Sometimes a placeholder is needed in my collection. A recording, often a soundboard, audience bootleg, DVD audio rip, etc., that is listed amongst luckier shows that garnered official recordings. Examples of this include Carrie Broadway Soundboard, Rent Workshop Bootleg, Cats 1998 West End DVD rip, Lestat and Dracula Soundboards, to name a few. These are albums I want listed in my collection because they mark a landmark, or significant production.

Brooklynite had a brief run off-broadway, and it never received a full cast-album treatment, let alone a Broadway transfer. Luckily, composer Peter Lerman posted a faux-cast album on soundcloud for us to hear what the score sounds like in most of its entirety. The “album” is comprised of studio recordings as well as stage recordings (soundboard? audience?) The album exceeds my expectations of what living in the borough of Brooklyn might “sound” like. It’s cute, funny, melodious, and sweet. Candy for the ears.

Every city has its own character, aspects, and personality. You can hear 1960s Baltimore come to life in Hairspray, 1800s London in Sweeney Todd, and early 2000s Newfoundland in Come From Away. Lerman does a great job at transporting us to the modern hustle and bustle of Brooklyn life. The sounds of the city and the characters we encounter paint a very clear picture of Brooklyn. The picture is not perfect, it’s a very clean score, but the grittier side of the city is captured less, even though the characters speak about their desire to make Brooklyn, and the world, a better place. The lack of grime and dirt is just fine for me. There’s an almost idealistic charm about the album. It sounds sweet and adorable, and it never really loses my interest, nor does it lack depth.

Some of my favorite tracks are the introductory superhero “theme songs.” These short theme songs create a cartoony and videogame vibe to the soundtrack, giving us some insight into the imagination of the protagonists. But the real delicious melodies come out in the middle of the album in the back to back tracks “Key to the City,” “Science of Flight,” and “Little White Lie.” The music is not too complicated, some basic 1-4-5 chord structures, with some major lifts and key changes to keep us engaged. Lerman grabs my attention with the chorus of Science of Flight, and I can hear the city come alive in my head. The jingle of shop doors, the rhythm of people walking, the vastness of the city, it’s all captured in this song. The melody of the chorus picks us up and sends us soaring through the city. Moments like this are the reason I obsess over cast recordings. Sonic moments that transport us out of our own lives. Out of the pandemic. Out of our heads. A brief respite from the incessant nagging of anxiety and depression in our lives.

The show ends with some lovely harmonious and fun duets and ensemble numbers. After a full listen, I’ll usually go back and re-listen to Science of Flight. It’s sad to think I’ll never get to see this show, but I’m grateful that many of the melodies were preserved in this makeshift recording. It’s nice to have a semi-complete placeholder so that Brooklynite can be alive in my collection.

Guess I’ll go pack my things and move to Brooklyn….