Back to the 29th Annual Festival of New Musicals

Fall Springs

2017 Festival

Director
Stephen Brackett

Music Director
Emily Marshall

Cast
Jon-Viktor Corpuz, Trista Dollison, Alan H. Green, Janine LaManna, Lacretta, Alyse Alan Louis, Ken Marks, Will Roland and David Shih

Contact for Rights

Mark Orsini, Bret Adams Ltd., (212) 765-5630 morsini@bretadamsltd.net
Or Peter Nachtrieb, (415) 297-1137, peter.nachtrieb@gmail.com
Website: http://www.fallspringsmusical.com


Number of Acts: 2
Number of Principals (Male): 5
Number of Principals (Female): 4
Total Cast Size: 9
Orchestra Breakdown:

Keys, Drums, Guitar, Bass

Genre & Style:


Search Set & Costume Registry


Synopsis

Fall Springs is a semi-charming, cash-strapped town that sits directly on top of America’s largest reserve of cosmetic essential oils. It has big dreams, but at what cost? With new fracking techniques being recklessly implemented, the ground beneath Fall Springs is crumbling. Boulders, sheds, and the occasional bartender are being swallowed into the ground. And that’s only the beginning.

A smart, quirky female protagonist gives new life to the perennial story of a young idealist battling to save her town. Committee members responded as much to the show’s irreverent, anarchic sense of humor as to the timeliness of its subject matter.

- Festival Committee

Development History

Developmental support and space for Fall Springs has been provided by Ars Nova, New Dramatists and TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. Readings have been presented at New Dramatists (2012, 2014), Ars Nova (2013) and The York Theatre (2016).

Festival Successes

August 2018 reading and subsquent world premiere production in August 2019 at Barrington Stage Company (MA).

5 Things You Should Know

  1. Fall Springs’ initial dramatic structure was inspired and modeled after tropes found in many disaster movies (for example, many contain fraught relationships between kids and their single parents, denial of scientific warnings, and selfish behavior that often leads to a grisly death). Our hope, however, is to not be a genre satire, but use the fun of the form to tell a personal and relevant story about climate change and willful human ignorance.
  2. Fall Springs has an indie-rock driven score that embodies the youthful angst and rebellious spirit of the teenagers of Fall Springs. The sound of the grown-ups is a little more eclectic, drawing upon funk, classic rock, disco and swing influences. Large choral company numbers with close harmonies over the driving backline capture the primal drama of the piece. The music aims less to satirize and more to genuinely express the heart of the characters. Its ideal orchestra would be the same as a pimped out rock band.
  3. We believe the tone and playful spirit of the show gives an opportunity to be very creative, scrappy, playful and clever-with-a-small-budget theatrical in the portrayal of the many action sequences that take place during the show.
  4. In an October 2016 Pew Foundation Study, 48% of Americans believed that global climate change is due to human activity.  According to NASA, the scientific consensus among climate scientists is about 97%.
  5. Fall Springs would love an opportunity for an extended development period that would ideally lead to a full production of our irreverent and relevant show. (And that would ideally lead to an empowered citizenry aware and ready to protect our environment.)
Excerpts