One year after the highly acclaimed production of The Cradle Will Rock at Opera Saratoga in upstate New York, the resulting original cast album will soon be available. The 2-disc album, due out July 6 on Bridge Records, includes liner notes by music director John Mauceri, and a handful of images from the production. The extensive cast includes Christopher Burchett as Larry Foreman, Matt Boehler as Mr. Mister, Audrey Babcock as Mrs. Mister, and former Lenya Competition prizewinners Ginger Costa-Jackson as Moll, Justin Hopkins as Reverend Salvation, and 2018 LLC finalist John Tibbetts as Yasha. This landmark recording gives listeners a unique opportunity to hear the work in Blitzstein’s original orchestrations, a quite different experience from the handful of piano-only recordings currently available.
The album also includes, as a bonus track, a rare interview with Blitzstein in which he describes the spectacle of the opening night of the original Broadway production of Cradle. Though now the stuff of Broadway legend, Blitzstein’s first-hand account of the events of that night adds new immediacy to the infamous tale.
Purchase from Bridge Records.
Listen on Spotify.
See also New Production of “The Cradle Will Rock” Makes Its Own Headlines