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 composer whose works are frequently performed in Europe and North America and Japan. Primarily a composer for the “singing theater,” Mr. Bohmler has 4 operas and 12 musicals to his credit as well as 200 songs and numerous choral and orchestral works. His musicals GUNMETAL BLUES and ENTER THE GUARDSMAN have both played in London and Off-Broadway as well as in regional and international theatres. He was composer-in–residence for Arizona Opera from 2012-2017 where his western opera RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE premiered in February 2017. He has been the recipient of several grants including three NEA grants and three “meet the composer” grants. He is published by Theatrical Rights Worldwide (TRW), Santa Barbara Music Publishing, Samuel French, and Dramatic Publishing as well as recorded by Columbus, Centaur, Original Cast, Naxos, and BMS records. More information and recordings may be found at Craigbohmler.com and Ridersopera.com
Mark Ray Hollmann
Lyrics & Music, Girl, The Grouch, and the Goat, The (fka Complaining Well)
Mark Hollmann won the Tony Award®, the National Broadway Theatre Award, and the Obie Award for his music and lyrics to URINETOWN THE MUSICAL, which went from the 1999 New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC) to receiving 10 Tony Award® nominations and 11 Drama Desk Award nominations and winning the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Drama League Award, and the Lucille Lortel Award for best musical.
His other shows as composer/lyricist include THE STING (Paper Mill Playhouse), ZM (Village Theatre Beta Series), YEAST NATION (FringeNYC 2011) and BIGFOOT AND OTHER LOST SOULS (Perseverance Theatre).
For TV, he has written songs for the Disney Channel’s JOHNNY AND THE SPRITES.
He is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) and the Dramatists Guild of America and has served on the council of the Dramatists Guild as well as on the Tony Award® Nominating Committee.
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
DOUG KATSAROS (Composer & Orchestrator)
Doug is an Emmy-winning composer whose work on and off Broadway includes Footloose, The Life, Rocky Horror, Altar Boyz, The Toxic Avenger, A…My Name is Alice, Laughing Room Only and Gettin’ The Band Back Together. He has written several TV and film scores including “The Tick,” “The Jim Henson Hour” and “Mancuso FBI.” He has dozens of gold and platinum CDs for his work with artists such as Kiss, Sinéad O’Connor, Gloria Estefan, Frank Sinatra, Todd Rundgren, Rod Stewart, Judy Collins, B. B. King, Marlo Thomas, Donny Osmond, Richie Havens, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Cher, Michael Bolton, and Peter Paul & Mary, among others. He writes special material for Ringling Brothers and Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks and Thanksgiving Day Parades and lives in New York with his wife, composer/keyboardist Elise Morris, and yes, he is the guy who wrote “By Mennen.”