NEW YORK,NY (Columbia Records) - Columbia Records is set to release Harry On Broadway, Act I, a two CD collection of Broadway music performed by
Harry Connick, Jr. The new collection includes separate discs devoted to The Pajama Game Cast Album and Thou Shalt Not and will be in stores on Tuesday, May 9.
The first disc included in Harry On Broadway, Act I is devoted to the new Broadway cast recording of the Roundabout Theatre Company's critically-acclaimed revival of "The Pajama Game," starring Harry Connick, Jr. in his Broadway stage debut, Kelli O'Hara, and Michael McKean. Based on the novel, "7-1/2 Cents," by Richard Bissell, "The Pajama Game" is set in the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory during a strenuous labor negotiation and centers on the simmering romance between a handsome new manager and a lovely union representative that is threatened by the impending strike. With book by George Abbott and Richard Bissell and music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, the original 1955 Broadway production of "The Pajama Game" won three Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The current production, part of the 40th anniversary season of the Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director), is in performance at the American Airlines Theatre through June 17, 2006 and is directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall. https://www.RoundaboutTheatre.org
In addition to stellar interpretations of the musical's classic songs including "Hey There," "Steam Heat," and "Hernando's Hideaway," both the Roundabout Theatre production and The Pajama Game Cast Album feature three songs - "If You Win, You Lose" and "The Three of Us," written by Richard Adler, and "The World Around Us," written by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross - not included in the original production.
The sold-out run of "The Pajama Game" has generated unanimous raves from the theater going public and press alike.
"Ms. O'Hara and Mr. Connick pulse with an immediacy that makes them, hands down, the hottest couple in the New York theater. With this show, she becomes a full-fledged musical star. So does Mr. Connick, making his Broadway debut as an actor ... If sexual chemistry was illegal, then Mr. Connick and Ms. O'Hara (not to mention their red-handed director and choreographer, Ms. Marshall) would be looking at long jail terms. Mr. Connick and Ms. O'Hara provide the fiery kick in a show that goes down as easily and intoxicatingly as spiked lemonade at a summer picnic." - Ben Brantley, The New York Times
"Harry Connick Jr ... is absolutely sensational ... He's bright, funny, plays a mean piano and can even dance. This is a debut of legendary proportions." - Clive Barnes, The New York Post
"That sound you hear coming from 42nd Street is the collective swoon of hundreds of women - and quite a few men - whenever Harry Connick Jr. eases into a song in 'The Pajama Game.'" - David Rooney, Variety
"(Harry Connick, Jr.) has the confidence of talent - and the sex appeal that goes with it. Connick - a virtuoso at the keyboard - launches into a thrilling stride-piano version of 'Hernando's Hideaway,' in what is one of the few genuinely showstopping musical moments in recent years." - John Lahr, The New Yorker
Thou Shalt Not, the second CD in the Harry On Broadway, Act I collection, showcases "The Pajama Game" stars Connick and O'Hara performing jazz interpretations of songs written by Connick for the Broadway musical "Thou Shalt Not." The program includes songs featured in the 2001 Broadway production, which received a Tony nomination for Best Score, as well as music written for but not included in the production. With the exception of "The Other Hours," which Connick sang on his platinum-selling Sony/Columbia album Only You, none of the songs on Thou Shalt Not have been previously recorded in vocal versions or sung by Harry. The Harry Connick, Jr. Quartet, which features Charles "Ned" Goold (tenor saxophone), Neal Caine (bass), and Arthur Latin, II (drums), appear throughout the Thou Shalt Not album to provide Connick (who also plays piano) and O'Hara with swinging and sophisticated accompaniments.
Harry On Broadway, Act I
The Pajama Game Cast Album
1. Overture 2:25
2. Racing With The Clock 2:49
3. A New Town is a Blue Town 2:51
4. I'm Not At All In Love 4:06
5. I'll Never Be Jealous Again :24
6. Hey There 4:00
7. Sleep Tite :40
8. Her Is 2:42
9. Once-A-Year-Day 4:37
10. Once-A-Year-Day Playoff :50
11. Her Is (Reprise) 1:36
12. Small Talk 3:20
13. There Once Was A Man 3:31
14. Slowdown :54
15. Hey There (Reprise) 1:22
16. Steam Heat 4:47
17. The World Around Us 2:31
18. Hey There (Reprise)/If You Win, You Lose 3:24
19. Think of the Time I Save 2:37
20. Hernando's Hideaway 8:02
21. The Three of Us 2:33
22. Seven and A Half Cents 4:34
23. There Once Was A Man (Reprise) :48
24. Hernando's Jive :52
25. The Pajama Game 2:59
Thou Shalt Not
1. Oh, My Dear (Something's Gone Wrong) 4:17
2. Can't We Tell 3:59
3. Such Love 5:48
4. I Like Love More 3:05
5. My Little World 4:30
6. All Things 2:22
7. I Need To Be In Love 4:29
8. Oh! Ain't That Sweet 4:00
9. Other Hours 3:48
(10) Take Advantage 4:45
(11) Take Her To The Mardi Gras 3:45
Executive Producer - Ann Marie Wilkins
Produced by Tracey Freeman & Harry Connick, Jr.
