GHOSTLIGHT RECORDS and THE CIVILIANS have announced the release of four new albums as the final installment of The Michael Friedman Collection. Adventures in Reality, Canard, Canard, Goose?, In the Footprint: The Battle for the Atlantic Yards, and Mr. Burns, a post-electric play will all be available in digital and streaming formats on Friday, March 24. This extraordinary long-term project will now comprise the premiere recordings of nine musicals from the beloved late Obie Award-winning songwriter Michael Friedman (1975-2017), a founding member of The Civilians. The recordings capture Friedman’s innovative spirit and unbridled creativity, now preserved to inspire a new generation of theater-makers. These new albums represent the work of a community of well over 100 artists who came together in spite of the pandemic’s challenges. For more information, and to stream or download the albums, please visit MichaelFriedmanMusic.com.

Additionally, The Civilians will honor Grammy-winning industry executive Kurt Deutsch, Senior Vice President, Warner Music Entertainment & Theatrical Ventures and Ghostlight Records at Adventures in Reality: The Civilians’ 2023 Spring Benefit.  The event, which takes place on Monday, April 3 at 6:30 PM at City Winery (25 Eleventh Avenue), celebrates the jubilant culmination of The Michael Friedman Collection. Tickets can be purchased at www.thecivilians.org/benefit.

The new albums feature music and lyrics by Michael Friedman, with the exception of Mr. Burns, a post-electric play, which features lyrics by Anne Washburn. Canard, Canard, Goose? is written by Steve Cosson and the company. The new albums are produced by Steve Cosson and Kurt Deutsch, with Ghostlight Records and The Civilians serving as executive producers. The albums are co-produced by Ian Kagey and Wiley DeWeese. Andrea Grody serves as co-producer for Mr. Burns, a post-electric play. Adventures in Reality, Canard, Canard, Goose?, and In the Footprint feature orchestrations by Wiley DeWeese, who also serves as music director. Dan Lipton is co-music director for Adventures in Reality. Mr. Burns, a post-electric play features orchestrations by Michael Friedman, with additional orchestrations by Wiley DeWeese and Andrea Grody, who also serves as music director.

These four new titles follow the initial five: The Great Immensity, The Abominables, and This Beautiful City (released in 2019) and (I Am) Nobody’s Lunch and Paris Commune (released in 2020). The Michael Friedman Collection is made possible by the generous donors to the Michael Friedman Legacy Fund and by the artistic contributions of his many collaborators. 

In a New Yorker essay following Michael Friedman’s untimely death at 41, Sarah Larson described him as “a brilliant and prolific composer and lyricist, a pianist, a thinker, a mile-a-minute talker, a gesticulator, a person who dazzled and could leave you dizzied—not just by his talent and intelligence but by his kindness and humanity, which were always at the forefront of his work.” Ghostlight previously recorded Friedman’s Broadway score to Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, The Fortress of Solitude, and Love’s Labour’s Lost at the Public Theater, as well as Unknown Soldier, Pretty Filthy and Gone Missing with The Civilians.

“Having a cast album available is essential to a musical’s enduring legacy and to inspire ongoing productions,” says Friedman’s collaborator Steve Cosson. “And now, thanks to these new recordings, Michael’s shows are part of the future — new people will inhabit them, give them their voices, and step into the wonderfully rich and idiosyncratic world that Michael’s music conjures.”