NAMT

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The 46th Minute

The NAMT experience of condensing a musical into 45 minutes can be stressful for lots of reasons, not the least of which is not being able to share everything you love from your show. Which is why it’s so great that NAMT hosts a concert the night before the festival begins to feature songs that won’t be in the presentations! This year we were lucky enough to get to share two songs – one from The Loneliest Girl in the World, and a bonus from Pregnancy Pact (since this concert wasn’t around during the 2011 festival!)

The always wonderful Brynn O’Malley and Sam Heldt sang “All I See Is You” from The Loneliest Girl in the World and our new friends Delaney Amatrudo and Johnny Shea sang “Secrets” from Pregnancy Pact. Enjoy!

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!

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!

NAMT updates!

berresseJulia and I are thrilled to be working with Michael Berresse on the NAMT Festival presentation of The Loneliest Girl in the World!

After seeing him perform onstage in A Chorus Line and The Light in the Piazza, I first encountered Michael’s directing on Broadway with [title of show], but I was also lucky enough to travel up to Weston, VT to see his beautiful 2013 production of Next to Normal with Heidi Blickenstaff and Margo Seibert. The production was so sensitive and deeply felt, and a complete departure from the original. In addition to being the best sung version I’ve ever seen, it convinced me just how beautiful the color grey can be!

Read about all the creative teams, and don’t forget to mark your calendars!