NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 Lea Salonga stepped onto a Manhattan stage last spring and sang something unusual for her 鈥 鈥淓delweiss鈥 from the musical 鈥淭he Sound of Music,鈥 a song usually performed by the paternal Captain von Trapp.
It was part of annual 鈥淢iscast鈥 gala that's celebrating 25 years with an album of top musical theater stars performing songs from roles in which they would not traditionally be cast. It drops March 28.
In addition to Salonga, the album has performances by an A-list of Broadway: Eva Noblezada, Jonathan Groff, Jeremy Jordan, Ben Platt, Kelli O鈥橦ara, Katrina Lenk, Stephanie J. Block, Ra煤l Esparza, Heather Headley, and Gavin Creel.
Zegler channeled her inner green ogre for 鈥淲ho I鈥檇 Be鈥 from 鈥淪hrek,鈥 and Lenk borrowed Tevye's 鈥淚f I Were a Rich Man鈥 from "Fiddler on the Roof." Headley, who originated the role of Nala in 鈥淭he Lion King,鈥 instead sang Simba鈥檚 moving ballad 鈥淓ndless Night.鈥
鈥淲e have some that are just funny and silly. We have some that actually change the meaning of a song when someone sings them. We have some that鈥檚 just a phenomenal person singing a phenomenal song and that鈥檚 enough,鈥 says Scott Galina, manager of musical programming and development at MCC. 鈥淪o it really feels like it captures the breadth of the way a 鈥楳iscast鈥 performance can land.鈥
Other highlights include a live version of 鈥淭ake Me or Leave Me鈥 from 鈥淩ent鈥 by Tveit and Creel, a capture made more special because of the last year. And Groff and Jordan sing the two divas' anthem 鈥淟et Me Be Your Star鈥 from
Noblezada gets muscular singing 鈥淕o the Distance鈥 from 鈥淗ercules,鈥 and Platt gets in a green mood to sing Elphaba's 鈥淭he Wizard and I鈥 from 鈥淲icked.鈥 O鈥橦ara submits a tender 鈥淏eautiful City鈥 from 鈥淕odspell,鈥 while married couple Leslie Odom Jr. and Nicolette Robinson sing 鈥淭he Human Heart鈥 from "Once on This Island."
鈥淭here鈥檚 not a track on the album that you get to and you鈥檙e like, 鈥極h, this is a skip,鈥" says Will Van Dyke, musical director for 鈥滿iscast" for the past six years. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 like my goal in everything 鈥 you never want to have a skip track on there.鈥
MCC Theater is a nonprofit, off-Broadway company that delights with its spring gala 鈥淢iscast鈥 surprises, which started in 2001 and went online for a few years during the pandemic. To make the new album, the performers were asked to recreate their live songs in the studio, giving engineers a cleaner sound.
Whittling down the various performances over the decades to fit on a 12-album collection 鈥 called 鈥 wasn't easy but some songs popped out for having made a lasting impact.
鈥淜atrina Lenk is still hearing about people who talk about her singing 鈥業f I Were a Rich Man,鈥欌 says Galina. 鈥淭hese are moments that have become bigger for these people than we certainly ever could have intended.鈥
MCC Theater will celebrate its latest 鈥淢iscast鈥 on April 7 at the Hammerstein Ballroom. It will honor Sheryl Lee Ralph and MCC Youth Company alum and artist Travis Raeburn.
The 鈥淢iscast25鈥 lineup will feature performances by Tituss Burgess, Cole Escola, Jordan Fisher, Steven Pasquale, Nicole Scherzinger, Britton Smith, Phillipa Soo, Ephraim Sykes, Jordan Tyson, Michael Urie and Tveit. Funds raised by the gala and the album go back to MCC Theater.
Over the years, 鈥淢iscast鈥 has seen the landscape of Broadway change with more unconventional choices in race, gender and age. Galina points to a recent gender-swapped version of Stephen Sondheim's 鈥淐ompany鈥 that transformed the male lead Bobbie into a woman.
鈥淎 lot of years before my time at 鈥楳iscast,鈥 you would have women singing 鈥楤eing Alive鈥 from 鈥楥ompany鈥 or 鈥楳ary Me a Little鈥 from 鈥楥ompany,鈥欌 he says. 鈥淎nd now there鈥檚 been a production on Broadway with a woman playing Bobbie. So, there are no rules around that anymore, which is amazing.鈥
