SH-K-BUZZ from Sh-K-Boom & Ghostlight Records

Playbill Radio will feature programs on two upcoming Ghostlight Releases this week!

Tomorrow, April 1 at 7pm, Kelli will be featured on Playbill’s “Center Stage” show to discuss her upcoming solo album, “Wonder in the World.”

Then on Wednesday, April 2 at 7pm, “Playbill Presents” will air their interviews and other audio from last week’s In the Heights cast album recording.

If you can’t tune in at those times, both programs will be re-broadcast throughout the week. See Playbill.com for the full schedule.

It seems like everyone wants to see where Sherie Rene Scott gets octopus-ified for The Little Mermaid every night!

First it was The New York Times, who took a peek into Ursula’s offstage lair for their feature, “Setting the Stage, Offstage.”

Now Broadway.com has posted a great backstage video with the first lady of Sh-K-Boom, where she not only shows off her dressing room, but also the process she goes through every day (and twice on Wednesdays and Saturdays!) to get into character as Ursula the Sea Witch. Click the collage to check it out:

See you at the show tonight!

Lovely leading lady Kelli O’Hara has a new Q&A on Broadway.com, where she not only talks about her current gig in South Pacific, the men in her life–from frequent co-star Matthew Morrison to hubby Greg Naughton to collaborator Harry Connick, Jr.–but also about her upcoming solo CD release on Ghostlight Records! Here’s a sampling:

Your album, Wonder in the World, comes out next month. It’s quite a debut, with songs by you, your husband and Harry Connick.

What happened was that we were working on the Pajama Game album for Sony, or what was then Sony Columbia. Harry and I did the Today Show with Matt Lauer and sang a couple of songs. And suddenly I got a call from the people at Sony offering me a record deal. We recorded the album, but then things changed with the corporations and the album wound up sitting on the shelf. So now it’s being released by Ghostlight Records, and I’m very happy with them. They are very ambitious. Harry was instrumental in creating the album; he helped arrange the accompaniment and pick out the songs and he sings on it, too. It’s a great collaboration, and we always love working together. More from Kelli’s Q&A…

We’re glad to have you, Kelli! Don’t forget that ‘Wonder in the World’ hits the streets on May 6. (But send us an email to let us know you’re interested and we just may let you at it first.)

Click here to listen to Kelli’s version of the classic tune, “Make Someone Happy:”
Make Someone Happy by Kelli O’Hara

Ok, the In the Heights recording was a blast.

Being fairly new to the Sh-K-Boom/Ghostlight team, this was my first time at a session of this size. The two biggest surprises to me?
- How perfectly the band played every time they struck up, led by the boundlessly-energetic Alex Lacamoire (dubbed “Lac” by the cast).
- The amount of food that was consumed! It’s a long day.

The cast and creatives passed the time between songs by playing Jenga and Scrabble–(the Scrabble game between director Tommy Kail, Lin and book writer Quiara Alegría Hudes was particularly intense)–while the producers (Latin music Andres Levin and our very own Kurt Deutsch) made sure everything from drum beats to party noises sounded their best.

But my favorite moment? Late in the day, Christopher Jackson (who plays Benny), went in to re-dub his solo in “96,000″ and he “hit it so hard,” Lin-Manuel Miranda insisted he get back in too to re-record his next two lines to make sure he didn’t sound like a wuss on the album!

While we sift through and pick the best of our photos from the day, you can see a few now over at Broadway World. There were also a few video crews around, so be on the lookout for some video footage of the day as well!

- Katie (the Sh-K-Marketing Guru)

We go into the studio with the unbelievably talented cast and musicians from In the Heights on Sunday and I CAN’T WAIT! (Have you seen it yet?! It’s my new favorite thing. I’m dying to tell Lin-Manuel Miranda how brilliant he is.)

We’ll be recording Sunday, Monday and some of Tuesday–(yes, it takes a lot to record a double-disc album!)–and we’re making sure to document the whole process so that you can get a glimpse of what goes into making a Broadway cast album. I’ll be back on the blog soon with photos and some insider bits and bites on how the recording is going.

The album comes out June 3! Email us to sign up to hear first about the Ghostlight online pre-sale.

- Katie (the Sh-K-Marketing Guru)

“Yazbek is a daredevil juggler catching spiked pins in the traveling carnival of his imagination.” - The New York Times

Be sure to read the full New York Times rave review of David Yazbek’s latest. He was also featured as a pick of the day by the VeryShortList!

Click here to hear tracks and order your copy of this solo CD from the creative genius behind Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and The Full Monty.

Be friends with Yazbek on: MYSPACE | FACEBOOK | iLIKE

Kelli O’Hara’s debut solo CD, Wonder in the World, combines pop music and unexpected covers with original songs and familiar favorites, to create a 14-track collection celebrating the diversity of the American Songbook. With music arranged and orchestrated by Harry Connick, Jr., ‘Wonder in the World’ showcases her vocal range, as she bridges the gap between contemporary music and beloved standards. You can currently see Kelli as Nellie Forbush in South Pacific on Broadway.

Christine Ebersole and Billy Stritch bring their acclaimed live performance to disc in their latest CD collaboration, Sunday in New York. The album will feature classic tunes like “My Favorite Things,” “Give Me the Simple Life/Tea for Two,” “Sunday in New York,” and “Will You?” from Grey Gardens, for which Ebersole recently won her second Tony Award.

We’re so excited to be bringing you the live double-disc recording preserves the recent off-Broadway production of Make Me a Song, a lovingly-received musical revue dedicated to composer William Finn. In case you missed it off-Broadway, Rob Ruggiero’s show featured songs from luminary composer Finn’s catologue, which includes musicals like Falsettos and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, sung by a quartet of glorious singers.

Sherie’s concert is only 10 days away!

She’s been rehearsing in the Sh-K-Boom office and she sounds amazing. (But would you expect any less?) The book, which she co-wrote with Dick Scanlon, is funny and touching, Tyler Maynard is making a special appearance, Spring Awakening’s Michael Mayer is directing…could you ask for more?

Have you not heard about this yet? Here’s the scoop:

Direct from Disney’s The Little Mermaid where she plays Ursula the Sea Witch, our very own co-founder (and Tony nominee!) Sherie Rene Scott will land at Broadway’s Eugene O’Neill Theater for a one night only benefit performance of “You May Now Worship Me”–her collection of deeply personal stories–on March 31 at 8pm.

From her childhood in Topeka to her eventual rise to Broadway semi-star, this is her truth, her whole truth, and nothing but her truth…only better. Featuring songs made famous by such icons as Judy Garland, Rickie Lee Jones, Tom Waits, and Mr. Rogers, “You May Now Worship Me” reminds us that none of us are in Kansas anymore.

Visit the Broadway Cares site to get your tickets for the concert and after-party. We’ll see you there!

- Katie (the Sh-K-Marketing Guru)