Broadway Records releases the world premiere recording of Anna Christie, a new opera by Edward Thomas and Joe Masteroff. Based on Eugene O'Neill's four act Broadway play (1921) this new recording explores the lost relationship of a woman and her father, and the sailor she falls in love with. Anna suffered a life of hardship and carries a dark secret from her past. An emotionally charged reunion with her father, a captain of a coal barge, intensifies when a merchant sailor is pulled from the cold, dark waters of the Atlantic on a foggy night. When the fog clears, Anna, the sailor and her father are caught in a riveting struggle between love and the sea, changing their lives forever...

Anna Christie is a story of survival that explores family, forgiveness and fierce feminism long before its time. This new and vibrant musical interpretation wonderfully straddles the line between opera and musical theatre.

Edward Thomas's music is emotive and powerful, while Joe Masteroff's (his final work, sadly) lyrics are both quaintly old fashioned when they need to be, whilst still being fresh enough to capture the imagination of a modern audience.

The performances, as you'd expect, are perfect. It's not difficult to become emotional invested in the characters, especially Frank Basile's Chris. a simple man of simple pleasures, who wishes he'd been a better father to Anna when she was growing up.

Not surprisingly, it's Melanie Long's Anna who's at the centre of the story and like her father and new lover, Mat (Jonathan Estabrooks) the listener slowly peels back her history to discover that she's a very different woman than the one she tries to convey... or is she? It's more honest to say that she's not the person she left behind, and is trying to make a new, better version of herself.

The production is well put together and this is one recording I'd love to see performed on stage.

10

Daisy May