Heart of a Lion Productions in association with La Princesa Productions has announced the release of the soundtrack for their musical, "As the Matzo Ball Turns," which is set to appear at the 2017 Philadelphia Fringe Festival in September.

The musical, and hence soundtrack, tells the story of aspiring actor turned waiter, Jozef Rothstein, as he serves the in and out crowd at a popular Los Angeles eatery while trying to break into show business.Soundtrack release parties, which are open to the public, are scheduled for 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Mauch Chunk Opera House, 14 W. Broadway, Jim Thorpe, and from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday (during Musikfest) at the Bethlehem House Gallery, 459 Main St., Bethlehem.The events are free to the public to attend and both CDs and downloads will be available for purchase along with signed copies of the book, "As the Matzo Ball Turns."Many talented local musicians collaborated on the music including co-writer of many of the tracks, Danny DeMelfi of Hazelton. Bob Panella, of the band Monster Magnet, who has roots in the Jim Thorpe area, contributed on drums; Harry Adams helped construct the vocal harmonies and played the keys on a few numbers; and Matthew Molchany of Bethlehem recorded and mixed the vocal tracks while also picking up a few instruments during the process.Philadelphia underground rapper, Payday Monsanto, also originally performed the title track to the show.In addition to the soundtrack release, the show will perform at this year's 2017 Philadelphia Fringe Festival.The performances take place at the Independent Seaport Museum, 211 S. Columbus Blvd. in Philadelphia at 7 p.m. Sept. 7; at 1 and 7 p.m. Sept. 8, 9 and 10. Deb Miller of DC Metro Theater Arts listed "As the Matzo Ball Turns - The Musical" as a top pick for this year's Philadelphia Fringe Festival.Tickets are available at

www.FringeArts.com/416 on the

www.fringearts.com website.The Philadelphia Fringe Festival is a 16-day performing arts celebration that takes over Philadelphia every September, boasting hundreds of performances by international, national and Philadelphia-based artists, presented by FringeArts. The city's public and private spaces are filled with a curated series of world-class performances and artists independently producing their own work in the true spirit of the international "fringe"movement. The party continues every night with FringeArts' Late Night programming in its beautiful venue on the Delaware waterfront - which houses the La Peg restaurant and bar, as well as an outdoor beer garden with a spectacular view of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. This signature event offers an unparalleled opportunity to see a cross-section of the world's greatest arts experimenters at one time, in one city.