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Today, more thoughts on discs from PS Classics and Ghostlight Records, in addition to one release from Ghostlight's sister label, Sh-K-Boom Records.

First off, PS Classics and a correction. Yesterday, I mistakenly attributed the cast recording of the tuneful Adrift in Macao to Ghostlight Records. It actually comes from this label. As I mentioned in my previous post, this noir parody has some real delights, but the score's charms may not always come through for the folk who didn't see it during its limited off-Broadway engagement.

PS Classics has added to its off-Broadway cast recording catalog in recent weeks with the release of The Marvelous Wonderettes, a girl-group jukebox musical that's wowed audiences in Los Angeles and is now playing in New York. I adored the show when I reviewed it for TheaterMania, and have found myself enjoying the CD just as much as I did the show. The four actress/singers (Farah Alvin, Beth Malone, Bets Malone and Victoria Matlock) who play the Wonderettes, an amateur quartet seen at two periods in their lives, are all in great voice on the disc. Some highlights from the show that is a compendium of hits from the 1950s and 1960s: Alvin's passionate rendition of "Secret Love" and Matlock's "Son of A Preacher Man." This disc will be particularly useful for folks who are trying to figure out something unique to give to their mothers during the holiday season.

Another recent release from the label is Dear Edwina, a kids' show from composer Zina Goldrich and lyricist Marcy Heisler. Now, even though this show's running off-Broadway currently at DR2 – and based on the recording I'm going to go check it out – this isn't a cast recording of this musical that's been engaging audiences around the country for about 10 years now. Rather, it's a studio cast recording that features some powerhouse Broadway talent, including Kerry Butler (late of Xanadu) in the role of Edwina, a little girl who's something of a budding advice-columnist, even though she's yet to reach her teens. Alongside Butler, performers like: Danny Burstein, Rebecca Luker, Kate Shindle, Andrea Burns, and Terrence Mann.

Goldrich's music is a sprightly combination of musical theater and pop sounds, and Neisler outfits the tunes with some rather sophisticated lyrics. Two particular highlights on this disc that will be a great thing to consider giving nieces and nephews are "Up on the Fridge," a plaintive in which Edwina describes how she wants to succeed and the slyly amusing "Say No Thank You," in which she doles out advice on how to turn down things like Tabasco cake.

Now what may be one of the must-have/give releases from PS Classics this year has just hit stores – it's Howard Sings Ashman - a terrific two-disc set that is part of the company's Songwriter Series, which is administered in association with the Library of Congress. The first disc of "Sings" features demo recordings of some of the most famous songs for which Ashman has provided lyrics; things like "Be Our Guest" (which differs from the song which was finally recorded for the movie Beauty and the Beast), "Under the Sea" (from "Little Mermaid") and the title song for "Beauty." There's also a wonderful tune that he and Alan Menken wrote for the movie version of "Little Shop," three demo recordings for the first Ashman/Menken collaboration - God Bless You Mr. Rosewater) and tunes from two baseball themed shows – the aborted Babe and the little-known Diamonds. Anyone who knows musical theater knows that Ashman's ability to play with language is extraordinary and these songs, with him interpreting his own lyrics, are total delights, offering up unexpected rhymes and clever twists of phrase. What might be most interesting is a sort of theme that one can pick up from the disc – Ashman's love of food-list songs – which are found in abundance here.

On the second disc of "Sings," PS Classics has put together 15 tracks that bring a much-fabled show to disc for the first time. The show is Smile, a musical based on the 1975 Michael Ritchie film of the same name that Ashman penned with Marvin Hamlisch. Although the show only lasted 48 performances during the 1986-1987 season, Ashman received a Tony Award nomination for his book for the piece. One gets a sense of some of the arc of Smile from the recordings here, but what's more important is the sense of the musical's scope and the hidden gems that are part of the score (I’m particularly fond of "Nerves" – in which the beauty contestants of the show express their fears about the pageant process they're about to embark on). It's rare that a disc is both a joy and an important historical record, but in the case of Howard Sings Ashman, these two qualities meet. (One other disc mentioned below - Patti Lupone – Les Mouche - fits that bill too.)

Finally, let me briefly mention that the twangy, country-infused Jason Danieley and the Frontier Heroes is a joyful mix of standards and pop songs. On this disc, tunes from Sammy Cahn and Lionel Bart brush up against ones from George Michael, Melissa Etheridge and Steve Wonder in terrific ways. I'm particularly fond of Danieley's impish take on "All of Me" and his upbeat, almost inspirational, "Spread a Little Love Around." In addition to Danieley's superb vocals, special note should be made of Christian Hebel's contributions on the disc. His fiddle-playing is simply terrific and gives this theater-related disc its truly unique sound.

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