I asked NPH on Sunday and he said he's hearing rumblings, but nothing is certain. He "hopes they do it before I totally lose my voice, I'd hate to be croaking on it"
Jane, do you have the Australian cast recording ? That one is my favorite, I think it's because of the orchestrations. I didn't know the recording existed until I directed the show and stumbled upon it.
The mystery around this is so bizarre. I heard from someone involved with the show that not only is there going to be a cast album but that it was already recorded earlier this month.
Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
^if thats the case it would explain why everyone is acting so weird, and if it truly has already been recorded then I feel 99% certain they will surprise drop it digitally the day after the Tonys.
Sadly, if this were true, HEDWIG would be one of the best-selling cast albums of the past decade...or more. Thinking that the majority of attendees for a Broadway show buy the cast album is just not true...
NPH noted at the Times Talk that there have been two prior recordings of this material as well as a third "celebrity" recording. So it wouldn't surprise me if record companies might normally shy away from financing another cast album of the same stuff.
To me, the two possible components that could change that would be a) a live album -- which at least right now, based on current union rules, could very well prove prohibitively expensive to create and/or b) Neil Patrick Harris. The problem even the presence of NPH doesn't solve is that even if the album was already recorded, it usually takes at least 4 weeks for a record company to make an album available digitally and 6 weeks or longer for a record company to actually get the physical album released in stores. If NPH ends his run on 8/17, that's still a pretty small window of time to sell a CD while he's still in the show -- another strike against a record company financing. Yes, if the show extends, they will keep selling after he's gone. And the album will keep selling anyway. But sales at the theatre are such a huge component of cast album sales in general and there isn't a lot of time to capitalize on that while the original star is still performing.
One more thought: it's becoming increasingly popular for shows to record their own albums (spend their own money) and just use a record company to release/distribute the album. With the incredible numbers Hedwig has been doing, maybe its producers would choose to go that route. It's not unheard of for investment papers to allow producers to spend money from the Broadway show on a cast album or on early financing for a tour or on other show-related activities, so who knows...
All I know is I share the collective sentiment that I very much hope this production is preserved on audio or video or both -- however/whoever gets it done!
"No matter how much you want the part, never let 'em see you sweat." -- Old Dry Idea commercial