New York, NY (Top40 Charts) PS CLASSICS, the label that celebrates the heritage of Broadway and American popular song, has announced the release of All the Girls - the new album from star Broadway vocalists Rebecca Luker and Sally Wilfert - in digital and streaming formats. The album marks the final recording by Ms. Luker, a Broadway luminary for over 30 years, who passed away earlier this week. A CD will be available on Friday, January 22, 2021.
"Rebecca and I were overwhelmingly grateful to PS Classics for bringing the album All the Girls to fruition," says Wilfert. "It filled her heart with happiness to have something creative to focus on, and brought laughter, purpose and comfort to the time we spent together during what, we now know, would become her final days. She was very proud of this recording, and I am equally proud to release it to the world with the spirit and heart that is, my dearest friend, Rebecca Luker."
Building on a special friendship forged on and off the stage, the pair recorded a celebration of womanhood in all its complexities and expressions. Adapted from the stage show of the same name, All the Girls is framed by songs from such theater luminaries as Stephen Sondheim, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Fred Ebb & John Kander, highlighted by a delicious medley from musicals featuring iconic female duets. Luker and Wilfert enrich the tone and expand the scope by also embracing art songs, cabaret material, and settings of poems written expressly for them by the show's music director, Joseph Thalken, who expanded the orchestrations from four to ten pieces for this recording.
The album celebrates women with an empathy and optimism that radiate through the material. Individually, Luker and Wilfert's dazzling voices and keen dramatic senses animate the tenderness, humor and resilience in these songs, while together their personal bond produces duets of extraordinary sensitivity and beauty. PS Classics is proud to present this inspiring ode to female friendship by two remarkable women.
This recording was made possible in part by the support and generosity of Maury Yeston, Ted & Mary Jo Shen, Sean Patrick Flahaven, Larry Hirschhorn, Charles Baker and Nick Lamer.
All the Girls highlights the vocalists' individual talents with both comic and dramatic selections, from the cutting humor of "What Did You Do to Your Face" and the poignant storytelling of "Lovely Lies," to the intense emotion of "Millwork / I Could Have Been a Sailor" and the very funny "Not Funny." As much as these solos soar, the album's duets capture the fun and fire of their friendship. "You Are My Best Friend" delightfully articulates their mutual affection, "Everybody Says Don't" showcases their interpretative and musical prowess, the tongue-in-cheek medley of "shows they could have starred in together" celebrates their infectious zaniness - not to mention belting abilities - while "Isn't This Better?" reveals the openness of their hearts.
