Testa and Starobin will celebrate the recording with a limited engagement at The Laurie Beechman Theater at The West Bank Café Jan. 4-5 and 11-12, 2015, at 7 PM. For tickets, visit lauriebeechmantheatre.com.
Read Testa's recent interview with Playbill.com: "You Push Your Hair Back and Move On": Mary Testa On How to "Have Faith" After Being Blacklisted
“This album means the world to me because it is exactly what Michael and I wanted it to be,” said Testa in a recent statement. “It is the true expression of us as artists. The songs on the album represent our musical interests. It’s an eclectic combination of styles and time periods all intertwined. They are connected by the fact that they all express the intricacies of life and faith; how important faith is, even though life is exceptionally contradictory.”
Starobin added, “Mary and I wanted to make an 'album', a concept from our youth, where disparate songs come together to speak to each other, comment on each other and make a whole greater than the individual parts. Perhaps this was our way to emulate the work of our composer friends. But our goal was to trace the journey of a soul through doubt and belief in the language of song. I grew up on such concept albums and it was always a dream to make one, a dream displaced by a happy career in the theater. How fortunate I am to see that youthful dream come true in collaboration with Mary, that giant talent I am lucky enough to call my friend.”
“Mary and Michael are masters at the top of their game,” stated executive producer Catherine Rush. “It’s the difference between listening to a talented young cellist and watching Yo-Yo Ma. The finesse and comfort they have coupled with their exceptional talent just makes this album stand alone. They are taking risks with this album and that comes with maturity, too.” The complete track listing follows:
1. Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries (Ray Henderson / Lew Brown)
2. What If (Michael John LaChiusa)
3. Sonnet 29 (William Shakespeare / Michael Starobin)
4. Heroes (Jill Sobule / Robin Eaton)
5. Pink (Steven Tyler / Richie Supa / Glen Ballard)
6. Sometimes it Snows in April (Prince / Wendy Melvoin / Lisa Coleman)
7. Change (William Finn)
8. Sister Clarissa (Michael Smith)
9. Soldiers of Christ (Jill Sobule / Robin Eaton)
10. Lost (Annie Lennox)
11. On the Other Side (Michael John LaChiusa)
12. God Only Knows (Brian Wilson / Tony Asher)
13. Unravel (Bjork / Guy Sigsworth)
If I Loved You (Richard Rodgers / Oscar Hammerstein II)
14. Heaven (Michael John LaChiusa)
15. Thank U (Alanis Morissette / Glen Ballard)
16. Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen)
To hear an exclusive stream of the song “Pink” and to order the album, visit www.sh-k-boom.com/havefaith.
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Numerous albums and cast recordings are also available at PlaybillStore.com.
