INTRODUCTION by Martin McCallum (from the CD booklet)
The journey that has led to the creation of this album started almost exactly three years ago when Philip told me that he wanted to record an album of entirely new and original songs. So I spoke to my great friend Freddie Gershon and two weeks later we were on a plane to New York. The idea was for Philip to persuade some of the best-known names in musical theatre to write songs especially for him, in order to make what would be his first solo album. Following that trip he also spoke with writers in the UK and Australia ... and he was off.

Following this time I had been trying to think of an opportunity for Philip to perform this material live and not simply record it. I thought that the then recently created seasons of Divas at the Donmar would therefore be a perfect platform, but Philip was busy with other work. Then the 2002 Divas season came round for programming and I asked Philip if he could commit. He did and in doing so he really focussed attention on the need to create a show that weaved together musical reflections of himself that audiences would not have been aware of before.

Having the gift of so much wonderful new material, it rapidly became clear that if Philip was to perform existing work, as well as embrace the new material created for him, we would have more songs than we could use.

So the next step was to select the right creative team. Our choice of Matt and David, as Director and Musical Supervisor, gave us two brilliant collaborators and devisors. That then left the roles of Orchestrator and Musical Director. While listening to many songs, Philip became particularly excited by the work of Jason Robert Brown, the acclaimed young American composer, and subsequently during one of their banters by email, Jason casually dropped in that he might have a few weeks free if we were really stuck for an MD. Everyone laughed, he couldn't be serious, and anyway, though a fun idea, not something to seriously consider given the scale of our show and the fact that Jason lives in New York! However I was intrigued for a number of reasons. We really needed a musician who could not only be Philip's musical alter ego, but also orchestrate with great style and be a 'Paderewski' at the piano. A quick call to Freddie assured me that he was indeed all of these, and so it was clear that Jason was the final and essential ingredient we were missing.

The result of the Team's time and talent is here for you to judge and I hope that, like me, you find Philip to be an extraordinary performer with a musical and emotional range unequalled in today's musical theatre. My only sadness is that we haven't been able to include all the work from many of those great writers and composers. However the good news is that it gives us reason to do another one!  

TRACK LIST

1.	Life On Earth - Craig Carnelia	(4:03)
	Four Faded Walls° - John Dempsey & Dana Rowe
2.	Face of a Stranger° - Stephen Schwartz	(4:03)
3.	Lazy Afternoon - John La Touche & Jerome Moross	(2:13)
4.	I'm on Fire - Bruce Springsteen	(3:07)
	Every Breath You Take - Sting
5.	And They're Off - William Finn	(3:57)
6.	Some Enchanted Evening - Rodgers & Hammerstein	(4:33)
	Hello Young Lovers - Rodgers & Hammerstein
7.	Color and Light - Stephen Sondheim	(5:18)
8.	Finishing the Hat - Stephen Sondheim	(3:18)
9.	Lost in the Stars - Kurt Weill & Maxwell Anderson	(2:45)
10.	My Father's Hands - Frank Wildhorn	(2:47)
11.	What You'd Call a Dream - Craig Carnelia	(3:35)
12.	The King's New Clothes - Frank Loesser	(4:55)
13.	Letting You Go° - Jason Robert Brown	(4:37)
14.	Happy Anniversary - Charles Aznavour	(4:37)
15.	He Fades Away - Alastair Hewlett	(7:30)
	The River - Bruce Springsteen
16.	New Words - Maury Yeston	(3:19)
17.	Life on Earth - Craig Carnelia	(3:10)
18.	I Was Here^ - Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty	(4:49)

° New song
^ First recording for this song