallardo, Izuka Hoyle, Luke Latchman, Huon Mackley and Kerri Norville.
The album was recorded live at Southwark Playhouse with additional recordings at Abbey Road Studios. It was engineered and co-produced by Jack Chown at No.1 Baltic Place. Orchestrations are by Alex Lacaimore with additional orchestrations for this production and album by Martin Higgins.
WORKING is the extraordinary genre-defining musical based on Studs Terkel’s best-selling book of interviews with the American workforce: Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do. The show has been adapted by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso, the creators of Godspell and Rags, with additional contributions by Gordon Greenberg.
This highly original and universal portrait of the American workday is told from the perspective of those that the world so often overlooks – the schoolteacher, the housewife, the fireman and the waitress, amongst many – whose daily grind and aspirations reflect the truths of the people that make up a nation. WORKING employs a range of musical styles and genres from contributing composers, including five-time Grammy Award-winner James Taylor and Pulitzer Prize-winner Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton, In The Heights), as well as Craig Carnelia, Micki Grant, Mary Rodgers & Susan Birkenhead.
REVIEW: WORKING (Southwark Playhouse) ★★★★★
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