New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Sony Masterworks will release Reflect, the debut studio album from Tony, Emmy, Grammy and Pulitzer Prize Award-winning composer Tom Kitt on August 13. Available for preorder now, the album features music from Kitt and lyrics from some of his most talented friends that began at the height of the Broadway shutdown, when so many artists were looking for an outlet for their creativity. Making its debut alongside today's preorder is the album's lead single "Breathe," co-written with and performed by Kitt's Jagged
Little Pill collaborator, Tony Award nominee
Elizabeth Stanley.
Reflect features songs co-written and performed by some of Broadway's biggest stars, including Adrienne Warren, Mandy Gonzalez, Michael McElroy, Jenn Colella,
Danny Burstein, Javier Muňoz,
Lauren Patten, Jerry Dixon,
Elizabeth Stanley,
Heidi Blickenstaff, Brian d'Arcy
James and
Pearl Sun along with Kitt's own children Julia and Michael Kitt. An album about finding your voice when you need it most, Reflect is a true collaboration that captures the hope and heartbreak of the tumultuous times we're living through.
"During the early weeks of the pandemic, I was in a very dark place and found myself creatively paralyzed," said Kitt. "But given all of the important issues and the calls for social justice, I felt like I needed to find my resilience to create. I wanted to make a song cycle for this moment but felt it needed to be a collaborative effort so that many voices and experiences were represented. I called a few of my friends to ask if they'd be interested in writing with me, and the response was overwhelming."
Prompted by Kitt, the artists wrote a version of an essay, poem, lyrics, or statement conveying personal emotions and experiences during this time. Tom sat at the piano to transform the language from these personal statements into the music and lyrics, and went on to share the songs with a group of extraordinary orchestrators, with the goal of working with as many members of the theater community as possible. "It was just like a Broadway show," he said. "I channeled my creativity into something current. I think everyone felt the same thing - a real jolt to feel like we were working together again, even if it was over ZOOM in many cases."
The album also includes a track called "She Has Hope," performed by Brian d'Arcy
James and written by Moulin
Rouge Tony Award nominee
Danny Burstein and his wife Rebecca Luker, who passed away from ALS in December 2020.
The full track list is as follows:
"The King of Our Destruction"
Written by Javier Muñoz and Tom Kitt
Orchestrated by Brian Usifer
Performed by Javier Muñoz
"When?"
Written by
Lauren Patten and Tom Kitt
Orchestrated by Mary-Mitchell Campbell
Performed by
Lauren Patten
"Reach Deep"
Written by Jenn Colella and Tom Kitt
Orchestrated by Tom Kitt
Performed by Jenn Colella
"Come to Me"
Written by Tom Kitt
Orchestrated by Tom Kitt
Performed by Jerry Dixon
"
This Too Shall Pass"
Written by Tom Kitt
Orchestrated by Michael Starobin
Performed by Tom Kitt and Julia Kitt
"My Curtain Call"
Written by Michael McElroy and Tom Kitt
Orchestrated by Joseph Joubert
Performed by Michael McElroy
"Finally Found"
Written by Mandy Gonzalez and Tom Kitt
Orchestrated by Daryl Waters
Performed by Mandy Gonzalez
"
Fly Away"
Written by Tom Kitt
Orchestrated by
Simon Hale and Tom Kitt
Performed by Tom Kitt and Michael Kitt
"I Didn't Get to Say Goodbye"
Written by Adrienne Warren and Tom Kitt
Orchestrated by Macy Schmidt
Performed by Adrienne Warren
"Sweep Your Own Snow"
Written by
Pearl Sun and Tom Kitt
Orchestrated by Tom Kitt
Performed by
Pearl Sun
"I Need Them to See Me"
Written by Tom Kitt
Orchestrated by Jonathan Tunick
Performed by
Heidi Blickenstaff
"She Has Hope"
Written by
Danny Burstein, Rebecca Luker and Tom Kitt
Orchestrated by
Simon Hale
Performed by Brian d'Arcy James
"
Breathe"
Written by
Elizabeth Stanley and Tom Kitt
Orchestrated by Brian Usifer
Vocal Design by AnnMarie Milazzo
Performed by
Elizabeth Stanley
For more information on "Reflect" or to pre-order, visit https://tomkitt.lnk.to/reflectPR.
As a composer, arranger, orchestrator, and music supervisor, Tom Kitt's spirit courses through film, television, theater, music, and beyond. He has quietly emerged as one of this century's most prolific composers. He garnered the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for
Drama and two Tony® Awards for Next To Normal and won a 2021 Grammy Award for his work on the Broadway Cast Recording of Jagged
Little Pill. His body of work as a composer spans everything from
Almost Famous [written with Cameron Crowe] and High Fidelity to Dave and If/Then for which he picked up a Tony® nomination. While as a music supervisor, arranger, and orchestrator, his influence resounds in The SpongeBob Musical, Grease Live!, Jagged
Little Pill and Green Day's American Idiot. Collaborating with the legendary rock band, he also contributed additional arrangements to their GRAMMY® Award-winning album 21st Century Breakdown and their trilogy, ¡Uno! ¡Dos! ¡Tré! Tom notably took home an Emmy Award as co-writer (with Lin-Manuel Miranda) for the 2013 Tony® Awards opening number, "Bigger." Television songwriting credits include the 2019 Tony® Awards Opening Number, "Live!," Royal Pains, Penny Dreadful, and Sesame Street. Other credits range from the Pitch Perfect franchise, 2Cellos featuring Lang Lang (Live and Let Die), and The Kennedy Center Honors to 13, Hair, and These Paper Bullets. Next up for Tom, The Visitor launches at Public Theater, and his show Flying Over Sunset opens at Lincoln Center.
