Following their sold-out concert Crazy Rainbow Days: New Songs by Will Van Dyke & Jeff Talbott at Feinstein’s/54 Below, the musical theatre writing team is releasing the single “Take Me to the Party”, performed both in the concert and on the single by Broadway star Wesley Taylor.
“In honor of a brand new year, we wanted to write something about the dangers of looking back when there’s so much to look forward to,” Van Dyke shared, giving a peek into the writing of the song. Talbott added, “There’s this great tradition of the look-at-your-whole-life power ballad, fromLonely Boyto Angry Young Manand on and on, and we wrote something in that vein, then were lucky enough to snag Wesley Taylor to crush it for us.”
A thrilling and electric New York-based actor/singer, Wesley Taylor starred on Broadway in Rock of Ages(Outer Critics Circle Award nomination), SpongeBob SquarePantsand The Addams Familyand was Bobby on NBC’s Smashand is currently in rehearsal for Alice by Heart, a new musical to be produced by MCC Theater beginning January 30, 2019. @sirwestaytay.
The single features musicians Will Van Dyke (piano/keyboards), Steve Gilewski (bass), Mason Ingram (drums), Alec Berlin (guitar), Jocelin Pan (violin/viola) and Allison Seidner (cello) and string arrangements by Patrick Sulken and was mixed by Derik Lee, engineered by Ian Kagey and mastered by Oscar Zambrano.
“Take Me to the Party” is available for purchase on iTunesand wherever digital music is sold.
Will Van Dyke and Jeff Talbott are a musical theatre writing team. Their musicals include: Imagine Harry, which was featured in the National Alliance of Musical Theatre Festival of New Musicals in the fall of 2015, was a finalist for the 2017 O’Neill Musical Theatre Conference, a semi-finalist for the 2015 O’Neill Musical Theatre Conference and a finalist for the 2015 Rhinebeck Writers Retreat; Wintersong, which was a finalist for the National Alliance of Musical Theatre Festival of New Musicals in 2017 and on which they were invited to work at the Johnny Mercer Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals in 2016; Seven Broken Hearts, which they were chosen to work on at the Rhinebeck Writers Retreat in 2017; and The Circle and the Wheel, which was commissioned by Grove Entertainment and Barbara Whitman Productions.
Will Van Dyke (music and lyrics) is currently the Music Supervisor, Orchestrator, Arranger and Music Director of Pretty Woman the Musical. His albums Chasing the Day, Writing Kevin Taylor, Daylight, Constantand Make the Season Bright(the last three co-written with Matt Doyle) are available wherever digital music is sold. In addition to his work with Talbott, compositions include Chasing The Day, i(Pioneer Theatre Company),The Gravedigger’s Lullaby(TACT), Writing Kevin Taylor(Village Theatre), Winnie the Pooh, KIDS(Disney), and The Lion King Experiencetitles (Disney). Currently in development: Magnificent Climb(with Rick Elice). His albums, Chasing the Day, Writing Kevin Taylor(2013 Concept Recording) and an EP with Jeff Talbott, A View of the River, are available wherever digital music is sold. With Annaleigh Ashford, he has recorded two original songs, Another Time(MAC nomination) and A New Year(written with Talbott). With Matt Doyle, Will co-wrote and produced his albums Daylight, Constant, Make the Season Bright, and Uncontrolled. www.willvandyke.com@WVDmusic.
Jeff Talbott (book and lyrics) is the author of The Submission, which won the inaugural Laurents/Hatcher Award in 2011, was produced Off-Broadway by MCC Theater and went on to win the Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award for Best New American Play in 2012, and has since been produced all over the country. Other plays include: The Gravedigger’s Lullaby(Off-Broadway production by TACT) (with original music by Will Van Dyke) in 2017), i(Pioneer Theatre Company, 2018) and Civics and Humanities for Non-Majors(Montclair State University (who commissioned the play), 2018; finalist 2018 O’Neill Playwrights Conference). Three Rules for the Dragonwas a finalist for the 2016 O’Neill Playwrights Conference and has been workshopped by Rattlestick Theatre Company/Colt Coeur and Premiere Stages in New Jersey and A Public Educationwas a finalist for the 2015 O’Neill Playwrights Conference. Will and Jeff live and write in New York City. www.JeffTalbott.com