Anika Larson (photo: Jenny Anderson)
Broadway fans will be clamoring for this perfect stocking-stuffer: Anika Larsen’s debut solo CD, Sing You to Sleep. Larsen currently stars on Broadway in Beautiful – The Carol King Musical. For her role as legendary songwriter Cynthia Weil, she was nominated for a 2014 Tony Award and won the Drama Desk Award. She has also appeared in Rent, All Shook Up, Xanadu and Avenue Q.
Sing you to Sleep is a tuneful and personal album for adults and children alike, which Larsen recorded with her nine siblings and fourteen nieces and nephews in mind. The twelve soulful songs are drawn from contemporary pop (“Count on Me” by Bruno Mars, “Fields of Gold” by Sting), legendary singer/songwriters (“Annie’s Song” by John Denver, “Make You Feel My Love” from Bob Dylan), musical theater (“Summertime” from Porgy and Bess, “Sleepy Man” from The Robber Bridegroom) and animated classics (the poignant “Baby Mine” from Dumbo) and An American Tail (a gently swinging version of “Somewhere Out There,” with lyrics by her Beautiful character Cynthia Weil). Jessie Mueller, who won the 2014 Tony Award winner for playing Carole King in Beautiful, is featured on the album in a duet with her co-star for James Taylor’s “You Can Close Your Eyes.”
“I’ve cared for a lot of little ones in my time, and I have sung all of them to sleep with some of my all-time favorite songs,” says Larson. “I am so thrilled to share this collection. Every song has a particular history with me, or is just so pretty that I haven’t been able to stop singing it over the years.”
“When I first heard Anika sing, I was captivated and needed to hear more,” says executive producer Dan Watt. “Besides her ability to belt out a song, I heard an amazing quality in her voice, and I wanted others to hear it too. Working with Anika has been an absolute dream and theses songs are pure perfection.”
Available for download on iTunes and Amazon.com.
