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Festival Show Update: PREGNANCY PACT

An interview with Gordon Leary and Julia Meinwald, the writers of Festival 2011 show Pregnancy Pact, as they prepare for the show’s world premiere this August at the Weston Playhouse Theatre Co. in Weston, VT.
Pregnancy Pact is a pop-rock musical about a group of teens who make a pact to become single mothers together. 15-year-old Maddie is devoted to her three best friends and they are to her. So when Brynn gets pregnant, the friends all plan to have children, raising them together in a dream of a perfect life. Their pact grows as other girls find out and want in. The bubble finally bursts when their secret is revealed, leaving each of the girls to face the hard realities of love, responsibility and growing up


The show was fairly young when it came to the Festival. What was it like to put it up in front of the membership and industry at such an early stage?
Having only had one staged reading of the show before the Festival, it was thrilling to be able to share our work with such a large and enthusiastic audience. Beyond the thrill, the process of preparing for the Festival was immensely helpful. Since we chose to present an abridged version of the full piece, we were tasked with condensing the show down to its most important elements. It gave us a very clear idea of what story we are telling, which has helped us greatly as we continue to refine and reshape the piece.
What was the response to the show like after the Festival?
We got a full spectrum of responses. Even though some NAMT members doubted that their audience would want to see a show with language like ours dealing with issues of teenage sexuality and pregnancy, everyone we talked to was excited by the show’s energy.
What has it been like leaving the Festival knowing that in less than a year you would have a world premiere?
We feel very lucky to get to continue working with Weston Playhouse [after previously winning the Weston’s New Musical Theatre Award]. Their phenomenally supportive community has embraced the Playhouse’s interest in new work, giving us the opportunity to jump right in to seeing the show come to life fully. Given the challenging subject matter of Pregnancy Pact, we are happy to have a production in place to show the rest of the NAMT membership that it can be done!
What has changed to the show since the Festival?
We were lucky enough to participate in CAP21’s Writers Co-Op in January. Over those two weeks we were able to tackle a number of rewrites, including a number of streamlined scenes, a few new bridges for existing songs and an altogether new song to replace an existing one towards the end of the first act. We’ve also decided to have one actor play all of the male roles, so now we’ll only be working with seven actors.
What excites you about going up to VT this summer?
Since the show is still relatively young, we have yet to see it on its feet. We can’t wait to work with our production team to see the visual world of the show. The way the characters interact with technology and the way movement might be involved in the songs are especially exciting for us, as these are things we’ve largely had to imagine in readings.
How much do you expect the show to change between now and opening night?
We expect to do a fair amount of rewriting as the show gets staged. We feel that the structure of the piece is sound but look forward to working within that structure to realize a full production.
Why would YOU want to go see the show up at Weston this summer (if you hadn’t written it)?
The show tells a story we haven’t seen before about what it’s like to be a teenage girl in America today. Plus, we would travel any distance to hear these truly fierce beltresses on some new pop-rock musical theatre tunes!

For more information on Pregnancy Pact, head to www.westonplayhouse.org. 

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New Work in Progress: FEBRUARY HOUSE

An interview with Maria Goyanes, Associate Producer at The Public Theater, about February House by Gabriel Kahane and Seth Bockley as they prepare to bring the show to New York this May. The show was the recipient of one of our National Fund forNew Musicals Project Development Grants.
About February House: Carson McCullers. Benjamin Britten. W.H. Auden. Gypsy Rose Lee. Visionary and flamboyant editor George Davis transforms a dilapidated Brooklyn boardinghouse into a bohemian commune for these leading lights of 1940s New York. The residents of 7 Middagh Street create a tumultuous and remarkable makeshift family searching for love, inspiration and refuge from the looming war in Europe. Inspired by true events, this powerful and funny newmusical marks the first commission of The Public’s Musical Theater Initiative.
Why did The Public Theater decide to commission Gabe and Seth to write February House?
Oskar Eustis, the Artistic Director of The Public Theater, has known Gabe since his college years at Brown University. They had stayed in touch while Gabe made his way through the music world circuit, putting out a pop album, composing classical pieces and occasionally music directing for the theater. Ted Sperling, when starting The Public’s Music Theater Initiative, asked Gabe if he was ready to try his hand at writing a musical. He became The Public’s Music Theater Fellow and then pitched the idea of February House, from Sherrill Tippin’s book of the same name. When it came to finding a bookwriter, Gabe turned to his old college friend Seth Bockley, who had been making a name for himself as an emerging playwright and director in Chicago.
The Public Theater has been working on the show for a few years in many different readings. How has the show changed since the first reading in 2009?
The show has changed so much—and all for the better! Gabe and Seth always knew that they were making a different kind of musical, a chamber piece of sorts, with 9 leads and no chorus. So much of the development of this piece has been about honing in on the three principals—George Davis, W.H. Auden and Carson McCullers—and their needs for this house, hopes for their art, and the looming war in Europe. Because there is no single protagonist, the piece has been a delicate balance of these three storylines intersecting, influencing and playing off of each other.
This summer the writers had a chance to have a workshop at New York Stage and Film, in collaboration with The Public and supported by our National Fund for New Musicals. How was this process vital to prepare for the productions?
As the piece is set in an old Victorian home in Brooklyn, NY, the house is definitely a main character in the piece. How it comes together, how the characters inhabit the space together —these are key discoveries to be made for the show to be successful. New York Stage and Film was the first time we had the show up on its feet, and we could start to problem solve those ideas. It was invaluable.
The show opened last month at Long Wharf Theatre, in a co-production with The Public, before it heads to NYC in May. What is the importance of this co-production to the show’s development trajectory and why was Long Wharf chosen as your partner?
Gordon Edelstein [Long Wharf’s Artistic Director] is a great friend and colleague of Oskar Eustis. We shared the piece with him and he has provided incredible dramaturgical support and nurturing for Gabe and Seth. New York is a scary place for a first-time musical—musicals are such complex pieces to get right (and this one more so than others). It felt important to try to elongate the rehearsal process for it with a first stab at a production out-of-town, to learn from the audience and the experience, and then bring it to NYC.
Why should we all head to The Public Theater this May to catch February House?
Gabe is one of the most exciting young composers of the decade. His music is beautiful and haunting and true—this is your chance to see the first musical from an artist who is sure to have an impact on the American theatre for a long time to come.
For more information about February House, please visit www.publictheater.org.

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Festival Show Update: BIG RED SUN

An interview with Georgia Stitt, composer of Big Red Sun(written with John Jiler), about the many changes to the show since being in the Festival in 2010.
A new synopsis: Big Red Sun is the story of a family of musicians. Eddie and Helen Daimler were great swing musicians in the 1940s, but now in the early 1960s their teenage son Harry, a budding songwriter himself, lives alone with his mother and writes songs about his great war-hero father. In an effort to write more truthfully, Harry unearths a dark family secret. World War II carved a silent divide between those who fought and those who waited—a truth unshared. In a few short years, the simple melodies of Kern and Berlin were replaced by the dizzying energy of jazz and the beginnings of rock and roll. This is the story of a family that changed as much as its music did.
What kind of feedback did you get after the Festival reading of the show?
There was a lot of respect for thework we had done, lots of compliments, but we did not get many offers to continue its development. John Jiler (book/lyrics) and I talked quite a bit about how it seemed like we had written a show that people admired intellectually but perhaps were not moved by. One producer we met mentioned the concept of the “skin-jump,” the idea that there’s a point in the show that’s so compelling that you want to jump out of your own skin to be in the world of the show. We wanted Big Red Sun to do that, but we realized maybe we hadn’t yet written it.
What are some of the adjustments you have made to the show?
There’s been so much! We’ve consolidated some of the smaller characters and streamlined the cast. There are now only 6 actors required—4 men and 2 women. We’ve activated the son (Harry), making him a songwriter, a young Bob Dylan-type. In the last few months, we’ve also really fleshed out the character of the mother (Helen), giving her a big newsecond-act song. We’ve expanded the relationship between Harry and James, a former bandmate of Eddie (the father). We’ve tried to be very clear and consistent in how we use the flashbacks. Specifically in the music, we’ve cut down much of the pastiche stuff, the diegetic songs, to make sure that the “style” music is always being used to tell the story. Making Harry a songwriter was a great discovery, because in a way, his voice could be my voice and I wasn’t limited to the vocabularies of the 1940s and the 1960s, though that music is still very present in the show.
You just finished a workshop/reading at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) this weekend. How did that reading come about?
The head of the musical theatre program at UNL, Alisa Belflower, and I have been email acquaintances since 2006. Last August, Alisa wrote me to say that her school had received funding to produce a developmental reading for a new musical, preferably a book musical, and she wondered if I might have something to submit.Big Red Sun was the piece of mine that best fit her parameters, and John Jiler and I were in need of a deadline to undertake the rewrite we had been thinking about since the NAMT Festival in 2010. Since I live in L.A. and John lives in NYC, we are always thrilled to have a chance to work in the same room. We did more work on the show in the three weeks leading up to the reading than we had done in the six months prior.
What did you learn from having student voices on the work?
Musical theatre students are about as passionate as they get. UNL had some of the most fantastic voices we’ve ever heard, but their strengths tend more toward legit singing than pop. I learned that not all of the references we use in the show (Bob Dylan, The Andrews Sisters, klezmer music, the can-can, be-bop) are as well-known as I thought they were. I’m putting more information into the score, more hints about how musically to accomplish the various styles. And of course, the questions the students ask are revealing, too. If they’ve been staring at the script and they don’t understand how they got from point A to point B, then you can be sure an audience won’t understand it either.
What are your next steps for the show?
We came home from Nebraska with a to-do list, several things that we’re hoping to fix in the next week or two. We have to consolidate our notes from this reading (which was only this past weekend) and process which fixes we want to do immediately and which fixes should wait until we’re actually working with a cast and a director. We’ll have to re-demo a few of the songs, and I often learn about the music by orchestrating and recording it.
What do you need next?
We have now done developmentalwork at the New York ASCAP Workshop (where we won the Harold Arlen Award), TheatreWorks Palo Alto, Oklahoma City University, the NAMT Festival and the University of Nebraska. We finally have a script and score that reflect the story we want to tell. Next, we really want a rehearsal process and a run. Much of this show requires visual storytelling—a physical concept (lights, costumes, space) of how we move from present to past. We need age-appropriate actors and an actual audience. A chance to see the show more than once. It’s a small show—6 actors, probably 5 musicians (piano, acoustic/electric bass, acoustic/electric guitar, drums and a reed doubler). John and I figure if we get to sit in an audience and watch it 30 times, we can make it magical.
If you want more information about Big Red Sun, contact Bruce Miller at Washington Square Arts, (212) 253-0333 x36or bmiller@washingtonsquarearts.com.

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Seattle Views

I’ve taken two trips to Seattle in the past year – one last June and one just last week – to prep for the upcoming Spring Conference. It’s a beautiful city, and I’m a fan of taking pictures, so to whet your appetite for your trip to Dramatic Marketing next month, here are some photos of what you’ll have to look forward to.

View from the W Seattle hotel, site of the Spring Conference:

Those of us in the office who have been to Blue C Sushi are so obsessed with it we’ve gotten everyone else obsessed with it too. Small plates of freshly made sushi (and other Japanese goodies) whiz by you on a conveyor belt. You take what you want, and when you’re ready for the check the waiter counts your color-coded plates. This is a few blocks from the hotel and The 5th Avenue Theatre.

A lovely spot for a conference coffee break or side meeting:

…and a lovely place to retire to at the end of a long day discussing marketing:

Very modern new light rail and bus station a block away from the hotel. Just $2.75 to get from the airport!

View from The Village Theatre’s First Stage building:

Sunset from The 5th Avenue Theatre: 

Monorail! Left over from the World’s Fair, this will take you from downtown (a couple of blocks from the hotel) to the Space Needle.

Views from the Space Needle:

Pike Place Market, a short walk from the hotel:

Sunset view from in front of Village Theatre’s mainstage last June:

Any Twin Peaks fans out there? Snoqualmie Falls, site of the Great Northern Lodge on the show, is a short drive from Village. (These were taken on a trip a few years ago.)

In the green room of The 5th Avenue Theatre: 

“Musical theater and those who create it are critical to the enrichment of our soul. Your work is about entertainment and enlightenment of the human spirit. We take this wondrous journey with you. Through our laughter and tears are all who we were, who we are and who we could become. Bravo to you who light our way!” -Kenny & Marleen Alhadeff

These are just a few of the sights Seattle has to offer. I hope you’ll join us and explore them all for yourself! Conference registration for NAMT members is open until March 8. Details at namt.org/conference.

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Conference Report: TEDxBroadway

Last week I attended TEDxBroadway, an event hosted by producer Ken Davenport (Godspell, Altar Boyz) and Damian Bazadona of Situation Interactive (who you may remember as a speaker at NAMT’s 2009 Spring Conference). If you’re not familiar with TED (which stands for Technology, Education, Design), they’re best known for their conferences, which bring together “the world’s leading thinkers and doers” for “a 4-day journey into the future, in the company of those creating it.” That sounds intimidating and exclusive (and expensive!), but all of the “TED Talks” from the conferences are available for free online, with the best ones in a free podcast you can subscribe to in iTunes (that link goes to the audio version; there’s also a video feed and some highlights versions). The subjects cover everything from hard science to puzzles to arts education, and I’ve been a big fan for a while now. TEDx events are independently organized conferences “in the spirit of TED’s mission, ‘ideas worth spreading,’” and I was thrilled to get the opportunity to go to one to speculate about the future of Broadway.

About that B-word… Since I was there representing NAMT and our national membership, I was inclined to agree with a couple of attendees who wondered why it wasn’t “TEDxTheatre.” But the majority of the speakers said things that were relevant to all producers and artists all over the country, making the conference feel applicable to “theatre people” everywhere.

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New Work in Progress: A ROOM WITH A VIEW at The Old Globe Theatre

An interview with Eric Louie, Associate Producer at The Old Globe Theatre, about their upcoming production of A Room with a View by Marc Acito and Jeffrey Stock, happening this summer.
Amid the golden sunlight and violet-covered hills of Tuscany, sheltered English girl Lucy Honey Church meets freethinking George Emerson. For the first time, she glimpses a world of longing and passion she never imagined. Back in her corseted Edwardian life, Lucy must decide whether to yield to convention or give up everything she has ever known. Comic, romantic, satirical and real, A Room with a View blends a gorgeous score with this timeless story that gives a new voice to these unforgettable characters.
How did The Old Globe discover A Room with a View?
Director Scott Schwartz is an Old Globe alum (Golda’s Balcony, Lost in Yonkers, Brighton Beach Memoirs and Broadway Bound). The project came to us a little under a year ago and we fell in love with it.
How closely does the show follow the story of the book or the movie?
It definitely follows the book, but as with any adaptation for the stage, there are of course changes—some characters are combined or cut, some dramatic moments added, etc. We’re true to the heart of the story and the characters.

The show is relatively young in its development. What work has The Old Globe done on the show so far and plan to do before you head into rehearsals?
We did 2 workshops—one in October 2011 and another in December 2011—which were focused primarily on script work with a few staging bits thrown in to the last workshop. We’ve learned an unbelievable amount from being able to hear the piece out loud and the process has been invaluable. The creative team has done an incredible job of taking the things we’ve learned from each reading and immediately going back to work on the piece. In fact, we just got a new draft of the script with a bunch of exciting changes this past week.
What moment in the script are you most excited to see realized on the stage?
Is it cheesy to say the entire thing? This piece is so rich with luscious music, an incredibly witty and sophisticated book, a design team to die for, all helmed by a brilliant director—I’m honestly most excited to see the piece in its entirety brought to life.
What are the hopes for the show after The Old Globe?
A goal is certainly to send the piece to New York and certainly for productions around the country.
Elevator Pitch: Why should we come to San Diego to catch A Room with a View?
When’s the last time you were swept away by a musical and taken on a journey that’s musically lush, incredibly witty and emotionally moving with a strong young female protagonist?
For more information about A Room with a View, please visit www.oldglobe.org.

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New Work in Progress: POOL BOY at NYU: Steinhardt

An interview with John Simpkins, faculty member at New York University’s The Steinhardt School and director of Pool Boy by Nikos Tsakalakos and Janet Allard, which NYU will produce in March at the Provincetown Playhouse in New York City.

A young singer-songwriter from New Jersey lands a job as a pool boy at the Hotel Bel-Air. Trying to parlay his interaction with celebrities into his own dreams of fame and fortune, he encounters people who see him only as a servant. As he learns “the game” and the lifestyle around him, he falls for the one other “real” thing poolside—a girl named April. Nick must choose between ambition and love—and struggle with how this fake, material world might even give him what he never knew he needed—something to write about.


NYU Steinhardt has been developing new musicals every spring for over 10 years now. Tell us a little about the program and its goals.
This facet of the NYU Steinhardt program [in Vocal Performance] is dedicated to working on shows that we feel we can help to the next phase of life in whatever way seems most beneficial to the specific project and writers. In some cases, we have provided a workshop-type experience with rewrites every day, the first chance for writers to see something out from behind music stands and “on its feet.” In other cases, the show has already had productions and we can offer the chance to implement any large changes the writers may want […] in a low-pressure environment.

What benefits do the writers get from working with students?
Our students are in class every day asking questions about characters, analysis of songs as an actor, strong choices they can make, etc. Having that kind of critical and process-based thinking involved in the rehearsal room can only benefit the development process. Our students have also (hopefully!) not yet learned any of the political side of being an actor—it is as utopian a situation as one can expect with regard to the personalities in the room! We are also able to offer a long and luxurious (over 6 weeks) rehearsal process, which allows for constant exploration and experimentation in rehearsal and in the writing process.

How did you discover Pool Boy?
I have known and admired Niko’s work for years, and we have often talked about wanting to work on something together. I had heard a few songs from Pool Boy at a benefit for Barrington Stage a few years ago and fell in love with the music. I kept an eye on the development of the show since then…and actually had a former student from NYU Steinhardt (Jay Armstrong Johnson) play the lead in the Barrington production. I contacted Niko and Janet a few months ago to see what was happening with the show. Fortunately, they were eager to work together and continue to develop the piece, including rewrites since their production at Barrington.

What drew you to the show and how does it line up with your university population?
I was immediately drawn to the characters. They are heightened and wacky people—all surrounding a young person (the pool boy) who doesn’t even know the lesson he is supposed to be learning from them. I love the stylistic approach Niko and Janet have chosen to handle those characters. It is perfect for a university population. We try to encourage our students to make real, but bold and strong, dramatic choices in the work they are doing in class, and this show requires that kind of bold, fearless choices. As a Vocal Performance program, the vocal demands and excitement always help drive our choice of material, and our students can execute the kind of singing beautifully.

Why should your fellow members come see Pool Boy this March?
Whatever your experience with the show has been over the past few years, I can promise that this version will be quite different from previous incarnations and a very enjoyable evening of theatre. Also it’s a small cast, small band, unit set, etc., so it is quite able to be produced in any kind of theatre setting. I think it would be interesting to many of the member theatres to look at producing in your upcoming seasons.

Finally, who should people contact if they want tickets?
Tickets can be secured by emailing steinhardt.boxoffice@nyu.edu.

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FROM THE ROAD: A weekend in Connecticut

For the past 4 winters, I have spent a January weekend in Connecticut catching a show at The Spirit of Broadway Theater and attending Goodspeed Musicals’ Festival of New Artists. It is one of my favorite annual excursions to see great new musicals and catch up with members and writers.

I started out my trip with a visit to see The Spirit of Broadway‘s production of the new musical The Boy in the Bathroom by Michael Lluberes and Joe Mahoney. This beautiful and touching production was directed by Brett Bernardini. The three-person show tells the story of a young man who chooses to live locked in the bathroom of his mother’s house while he finishes his dissertation. It is a quirky story rendered wonderfully in this production. The show is running through February 5.

It was then off to Goodspeed‘s 7th Festival of New Artists
in partnership with The Hartt School and Boston Conservatory. This year there were 3 staged readings of new musicals, 2 cabarets and a sneak peek at one of the new musicals Goodspeed will present this season. The readings this year were:
 
Harmony, Kansas by Anna K. Jacobs and Bill Nelson (a past recipient of a NAMT Writers Residency Grant at Barrington Stage Co.)
Not Wanted on the Voyage by Neil Bartram and Brian Hill (the writers of NAMT Fest ’07 show- The Story of My Life)
The Dogs of Pripyat (NAMT Fest ’11) by Jill Abramovitz, Aron Accurso and Leah Napolin.

Also in residency that weekend working on other shows were Jeremy Desmon (NAMT Fest ’04-The Girl in the Frame) and Jeff Thomson, NAMT Fest ’11 (Dani Girl) writers Michael Kooman and Chris Dimond, and the team of Marcy Heisler, Zina Goldrich and Hunter Bell working on The Great American Mousical which was the special sneak peek musical that weekend.

As you can see, there were a whole lot of NAMT connections throughout the weekend with Festival alumni involved throughout. I had seen previous incarnations of all of the shows and was really excited to see all of the great work the writers have done on them. All of the shows have grown so much, and I hope that they all find great futures across the membership.

Post-show evenings were spent in cabarets in which the uber-talented writers listed above would entertain us with other songs from shows they are working on. Goodspeed knows how to pack a weekend with the perfect amount of art, fun, music and cocktails!

I love my January trip to Connecticut each year. I get to chat with members, see work from alumni and other great writers, but, most of all, I get a chance to spend a great weekend immersed in a community of new musicals. Not a bad way to spend a cold winter weekend!

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So Long and Thanks for All the Tweets

The British sci-fi author and humorist Douglas Adams may seem an odd starting point for a National Alliance for Musical Theatre blog post (he never wrote a musical, as far as I know, though this is one of my all time favorite musical numbers ever filmed), but bear with me.  I’m reading The Salmon of Doubt, a posthumously published book of Adams’ miscellaneous writings. He was a technophile and a notorious early adopter, and in an article about how computers use “real world” models for their interfaces, he compares the web to a brochure:

What does a brochure prevent us from doing?

Well, first of all its job is to persuade people to buy what you have to sell, and do it by being as glossy and seductive as possible and only telling people what you want them to know. You can’t interrogate a brochure. Most corporate websites are like that. Take BMW for instance. Its website is gorgeous and whizzy and it won’t answer your questions. It won’t let you find out what other people’s experience of owning BMWs is like, what shortcomings any particular model might or might not have, how reliable they are, what they cost to run, what they’re like in the wet, or anything like that. In other words, anything you might actually want to know. You can email them, but your question or their answer – or anybody else’s answer – will not appear on the site….

Same with British Airways. It’ll tell you anything you like about British Airways flights except who else is flying those routes. So if you want to see what the choice is, you go instead to one of the scores of other sites that will tell you. Which is bad news for British Airways because they never get to find out what you were actually looking for, or how what they were offering stacked up against the competition. And because that is very valuable information they have to send out teams of people with clipboards to try to find out, despite the fact that everybody lies to people with clipboards.

Sounds familiar, right?  Adams wrote this in 1999.  More than a decade later we’re still having a version of this conversation about theatre marketing. Of course, while actual brochures haven’t changed much since the printing press, the web — or at least the technology behind it  —  has changed dramatically in just the last decade. I suspect that’s part of why we still struggle with this. Adams died in 2000 and never knew Twitter or Facebook or Yelp (I suspect he would have loved them), but later in the piece he does cite the still-new Amazon as a place that sells you a product and lets you review it and knows what you searched for but didn’t buy.  That’s worked out pretty well for them!

Social media has made it easier than ever for us to connect with our patrons and fans.  How many of us are opening up to these conversations, and how many are making a 140-character brochure?  And what, of course, do the patrons themselves want? Do they want to have a conversation with you, or do they just want to see a show? Do they want your website to be a basic brochure…or do they actually want (need?) a paper brochure? Adams made it sound so simple in 1999, and maybe it seemed then like it would be. But the 21st century has provided us with many moving targets, combining old art forms (Adams himself originally made his name in radio plays) with new technologies, older generations of audiences and staff with younger ones.
I don’t have an answer to any of this. I wonder if Adams would have. But I hope and believe we can find some answers  —  multiple ones, no doubt  —  together when we discuss marketing at the Spring Conference in March. We won’t have to speculate; we’ll have some of the top experts in musical theatre marketing in the room to share what’s worked and what hasn’t worked for them.  Just no one bring a clipboard so we know we’re getting the truth!
 
Adam Grosswirth
Membership Director

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Festival Show Update: BARNSTORMER

A catch-up with the writing team from Festival 2008 show Barnstormer, Douglas J. Cohen and Cheryl K. Davis. The show was one of our first National Fund for New Musicals Production Grant Recipients in 2009.
Before Amelia Earhart, there was Bessie Coleman—the first Black aviatrix who rose from the cotton fields of Texas and the barbershops of Chicago to finally conquer the skies of France. Her brief but dynamic life inspired the disenfranchised to pursue their dreams, including her own nephew who became a Tuskegee Airman.
After the Festival, you headed down to Red Mountain Theatre Co. (RMTC) for your first production. What was it like being down in Alabama for the show?
It was thrilling being in such an historic city. We had the chance to tour that city’s wonderful Civil Rights Institute. One of the last surviving major civil rights leader from the 50’s and 60’s, Reverend Shuttleworth, later attended a performance of Barnstormer.Our theater was only about four blocks away from the 16th Street Baptist church that was bombed in 1963, tragically killing four girls. An additional two blocks away was the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. Artistic Director Keith Cromwell was kind enough to put us up during the production. He and his staff couldn’t have been more welcoming.
What did you learn about the show on its feet?
We wrote two new songs going into the production. When one of them didn’t comfortably fit our lead’s voice, we ended up rewriting the lyrics to “Grounded” and moving that song to a new spot in the show. We also had written a great deal of narrative for adult Arthur (Bessie’s nephew) but realized it wasn’t dramatic having him continually address the audience. Much of this new text was jettisoned, and ended up only using Arthur to bookend the piece. We also cut a song near and dear to our hearts that was sung by Bessie’s mother and sister-in-law at her funeral […] but we may have too been hasty cutting the elegy as it gave the audience a chance to mourn Bessie and understand the personal loss her family experienced.
While there, you actually created a couple of different versions of the show for RMTC’s use. What was it like cutting down the show (again) and presenting the different versions?
We created both a shortened version of the show for presentation to student audiences, and a one-woman version of the show for school touring purposes. We tried to use the process of creating these versions to re-focus and clarify Bessie’s through-line in the piece as a whole.
What changes were made after RMTC?
We didn’t have another chance to work on Barnstormer until Artistic Director/Producer Sheila Kay Davis optioned our musical for Off Broadway’s New Professional Theatre. We took this opportunity to implement a major change and introduce a love interest for Bessie. There isn’t much known about her personal life, but she was briefly married and did have some interests aside from aviation. We believe that revealing additional passions has humanized her. We wrote a new number for the couple, as well as a number in a Paris nightclub to open Act Two. It always seemed strange that Bessie travels all the way to France to learn how to fly, yet we barely introduced her and our audience to the celebrated Parisian culture. [Our director] felt strongly about hiring an integrated cast; previously Barnstormer had only been presented with an all African American cast. At the height of her career, Bessie would only fly at integrated airshows, so it made sense to incorporate white actors and characters into our show; this also helps us illustrate racial conflict more directly in earlier scenes. Lastly, we revisited the opening containing “Cotton and the Clouds,” and we believe the number at last ‘takes flight’ within the context of the show.
After this recent reading, what is on the horizon for Barnstormer?
The reading was very successful, and now Sheila is meeting with corporations, foundations, and individuals to help us bring our show to Off Broadway. She is also discussing it seriously with two respected regional theaters who have expressed interest in presenting Barnstormer prior to a New York engagement.

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New Work in Progress: Festival of New Artists at Goodspeed Musicals

An interview with Goodspeed Musicals’ Line Producer Donna Lynn Hilton about their 7th Annual Festival of New Artists happening January 13-15. The Festival is in partnership with fellow NAMT members The Hartt School and Boston Conservatory. The line-up includes readings of NAMT Festival Show The Dogs of Pripyat, Not Wanted on the Voyage from the NAMT alumni writers who wrote The Story of My Life, and Harmony, Kansas. There will also be late-night cabarets featuring NAMT alumni writers Jeremy Desmon, Michael Kooman and Chris Dimond. Plus special events all weekend!
What are the goals of the Festival of New Artists?
We have a number of goals for the festival…to provide a safe haven for very “young” musicals; to provide the opportunity for collaboration at a very early stage in the development of a new musical—for everyone involved—writers, directors, musical directors and performers; to provide young musical theatre performers the rare opportunity to participate in the creation of a new musical and its characters; and to give [these young musical theatre performers] access to the professional writers, directors, MDs and performers.
Having been at the Festival for the last 3 years, I have seen it really blossom. What additions do you have in store for us this year?
We haven’t expanded the programming of our festival weekend much this year but are very proud that, in addition to the 3 teams presenting their full musicals during the festival weekend, we are able to host 3 teams of writers for Festival Residencies and will feature the work of these teams in our Festival Cabarets. One of those teams will present a “sneak peek” at an exciting new musical being developed by Goodspeed and scheduled for the Norma Terris Theatre in 2012.
How did the collaboration with the Universities start and how does the students’ involvement shape the Festival?
The collaboration between the Hartt School (now in its 7th year) and with the Boston Conservatory (in its 2nd year) is a direct result of relationships begun and developed through our work with NAMT. Goodspeed wanted to provide another outlet for supporting new musical development in our quieter winter months and the universities were looking to expose their students to professional opportunities and training. It was a perfect match.
What is the Festival experience like for the writers?
The main focus of the first 11 days of the festival is on the writers, giving them the opportunity to hear their work read and encouraging them to respond to it with revision. The Festival presentations, while an important piece of the puzzle, are somewhat secondary from the writers’ perspective. Several years ago, in response to a similar question, one of our Festival writer said… “the presentation is our gift to Goodspeed for allowing us to be here for two weeks, to work on and rewrite our show.”
Goodspeed really provides a whole weekend experience filled with new musicals. What do you hope your patrons walk with when they leave the Festival weekend?
Several things – an appreciation for and understanding of the passion, hard work and commitment that go into developing a new musical; excitement about the talent that is entering the field today; and, of course, an acknowledgement of what a truly wonderful place East Haddam and Chester, CT and Goodspeed’s Artists Village are to develop and present musical theatre, established and new.
Why should your fellow members come to beautiful snowy East Haddam in January to catch the Festival?
You really won’t regret joining us…the synergy created by the art and artists on display will thrill you and inspire you as it has us each January for the past 7 years. In many ways, the Festival is the most exciting project we mount all year long.
For more information about Goodspeed Musicals’ Festival of New Artists, please visit www.goodspeed.org

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An Improved Look at our Festival History

As NAMT’s de facto webmaster, I’m lucky enough to get to poke around in programs and services that aren’t strictly “my department.”  We recently streamlined and revamped the Festival of New Musicals section of the site, including a pretty major overhaul of the Festival History, Photos and Success Stories (formerly three separate sections, now conveniently all in one place).
I’ve been at NAMT since 2008, so I’m very familiar with the 32 show we’ve presented while I’ve worked here, along with a handful from earlier in the 2000s.  But since 1989, the Festival has showcased 273 new musicals by 493 writers, and I’ve simply never had the opportunity before to spend quality time with the entire list. Wow! I knew the “big” titles of course, but there were lots of writers I hadn’t realized were alumni (my favorite tidbit: Angelo Badalamenti, composer of many film scores for David Lynch, was in the first year of the Festival, shortly after the Twin Peaks pilot was shot  —  I’m a TV nerd as well as a musical theatre nerd).  There are years when nearly every show went on to have a robust life, which make me very proud to be part of the NAMT team, even if I wasn’t here then.
Unfortunately, there are gaps in the post-Festival stories of these shows.  Through office moves, staff changes and the simple fact that hardly anyone had email in 1989 (and I’m betting those CompuServe addresses don’t work anymore), we’ve lost track of Alumni Writers from the early years, and they’ve lost track of us.  As part of this web redesign, we’re stepping up our efforts to reconnect with alumni and fill in the blanks.  If you happen to be an alumnus/a of the Festival (or know one), please click here to fill out an update form with your contact info, any updates on your show or other shows you’ve written.  Or you can email us at info@namt.org. We’d really love to hear from you — and let you know what we’re up to, too!
And whether you’re an alum or not, please do take a look at the Festival history.  I’m not bragging when I say it’s an impressive read.

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From the New Works Director: Thoughts about submitting shows to the Festival

Ask anyone who has sat on the Festival Committee over the past few years and s/he will tell you how hard it is to select the Festival each year. We get over 150 submissions, reduce them down to 20 shows and then determine the final 8 we present each year. After 4 years of working with the committee through this process, I have realized that the challenge is not finding 8 great shows to put in the Festival. The hard part is finding those 8 amazing shows that reflect the diversity that we believe is vital to the future of musical theatre. We want 8 shows that get stuck in our heads, that we can’t wait to tell people about, that excite us as theatre artists. And we want those shows to represent a wide array of styles, sizes, tones and themes.

Time to think about what you’ll submit! You do not need to be limited to the shows that your theatre is currently developing or recently produced.
What about that great show that was sent to you that you wish your theatre could do and that you know other theatres will love?
NAMT is the best way to share great shows with the entire industry!
What about your friend the commercial producer who is developing all of those exciting new musicals?
Maybe she has a show that could use NAMT’s help!
Remember that really great new musical you produced a few years ago that is now lost to the ages?
Track down the writers and send that in!

Our Festival is not just about the hottest, newest, freshest properties that no one has ever heard of. We want to present great musicals that will excite all of you and invigorate the field.So if you know of a show that is amazing and could use NAMT’s help, please track it down and submit it. The Festival can only be as great as the shows submitted to us, and with our amazing members and alumni, I know that we will have another exciting Festival in 2012!

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Give the gift of NAMT these Holidays!

The holidays are fast approaching and that means that a lot of us will start shopping online to save time. Did you know that there is a way for you to shop for just about anything online and have part of the proceeds go to NAMT to help fund our programs?

Buy anything from Amazon.com the NAMT Store and Amazon gives a portion of its proceeds to NAMT. You can find CDs and books from past NAMT Festival shows and other projects by our alumni! Recent additions include the CDs to Ordinary Days, A Little Princess and Golden Boy of the Blue Ridge.

But if you are looking for some non-musical theatre related items, you can still shop and benefit NAMT. Just click the Amazon.com logo in the upper right corner of the store and you can shop for anything Amazon sells through their site. We will see money every time you shop! Easy! I know I plan on using this trick for as much as my holiday shopping as possible.

You could also make a gift to NAMT in someone’s name as a holiday gift! A tax deductible gift!

So, time to get out that list and do some extra good with it! And don’t forget a Striking 12 CD for your New Year’s Party, a Songs for a New World CD for your high school diva and to give a donation to NAMT for that uncle who already has everything he could already want!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

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Festival Show Update: THE TROUBLE WITH DOUG

A catch up with the writing team from Festival 2010 show The Trouble With Doug, Will Aronson and Daniel Maté.
The Trouble With Doug is a modern comedic re-imagining of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, in which a happy, healthy 27-year-old man transforms—suddenly and inexplicably—into a giant slug. From this unlikely premise, a touching and universal story unfolds about a family dealing with change, and a young man facing the loss of everything he thought he was.
Doug was really well received at the Festival. What was it like presenting your show to industry at the Festival?
Our NAMT presentation was an exciting and rewarding experience from start to finish. It was a thrill, obviously, to have Victoria Clark as our director – we’d both long been fans of her performing work, and were delighted that she connected with the piece so effortlessly. With her help, we felt that we’d succeeded in arriving at a 45-minute version that delivered the heart and humor of the musical to the NAMT Members in attendance, and we were very gratified by the positive responses we received. People seemed to get and appreciate what we were going for, which, considering the musical’s somewhat unconventional subject matter, was both relieving and exciting.
Did anything change with the show after seeing at the Festival?
Yes. Trimming the show down to its essence for NAMT helped us identify what worked, and also helped us see where certain characters were not sufficiently fleshed out and where some of our plot devices needed fortifying, clarifying, or (in one case) replacing. A subsequent writers retreat at [NAMT member] Weston Playhouse in Vermont in April 2011 helped us solidify a list of planned changes and a general game plan for implementing them.
Doug was supposed to premiere at Florida Stage this season but unfortunately Florida Stage has closed. How has this sudden change affected your plans for developing Doug?
Well, it’s certainly confirmed for us that nothing can ever be counted on as certain in this industry, and that building relationships with as many organizations as possible is the way to go. We were pleased to re-meet many producers and artistic directors at this year’s NAMT Festival and begin some new conversations about the piece. While we were sad to lose the Florida production—and very sad to see a great regional company go down—we’re still confident that ‘Dougger’ will find himself a nice home before too long.
You just had a fantastic time in the UK working with NAMT member Royal & Derngate. What was it like to bring Doug across the pond?
The two weeks we spent at Royal & Derngate exceeded our greatest expectations. R&D provided us with accommodations, space to work, a wonderful cast, a top-notch music director, and the dramaturgical and directorial expertise of artistic director Laurie Sansom – and they basically said, “take whatever time you need to rewrite your show as you see fit.” Without a built-in “presentation” component, we were truly free to use the time to overhaul the show’s book and upgrade aspects of the score. By the end of the two weeks, we had a completely revised version of the musical, one that we feel heightens what was already compelling about it while addressing our concerns about plot and character. And working in a UK theatre environment was a fun change of pace. Among other discoveries, we found that our story can speak to people in a different cultural context.
What are you hoping to happen next with Doug?
We feel great about the new script we returned with from England, and are ideally looking for a production track at a regional, UK, or New York theatre. Having been through several readings and workshops, we feel that the arc of show is finally in the shape we’ve always wanted it to be, and that adding in the physical element will help us take it to the next level. So we’re hoping that someone will believe in the piece strongly enough to take that sort of plunge with it.
In the best of all worlds, in two years, what will be the status of Doug?
At the risk of sounding evasive, we don’t have a single defined destination in mind. There are so many logistical factors that go into producing musicals, most of which are beyond our comprehension. Obviously, as its creators, we entertain dreams of our piece reaching a very large audience, and having a long life on many, many stages. But our main and immediate hope, no matter the scale, scope, or trajectory of production(s), is that Doug will find its core audience, who will connect with it and love it as much as we do— an aspiration we feel is equal parts lofty and modest, and hopefully just right.
For more information about The Trouble With Doug, please email thetroublewithdoug@gmail.com.

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New Work in Progress: GIANT at Dallas Theater Center

As Michael John LaChiusa and Sybille Pearson’s Giant prepares for its co-production in Dallas and New York, we thought it would be a good time to chat with Dallas Theater Center’s Artistic Director Kevin Moriarity about Giant (recipient of a National Fund for New Musicals production grant). Giant will be presented at Dallas Theater Center (DTC) this January-February and will then at The Public Theater in their next season.
How did Giant find its way to DTC?
In 2009, I went to Signature Theatre in Washington DC to see their premiere of Giant. Despite being three acts and four hours long, it was one of the most thrilling scores and moving stories I had experienced in years. I immediately reached out to the musical’s writers, Michael John LaChiusa and Sybille Pearson, to learn what future they envisioned for their show. Simultaneously, I mentioned to Oskar Eustis, the artistic director of the Public Theater, how much I loved the material. He had also seen it and shared my passion for the piece. We decided to propose to Michael John and Sybille a collaboration between our two theaters, which would provide them with time and resources to continue to develop the material, leading to full productions in Dallas and New York.
Other than the obvious Texan connection, why is Giant a good fit for DTC at this time?
First and foremost, it’s a sweeping, emotionally moving story, filled with passionate characters and a breathtaking score. Equally importantly, it directly addresses themes that have been at the heart of our identities as Texans, and, by extension, the fundamental challenges and hopes for all of us in America today. The musical depicts the sweeping power of history, as men transition from cattle ranchers to oil barons, the powerful changes in relationships that people experience within their families over the course of their lives, and the blending of many distinct cultures that is at the center of our American identity. It’s a large, epic story, with a big heart and clear eyes—that sounds like Texas to me!
You will be presenting this as a co-production with The Public Theater. How has this enhanced the experience of working on the show knowing that it will have that crucial next step after the DTC run?
This collaboration has been essential for the development of this piece. By combining our resources, we have been able to provide the writers with an extended period of time to continue to develop their work, a unified producerial vision, and a consistent dramaturgical response. Over time, and with a deep commitment to the work that extends from Dallas to New York, you build a deeper, more meaningful artistic dialogue and a greater sense of honesty and trust for everyone involved. It’s also important for us, as we develop new plays and musicals at DTC, that the work we believe in so passionately is able to continue to engage with audiences beyond our community. Being able to work toward a culminating vision that extends even past the run of the show in Dallas has been wonderful for everyone.
Giant very much lived up to its name when in DC. What have the writers done since DC to the show to prepare it for its next steps?
It’s still giant – but it’s now shorter than it was in DC (in Dallas the show will be 2 acts and 3 hours long). When the Public and DTC began the process two years ago, we reached out to Michael Greif to join the project as the director. He’s been a vital collaborator, bringing his fresh insights and clear vision to the process. Michael John and Sybille have added and changed elements of the score and the script, ranging from deepening their explorations of some of the characters to new ideas about structure. The piece has more clarity and speed, but still retains its gloriously epic, romantic quality.
How will the show change from DTC to the Public Theater?
The writers and creative team will continue to develop the piece, not just until opening night in Dallas, but then in the months afterwards before the production in New York. Though the physical production, orchestrations, story and characters will remain consistent, the creators will be able to continue to refine and explore their vision in between the two productions. Even after months of workshops and readings, nothing is more clarifying and inspiring than experiencing a new musical with an audience. All of us will learn a great deal from the audiences in Dallas, which will then continue to inspire the creative team when they move on to the next leg of the journey at the Public.
What can people expect to experience when they come down to see Giant at DTC?
A large cast, a beautiful physical production, a ravishing score, and a musical that is grappling with large themes and ideas. It’s an important piece with a big heart.
For more information about Giant at Dallas Theater Center, please visit www.dallastheatercenter.org.

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The Spring Conference...already!

The Fall Conference is barely over, and I’m already at work on the Spring Conference! I actually have been since June, when I traveled to two cities selected by the members as possible locations (on both trips I did double duty, attending a conference in one and visiting members in another). A lot goes into finding the right location for the conferences, both in New York and elsewhere. Hotels are great because they’re all-in-one: Attendees can stay there, and facilities, catering and audio-visual services are all packaged together. Many factors are considered, taking into account the diversity of our membership. It’s important to find a place where everyone will be comfortable and well taken care of, and is also affordable to all of the members. We also strive to keep NAMT’s own costs down, so that we can pass those savings on to you in the lowest possible registration fees. And with all the time we spend in the conference room, it can’t just be any old space. You’d be surprised how few hotels have event spaces with windows! It’s important for me to make these trips to see the venues in person, try the food, and spend the night in the hotel when possible (it’s worth noting that this doesn’t cost NAMT anything, since the hotels are after our business and treat me pretty well!)
For the city, we survey the members periodically to see where you’re interested in going. It’s better for me if we have a member in town. Some host at their venues, but even if not, having local knowledge is extremely helpful.
The 2012 Spring Conference will be held on March 22-24 in Seattle, WA. We have an amazing rate at the beautiful W Hotel, which I think you’ll all like very much, and we’ll also spend time at the 5th Avenue Theatre and Village Theatre. Save the date and watch for details in the coming weeks!

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Fall Conference 2011 - Inspiration in Tough Times

In addition to the Festival of New Musicals, NAMT held our annual Fall Conference for our members and invited guests last weekend.  Since it takes place in conjunction with the Festival, the Fall Conference typically focuses on new works.  This year we decided to take a more holistic approach, looking at the overall health and future of the art form and the industry.

We couldn’t have asked for a better start than the keynote speech by legendary director and producer Harold Prince.  Hal spoke passionately about his long career and the state of the field today, with particular focus on what he sees as a lack of mentoring opportunities for young producers and artists, and a lack of singular “creative producers” in a world where making theatre has become prohibitively expensive and making a living as an artist seems next to impossible.  That sounds dour but it wasn’t!  I think the attendees were inspired by the challenge to support young artists and create work with passion – something at which most NAMT members already excel.

From there we heard from a wide variety of educators about how they are working to train exactly the next generation that Hal spoke about nurturing.  We spoke about young musical theatre writers who have never heard of Sondheim (!), who are coming to the field with stories to tell and all sorts of musical styles in their backgrounds.  Plus actors, directors and more, and how we’re preparing them to enter the industry with new works and classics alike.

The last panel of the day was a challenging one, addressing the issues of racial diversity (or lack thereof) in musical theatre.  This hour-long session could easily have been twice as long, as the issues ranged so widely, including color-blind casting (“I prefer non-traditional, color-specific casting,” said Ralph Remington of the NEA, meaning a conscious choice made to change a character’s race), diversity of stories being told, and audience outreach to different communities. It was a great discussion that barely scratched the surface, but challenged attendees to think about these issues and how we can serve the art, and our communities – both artistic and in the audience.

Day two began with an unexpected bonus: Ralph Remington from the NEA talked with us about changes at the NEA and the current state of federal funding for the arts.  As anyone following the news will have guessed, it wasn’t the best news we heard this day!  But it was a great opportunity for NAMT members to gain insight into the granting process and have a dialogue about the challenges they face and the goals of the NEA.

Segueing nicely, four NAMT members shared stories and case studies of how they’ve been able to keep costs down during the recession without sacrificing the quality their audiences expect.  Attendees came away with adaptable, scalable ideas they could use in their own theatres. 

The next panel looked at the challenges of recording new shows for promotion or sale, especially regional productions.  Cast albums are essential to getting new shows “out there” to potential new fans and producers, but they’re expensive to make and rarely make much money back. Fortunately our panel included people who are passionate and committed to preserving new shows, including Sh-K-Boom Records founder Kurt Deutsch, and the Grammys’ Elizabeth Healy, who made sure we knew that any cast album can be submitted for a Grammy Award, not just Broadway shows, and that without submissions the category could be in danger.

Next up was a continuation of last year’s session on continued life for new works – the challenges of getting second productions and beyond.  A lot has changed in the last twenty years or so.  How does a new work enter the canon, especially if it doesn’t go through Broadway first?  There were no easy answers, but the NAMT members seem to be leading the charge to keep the new works pipeline going.

After lunch and some small group discussions, we came back together to end the conference with a session on new looks at classic works, and how NAMT member theatres are adapting classics to fit their spaces and budgets, and to appeal to new audiences, with the support of the licensers and estates.

It was a very inspiring and information-filled two days, only slightly hampered by unseasonal snow!  I personally always find our conferences very energizing, as I love seeing our members and hearing about all the great theatre happening around the country.  It’s encouraging to see members sharing ideas and resources, taking techniques that are scalable and adaptable to organizations of all different sizes.

NAMT conferences are open to members and invited guests only.  The next one will be held on March 22-24, 2012 in Seattle and will be about marketing. I hope to see you there!

Photos by David T. Cole

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Introducing this year's writers....Part 2

Yesterday, you got to meet the 4 of the writing teams and now it is time to meet the other 4 teams! These are the teams who will present their work on October 27 and 28 at New World Stages on Stage 3 as part of our 23rd Annual Festival of New Musicals.
Don’t forget to register before Sunday!

BERNICE BOBS HER HAIR
Book & Lyrics by Julia Jordan, Music & Lyrics by Adam Gwon
Directed by Joe Calarco, Music Direction by Andy Einhorn



THE DOGS OF PRIPYAT
Book by Jill Abramovitz & Leah Napolin
Music by Aron Accurso, Lyrics by Jill Abramovitz
Directed by Peter Flynn, Music Direction by Brad Haak



GOLDEN BOY OF THE BLUE RIDGE
Book by Peter Mills & Cara Reichel
Music & Lyrics by Peter Mills
Based on “The Playboy of the Western World” by J.M. Synge
Directed by Gordon Greenberg, Music Direction by Eli Zoller



NOTES TO MARIANNE
by Dan Lipton & David Rossmer
Directed by Jeremy Dobrish, Music Direction by Chris Fenwick

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Introducing this year's writers...Pt. 1

The Festival is only a week away! Time to meet this year’s writers…a some are returning writers, some are a newbies to the NAMT Festival, but all of their shows are NEW!  

In Part 1, we will introduce you to the writers and the shows that will take place on Stage 2 of New World Stages at the 23rd Annual Festival of New Musicals this October 27 and 28.  Don’t forget to register before registration closes on Sunday!  

DANI GIRL
Book & Lyrics by Christopher Dimond, Music by Michael Kooman
Directed by Scott Schwartz, Music Direction by Andy Einhorn

BLOODSONG OF LOVE
by Joe Iconis
Directed by John Simpkins, Music Direction by Brian Usifer

PREGNANCY PACT
Book & Lyrics by Gordon Leary, Music by Julia Meinwald
Directed by Mark Brokaw, Music Direction by Rich Silverstein
(warning: Like the show, this video contains strong language)

WATT?!?
Book & Lyrics by David Javerbaum, Music by Brendan Milburn
Directed by Steve Cosson, Music Direction by Zachary Dietz

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The Festival is almost here!

It is fall in NYC and that means it is time for our annual Festival of New Musicals! (Have you registered yet?) Even on my fourth one, things still excite me every day about the Festival. We have such an amazing group of shows and writers for you all to enjoy this year. I know that as you learn more about these writers and their shows, you, too, will feel the rising anticipation and energy. To help share the excitement, I’ve prepared two new pre-Festival features this year.
First, if you go to the Festival page on our website, you will notice that you can now click links to read about the development history, the show synopsis, and, new this year, “5 Things You Should Know” for each show. This new section is filled with 5 factoids the writing teams want you to know about the show before you see it. They range from what they need next, to staging desires, to contextual background info.
Second, for NAMT members and alumni writers only, you can see 3-minute interviews with each of the writing teams. 4 of the 8 show videos are currently up on the website and the other 4 will be up next week, just as soon as we can get them scheduled, shot and edited! You get a chance to hear from the writers, put a face to a name and learn more about the shows. You will need to log in to access them. If you need your log-in information, please contact Kimberly (kimberly@namt.org).
Demos are being pressed, casts are being cast, the program is being proofed…and you are the last piece of the puzzle. Visit the Festival page, be inspired by our writers’ videos and don’t forget to register now for our 23rd Annual Festival of New Musicals!

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FROM THE ROAD: Chicagoland

When the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, IL (about 40 minutes north of Chicago) announced that they would be presenting the world premiere of For The Boys, it was quickly added to my list of destinations as I had not yet had a chance to visit them. The show uses songs from the WWII era and has a book by Aaron Thielen (co-creator of The Bowery Boys from our 2010 Festival) based on the Bette Midler-James Caan film. It is always great to make that first trip to a NAMT member and finally see their artistic home. I really enjoyed the show and the audience thoroughly embraced it! The Marriott is in the round so I know that they are now looking for a proscenium theatre for the next step. Terry James, Marriott Theatre’s Executive Producer, and his team are working closely with the USO on the production, which is a brilliant partnership. The show is a love letter to the USO!

 
I then took the train down to catch the evening production of Murder For Two at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. The show is by Kellan Blair and Joe Kinosian, whom I met last summer at Northwestern University and ASCAP’s Mercer Project. Chicago Shakes’ Creative Producer, Rick Boynton, and I met beforehand and he said the show was doing very well and keeps on extending. That is because the show was a laugh riot and brilliantly done! With only two actors and piano, it is a tour-de-force murder mystery in 90 minutes. One actor is the detective and one actor is everyone else. The audience went crazy during it! Rick and his team did an amazing job and I know that this is a show that will be around for a long time.

 

Both shows are running until October 16, so there is plenty of time to plan your trip to the Greater Chicago area to catch these two exciting new musicals!

Branden Huldeen
New Works Director

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More Sub Rights News

Our friends at the National New Play Network announced this summer that they have eliminated subsidiary rights from their commissions. This affects not just NNPN, but their member theatres, who agree to forgo future rights on plays receiving NNPN funds. This was a big topic at last year’s NAMT Fall Conference, in a great discussion about how to balance the income of writers and the income of theatres — especially smaller ones — that spend money on developing a new work and depend on future return. (At the conference, John Weidman argued that we shouldn’t be talking about rights at all, but rather “subsidiary participation in an author’s revenues.” If you missed it, NAMT members can view video highlights of this panel here.)
For NNPN’s Rolling World Premiere program, member theatres will get sub rights only after the playwright’s income has reached a certain amount— a “bonanza clause.” As NNPN puts it, “Bonanza Clauses have become frequent compromises between playwrights who deserve to make a living and theaters which want to be compensated for the future success of a play if it goes Boom, so to speak.”
This is an interesting issue and one that I’m sure we’ll continue discussions for a long time (including at this year’s Fall Conference), as all of us who are passionate about new works strive to find a balance between the needs of artists and the needs or producers. We need both to create new musicals!

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FROM THE ROAD: VT and CT - Hurricane Irene Edition!

Like the postman, I will brave all weather for the sake of musical theatre and NAMT, but thankfully Irene held off long enough so I could swing by the Weston Playhouse Theatre Co., in Weston, VT and see the opening night of the world premiere of Saint Ex, by Sean Barry and Jenny Giering (Festival Alumna from Princess Caraboo). The Weston Playhouse received a $15,000 grant from our National Fund for New Musicals for this production, so I was honored to represent NAMT on opening night. It was a beautiful production of a sweeping and touching musical about the life of the man who wrote The Little Prince, directed by Kent Nicholson. Resident Producing Director Steve Stettler and his team did a wonderful job of nurturing this show and bringing it to life. The night was capped off with the late-night cabaret performance downstairs from some of the cast and staff entertaining the elated crowd.

After a quick stop by the Vermont Country Store for cheese and maple syrup, it was off to see the matinee of The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown at Goodspeed Musicals. I was
supposed to see the evening performance but with Irene in Virginia, I thought it would be best to catch an earlier show so I could get home and avoid the hurricane. Sam Brown is by Brian Lowdermilk and Kait Kerrigan and is about a young woman on the morning of her first day of college who can’t decide between school and finally doing what she wants. It was a great production and the small audience, of those willing to brave a storm for art, loved it!

Sadly, the actualities of the storm started to set in after that show. It was supposed to be Sam Brown’s third-to-last show, but because of Irene…it became their last show during the performance. They had a great run but it was sad to hear that they and the audience would be deprived of the final two performances.

After Irene passed, the effects of the storm really hit home when I heard that the Weston was flooded, halting their production of Saint-Ex until the theatre was cleaned up and what was able to be saved was salvaged. As the photos on their Facebook page started to come in, it became clear that while flood was horrible, the Weston staff, volunteers and actors were resilient and wouldn’t let a little water and mud get in their way. By the end of the week, the show was back up (modified to embrace some necessary changes); an amazing feat! And I know that, storm or not, Saint Ex will fly again at many theatres around the country!

Branden Huldeen
New Works Director

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