Various Artists
Still... Dreaming Wide Awake: The Music of Scott Alan
Composer/Lyricist Scott Alan\'s debut CD featuring some of todays brightest Broadway Stars including Baby\'s Liz Callaway, The Pirate Queen\'s Stephanie J. Block, Wicked\'s Shoshana Bean, Brooklyn\'s Eden Espinosa, Xanadu\'s Cheyenne Jackson and MORE .
\"STILL ....DREAMING WIDE AWAKE: The Music of Scott Alan\"
The re-issue of the hit CD \'Dreaming Wide Awake,\' now featuring one new song sung by Composer Scott Alan AND four Backing Tracks of: I\'m a Star, Home, Never Neverland (Fly Away) and Kiss the Air
\'Dreaming Wide Awake\' was a labor of love for Scott Alan, and features some of the greatest voices and most talented musicians on the Broadway scene. Live strings, a brass section and full band and Broadway\'s best bring to life the music and lyrics of Scott Alan. This CD was worth the wait.
I\'m a Star - Sung by Eden Espinosa
Surrender - Sung by Cheyenne Jackson
Magic - Sung by Adriane Lenox
Let Love Begin - Sung by Tracie Thoms
Home - Sung by Shoshana Bean
Now - Sung by Jonathan Groff
Never Neverland (Fly Away) Sung by Stephanie J. Block
At Seventeen - Sung by Carly Jibson and Jackie Hoffman
If I Own Today - Sung by Shayna Steele featuring Michael McElroy and Capathia Jenkins with guest Pianist Dave Cook
Kiss the Air - Sung by Danny Calvert
Say Goodbye - Sung by Katie Thompson
The Journey - Sung by Josh Strickland and Jill Zadeh
Goodnight - Sung by Liz Callaway
Hold On - Sung by Scott Alan
I\'m A Star - Backing Track Only
Home - Backing Track Only
Never Neverland (Fly Away) - Backing Track Only
Kiss the Air - Backing Track Only
Producers: Scott Alan and Jesse Vargas
Musical Directer/Arranger/Orchestrator: Jesse Vargas
Violin: Christian Hebel and Hiroko Taguchi
Cello: Mairi Dorman-Phaneuf and Peter Sachon
Trumpet: Nathan Warner
Sax: Mark Phaneuf
French Horn: RJ Kelly
Reeds: Mark Phaneuf
Guitars: Jake Ezra-Schwartz
Bass: Steve Gilewski
Drums: Sean McDaniel
Piano: Jesse Vargas
**************REVIEWS*************
\"Songwriter Scott Alan has put together a songbook CD with a little help from his friends ... The results are so much better than some of these amateurish Off-Broadway musicals that come along that one is at the same time heartened and disheartened. Two of the songs, \"Now\" (sung by Groff) and \"Never Neverland (Fly Away)\" (sung by Block) are in themselves good enough to warrant giving \"Dreaming Wide Awake\" a listen... Alan has a voice worth listening to, and he has done himself a favor by producing this sampler of his work to date.\"
-Steven Suskin, Playbill.com\'s \'On the Record\'
\"Scott (Alan) wears his heart on his sleeve - both sleeves - and it\'s a big heart; he expresses his feelings with unabashed emotion. Run for the hills if you don\'t like openness and open wounds in songs, but you\'ll be missing some of our best musical theater singers treating a skilled writer\'s work with care and matching his passion. It\'s undeniably exciting stuff ... \"Magic\" by Adriane Lenox is nicely calibrated in its build, and balances its projected feelings of uncertainty and determination, with strings and piano working in concert, too. Liz Callaway is, as usual, masterful in cutting to the core of a song (\"Goodnight\"), getting the sincerity and simplicity and avoiding any temptations of goo or overdoing. A hilarious number cut from Piece provides welcome comic relief for this album: \"At Seventeen\" looks at that age from the (counter)point of view of a teenager and a woman of 43 - Carly Jibson and Jackie Hoffman, respectively, each nailing it.
This 13-song collection has many gripping and touching moments. What could be considered the smallest moment is in some ways the most heartbreaking: Spring Awakening star Jonathan Groff is disarming in a two minute and 46 second song of reluctant goodbye to an ex-lover where the feelings about the break-up are still raw. He perfectly creates a believable guy reeling in the moments where one is in shock, in denial, and still in love. Eden Espinosa\'s \"I\'m a Star\" is bravura at its best - just delightful. On the more serious side, with songs that start tenderly and gather steam as the characters gather strength before coming down for satisfying cool-down conclusions, are two more standouts: on the subject of divorce, Danny Calvert on \"Kiss the Air\"; childhood longing in the very accomplished \"Never Neverland (Fly Away)\" by Stephanie J. Block ...Dynamite was never so heartfelt.\"
-Rob Lester, Talkin\' Broadway
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