Original London Cast: Thomas And The King

Just before the score of Jaws went on to win an Oscar for best score and the movie was nominated for best picture, John Williams wrote his one and only stage musical, Thomas And The King, based on the life of Thomas Beckett. The production was premiered in London at Her Majesty?s Theatre on October 16 1975, but a cast album was never recorded. In order to document this significant stage of John Williams career, TER later set about reuniting the principal members of the original cast, although Richard Johnson had to be replaced by Lewis Fiander, who gallantly stepped in to sing the role of Thomas Beckett. The musical score was orchestrated by Herbert Spencer, who worked on many classic Hollywood movies and remained one of John Williams life long musical collaborators. Completely re-mixed and re-mastered into Digital Dolby Surround Sound, this CD release of the recording perfectly compliments any collection of John Williams film scores.