Alfred Drake - Sing Out Sweet Land / Down In The Valley (Original Broadway Cast)

The 'Sing Out, Sweet Land!' Original Broadway Cast Recording featuring Alfred Drake and Burl Ives makes it's debut on CD. The album is complemented by the 1950 Decca Records studio recording of the Kurt Weill and Arnold Sundgaard one-act folk opera 'Down In The Valley', featuring Alfred Drake and Jane Wilson. 'Sing Out, Sweet Land!' opened at Broadway's International Theatre on December 27th 1944 and ran for 104 performances. Presented by the Theatre Guild as "A Salute to American Folk and Popular Music", the production starred Alfred Drake, Burl Ives, Juanita Hall, Bibi Osterwald, and Alma Kaye. Praised by critics as a "captivating cavalcade of American folk music", 'Sing Out, Sweet Land!' had a book by Walter Kerr with it's songs deriving from traditional American folk music alongside original material by John Mundy, Edward Eager and Elie Siegmeister. The songs featured in 'Sing Out, Sweet Land!' were preserved on disc by Decca Records and the original cast recording was issued over a series of 78rpm records and later as a 10" LP album. The score of 'Down In The Valley' features established American folk songs to carry it's narrative (including 'Down In The Valley', 'The Lonesome Dove' and 'Hop Up My Ladies') alongside original chorale music composed by Kurt Weill who supervised the studio recording. The release of 'Sing Out, Sweet Land!' and 'Down In The Valley' forms part of Stage Door's 'Collector's Series', a line of limited edition CD products presented in the retro style of a miniature long-playing record. All Collector's Series titles are limited to 500 units.