Elite Theatre Company of Oxnard, CA has put tickets for my world premiere drama “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room” on-sale!
…and rehearsals have officially begun!
You can buy tickets here!
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Life comes full circle…
As I have mentioned, my historical farce “Philosophus” is being a world premiere at the wonderful Alleyway Theatre of Buffalo, New York, and tickets are now on-sale.
For 6-and-a-half years (2009-2015), I worked at TicketNetwork, one of the largest online marketplaces for resold tickets, ending my time there as AVP of Consumer Transactions.
How interesting, when I ventured out into cyberspace and did a Google search “Philosophus tickets,” I found that tickets for my show at Alleyway are being listed for sale on the TicketNetwork exchange:
Yes, indeed… ticket brokers are “scalping” my tickets!
First, this is a great compliment for Alleyway (tickets are only scalped at established, respected venues).
Second, this is a fulfilling moment for me… that an industry for which I worked is now selling tickets to one of my shows!
Truly, life does come full circle!
(PS: Buy tickets from Alleyway directly – here!)
Demo recording – “Inferno!”
I’m happy to present another wonderful demo recording of one of the songs from the new musical I’m writing with co-librettist and composer Norman L. Berman –“Paul Jennings & The Burning of the White House”.
The project concerns the young Paul Jennings, slave to James and Dolley Madison, President and First Lady of the United States in the early 1800’s, and his experience of the British occupation of Washington, DC. One very powerful scene early in Act Two involves the young slave being present as the British, having conquered the capital city, led by the acerbic, blustery Admiral George Cockburn, decide to burn down the White House.
The demo record below is from this scene in the play; Admiral Cockburn is exhorting the British soldiers to burn down the Presidential Palace and the entire city along with it.
The song uses the wonderful vocal talents of Keith ColClough (Admiral Cockburn) with back-up from Joshua Finkel, Gordon Goodman, Tonuccus McClain, and Dink O’Neal.
Many thanks yet again to my collaborator, Norman, for arranging and coordinating this effort!
Demo: “INFERNO!”
Auditions for “Fifteen Men”
Elite Theatre Company has scheduled auditions for my historical drama “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room” for July 23rd and July 24th!
There are some great roles in this play – very individual, very strong – for more mature actors and one younger actress.
The full audition notice – as well as script excerpts – can be found here!
Best Medicine tickets on sale
Best Medicine Repertory Theatre has officially put their season ticket pass for their 2018-019 season on sale!
My farce “Philosophus” was previously developed by Best Medicine and is being produced from January-February 2019.
You can pick up your season ticket pass here!
Philosophus again
I learned today with great pleasure that my historical farce “Philosophus” is going to be produced by Best Medicine Repertory Theatre of Gaithersburg, Maryland as part of their (second) 2018-2019 theatrical season.
Best Medicine is a theater that specializes in comedies (because laughter is… “the best medicine!”) and is the only professional theater company in Gaithersburg (Maryland’s fourth largest city).
Fittingly, “Philosophus” was first presented to the world by Best Medicine was part of their 2017 new play reading series, where, in November, 2017, it was given a wonderful staged reading. The director of thats how – Stan Levin – also directing “Philosophus” early next year.
Shortly after the November reading, Best Medicine – helmed by playwright and actor John Morogiello, with a number of very funny plays to his credit – was about to occupy their own theatrical space in Lakeforest Mall in Gaithersburg. They launched their first theatrical season just this year (four plays, plus other special events) and are going strong!
I’m honored to be a part of Best Medicine’s second season!
Semifinalists x 2
I’m pleased to announce that two of my plays – the eerie drama “Harriman-Baines” and the farce “Philosophus” – were semi-finalists in the 2018 Inkslinger New Play Competition sponsored by Southeastern Louisiana University (yep, both plays).
This brings back some memories for me, since my tragicomedy “Encore, Encore” was the second winner of this new play contest back in 2015 and was subsequently given a wonderful student production in March, 2016 (good ol’ Louisiana rainstorms and all).
“Meeeeemories…”
Congrats to the winners of the contest and best of luck to SLU!
Demo recording – “Here I Is”
I’m happy to present a wonderful demo recording of one of the songs from the new musical I’m writing with co-librettist and composer Norman L. Berman.
The project – entitled “Paul Jennings & The Burning of the White House” – is an original musical about Paul Jennings, the 15-year-old house slave to President and Mrs. Madison, who discovers his true heroism, strength, and purpose living through one of the most momentous event in the nation’s history – the burning of the White House.
The demo recorded below is from the end of Act One; the war of 1812 is raging, the British army is approaching the capital, and there is general fear that slaves throughout the country will revolt – but young Paul, as recalled by his older, wiser self, sings to his mistress, Dolley Madison, about his devotion to her, as well as his desire for freedom.
The song uses the wonderful vocal talent of Alvin Chea and Tonoccus McClain.
Many thanks to my collaborator, Norman, for arranging and coordinating this effort!
Demo: “HERE I IS
Tickets on sale!!
Alleyway Theatre has put tickets on sale for the production of my play “Philosophus” this Fall
The play runs from September 13, 2018 through October 6, 2018 – Thursday-Saturday, 7:30pm.
Get your tickets now!!
New project ahead!
i am happy to announce that I have been working very productively on a wonderful new musical project with the great composer Norman L. Berman. More details will be forthcoming!
A long-time fixture on the theater scene, Norman is a well-known composer of Off-Broadway and Broadway musicals. Throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s, he served as Composer-in-Residence at Circle Repertory Theatre and also won the 1980 Drama Desk Award for his music for the play Strider. Since that time, Norman received an Ace Award nomination for his score for the film Traveler’s Rest, seen on Showtime Cable Network. His other television scores have been heard on PBS, CBS Cable Television, (Kennedy’s Children) and the Discovery Channel.
Since last hear, Norman and I have been collaborating on a musical about the 1814 burning of the White House by the British (during the War of 1812). The play – entitled “Paul Johnson and The Burning of the White House”) – focuses on Paul, the mulatto slave of then-President Madison and his wife Dolley, and the young man’s experiences during the turmoil. Norman and I are into the second act of the piece right now and it is coming along nicely… and we may even have a sneak peak of the score soon!
Also nice is the fact that my name has cropped up on Norman’s Wikipedia page – my first (and hopefully not last) reference on that resource!
