2009 Musical Show Album Grammy Noms Revealed

The five show tune albums that are in competition for the Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album were revealed on December 2. The prize is awarded to the producer of the album as well as songwriters who contributed more than 51% of material on the recording. The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards will be presented on Sunday, January 31, 2010, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and be broadcast live on CBS.

And the nominees are...

Ain't Misbehavin'
30th Anniversary Cast Recording of national tour production featuring Ruben Studdard and Frenchie Davis. Producer: Robert Sher. Various composers/lyricists. Rhino Records.

Hair
New Broadway Cast Recording featuring Gavin Creel, Will Swenson, Caissie Levy and Sasha Allen. Producers: Kurt Deutsch, Noah Cornman, Joel Moss and Steve Norman. Composer: Galt MacDermot. Lyricists: James Rado and Gerome Ragni. Razor & Tie Entertainment/Ghostlight Records.

9 to 5: The Musical
Original Broadway Cast Recording featuring Allison Janney, Stephanie J. Block, Megan Hilty and Marc Kudisch. Producer: Frank Filipetti, Dolly Parton and Stephen Oremus. Composer/Lyricist: Dolly Parton. Dolly Records/Artist2Market Distribution.

Shrek the Musical
Original Broadway Cast Recording featuring Brian d'Arcy James, Sutton Foster, Daniel Breaker and Christopher Sieber. Producers: Peter Hylensky and Jeanine Tesori. Composer: Jeanine Tesori. Lyricist: David Lindsay-Abaire. Decca Broadway.

West Side Story
New Broadway Cast Recording featuring Matt Cavenaugh, Josefina Scaglione and Karen Olivo. Producers: David Caddick and David Lai. Composer: Leonard Bernstein. Lyricist: Stephen Sondheim. Sony Masterworks Broadway.

Surprisingly left out in the cold was the Ghostlight Records original cast recording of Next to Normal, featuring the Tony-winning score of Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey.

In related news, the recording of Liza Minnelli's Tony Award winning show Liza's at the Palace... has also been nominated in the category of Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album opposite recordings by Tony Bennett, Michael Buble, Harry Connick, Jr. and Willie Nelson.

Also nominated was current one-woman show diva Carrie Fisher, whose self-narrated audio recording of her best selling book Wishful Drinking (basically a verbatim transcript of her autobiographical show, now playing at Broadway’s Studio 54) was honored in the Best Spoken Word Album category.