3rd Annual Festival of New Musicals
1991

Overview
September 15 - 16
Musicals
The Adventures Of Friar Tuck
Synopsis
The story of how an irascible monk created the legendary Robin Hood and the unforseen consequences which followed.
Book Of James
Synopsis
The story of a country preacher and his family who, when thrust into the world of televangelism, must come to terms with the loss of their ideals.
Columbus
Synopsis
A musical exploring the historical figure of Christopher Columbus, a product of his time and environment, who both accepts and confronts the various dimensions of his turbulent age.
Girl, The Grouch, and the Goat, The (fka Complaining Well)
Genre & Style:
Synopsis
The Girl, The Grouch, and the Goat is a musical adaptation of Dykolos (“The Grouch”), a play by the ancient Greek playwright, Menander. The Musical is is set in the small farming village of Phyle, on the outskirts of Athens, in Ancient Greece. The show focuses on a poor farmer, Clemnon, (a.k.a. The Grouch), his beautiful daughter, Myrhrrine, and the complications that ensue when a shy young man, Xander, takes an interest in Myrhinne. The Grouch, terrified of losing his daughter, now that she is almost grown, locks Myrrhinne in their house and forbids her to see Xander. Happily Aphrodite is on Myrhinne’s side and through a series of magical events everything ends happily. Or does it?
Conrack
Ideal Cast Size: 13
Ideal Band Size: 5
Style: Inspirational Romantic Comedy
Synopsis
Conrack is the story of an idealistic young teacher assigned to educate a group of unruly children living on an isolated island off the coast of South Carolina.
Ghost Dance
Synopsis
An exploration of the Native American experience through the eyes of Red Feather, who travels through time searching for the Heart of his people.
Gunmetal Blues
Synopsis
A hard-boiled lounge act where a private eye and a missing blonde find a world of shattered dreams.
Hurry! Hurry! Hollywood!
Synopsis
A lavish musical set in 1929 in which three young hopefuls find themselves in the throes of fame and fortune in the zany world of Tinseltown’s Golden Age.
Junkyard
Synopsis
A musical of the ’90s – from rock to jazz, salsa to gospel. The rejects of society meet in this urban junkyard, a spark is ignited, and a new society is formed.
Rhythm Ranch
Synopsis
An affectionate look at the great old movie westerns of the ’30s and ’40s, with barroom brawls and romances won, lost and double-crossed.
Ruthless!
Synopsis
The story of an eight year old little girl who must destroy everyone in her way in order to get the lead in the Thorne Girls Academy’s production of ‘Pippi Longstocking in Tahiti.’
Some Sweet Day
Synopsis
A Southern musical drama depicting the lives of black and white sharecroppers in Depression-ridden Arkansas and their battle against drought, bigotry, and the Klan.
Writers & Artists
Mark Ray Hollmann
Lyrics & Music, Girl, The Grouch, and the Goat, The (fka Complaining Well)
Mark Hollmann received the Tony, National Broadway Theatre, and Obie Awards for his score to Urinetown. Other shows as composer/lyricist: Yeast Nation; Bigfoot and Other Lost Souls; The Man in the White Suit; The Girl, the Grouch and the Goat; Alchemist the Musical; Jack the Chipper; Kabooooom!; I Think I Can; Deal with It!; and Fare for All. Actor and/or co-writer for the Cardiff Giant Theater productions The Rack, Theater of Funny, The Mercy Ripper, LBJFKKK, Love Me, All Eight Die, and After Taste, the last of which he also directed. TV: songs for Disney Channel’s Johnny and the Sprites. He has served on the Tony Nominating Committee, serves on the Council of the Dramatists Guild of America, and is a member of ASCAP. He and his wife Jilly live in Manhattan with their sons, Oliver and Tucker.
Si Kahn
Lyrics & Music, Some Sweet Day
SI KAHN has been a musical theater composer, lyricist, and bookwriter for 40 years. His musicals, in turn funny and heart-wrenching, are informed by his 50-year career as a civil rights, union, and community organizer. They’ve been seen in full productions and readings at the Goodspeed Musicals’ Norma Terris Theatre; the Berkeley, Milwaukee, and Tennessee Repertory Theatres; Perseverance Theatre in Juneau, Alaska; the NAMT Festival of New Musicals; the York and Amas Musical Theatre Companies in Manhattan; the Central Square Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Main Stage West in Sebastopol, California, where he is the official Artist in Residence. Si’s musicals include “Mother Jones In Heaven”, “Precious Memories”, “Silver Spoon”, “Joe Hill’s Last Will”, “Some Sweet Day”, and “Hope”. A much-honored bluegrass and folk music songwriter, his songs have been recorded and performed by hundreds of artists, and translated into half a dozen languages.