Stage
Door Records are
pleased to announce the release of 'Songs from Kermit Goell's
'Pocahontas' - The West End Musical' on March 24th, 2017.
The CD release continues Stage
Door's commitment to preserve 'lost' British theatre scores of the past 50
years and coincides with the 400th anniversary of Pocahontas'
death.
The album presents the first opportunity to hear selections from 'Pocahontas' following the recent discovery of
reel-to-reel tapes featuring recordings of the score. The tapes, which were
presumed lost, had not been played in over 50 years.
'Pocahontas'
opened at London's Lyric Theatre on November 14th 1963 - the
musical featured music, book and lyrics by Kermit Goell and starred Tony
nominated Broadway actress Anita Gillette in the title role
alongside Terence Cooper playing both roles of John Smith and John Rolfe.
The production encompassed all aspects of Pocahontas life story, from her
beginnings in Virginia to her death in Gravesend in March 1617. The musical
first opened as The Princess Pocahontas at the Glasgow Alhambra
Theatre on October 8th 1963, later playing theatres in Leeds and Liverpool
before transferring to London's Lyric Theatre, opening on November 14th 1963
and closing after just 12 performances following a backlash of negative reviews.
The London Cast Album of 'Pocahontas' was scheduled to be recorded and released by Decca, however the
recording sessions were subsequently cancelled following the show's swift
closure and the work became a forgotten memory in a long list of lost West End
musicals, the score presumed unrecorded. However, in 2016 Kermit Goell's son
Jonathan located several reel-to-reel tapes of demonstration recordings from 'Pocahontas' in his father's archive. The demos were recorded at two
sessions in 1962 and feature selections from Goell's 'Pocahontas' score
performed by a company of Broadway singers under the musical direction of Jay
Blackton.
Advert
for the unrecorded 'Pocahontas' London Cast Album on Decca .
Now, over 50 years since Kermit
Goell's 'Pocahontas' was last heard, Stage Door are pleased to
present an opportunity to revisit selections from the score on the album 'Songs
From Kermit Goell's Pocahontas - The West End Musical' and offer
listeners the chance to discover a musical, presumed lost. Alongside the
digitally remastered demonstration recordings, the album features a selection of
piano instrumentals from Goell's score. As a special bonus, the CD concludes
with an audio interview with Anita Gillette, the star of 'Pocahontas'. Gillette's in depth interview, recorded in 2016 especially
for this album, features the Tony nominated Broadway performer reflecting on her
memories of the production, her one and only West End musical appearance.
-
All
tracks previously unreleased
-
Features
in depth audio interview with Tony nominee Anita Gillette
-
Informative
8 page booklet
RELEASE
DATE: MARCH 24th, 2017
CATALOGUE #: STAGE 9049
BARCODE: 5055122190493
