In November 2022, Concord Theatricals announced the launch of its new record label, Concord Theatricals Recordings. In addition to new cast albums – like the 2022 Broadway revival cast recording of Into the Woods and the original Spanish cast recording of A Chorus Line starring Antonio Banderas – the label includes the full Fynsworth Alley recorded music catalog. These recordings – a variety of cast albums, theatre songwriter and artist recordings, instrumental albums and compilation series – are now available, for the first time, to stream or download. Forty albums have been digitally released so far, with more to come soon.
Several of the Fynsworth Alley cast recordings are from shows licensed by Concord Theatricals. Here’s a look at 11 of the titles in the catalog. Check out the cast albums, and if the score feels like something your theatre group might enjoy presenting, click through to Concord Theatricals’ US or UK site learn more about licensing the show for performance!
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As Thousands Cheer
The Recording: As Thousands Cheer (1998 Off-Broadway Cast Recording)
The talented singers on this cast recording, including Kevin Chamberlain, Judy Kuhn, Howard McGillin, Paula Newsome, Mary Beth Piel and B.D. Wong, sing a variety of Irving Berlin hits like “Easter Parade,” “Heat Wave” and “Harlem on My Mind,” alongside novelty songs like “Man Bites Dog.”
The Show: As Thousands Cheer by Moss Hart and Irving Berlin (US/UK)
(Musical Revue, Political Satire / 3f, 3m, Flexible)
This clever musical revue features Moss Hart’s sharp, witty and hilarious sketches, peppered with Irving Berlin songs ranging from wry to satiric to poignant. Considered a masterpiece of that specialized genre known as the topical revue, the show was a Depression-era version of Saturday Night Live or The Daily Show, inspiring some of Hart’s best solo work as a comedy writer and affording Berlin the opportunity to pen some of Broadway’s greatest musical gems.
Bells Are Ringing
The Recording: Bells Are Ringing (2001 Broadway Cast Recording)
Faith Prince and Marc Kudisch lead the cast in this dynamic recording from the 2001 Broadway production. Lawrence Clayton, Beth Fowler, David Garrison and Martin Moran lend support, singing some of Jule Styne’s most tuneful songs, including “Just in Time,” “The Party’s Over,” “Long Before I Knew You” and “Better Than a Dream.” Both the production and leading lady Prince earned 2001 Tony Award nominations.
The Show: Bells Are Ringing by Betty Comden, Adolph Green and Jule Styne (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 3f, 3m +Ensemble)
This charming rom-com follows the exploits of Ella, a telephone answering service operator with a fascination for her client’s private lives. At Susanswerphone, Ella uses a variety of voices and personae to keep herself entertained. As she follows the lives of her customers, Ella becomes inextricably involved with a handsome playwright, a fledgling record company, and a dangerous crime ring. The show is a crowd-pleasing showcase for a singing comedienne, filled with heart and humor.
Do I Hear A Waltz?
The Recording: Do I Hear a Waltz? (2001 Pasadena Playhouse production)
This state-of-the-art musical recording of the 2001 Pasadena Playhouse production includes several musical excerpts omitted from the original cast recording, including the Overture, “Lezione in Inglese,” “We’re Going to the Lido” and “Everybody Loves Leona.”
The Show: Do I Hear a Waltz? by Richard Rodgers, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 5f, 4m, 1 boy +Ensemble)
This musical adaptation of Arthur Laurents’ play The Time of the Cuckoo, a bittersweet romance set in Venice, was a unique collaboration of three giants of the musical theatre: Richard Rodgers, Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim. Leona, an unmarried American secretary “of a certain age,” goes on a vacation to Venice where, under the spell of that enchanted city, she falls in love with an attractive, middle-aged shopkeeper. This timeless story, which was also the basis of the movie Summertime starring Katharine Hepburn, remains a bittersweet testament to the complexities of the heart.
Elegies: A Song Cycle
The Recording: Elegies: A Song Cycle (2003 Off-Broadway Cast Recording)
Originally presented at Lincoln Center’s Mitzi Newhouse Theater, this heartbreaking, funny, quirky song cycle features some of Broadway’s greatest talent singing the brilliant work of William Finn. The stellar ensemble includes Christian Borle, Betty Buckley, Carolee Carmello, Keith Byron Kirk and Michael Rupert. Break out the hankies and listen to “Monica and Mark” paired with “Anytime (I Am There),” or “14 Dwight Ave, Natick Massachusetts” followed by “The World Stopped Turning.” You will not be the same. This album is one to cherish.
The Show: Elegies: A Song Cycle by William Finn (US/UK)
(Musical Revue, Drama / 2f, 3m, Flexible)
This intimate and moving remembrance of departed friends is by the Tony Award-winning composer of Falsettos and A New Brain. With humor and pathos, the show pays tribute to a disparate group that includes impresario Joe Papp, actors Peggy Hewitt and Jack Eric Williams, a teacher, the Korean family who ran a deli frequented by Finn, relatives in New Jersey, friends, long-lost pets, and, in a moving sequence, Finn’s mother. A three-song conclusion offers a tribute to the victims of 9/11. Each number captures poignant, often funny glimpses of life and death that sparkle with the narrative sophistication always apparent in Finn’s work.
Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens
The Recording: Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens (2001 New York Concert Cast Recording)
This 2001 concert recording features the vocal talents of big Broadway names, including Brian D’Arcy James, Norm Lewis, Emily Skinner and Amy Spanger. The star-studded singing cast, which also features Kane Alexander, Doug Askew, Clent Bowers, Kathy Brier, Bobby Daye, Orfeh, Stephanie Pope, Alice Ripley, Alton Fitzgerald White and Sharon Wilkins, is bolstered by an equally amazing group of actors (Bryan Batt, Steve Burns, Mario Cantone, Veanne Cox, Christopher Durang and Erin Torpey) delivering monologues from the show.
The Show: Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens by Bill Russell and Janet Hood (US/UK)
(Musical Revue, Drama / 11f, 20m, Flexible)
A celebration of lives lost to AIDS, told in free-verse monologues with a blues, jazz and rock score, Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens is designed to include the community in a theatrical response to the AIDS crisis. Often performed as a benefit for fundraising and consciousness raising, the show includes the songs “Heroes All Around” and “Learning to Let Go.”
Little by Little
The Recording: Little by Little (1999 Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording)
Darrin Baker, Liz Larsen and Christiane Noll comprise the entire cast in this beautifully sung modern chamber musical, originally presented off-Broadway at the York Theatre in 1999. The sung-through piece follows a man and two women from childhood friendship to love triangle, which grows more complicated as they grow into adults.
The Show: Little by Little by Brad Ross, Ellen Greenfield and Hal Hackady (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 2f, 1m)
An intimate, contemporary musical about friendship, hormones… and popcorn. Three childhood pals end up in a love triangle that will change their friendship – and their lives – forever. A fresh, easy-to-mount three-hander, Little by Little will have you humming the tunes and taking another look at your life.
Pete ’n’ Keely
The Recording: Pete ‘n’ Keely (2001 Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording)
George Dvorsky and Sally Mayes shine in this spectacular recording of the off-Broadway hit. Singing classics like “Besame Mucho,” “Black Coffee” and “Fever” alongside clever new songs by Patrick Brady with Mark Waldrop and others, Dvorsky and Mayes capture all the highs and lows of two crowd-pleasing, standard-singing divorcees reuniting for a 1968 TV special.
The Show: Pete ‘n’ Keely by James Hindman, Patrick Brady and Mark Waldrop (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 1f, 1m)
Staged as a live 1968 taping of a divorced singing duo’s TV reunion special, this delightfully kitschy spoof features unforgettable renditions of the era’s popular favorites interspersed with original songs in the spirit of the times. As Pete and Keely stroll down memory lane (in eye-popping costumes) reprising songs from their days of stardom, they take “unscripted” swipes at each other that dredge up hilarious moments from their turbulent past.
Radio Gals
The Recording: Radio Gals (1995 Original Cast Recording)
Singers Eileen Barnett, Klea Blackhurst, Mike Craver, Helen Geller, Emily Mikesell, Mark Nadler and Lenny Wolpe have a ball singing this hilarious collection of tight-harmonied honky tonk and down-home country tunes. The songs may be goofy, but the musicianship is first-rate, presenting an entertaining variety of musical styles with polish and flair.
The Show: Radio Gals by Mike Craver and Mark Hardwick (US)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 6f, 1m)
In 1920s Arkansas, music teacher Hazel C. Hunt hosts a radio broadcast on WGAL, featuring a wacky quintet of local singer/musicians who set hearts thumping and toes tapping with rib-tickling songs, homey chat and plugs for a rejuvenating tonic. It’s all the zany hilarity you expect from the creators of Pump Boys and Dinettes and Smoke on the Mountain.
Ruthless! The Musical
The Recording: Ruthless! The Musical (1994 Los Angeles Cast Recording)
This hilarious 1994 Los Angeles Cast Recording features Lindsay Ridgeway as young murderess Tina Denmark, alongside brilliant comic vocal performances from Joanne Baum, Loren Freeman, Nancy Linari, Rita McKenzie and Joan Ryan. The vivacious score leaps out with one showstopper after another. Check out the fantastic bonus track in which Bernadette Peters masterfully navigates the tricky lyrics to “Unkie’s Muncle.”
The Show: Ruthless! by Joel Paley and Marvin Laird (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 7f, with flexible gender casting)
Eight-year-old Tina Denmark knows she was born to play Pippi Longstocking, and she will do anything to win the part in her school musical. “Anything” includes murdering the leading lady! This aggressively outrageous musical hit garnered rave reviews during its long Off-Broadway run. Variety called the show “A wonderfully smart and funny send-up of every Broadway brat from Gypsy to The Bad Seed… loaded with campy wit and charm.”
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
The Recording: The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (2001 National Tour Cast Recording)
Ann-Margret leads the 2001 National Tour cast in this exuberant recording of the Broadway hit. Avery Summers, Ed Dunn, Terri Dunn, Rob Donahue, Timothy Ellis, Quisha Freeman, Matt Landers, Roxie Lucas and Gary Sandy round out the supporting roles. Composer/lyricist Carol Hall sings a lovely bonus track: “A Friend to Me,” which was cut from the original production.
The Show: The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas by Carol Hall, Larry L. King and Peter Masterson (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 14f, 13m)
Carol Hall’s bawdy-but-wholesome crowd-pleaser skewers pretension, celebrates life and touches the heartstrings. This raucous, red-blooded, hilarious musical comedy about the Chicken Ranch, a “Lil Ole Bitty Pissant Country Place,” took Broadway by storm and continues to enthrall audiences worldwide. The show’s most popular songs include “Texas Has a Whorehouse in It” and “Hard Candy Christmas.”
The Grass Harp
The Recording: The Grass Harp (1971 Original Broadway Cast Recording)
The incandescent Barbara Cook leads the original Broadway cast in this beautiful and unique recording, a cult favorite that long remained out of print. Though the musical famously played only 7 performances on Broadway, the score has endured thanks to this fantastic cast recording. Carol Brice, Ruth Ford, Karen Morrow, Max Showalter and Russ Thacker all contribute to make this rare gem a glorious listening experience. In addition to Cook’s clarion-clear “Chain of Love,” check out Brice’s spirited “Marry With Me,” Karen Morrow’s epic “The Babylove Miracle Show” and Thacker’s hilariously of-its-time “Floozies.”
The Show: The Grass Harp by Kenward Elmslie, Claibe Richardson and Truman Capote (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 5f, 4m, 2 girls, 3 boys +Ensemble)
This musical adaptation of Truman Capote’s 1952 play is an intimate tale about a sweet-natured spinster, who holds the secret recipe for an elixir cure, and her demanding sister, who is determined to exploit the recipe for her own purposes. Long considered one of the lost treasures of the musical theater, the 1971 musical is an intimate tale of fascinating characters carried on the wings of a ravishing score. The title refers to the wind rustling through fields of tall grass… “a harp of voices telling stories.”
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For more musical ideas, check out the full catalog of albums currently available from Concord Theatricals Recordings or visit the Concord Theatricals website in the US or UK.
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