Gordon Leary

153 posts

The Magnificent Seven @ Cloud City

It’s hard to believe that our time in Fresh Ground Pepper’s Playground Playgroup is nearing a close… It’s been a great nine months of making new friends and hearing their really wonderful work as Julia and I vaulted into our dream musical (pun intended.) And now, to celebrate, we’re sharing a little more of The Magnificent Seven with the world!

On Monday, December 12 at 7pm at Cloud City, we’ll be doing an hour-ish-long version of what we have so far (which includes 13 songs!) We have an amazing cast, most of whom were with us at Dixon Place: Shaleah Adkisson, Ally Bonino, Ellen Condon Macy, Amy Linden, Gillian Munsayac, Ned Risely, Lynne Marie Rosenberg, Keith Rubin, Dana Steingold, and Emily Walton. Nikki DiLoreto is directing again, and Rich Silverstein is on board to music direct.

All in all, it’s going to be a really fun way to kick off the sharings of each of the projects that have been developed in FGP this year!

Tickets are free at the door, so take the L train (while you still can) and come check it out!

NAMT Thanks.

the_loneliest_girl-web-360x360I am still walking on air, more than two weeks later, after the wonderful experience that was the 2016 NAMT Festival of New Musicals. I could not have imagined a better way to share our show with so many people, and there are a bunch of wonderful people to thank:

  • Director Michael Berresse, always the calm in the many storms we encountered.
  • Music Director Rich Silverstein, who knows Julia and my art better than we do, at this point.
  • Our phenomenal cast – Robert Ariza, Sam Heldt, Eric William Morris, Brynn O’Malley, Dana Steingold, and Pearl Sun – for taking everything we threw their way (or, more appropriately, trimmed after they’d already learned it) in perfect stride. (That goes for our band, too – Jeremy Yaddaw and Nikola Tomic!)
  • Stage manager extraordinaire Sara Sahin, GM/constant resource Frankie Dailey, consultants Steve Stettler & Donna Lynn Hilton, Branden Huldeen, NAMT staff members Betsy King Militello, Adam Grosswirth, and Karin Nilo…
  • Ciera Iveson, for leading her first festival so unflappably.
  • And all of the other artists for all the other shows for building such a supportive pop-up community!

With all there has been to contend with in the world in the weeks after the festival, I’m so happy to be able to carry the joy of this experience with me right now. And I can only hope that NAMT will give us the chance to take our story out into a world that might find it a comfort or a conversation starter!

The Magnificent Seven – VIDEO PROOF!

We can do it! (And we did.)

Thanks to all who came out to see a little preview of The Magnificent Seven at Dixon Place on October 6. It was great to see a little piece of the show in front of an audience. And for those of you who didn’t catch it…

Thanks to our squad (L to R): Amy Linden as Shannon, Elexis Morton as Dominique Dawes, Dana Steingold as Dominique Moceanu, Gillian Munsayac as Amy, Emily Walton as Kerri, Ellen Macy as Amanda, Ally Bonino as Jaycie, Collin Batten as Tim Daggett, Lynne Marie Rosenberg as Elfi Schlegel, Dustin Sullivan as John Tesh, and Alex Ratner on piano.

Be on the lookout for more information about our upcoming December 12 sharing with Fresh Ground Pepper!

More NAMT updates!

namt-headshot-collageSo much NAMT news to report before we start rehearsals on Monday!

In addition to the already announced director Michael Berresse, we’re excited to have music director Rich Silverstein back at the festival with us.

And we have a cast! (Look at those headshots!) We’re so excited to have Sam Heldt and Dana Steingold back as Tommy and Sandra/Mary Ann, respectively. And we’re beyond thrilled to have Brynn O’Malley playing Anita – she’s been on our dream casting list for a while now. After admiring them both in other shows for years, I can’t wait to finally work with Eric William Morris (as Bob) and Pearl Sun (as Kay.) And we’re so happy to get to know Robert Ariza and welcome him into the team as Kyle.

If that was enough to make you want to check out the show, you’ll have two chances: Thursday, October 27 at 4:50pm and Friday, October 28 at 1:30pm. Both performances will take place at New World Stages’ Stage 3 (on the set of Avenue Q!) There will be standby line for those not officially registered for the festival, and chances are very good that you’ll be able to see it. And, while you’re at it, check out some of the other shows in the festival! The full schedule is available on the NAMT website.

And if you want even more NAMT and The Loneliest Girl in the World, come on by The 46th Minute concert on Wednesday, October 26 at 6:30pm to hear songs from all of the festival shows that didn’t make the 45-minute cut. We’ll be sharing a song from the second act of TLGITW, and throwing back to our 2011 NAMT experience with a song from Pregnancy Pact, too!