Cast Albums Blog

The long awaited One Touch of Venus [2012 Studio Cast]studio cast recording[/r] of One Touch of Venus with Melissa Errico (who starred in the 1996 Encores! production) will finally be released in December 2012.

The recording was started several years ago by Jay Records under the direction of conductor John Edward Owens. The remaining tracks will be recorded this spring & summer under conduction James Holmes. In addition to the complete score on two discs (including dance music, etc), the recording will include two cut songs: Vive La Difference and Who Am I?.

For more information, visit http://www.playbill.com/news/article/158673-Melissa-Errico-Brent-Barrett-Victoria-Clark-Judy-Kaye-Ron-Raines-Record-Complete-One-Touch-of-Venus

As tweeted by Peter Polycarpou, the original London cast of Les Misérables will no longer receive royalties from First Night Records for the 1985 cast album. Fellow cast member Rebecca Caine tweets that "No one saw musicals like POTO and Mis becoming the leviathans they did" and that "small print" in their contract ended the royalties after 25 years. Michael Ball tweets "not sure if its legal..but moral? i think not."

Fans have already created a petition to urge First Night Records to continue paying the royalties.

Performers are paid mostly upfront for cast recordings, with US Equity rules mandating a week's salary for an 8-hour recording session. Performers typically don't see any royalties until the costs of making the album are recouped. But few modern cast recordings sell as many copies as Les Misérables has over the years.

As reported in the New York Law Journal this past summer, labels and producers are creating new types of contracts to share the costs of recording cast albums. This can help a "flop" like Glory Days or The Story of My Life get a cast recording (and lead to future productions). But what does this mean for the performers on the next hit recording? (like Wicked or The Book of Mormon?)

@ShentonStage @TheStage @EquityUK First Night Records have said that they no longer want to pay us Les Mis royalties after 25 years. Pls RT

— Peter Polycarpou 💙 (@polywallydoodle) January 13, 2012

@Joannechocolat apparently it was in the small print. No one saw musicals like POTO and Mis becoming the leviathans they did.

— Rebecca Caine (@RebeccaCaine) January 13, 2012

First night records. you cannot be serious. not sure if its legal..but moral? i think not

— Michael Ball OBE💙 (@mrmichaelball) January 13, 2012

Masterworks Broadway has announced it will release the cast recording of film-to-stage musical Once in March 2012. Steve Kazee, Cristin Milioti, and the rest of cast will head into the studio on January 17 (after the conclusion of the off-Broadway New York Theatre Workshop run). The show's Broadway transfer starts previews in late February. For more information, visit http://www.masterworksbroadway.com/news/once-cast-recording-coming-soon .

In other news, the cast of Lysistrata Jones recently announced, during an appearance on Seth's Broadway Chatterbox, they will record a cast album (although the show closed yesterday, January 8). No label or release date has been announced yet. For more information, visit http://broadwayworld.com/article/LYSISTRATA-JONES-Cast-Album-in-the-Works-20120106 .

Anna Maria Perez de Tagle & the cast of Godspell record Day by Day in the studio for the new Broadway Revivial cast recording:

This fall, Adam Pascal succeeded Tony nominee Chad Kimball as "Huey Calhoun" in Memphis.

The production has just posted a free download of Pascal singing the climatic song, Memphis Lives in Me.

To download the MP3, visit http://www.memphisthemusical.com/adam-pascal-song-download.