Well isn’t this just peachy? Justin Paul and Benj Pasek’s musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach will release a star-packed reference recording. Lending their voices for the album are a gaggle of Smash vets: Megan Hilty, Tony winner Christian Borle, Brian d’Arcy James and Marc Kudisch, as well as Sarah Stiles, Jackie Hoffman, Mary Testa, Daniel Breaker and Luca Padovan. Distribution plans, including release date, will be announced later.
Hilty, who will voice Ladybug, last appeared on Broadway in 9 to 5 and will return to the New York stage for one night only in the Smash benefit concert. Borle, who will play Grasshopper, won a Tony Award for Peter and the Starcatcher and will appear in Something Rotten! this spring along with d’Arcy James, who will provide the voice of Centipede on the recording. Incoming Hand to God star Kudisch will voice Ladahlord. Stiles, who is also set to appear in Hand to God, will play Spider. Spiker and Sponge, James’ malicious aunts, will be played by On the Town’s Jackie Hoffman and recent Wicked alum Mary Testa. Breaker, a Tony nominee for Passing Strange, will play Earthworm. Lastly, Padovan, an alum of Newsies on Broadway, will voice the titular character. He won the role from a nationwide search.
James and the Giant Peach follows a young orphan who escapes from his conniving aunts in the most peculiar way: via a giant peach occupied by various, not-so-normal characters. Pasek and Paul, the Tony-nominated team behind A Christmas Story, premiered their musical adaptation at Seattle Children’s Theatre in November 2013.