Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Billy Porter introduced three songs from his new album when he was back in Pittsburgh Oct. 17, and today comes official news about “Billy Porter Presents The Soul of Richard Rodgers” (Bee & El and Sony Masterworks Broadway) coming in April 2017.
The album that puts a soulful spin on the composer Richard Rodgers, best known for his collaborations with lyricists Oscar Hammerstein and Lorenz Hart, includes solos and duets from Tony Award winners and fellow Carnegie Mellon alumns Leslie Odom Jr. and Renee Elise Goldsberry of “Hamilton” and Patina Miller -- Ms. Miller, the star of “Sister Act” and “Pippin” on Broadway, was Mr. Porter’s student at CMU.
5 comments:
This album is going to be amazing. When Billy came to CMU for a Q&A, he started to talk about this album. HE had such passion when he started talking about this. He wanted to change things like how hamilton is changing things! When someone has that much passion , it will turn into greatness. His idea sounds so great. I can't wait to hear how he will arrange such classics. Also to have three tony award winning cmu alumni adds to the amazingness to it! Everyone involved with this album is an amazing artist and has their own personal flair. Hopefully that will show in this album.
When Billy Porter came to visit a few weeks ago I went to his Q and A, and he mentioned his upcoming album during his conversation with Peter. It was so great to hear him talk both about his career before and after Carnegie Mellon, and to hear his thoughts on working in the theatre industry now. He has been highly selective in the pieces that he works on and the work that he produces is always full of his passion. One of the things that the he said that stood out to me the most was his opinion on how much Hamilton has changed the theatre industry. He pointed out how people who would have never embraced theatre before listen to it, and people who would have never listened to hip hop have been exposed to it. His new album will once again rework what people's perceptions of theatre music are, as each of his songs introduce soul to classic musical theatre tracks. All of the artists on it are extremely talented, and I can't wait to listen to the album.
I first heard about this album when Billy Porter spoke at CMU. I thought it was a great idea to combine Broadway music and soulful music. There are many Broadway songs that are already soulful, but the work of Rodgers and Hammerstein does not have a lot of soul. When Billy Porter told us who else would be singing on the album I basically melted in my seat because most of my favorite Broadway stars will be singing on his album. I am a huge fan of Patina Miller, Leslie Odom Jr., and Reneé Elise Goldsberry who also happen to be CMU alumni. I am also a fan of all of the other people on his album. It is crazy that all of these incredibly talented people are all friends. I am very glad that they all came together to create what will probably be an amazing album. It will be hard to wait until April to get to hear these amazing songs.
Yay CMU Alumni! I think that it is both great and amazing to see the success and closeness that is continued by CMU alumni after leaving school. We really do enter a cult/family the moment we step into Purnell. Yes, it gets hard sometimes (most of the time), but these kinds of articles make it all seem worth it. The tough formation we go through now provides the foundations for long term personal and professional relationships. It is great how Billy Porter is combining the two forms of music that he loves, as it makes me really excited to listen to his album, as well as to listen closely for the CMU voices that will surely make the album just that much better. It is nice to see the CMU bonding that far out from graduation. I will look forward to see how this generation of CMU drama students band together throughout our lives.
It is always exciting to read about something that you heard about first. When Billy Porter came to speak after giving his cabaret in Pittsburgh just a few weeks back I found his talk very exciting. Billy whether he's performing or not is always performing and so he makes a fun public speaker.
Mr. Porter spoke of this album and the collaborations that would be on it, but when you see all the names written out it all becomes even more exciting. I am looking forward to hearing all of the remix's.
When giving his Q & A with Peter, Billy touched on how he was going to remix all of the songs, and while I'm excited to hear his rendition of all of these classics, I am also eager to hear about how everyone will receive them.
Rodger's wrote songs, yes, in a time where the majority of Broadway performer's were white, but the music was still beautiful. If the music is sung by a black person, but in the original styling it would also be beautiful. I don't oppose his ideas of remixing them, but I also wonder if all of the songs truly need remixing. I understand wanting to change it up and bring your own styling to the music as the performer, but I also believe that just by singing a song in your own voice you are innately changing it. Adding a bunch to already exhaustive music should be interesting. Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to the powerhouse that will be presented on this album come April and most likely a sick album release party.
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