Josh Dela Cruz (Aladdin, Blue's Clues), Raymond J. Lee (Groundhog Day), and Arielle Jacobs (Aladdin, Between the Lines) star in a studio cast album of the new musical American Morning by Timothy Huang. The album will get a digital release June 19.
Joining Cruz, Lee, and Jacobs are Andrew Cristi (Moby Dick, Miss You Like Hell), Troy Iwata (Be More Chill), Will Roland (Be More Chill, Dear Evan Hansen), Allie Trim (13), Thom Sesma (Unknown Soldier, Sweeney Todd), Jason SweetTooth Williams (Be More Chill), and Isabel Santiago (Giant, In the Heights).
The album also features ensemble vocals by Matthew Acevedo, Kerstin Anderson, Jack Bowman, Anika Braganza, Hunter Brown, Christiana Cole, Austin Davidson, Lauren Echausse, Rachel Franco, Diana Huey, Samantha Messina, Aaron Phillips, Alexander Sage Oyen, A.J. Shively, RJ Vaillancourt, Elanna White, and Noah Zachary.
Inspired by a New York Times article by Corey Kilgannon, the musical centers on two immigrant cab drivers who take opposite shifts off the same medallion. Prospect Theatre Company produced a workshop production in 2019, directed by Marlo Hunter, music directed by Julianne B. Merrill, and co-produced by Kenny and Marleen Alhadeff, Kate Hall & Gary Lynch, and The Lisa Cleff Kurtz and Michael Kurtz Foundation.
Previous workshops of the musical, then titled Costs of Living, were held at Playwrights Horizons, the Village Theater's Festival of New Musicals, NAMT, the Lehman Engel Musical Theater Lab, the ASCAP Musical Theater Workshop, and the New York Theatre Barn.
Huang is the recipient of 2019 NYSC/NYFA Grant, the 2016 Richard Rodgers Award, the 2015 B-Side New American Musical Award, and the 2013 Jerry Harringotn Award. His additional musicals include Missing Karma, A Relative Relationship, Koi Story, and The VIew From Here.
American Morning's studio cast album is released in association with Less Than Rent Theatre. The abum is produced by Huang and Alexander Sage Oyen, who is also the score's orchestrator.
