Columbia Records Announces the Release of New Harry Connick, Jr. Collection 'Harry On Broadway, Act I'

Columbia Records Announces the Release of New Harry Connick, Jr. Collection 'Harry On Broadway, Act I'

2 CD Set Includes New Broadway Cast Recording of Roundabout Theatre Company's Critically-Acclaimed Hit Revival of 'The Pajama Game' Starring Harry Connick, Jr., Kelli O'Hara & Michael McKean plus Songs from 'Thou Shalt Not,' Composed and Performed by Harry Connick, Jr. featuring Kelli O'Hara

'Harry On Broadway, Act I' in Stores Tuesday, May 9

NEW YORK, April 20 /PRNewswire/ -- 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(R), 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. http://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.

HARRY CONNICK, JR.

Over the past two decades, Harry Connick, Jr. has proven to be among the world's most successful and multi-talented artists. Connick first reached a mass audience as a pianist, singer and bandleader, securing his place in the public eye as a renaissance man and versatile entertainer. His love of music and performing dates back to his childhood in New Orleans, where he studied piano with such luminaries as James Booker and Ellis Marsalis. He first performed publicly at age five, appeared on his first jazz recording at age ten, and released his self-titled major label debut for Columbia Records at 19, only a year after his high school graduation and his move to New York City.

Connick achieved widespread success as a musician when director Rob Reiner asked him to contribute the score to his 1989 smash When Harry Met Sally, leading to Connick's first multi-platinum album (also his first big band recording). At the same time, Connick has built a successful film career, appearing both on screen and soundtracks. After making his acting debut in Memphis Belle in 1990, he has also been seen in Little Man Tate, Copycat, Independence Day, Hope Floats, and John Grisham's Mickey. His music has also contributed to the success of such films as Godfather III, Sleepless in Seattle and The Mask.

As a television performer, Connick has starred in two holiday specials built around his best selling holiday albums When My Heart Finds Christmas (CBS) and Harry for the Holidays (NBC), and two Great Performances/PBS concert specials Swingin' Out Live and Harry Connick, Jr.: Only You In Concert for which he won a 2004 Emmy. He teamed with IDT Entertainment (producers of The Simpsons) on The Happy Elf, a one-hour 3D animated holiday TV special which aired on NBC and was released on DVD during the 2005 holiday season. The story is based on his original children's song from the best selling Sony/Columbia Harry for the Holidays release. In addition, he starred opposite Glenn Close in the ABC TV adaptation of the musical South Pacific and played the recurring role of Dr. Leo Markus on the NBC series Will & Grace.

While Connick made his Broadway theatrical debut in The Pajama Game in 2006, he was no stranger to the New York theater scene. His sold-out concert production Harry Connick, Jr. and His Orchestra -- Live on Broadway, directed by Joe Layton was produced in 1990 at the Lunt-Fontaine Theatre. In 2001, he received a Tony nomination for Best Original Score for Thou Shalt Not, directed by Susan Stroman at the Plymouth Theatre.

All of these achievements -- not to mention his album sales of over 25 million, his three Grammy awards, Emmy award, and Tony nomination - reflect a creative energy that make Harry Connick Jr. unique in the world of contemporary entertainment.

http://www.harryconnickjr.com/http://www.roundabouttheatre.org/http://www.columbiarecords.com/

Source: Columbia Records

CONTACT: Victoria Varela of PMK/HBH for Harry Connick Jr., New York,
+1-212-373-6117, Victoria.Varela@pmkhbh.com; Matt Polk of Boneau/Bryan-Brown
for Roundabout Theatre Company's The Pajama Game, New York, +1-212-575-3030,
MPolk@bbbway.com; Fran DeFeo of Columbia Records, Sr. VP, Media, New York,
+1-212-833-5784, fran.defeo@sonybmg.com, or Maggie Wang, Sr. Director, Media,
New York, +1-212-833-8208, maggie.wang@sonybmg.com

Web site: http://www.harryconnickjr.com/
http://www.roundabouttheatre.org/
http://www.columbiarecords.com/

-------
Profile: intent