World-Premiere Cast Recording of ANNA CHRISTIE

HELP US FINISH 'ANNA CHRISTIE' THE ALBUM!

FROM STAGE TO STUDIO: Encompass brings its world-premiere production of Anna Christie to a global audience through a once-in-a-lifetime album experience! With music by Grammy nominated Ed Thomas and libretto by 8-time Tony winner, the late Joe Masteroff (Cabaret, She Loves Me), premiere production staged by international director Nancy Rhodes, 12-Time Grammy-Winning producer Thomas Z. Shepard (Sondheim, Bernstein) Grammy nominated conductor Julian Wachner, original cast and 14-piece orchestra will bring this moving score to life! 

While we have raised enough for the recording process, we need your help to complete the album, with a projected release on the NAXOS Classical label. (Let's go for a Grammy!)




All receipts  will go to Encompass New Opera Theatre (registered under Encompass Theatre Co., Inc.) with funds allotted exclusively for this recording. 


FANTASTIC REWARDS AT EVERY LEVEL!
 
$5 or more
· digital High-Five
· social Media Shout-out (Facebook, Instagram)

$10 or more
· Listed in our liner notes as a contributor
· All previous rewards

$25 or more
· Advanced digital copy of album
· All previous rewards

$35 or more (plus shipping)
· Advanced physical double-disc of album
· All previous rewards

$50 or more (plus shipping)
· Advanced physical double-disc of album (autographed by cast)
· All previous rewards

$100 or more (plus shipping)
· Exclusive first look of “Behind the Scenes” video
· Special “Thank You” listing in liner notes
· All previous rewards

$500 or more (plus shipping)
· “Bronze Patron” credit on album
· 2 physical double-disc copies of album (autographed by cast)
· Premiere poster of Anna Christie (autographed by cast)
· All previous rewards

$1000 or more (plus shipping)
· “Gold Patron” credit on album
· 1 Pair of tickets to our Exclusive Album “Launch Party”
· All previous rewards

$5000 or more 
· “Platinum Patron” credit on album
· 4 physical double-disc of album (signed by cast)
· 2 pairs of tickets to our Exclusive Album “Launch Party”
· All previous rewards

PRODUCER
Thomas Z. Shepard, Twelve-time Grammy-winning producer, is a prolific record producer who is best known for his recordings of Broadway musicals, including the works of Stephen Sondheim. He has produced the original cast recordings of many of the Sondheim musicals, including Sweeney Todd, Company and Sunday in the Park with George, and hundreds of classical music recordings among others. Shepard received two Emmy Award nominations for songs he composed for the PBS television show Between the Lions (2007).

CONDUCTOR
Julian Wachner, Grammy-nominated conductor and composer, was named one of New York City’s “10 Imagination-Grabbing, Trailblazing Artists of 2014” by WQXR. He enjoys an international profile as conductor, composer and keyboard artist. Following an acclaimed premiere last season at the San Francisco Opera conducting Handel’s Partenope. Wachner also directed Handel’s Saul in a fully-staged version for New York’s Twelfth Night Festival; conducted for the Prototype Festival.

CAST
Frank Basile, Bass (Chris Christopherson) made his European debut in Turandot in Augsurg, Germany, and debuted with Washington Opera in The Saint of Bleecker Street directed by Gian Carlo Menotti. He continued his operatic career singing in houses such as the Metropolitan Opera, Baltimore Opera, Utah Opera, Nevada Opera, and Sarasota Opera. 

Jonathan Estabrooks, Baritone (Mat Burke) is a Juilliard-trained opera singer and award-winning baritone and producer. He has performed in venues including Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center and with the Israeli, Seattle, Vancouver and Toronto Symphonies. He has been featured on NBC, Billboard, Broadway World, Broadway.com and other national news outlets.

Melanie Long, Mezzo-Soprano (Anna Christie) recently returned from Dubai, performing as Mercedes in New York City Opera’s traveling production of Carmen. In 2015-16, she made her debut with New York City Opera as Ava in the East Coast premiere of Hopper’s Wife, followed by Hansel in Hansel and Gretel with the Lidal North Workshop at the Oslo Opera House. 

Joy Hermalyn, (Marthy Owen) made her operatic soprano debut as Minnie in Fanciulla del West with the Utah Festival Opera. She has performed around the world and on Broadway in roles such as Venus (Tannhauser), Witch (Hansel and Gretel), Fruma Sarah in Fiddler on the Roof, as the Chaperone in Cyrano-The Musical and featured roles in Candide, A Christmas Carol and Puccini’s La Boheme.

Mike Pirozzi, Actor (Larry the Bartender) studied at Atlantic Acting Studio, Stella Adler, the Upright Citizens Brigade and the Wynn Handman studios. He appeared in the feature film, “Listen to Your Heart” (2009) and “That’s What She Said” (2012) and starred as Tony Frappino in the indie comedy hit “The Frappinos” (2009). 

COMPOSER
Edward Thomas, Grammy-Award nominated composer was born in Chisholm, Minnesota and studied composition with Tibor Serly, He is the composer of the opera Desire Under the Elms (from 1978) set to a libretto by Joe Masteroff that was produced at New York’s City Center and later recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra under the direction of George Manahan, featuring James Morris, Jerry Hadley and Victoria Livengood. 

LIBRETTIST
Joseph Masteroff, Eight-time Tony winning librettist, is best known for his work with Sheldon Harnick-Jerry Bock on the musical She Loves Me and with Kander and Ebb on Cabaret, which won the Tony for Best Musical. He studied with the American Theatre Wing from 1949-1951 and began his career as an actor making his Broadway debut in the 1953 production of The Prescott Proposals. Masteroff also wrote the libretto for an operatic adaptation of Eugene O’Neil’s Desire Under the Elms and the book and lyrics for the musicals Six Wives and Paramour.


ABOUT THE OPERA
Edward Thomas and Joseph Masteroff
Premiered October 4, 2018

The sea is a powerful symbol in Anna Christie, and Eugene O'Neill, having lived by the docks in New York City's waterfront, was acquainted with the sailors, booze, saloons, and night life that he wrote about with such passion and authenticity.

Abandoned by her father when she was only five years old, Anna suffered a life of hardship and carries a dark secret from her past. An emotionally charged reunion with her father, a captain of a coal barge, intensifies when a merchant sailor is pulled from the cold, dark waters of the Atlantic on a foggy night. When the fog clears, Anna, the sailor, and her father are caught in a riveting struggle between love and the sea, changing their lives forever.

NANCY RHODES & ENCOMPASS NEW OPERA THEATRE
Acclaimed artistic and stage director Nancy Rhodes, has championed American opera since founding, along with Roger Cunningham, Encompass New Opera Theatre, with an award-winning production of Virgil Thomson/Gertrude Stein’s opera The Mother of Us All.

One of the nation’s leaders in championing new music theatre and American opera, Encompass is celebrating its 40th season dedicated to creating developing and producing adventurous productions of new music theatre. Striving to discover and nurture emerging singers, composers, librettists, and musicians; premiere groundbreaking new productions, and reviving important 20th century musical works by American and international composers, Encompass has produced more than 63 full-scale opera productions with orchestra and staged readings of more than 165 new works.