It traces its origins back to 1975, when husband-and-wife theatre enthusiasts Bruce and Doris Yeko embarked on a venture "dedicated to the preserving of musicals that would not otherwise be recorded".
"[6] The Yekos' record label began modestly with the release an EP of songs from the off-Broadway musical The Robber Bridegroom, performed by a studio cast comprising Jerry Orbach and Virginia Vestoff.
At the same time, the Yekos produced and released an EP with some additional songs from the same show, performed by original cast member Paul Sorvino along with Darlene Conley, Denise Lor, and Portia Nelson (who were not in the touring production) and composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz and his wife, Carol.
Sleeve notes typically mentioned that the performance rights for the show in question could be obtained by contacting Doris Yeko, who had already developed a specific interest in the publishing side of musical theatre.
The first of these was a re-pressing of a rare demonstration record of the ill-fated 1965 musical Kelly, with songs performed by the show's composer Mark 'Moose' Charlap and lyricist Eddie Lawrence.
This was duly followed by the release of the original London cast recording of Flowers for Algernon, which had been privately co-produced by its composer, Charles Strouse and its star, Michael Crawford, after its premature closure on the West End in 1979.
In an especially notable achievement, Bruce Yeko re-united most of the original cast of the notorious 1971 musical flop Prettybelle, including leading lady Angela Lansbury, to complete a studio recording in 1982.
After the Yekos divorced around 1981, Bruce continued the mail-order business in Connecticut, while Doris maintained the music publishing arm, based in New Jersey (and later, in Beverly Hills).
These were released under her own label, the Chu Yeko Musical Foundation, which used the catalogue number prefix of CYM but otherwise maintained the numerical sequence followed by Original Cast.
In 1988, the drought was finally broken by the release of a studio recording of songs from Brian Gari's first musical Late Nite Comic, which had closed on Broadway in October 1987 after only four performances.
The following year, Bruce Yeko embraced the new era of the compact disc by re-releasing what was his company's most popular album: the 1977 cast recording of The Baker's Wife.
The label went on to produce CD re-issues of several other popular titles from its own back catalogue, often including bonus tracks such as previously unreleased composer's demos.
Since the early 1990s, Bruce Yeko has continued to release original cast recordings of contemporary musicals from Broadway, off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway, regional tours and beyond.
In November 2013, Original Cast Records released The Girl I Left Behind Me starring Jessica Walker (with Joe Atkins at the piano) that was featured at 59E59 Theatres Brits Off Broadway, May 2013 and was a New York Times Critics Pick.