Production Archives - Page 4 of 6

The Loveliest Cast In the World

In the News Production The Loneliest Girl in the World

We are two weeks away from our first rehearsal for the Diversionary Theatre production of The Loneliest Girl In the World and I couldn’t be more excited. The script and score have been submitted, and I’m dutifully putting off packing as long as I can.

In the meantime, though, I’m so happy to share the wonderful (and recently announced) cast – Allison Spratt Pearce (Anita), Sam Heldt (Tommy), Steve Gouveia (Bob, etc.), Marci Anne Wuebben (Kay, etc.), Lauren King Thompson (Mary Ann Mobley, etc.), and Shaun Tuazon (Kyle, etc.)

And on top of a wonderful cast, we’ve got a wonderful team bringing the show to life – Matt Morrow (Director), Patrick Marion (Music Director), Stephen Brotebeck (Choreographer/Associate Director), Robin Sanford Roberts (Scenic Design), Elisa Benzoni (Costume Design), Christina J. Martin (Lighting Design), Matt Lescault-Wood (Sound Design), Bonnie Durben (Properties Design), and Peter Herman (Wig Design.)

(Yes, we have a wig designer, and yes, that makes me very happy.)

Grab your tickets now… Previews start May 24 ahead of our June 2 opening night!

DGF Writers Alliance Grant

In the News Production The Loneliest Girl in the World

I’m so honored that the upcoming production of The Loneliest Girl In the World has been awarded one of the inaugural Dramatists Guild Foundation‘s Writers Alliance Grants. The grants provide “$5,000 to a nonprofit theatre’s production of a new work and another $5,000 directly to the writer being produced.” According to Playbill, “DGF selected writes whose work ‘pushes boundaries and shows tremendous promise’ and theatres with ‘superlative ethical standards in supporting the livelihoods and careers of writers.'” Julia and I started writing together thanks to our time in the Dramatists Guild Fellows program, and we’re thrilled for their continued support!

A peek at REB+VoDKa+ME!

Production REB+VoDKa+ME

If you didn’t get to see the NYU workshop of REB+VoDKa+ME in person, take a look at the wonderful production photos by Sub/Urban Photography.

REB+VoDKa+LOVE!

Production REB+VoDKa+ME

Back row: Cast members Lily Lester, Jackie Colquitt, Adam Lawrence & Jack Brinsmaid, Lighting Designer Charlotte Seelig, Me, Dramaturg Megan McClain, Director Ben Kamine; Middle row: Cast members Sam Paley, Katie Rodgers, Jessica Fisher, Danny Saulle & Angelina Kelly, and Composer Julia Meinwald; Front row: Choreographer Tara Forseth, Cast members Allie Lian & Holly Gould, Music Director Rich Silverstein; Not pictured: Cast member Angela Pardini-Gomez, Set Designer BP Houle, Costume Designer Lux Haac, Stage Manager Lindsay Kipnis, ASM Tara King, Sound Designer Neal Goleta, and Production Coordinator Brandon Anderson.

The workshop of REB+VoDKa+ME at NYU that performed this past weekend was one of the most intensely rewarding experiences I’ve had as a writer.

It’s been a little over 3 years since I sent Julia links to these two related articles and was like “Don’t think I’m a scary person but could this be our next musical?” and she basically said “You’re not scary and yes.” Two years ago, we started writing the show with director Ben Kamine in R&D Group, led by dramaturg-extraordinaire Megan McClain. A year-and-a-half ago Rich Silverstein came on board when we shared our first 16 songs from the show in public. And five months ago we finished a first draft of the script.

And this weekend the show was given a fully designed and produced workshop staging with a cast of amazing juniors and seniors from the New Studio on Broadway at NYU/Tisch. To call this opportunity a gift is an understatement – we wrote a show that doesn’t exist in a physical space and by not being bound by music stands we were able to learn more than we ever could have imagined about our work.

Much credit for that goes to our amazing creative and design team (partially pictured here) for helping us to develop our own world and our own physical language to make the 90-minutes of the show a complete thought.

And we could never have seen our work as fully as we were able to without the willingness, openness, depth, and hard work of the twelve students in the cast. They navigated this technically, musically, and emotionally complex piece with the kind of grace and heart we couldn’t have imagined when we first had the idea three years ago.

Immense thanks are due to Kent Gash, Sarah Schlesinger, and Brandon Anderson for inviting us into this collaborative process. Be on the lookout for some production photos in the near future!

San Diego, part 2

Production The Loneliest Girl in the World

Our week in San Diego came to a close with a reading of the show on Saturday afternoon. It was so wonderful to get to hear the new draft (with four new songs and a bunch of new pages) and to get to know the wonderful people of Diversionary!

Thanks to our cast (L-R in the photo) Lauren King Thompson, Susan Hammons, Allison Spratt Pearce, Sam Heldt, Chase Hauser, and Adam Cuppy; thanks to music director Patrick Marion, who guided these six wonderful actors through more than 20 songs in about that many hours; thanks to stage manager Kira Vine for keeping us together; thanks to the whole staff at Diversionary (Jenny, Sebastian, Skyler, David, and Anthony) for welcoming us and making us feel at home; and big thanks to Artistic Director Matt Morrow for bringing us out and guiding the show towards the spring. We can’t wait to head back and start rehearsals in six short months!