Monthly Archives: April 2024

“Electra” among the top 2.5% of scripts

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I am honored to report that my play “The Last Flight of the Electra” has received its second recognition in a month as a semifinalist in 2024 FutureFest, a new play contest sponsored by Dayton Playhouse of Dayton, Ohio!

Dayton Playhouse is a well-regarded community theatre founded in 1962 that provides outstanding theatrical productions to the Miami Valley area of Ohio and is the only theater in its vicinity to operate on a 12-month schedule.

Alongside its theatrical credentials, Dayton has become well-known for FutureFest, its annual festival of new and unproduced plays that started back in 1991, making it one of the longest-running new play festivals in the United States and a great incubator for new theatrical work.

Not only am I thrilled to be recognized as a semifinalist in such a well-known and well-respected contest, but there were over 470 script submissions entered this year alone, putting my script in the top 2.5% of all submitted scripts and making it one of the more selective contests in which any of my plays have been recognized. (Yes, I bothered to calculate the exact percentage!)

I sincerely wish Dayton Playhouse the best for the remainder of their festival and, again, am thrilled for “Electra’s” double recognition this April!

Some great demo session photos!

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It’s been a long time in coming, but my collaborator Norman Berman and I have been working hard on our epic new musical “The Burning of the White House” – a (semi-)true story about Paul Jennings, the young house slave at the White House during the presidency of James Madison, who, through the struggles and turmoil surrounding the British invasion and burning of Washington, DC in the War of 1812, reaches manhood and appreciates his deserved place in the world.

Many thanks to Norman, we have had some wonderful demo sessions done for some of our songs for this great production with some of the best singers you can imagine.

While I have collected these songs here, I wanted to share some photos from some of our recent recording sessions for these songs and acknowledge the great talent involved.

Many thanks, as well, to Clear Lake Recording Studios in North Hollywood, CA, which provided the venue for all the recording sessions.

My collaborator, Norman Berman (second from left), with, starting to his left, Joshua Finkel, Tonoccus McClain, and Dink O’Neal, recording the opening song “It’s the End”.
Norman with Tonoccus McClain, Frederika Meek, and Maiya Sykes recording the Act 1 finale “Escape from the White House.”
Lisa Vroman, Olly Sholotan, Shabnam Kalbasi, and Alvin Shea recording the fun number “Give ‘Em A Kick.”
Alvin Shea and Tonoccus McClain recording the wonderful ballad “Here I Is.”

You can listen to some of our great demos below!

“Electra” in the top 10% of scripts

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I am thrilled to report that my drama “The Last Flight of the Electra” was recognized as a finalist in the 2024 New Play Contest sponsored by Valley Players of Napa Valley, California.

The Valley Players had well over 200 submissions to their New Play Contest and my script was recognized among the top 10% of all entries, which is a great honor.

Even more to the point, it’s so encouraging to see groups like The Valley Players providing opportunities for new playwrights and their work! In the post-COVID world, it’s even harder to come by theaters that will recognize new plays, especially smaller theaters, so Valley Players deserves tremendous kudos for promoting opportunities for new playwrights to see their work performed.

Not only that, but my “finalist” badge is none too shabby, as well:

Many thanks to Artistic Director June Alane Raif and Valley Players for this honor!