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Festival Show Update: Gun & Powder

January 10, 2020

Last month, we checked in with Angelica Chéri and Ross Baum about their 2018 Festival show Gun & Powder. The show is about to have its world premiere at Signature Theatre in Virginia
What did you discover about Gun & Powder after presenting it in the 2018 Festival, and what work have you done on the show since then?
Through our NAMT presentation we were able to hone in on the collective identity of our ensemble. Our initial approach had been to assemble a group of people who appeared to have some stake in the history of Mary & Martha Clarke, but they weren’t clearly defined. After the NAMT Festival, we chose to solidify our ensemble as a core group of ancestors, called the “Kinfolk,” ostensibly having a conversation around the family dinner table, letting the audience in on their intimate shared narrative. In January 2019 we spent two wonderful weeks at the Johnny Mercer Colony at Goodspeed, crafting these rewrites in preparation for our Signature production.
What have you been doing to prepare for the world premiere production, and what has your partnership with Signature looked like?
In addition to the Mercer Colony, we spent time working together in New York and Los Angeles—our two respective coasts—writing new songs, connecting ensemble moments with our new framework, fleshing out character arcs and incorporating other notes from our growing team of collaborators. Our partnership with Signature has been really exciting so far—they have been very supportive of our vision and helped us to assemble a dream cast and creative team. They’ve also included us in key conversations around marketing and context for the prominent messages of the show.
Tell us a little bit about the creative team that’s been put together for this world premiere, and what you are most looking forward to in the rehearsal process.
We have the brilliant Robert O’Hara (Slave Play, Bootycandy) as our director with choreography by Byron Easley (Slave Play), music direction by Darryl Ivey (Shuffle Along), set design by Jason Sherwood (Emmy winner for RENT: Live), costume design by Dede Ayite (Secret Life Of Bees, American Son), lighting design by Alex Jainchill (BLKS), and orchestrations by Tony-nominee John Clancy (Mean Girls, Fun Home) and Scott Wasserman (Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen).

We are most excited to see Gun & Powder come to life because we know it is going to be nothing like the versions we have envisioned in our heads for the past five years, especially with a creative team of such amazing artists. We are also thrilled to see what our fabulous cast is going to bring to the story because we will undoubtedly discover so much from this group of smart, talented actors. We are eager to see how the show will morph and grow in the bodies of living, breathing human beings.
What do you hope is next for the show, and how can NAMT members who are interested in its future development get involved now?
Our ultimate goal is to take the show to Broadway, and we have begun to assemble a powerful producing and general management team—some of whom we met directly through the NAMT Festival!—to help chart the journey. We would welcome the support of NAMT members who are interested in our show. Feel free to get in touch!
Why should people plan a visit to the DC area to check out the world premiere?
We were so delightfully overwhelmed by the outpouring of positive feedback from the NAMT community after our presentation and we would love the opportunity to share the full story with you all!

For more information about Gun & Powder, and to purchase tickets to the upcoming production, please visit the Signature Theatre website.

NAMT News

Festival Show Update: The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes

December 3, 2019

This month we caught up with Michael Kooman and Chris Dimond about their 2014 Festival show The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes. The show recently had its world premiere at Village Theatre, and released a cast album, which is now available for purchase. In addition to …Howard Barnes, the pair also penned the 2011 Festival show Dani Girl.
What was the post Festival response to The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes when you presented the show in 2014?
Oh, you know, people were rioting in the streets, starting political revolutions and such. It was like The Rite of Spring, if The Rite of Spring were an abbreviated, 45-minute musical. 🙂
Seriously though, we had a lot of fantastic responses to the Festival presentation. We learned a ton about the show by presenting it in that manner, and the experience generated a number of opportunities for both the show itself, and for our broader careers. In fact, one of the reasons we ended up getting hired to write the songs for VAMPIRINA is because two Disney executives saw that presentation.
…Howard Barnes had its world premiere at Village Theatre last year—how did the production go, and what was the most exciting part of getting to put the show on its feet?
The Village production was the culmination of the eight-year journey we’ve gone on with this show, and it was absolutely thrilling. It’s a show for a big cast and Village gave us all the resources we needed to make this show come to life. Plus, we had an absolutely fantastic team to collaborate with. It was a complete joy to be in the room from beginning to end.
It’s always thrilling to watch a show come to life on stage, but for us the most exciting part is how much the show itself grows through the process. We learned a ton during the production process, and the show improved immensely as a result.
One of our favorite parts of the process are the challenging rewrites that have to happen as a show moves from the page to the stage. For instance, in tech we discovered that we had a 30-second scene change that needed to be covered right after the second song. We had a day to write something that felt necessary and fun and that didn’t just mark time. It ended up being one of our favorite moments of the show, and it all came out as a result of the process of being in production and learning what the show needs in order to be fully realized on stage. (It’s the last half of track two on the album, if you’d care to listen further…)

You have a cast album that dropped this Fall! Why did you make the decision to produce the album, and what did the production process look like?
At a certain point during rehearsals, we were like “Uhm…we need to preserve this. It’s too much fun.” So we did just that: the day after closing we went in the studio, while the energy was still fresh, and birthed this cast album. We were blown away by the talent and artistry of the actors and musicians from Seattle, and we’re happy to have captured for posterity them on this recording.
Why should everyone get their cast album now?
Because Lord knows we’re paying our rent with the .0067 cents per play we get on Spotify.
But really, particularly for NAMT members and writers, this is the kind of show with an enormous number of theatre “easter eggs” in it. (True theatre nerds may want to look out for our favorite, a reference to a certain line from The Sound of Music about what Maria “caahn’t face”).
It’s a show that both celebrates and makes fun of theatre, in addition to being the journey of a man coming to terms with his vulnerability and finding the music and joy in his life. I think we can all use a little more of that these days…
How can members interested in …Howard Barnes’ next steps get involved with the show now?
Anyone interested in the show can reach out to us directly at koomandimond@gmail.com.
You can purchase The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes’ soundtrack here, and for more information on the show, please visit Kooman and Dimond’s website.

NAMT News

New Work in Progress: The Ballad of Klook and Vinette

May 1, 2019

Last month, we chatted with Dave Steakley, the producing artistic director at NAMT member ZACH Theatre. ZACH is about to open a production of 2017 Festival show The Ballad of Klook and Vinette, formerly known as Klook’s Last Stand, written by Ché Walker, Anoushka Lucas and Omar Leyfook. Dave told us a little about what to expect from the upcoming production, and why everyone should make their way to Texas and check it out.
Tender, funny and incredibly moving, this contemporary new love story will grab you from the inside out. Klook and Vinette are two lost souls trying to find themselves in one another. Against all odds and with the past at their heels, together they make a tentative stab at happiness. This is a seductive musical about inevitability and the thrill of falling in love.

NAMT News

Festival Show Update: The Mad Ones

August 29, 2017

This month we caught up with Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk, the writers of 2016 Festival show The Mad Ones (formerly known as The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown). This November The Mad Ones will receive an off-Broadway run with new NAMT member The Prospect Theater Company, preceded by a concert with NAMT member Philadelphia Theatre Company. We talked with Kait and Brian about what’s been happening with the show since the Festival and how they’re preparing for this next exciting step.

What was the post Festival response to The Mad Ones like?
We had a powerful response to the piece. It’s a show that people in the industry have heard songs from for a long time so I think there was a lot of interest in seeing what the show was about. It was exciting for us to have the songs seen in context and have the piece feel like more than the sum of its parts. We were able to make connections with lots of theaters that might be interested in doing the show down the line as well as develop a few new relationships with champions of the piece.

NAMT News

Festival Show Update: Come From Away

March 1, 2017

In honor of Come From Away‘s upcoming Broadway opening, this month we checked in with Irene Sankoff and David Hein to see how the piece has changed since we last spoke to them after the 2013 Festival, and what’s different about preparing for a Broadway opening. We also took a look back at the show’s beginnings in a interview with Michael Rubinoff.
The last time we checked in with you both, you were preparing for Come From Away’s world premiere at La Jolla Playhouse. The show has had a whirlwind journey since then! What have been some of your favorite moments along the way?
David: La Jolla was incredible! It was our first production, our first reviews, and our first time working with most of our team.
Irene: We went from being this unknown show to people lining up for 3 hours in the hopes of getting tickets. I was walking around in a daze. Then at Seattle Rep, the theatre was much bigger and I remember the look on the cast’s faces after the blackout when the audience responded. They said after it was like being hit by a wall of sound.
David: The phone lines crashed there because of people looking for tickets. And they flew the Mayor of Gander, Newfoundland out—they declared it “Gander Day” and gave him a key to the city. Seattle was very good to us.
Irene: Ford’s Theatre in DC was surreal because there were so many politicians in the audience, from both sides of the aisle. And they reacted the same way to this story of kindness—with laughter and tears. We also had a lot of repeat visitors—some who were survivors of the attack in D.C. and some who had lost loved ones.

NAMT News

Festival Show Update: Beatsville

January 31, 2017

Beatsville, written by Wendy Wilf and Glenn Slater, appeared in the 2008 NAMT Festival. The show is now preparing for its world premiere in a co-production with NAMT member the 5th Avenue Theatre and Asolo Rep Theatre. This month, we caught up with the writers to hear about the work they’ve done on the piece since the Festival leading up to this premiere.

What was the response to Beatsville like after the 2008 Festival?
We had a great Festival—our cast was spectacular, and made the show look fantastic—and we received a hugely gratifying outpouring of interest from various theatres and organizations who wanted to help us take the next step forward. We sort of fumbled the ball a little—we felt that we still had some writing to do, and weren’t sure what that next step should be, and then we got swept up in other projects. Luckily for us, when we were finally ready to move forward, there was still a lot of goodwill in the community from people who remembered it from the Festival, and they proved instrumental in helping us get the show back on track.

Festival Show Update: The Fabulous Fitches

January 3, 2017

The Fabulous Fitches (formerly known as Palm Beach), written by Robert Cary, Benjamin Feldman and David Gursky, has evolved quite a bit since it was presented in NAMT’s Festival in 2001. This month, we checked in with the team to see where the piece is now.

What was the initial reaction to The Fabulous Fitches when it was first presented at the 2001 Festival?
The response was wonderful, and it actually brought the show to the attention of William Morris (now WME), who have represented it ever since.
What developmental work have you done on the show since it was at the NAMT Festival?
The show has had a production (at La Jolla Playhouse in 2005) and several developmental readings, based on what we learned and wanted to explore further in the show.
How has the show evolved in the years since the Festival, and what message does the show hold for audiences today?
The Fabulous Fitches was, in its original form, an homage to screwball Hollywood comedies of the 1930s, in the vein of Bringing Up Baby or My Man Godfrey. Over time, however, we realized that—while the screwball genre helped dictate the tone of the show—what we were really talking about was the American Dream: who gets to live it? And to whom is it denied? We began to ask ourselves, “Who really has a place at the American table?”. And then we put that question through the lens of a brisk 30s-style musical comedy, played very much for laughs.
What have been some of the joys and challenges for you as a writing team as the show has seen more development?
It’s always a joy to continue to have a relationship with a show that is so personal, for all three of us, and which is also the first thing we wrote as a team. The challenges have to do with the fact that the show isn’t really like a lot of other shows, and thus harder to “pitch”—it’s funny and accessible, but it’s political, too, and it doesn’t come with a pre-sold “name brand” which makes it immediately clear what to expect. On the other hand, that may prove one of its assets; it’s very much its own thing.
What would you like to see as a next step for the show?
The show imagines a tremendously wealthy titan of industry, who controls many brands, deciding to run for political office despite having no real qualifications other than his fame and money—seriously. So, despite the first draft being written several years ago, it’s become surprisingly (I’d even say shockingly) topical. It’s also about people thinking one group can lay exclusive claim to “real” American values; again, more topical than we ever imagined it would be by 2016. We had a wonderful developmental reading with Josh Prince directing this summer, and we’d like to find a home for a full production. It seems like the right time, to say the least.

For more information about The Fabulous Fitches, contact Susan Weaving at WME.
Photo: Leo McKnight’s chorus girls (L-R: Taryn Darr, Jennifer Evans and Erica Piccininni) entertain the crowd in The Fabulous Fitches, the world premiere production at La Jolla Playhouse. Photo credit: Ken Howard

NAMT News

Festival Show Update: LIZZIE

June 2, 2016

Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer, Tim Maner and Alan Stevens Hewitt recently began licensing their 2010 Festival show LIZZIE. Now that they’ve begun licensing the show, we wanted to check in with LIZZIE one last time to find out what this new step means for the show.
LIZZIE has had quite the journey since it appeared in the 2010 Festival! Can you tell us a little bit about the developmental path that brought the show to its current form?
SC: In the 2 years following NAMT, we did a developmental production at Village Theatre in Washington, a concert at Ars Nova in New York, and a co-production of Baldwin Wallace University and Playhouse Square in Cleveland, directed by Vicky Bussert who we met when she directed our NAMT presentation. All those productions were very different, and working with such different directors and actors was great for allowing us to see how the show worked and to zero in on things that needed to be sharpened. We did a lot of rewriting in those years, added a few new songs and reworked whole sections. And we changed the name of the show from Lizzie Borden to just LIZZIE.
Then we made the album! We always described LIZZIE as a concept album come to life, but it was just a way of talking about the show. There was no actual album. But in 2013, Alan completely orchestrated the show and produced the recording, which we approached more like a rock record than a cast album. At that point, the show really felt “finished” to us. (The album is on Broadway Records and is available as a CD, digital download, and vinyl.)
Since then we’ve had productions at TUTS in Houston, Portland Center Stage, Fredericia Teater in Denmark, and Ray of Light Theatre in San Francisco.

NAMT News

Festival Show Update: The Boy Who Danced On Air

February 4, 2016

This month, we chat with Festival Alumni Charlie Sohne and Tim Rosser about their 2013 Festival Show, The Boy Who Danced on Air, which is heading to Diversionary Theatre in San Diego this May. This production of The Boy Who Danced on Air is supported by a NAMT National Fund for New Musicals Production Grant, and the show previously received a Writers Residency Grant at New York Theatre Barn.
What was the post-Festival response like to The Boy Who Danced On Air?
Charlie Sohne: I think the big response that we got coming out of the Festival was, “I want to see it with dance!” The world of the show features quite a bit of dance and, beyond that, dance is a fundamental element of how we tell this story — so it was really important to start developing what the choreographic language of the piece was going to be like. We were fortunate enough that right out of the Festival New York Theater Barn (which has long been a really wonderful advocate for the piece) put together a dance workshop for us. It was really exciting to see the work leap off the page and become something more heightened than just a script with music.
Tim Rosser: Since the dance element is so central to the show and was certainly going to require a special touch, we went on a bit of a quest to find the right choreographer. Charlie saw an ad for this piece that Nejla Yatkin was working on called “Oasis: Everything You Wanted To Know About The Middle East But Were Afraid To Dance.” I remember being taken by not just by the beauty of the dance, but by the fact that Nejla often uses clear linear narratives in her dance pieces, which isn’t always the case in modern dance but is, I think, a great advantage in musical theatre. We sent her the script immediately afterwards.

NAMT News

Festival Show Update: Southern Comfort

December 3, 2015

This month, we checked in with Festival Alumni Julianne Wick Davis and Dan Collins about their 2012 Festival Show, Southern Comfort, heading to The Public Theater this February for an Off-Broadway run. Southern Comfort is also a past recipient of NAMT’s National Fund for New Musicals grant, having received a Production grant at Barrington Stage Co., a Project Development grant at CAP21 and a Writers Residency Grant at Playwrights Horizons.
Based on the Sundance Award-winning documentary, this heartwarming musical about a group of transgender friends living in rural Georgia is, at its core, a love story between their patriarch, Robert Eads, and newcomer Lola Cola. Through a unique folk and bluegrass-inspired score, the musical chronicles a year in the lives of this unique American family as they courageously defy the odds by simply remaining on the land to which they were born, reminding us that home is where we find comfort in our skin.

What work have you been doing on the show since your production at Barrington Stage Co. (BSC) a couple of years ago?
We learned so much from the excellent and generous audiences and team at BSC.  Based on the reception and feedback, we have been (and continue to) make adjustments to scenes and music throughout the piece.  Many of the changes are subtle and, observed individually, might only be obvious to those very familiar with the previous incarnations of the script, but we feel that the aggregate will significantly strengthen and clarify the story.  This includes replacing at least one of the existing musical numbers in the show with a new song, as well as new orchestrations throughout.  Also, we are not ignoring the fact that since we originally created and presented the piece, there has been an incredibly encouraging growth in awareness around the subject matter.  So, while the narrative will not change (as it is adapted from the documentary and the events still occur in 1998), we know we are speaking to a more informed audience, which we are taking into consideration as we continue to work through the script.We are all very excited that Southern Comfort will be seen Off Broadway this winter at The Public Theater. How will this production differ from your previous presentations?
One of the significant changes with regard to the current production will be in the casting.  With this production, we have been able to make a wider outreach in order to include transgender actors and we are so excited and grateful for that opportunity!  Beyond casting, we are working with our brilliant director, Tom Caruso, and the amazing design team he has assembled in order to deepen and expand the visual and technical aspects of the production.  We’ve been fortunate to work with a team that is always so respectful and thoughtful in their approach and, as a result, the presentations have always seemed to grow organically out of, and into, the presentation space.  The fact that this space will now be the iconic and uniquely intimate Anspacher Theater is all the more thrilling and we can’t wait to see the many beautiful ways that Tom and the designers make it a home for Southern Comfort!Are there any parts of the show you are excited to explore in this new production?
We are so excited about each of the above-referenced points; the casting, the rewrites, the orchestrations and the design.  In addition to each of those things, we simply look forward to expanding our collaboration to include the incredible team at The Public.  The deep wealth of knowledge and support (not to mention the incredible history!) within those walls is irresistibly inspiring.  We truly look forward to continuing to share our thoughts and ideas with this new community of collaborators as we know the result is going to bring even more potency and life to the piece.  So, in short, we are just really excited to explore absolutely everything in the context of this overwhelmingly inspiring environment and community!
What moments in the show are you excited about sharing with a New York City audience?
We’re excited to share every moment of the show with today’s NYC audience as the whole atmosphere around the subject has changed significantly since our last production. In previous productions, we occasionally witnessed reactions to the subject matter that were not always positive and did not allow those audience members to connect fully to the story. We’re grateful for the current opportunity to see many more moments speak to a wider audience and resonate like they never have before.
Why should everyone head to The Public this winter to see Southern Comfort?
Our musical about Robert Eads and his chosen family is universal. Although the subject matter may seem specific to its community, it ultimately is about family and home. The Public has embraced our show in the most beautiful and relevant way possible and we’re confident that audiences will find themselves and their own family in the story.

For more information about Southern Comfort, visit The Public Theater’s website.

NAMT News

Festival Show Update: Ace

September 29, 2015

This month, we checked in with Robert Taylor and Richard Oberacker about a new version of their 2005 Festival show Ace, which recently had a staged concert production at The Nevada Conservatory Theatre after a few years of revisions. We also chatted with Ace director David H. Bell (below writers’ interview).
Set in 1964, ACE follows the journey of twenty-one-year-old Danny Lucas returning home to discover the truth about his mother’s hidden past. The unexpected appearance of a grandmother he never knew existed leads to an emotional battle over the legacy of Danny’s real father. Uncovering a saga spanning three generations of Ace fighter pilots through two World Wars, this original musical explores the trials and triumphs of a family in search of true heroism.

Ace had quite the extraordinary trajectory right after the 2005 Festival with a handful of full productions starting in 2006 leading up to a production at The Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA. But this was a unique situation where you went in to rehearsals for a full production without ever really having done a reading or a workshop. What did you learn about the show as you worked your way through the multiple productions?
We learned that the core story of the three generations of this American family and the score they sang resonated deeply with audiences. We also learned that the central character was entirely passive with no control over his destiny and without true stakes or even an identifiable antagonist. And we learned that the majority of the first act was expositional and that the stories of the past didn’t arise organically from the present. Perhaps the most striking thing we discovered was that by deciding to have a lead character who was a child, it demanded there be a host of other ancillary characters to provide the realistic infrastructure for a child’s needs which naturally confused and diffused our central story.

NAMT News

Festival Show Update: Bernice Bobs Her Hair

August 6, 2015

This month, we check in with Adam Gwon and Julia Jordan as they prepare their 2011 Festival Show Bernice Bobs Her Hair for its premiere production at Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma this Fall.

In this new delightful dancing musical, small town socially awkward Bernice visits her popular cousin in the big city and finds herself making changes to fit in with her cousin and the popular crowd. Testing the limits of society, free-spirited Bernice bobs her hair, becoming a social revolutionary in the roaring 20’s.

It has been four years since we presented Bernice Bobs Her Hair in the Festival, but do you remember what the reception for the show was like at the Festival?
We remember a great reception, and how much Kate Wetherhead made everyone laugh! We got several offers immediately after the festival, and for a variety of reasons we can’t even remember, none of them worked out at the time. A lot of colleges were interested, but we felt strongly that we wanted to solidify the show with a professional production before releasing it out into the world. So we waited patiently for the right opportunity to come along.

Both of you have been quite busy with other projects over the past few years. What work have you done on Bernice?
When we found out that Lyric Theatre would be doing the premiere, it’d been awhile since we’d revisited the script, and at almost the exact same moment, we got an email from Bruce Goodrich at CSU Fullerton, who’d seen the show at NAMT and was checking in to see if Bernice had become available. It was perfect timing, so we did a reading with them and identified all the rewrites we wanted to do before going into rehearsal for the production. We also have a new 11 o’clock number for Bernice, which we wrote in two airport hotel bars after getting stuck on our way home from auditions in Oklahoma City!