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
Craig Bohmler
Lyrics & Music, Gunmetal Blues
Craig Bohmler is a pianist and composer whose works have been frequently performed in Europe, America and Japan. Mr. Bohmler has composed four operas, twelve musicals, 200 art songs and numerous choral, orchestral, and band works. His musicals ENTER THE GUARDSMAN (which won first prize in the International Musical of the Year competition and was nominated for an Olivier Award for ?best musical?) and GUNMETAL BLUES and have both played in London and Off-Broadway; both past participants in NAMT?s New Works Festival. He has written operas for Houston Grand Opera, Opera San Jose, and Arizona Opera, which premiered RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE in 2017 and remounted it in 2020. The recipient of several grants (including three NEA grants), his works are published by Theatrical Rights Worldwide (TRW), Santa Barbara Music Publishing, Samuel French, and Dramatic Publishing, and recorded by Columbus, Centaur, Original Cast, and BMS records.
Jack Helbig
Book, Girl, The Grouch, and the Goat, The (fka Complaining Well)
Jack Helbig is a writer living in Oak Park, Illinois. He has written numerous plays, including Thinking of Her Made Him Think of Her and Snow White, who is also called Becky, no Rebecca, and the Frog Prince. He has translated several operettas into English, including The Merry Widow. The musical he wrote with Mark Hollman, Wild Goat, was part of the 1991 NAMT New Musicals Festival.
Si Kahn
Lyrics & Music, Some Sweet Day
Si Kahn is in his 52nd year as a professional civil rights, union and community organizer, musician, and author. Si has had full productions at the Berkeley, Milwaukee and Tennessee Repertory Theatres; Goodspeed Musicals? Norma Terris Theatre; the Asheville (North Carolina) Fringe Arts Festival; the Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC) in Nashville; the Playgroup in Knoxville; Piccolo Spoleto Fringe in Charleston, South Carolina; Perseverance Theatre in Juneau, Alaska; Central Square Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts; the Warehouse Performing Arts Center in Cornelius, North Carolina; and the Subversive Theatre Collective in Buffalo, New York. He has had staged readings for three different musicals, SILVER SPOON, MOTHER JONES IN HEAVEN (AND HELL), and HOPE at The York Theatre Company (Off-Broadway).
Doug Katsaros
Music, Conrack
As theatre composer, Doug contributed material to A. . . My Name is
Alice, Diamonds, Just So, Abie?s Island Rose, Elisabeth & Essex, Moby
Dick, and Lingoland (all Off-B?way). He also wrote music for The End,
Valadon (TRU Theatre Festival), Great Expectations (Mill Mountain,
VA), Merton of the Movies (winner of the Main Street Musicals Award)
and Orphan Train (NYMF, NY Theatre Institute, Grand Central Terminal?s
100th anniversary). He writes special material for Ringling Brothers
Circus, Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks and their Thanksgiving Day
Parade, winning the Emmy for Best Original Song. Doug has also served
as arranger, orchestrator, MD, and conductor for many theatrical
productions.