As Broadway Records and Yellow Sound Label prepare to digitally release the Off-Broadway cast album of Meredith Willson‘s The Unsinkable Molly Brown July 22, we’ve got a special preview of leading lady Beth Malone (Fun Home) singing one the tracks. Listen to Malone sing “Share the Luck/He’s My Friend (Reprise)” from the upcoming release below.
“Share the Luck” is one of several trunk songs from the Music Man composer’s archives that were newly interpolated into the score of the 1960 musical by Dick Scanlan, who penned the production’s new book and additional lyrics. This particular song was originally written by Willson for the Red Cross, with references to the non-profit changed by Scanlan to “good book.”
The musical tells the rags-to-riches story of Margaret “Molly” Brown—a turn-of-the-century hero of the underdog, champion of women’s rights, fighter for labor rights, advocate of immigration reform—and, most famously, survivor of the Titanic. A love story about a woman who rejected the notion that it’s a man’s world, this new Molly Brown portrays Molly as she really was—vibrant, progressive, modern.
Led by Malone in the title role, the album features the cast of Transport Group’s 2020 production, including David Aron Damane, Whitney Bashor, Omar Lopez-Cepero, Alex Gibson, Paolo Montalban, Paula Leggett Chase, Lauryn Ciardullo, Karl Josef Co, Kaitlyn Davidson, Tyrone Davis, Jr., Gregg Goodbrod, Michael Halling, Nikka Graff Lanzarone, Keven Quillon, and CoCo Smith.
The band, under the direction of Joey Chancey, features Meg Zervoulis on acoustic piano and synth; Suzy Perelman on violin; Joe Wallace on upright bass; Micah Burgess on arch top, steel string, banjo, and mandolin; John Skinner on alto saxophone, clarinet, flute, and piccolo; Justin Vance on flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, and tenor saxophone; Jami Dauber on trumpet and flugelhorn; Alex Jeun on tenor and bass trombone; and Barbara Merjan on percussion and drums.
The reworked revival opened Off-Broadway February 26, 2020, at The Transport Group following earlier runs at the Denver Center Theatre Company and the St. Louis Muny. Directed and choreographed by three-time Tony winner Kathleen Marshall (Anything Goes, The Pajama Game), the production featured scenic design by Brett Banakis, costume design by Sky Switser, with gowns for Malone by Paul Tazewell, lighting design by Peter Kaczorowski, sound design by Walter Trarbach, music direction by Joey Chancey, and casting by Nora Brennan.
Produced by Michael Croiter, Michael Rafter, and Dick Scanlan, and recorded by Andy Manganello, the album will feature liner notes by Luis Miranda, orchestrations by Larry Hochman, and additional orchestrations by Michael Starobin and Bruce Coughlin. Michael Rafter adapted the music, and Joey Chancey is music coordinator. The recording was mixed and edited by Croiter at Yellow Sound Lab and mastered by Michael Fossenkemper of Turtle Tone Mastering. The album was recorded December 12, 2021, at Power Station at Berklee in NYC.
