Two Miles High Music

Jule Styne is best remembered as the composer of such Broadway classics as Gypsy and Funny Girl, but before that, he was one of Hollywood’s most successful songwriters, with an amazing string of hits that garnered ten Academy Award nominations. Jule Styne in Hollywood brings together some of the best artists from Broadway, cabaret and jazz in all-new recordings of Styne's greatest film songs.

Jule Styne in Hollywood gathers 20 different vocalists to perform 21 songs that Styne wrote for the movies before he moved on to Broadway fame. That means no Gypsy or Bells Are Ringing here, but there are many familiar standards such as "Saturday Night Is the Loneliest Night of the Week," "I Don't Want to Walk Without You," "Three Coins in the Fountain," and "Time After Time" (you'll notice a Frank Sinatra theme, as Ol' Blue Eyes loved Styne's work with Sammy Cahn, who wrote the majority of the lyrics represented). And the unfamiliar fare sounds great when sung by some of Broadway's best and brightest, including Light in the Piazza costars Kelli O'Hara and Victoria Clark, Audra McDonald, Sutton Foster, Rebecca Luker, Brent Barrett, and married duo Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley. (Veteran Leslie Uggams's heavy vibrato among these golden voices takes some adjusting to.) Also noteworthy is the presence of Sara Zahn, whose outstanding 2001 album Songs of Carolyn Leigh proved she's perfect for this sort of material. Another excellent effort by PS Classics' nonprofit archival wing dedicated to the preservation of American song. --David Horiuchi

"One of the year's major albums." -- Detroit News "Leslie Uggams is a force of nature." -- Broadway.com "The venerable Leslie Uggams ... wastes no time before showing us how deserving she is of having her name above the title ... She is, quite simply, a pro." -- Broadway World "Leslie Uggams is perfect ... charm and class." -- Talkin' Broadway "[Leslie Uggams] has been captivating stage, screen, and television audience since her national television debut at age six on the TV series Beulah." -- NAB.org "Leslie's beautiful CD reminds us why we write songs." -- Academy Awardwinning songwriters Alan & Marilyn Bergman. * A new recording from Emmy Award-winning actress Leslie Uggams features beautiful new arrangements of classic songs. * Uggam's voice is better than ever! She is a true legend and continues to reinvent herself over the years. She will be back on Broadway starring in Stormy Weather: Imagining Lena Horne, a role she premiered to great acclaim this year at the Prince Music Theatre in Philadelphia. * Leslie Uggams has been praised by NPR, Washington Post, New York Times, and many more.

25 years after this show debuted on Broadway, the two original stars - Richard Kiley (Man of La Mancha) and Leslie Uggams (Hallelujah, Baby) - join a talented cast of newcomers to record the score! The album also restores the original orchestrations - long thought lost - and recreates the thrilling sound of Broadway shows in the 1960s. Also featured are Broadway stars Priscilla Lopez (A Chorus Line), Ron Raines (Days of Our Lives) and Brenda Silas-Moore (Freeway Dreams), among others.