February 2020 - Gordon Leary

Something Blue at Diversionary

I had a wonderful week back at San Diego’s Diversionary Theatre working on a reading of Something Blue! Julia and I were so happy to return to the theatre that produced the world premiere of The Loneliest Girl in the World and to have the opportunity to work with Artistic Director Matt Morrow and music director Patrick Marion once again.

It was a productive and intensely rewarding week thanks to the three stellar actors in the cast – Bryan Banville, Michael Cusimano, and Natasha Harris – who brought so much heart and pathos and humor to such a quick process.

We were also incredibly lucky to have set designer Justin Humphries consulting on the project, as well, giving us the chance to imagine how the musical lives in the space of a few cars and a few hotel rooms (and a lot of beds.)

Thanks to NAMT’s Frank Young Fund for New Musicals grant for making this wonderful week possible! We can’t wait to come back to Diversionary again soon.

Pregnancy Pact, NYU edition

Pregnancy Pact Production

Coming this spring, New York will finally get to see Pregnancy Pact in full! Julia and I are thrilled to be working with the Tisch New Musical Theatre Workshop at Tisch’s New Studio on Broadway once again, after such a wonderful experience with REB+VoDKa+ME in 2017.

The production will be directed by Catie Davis (Associate Director on Beetlejuice and Moulin Rouge on Broadway) with music direction by Mark Evans and choreography by Nancy Renée Braun. The cast of ten (with double the Maddies, Jeanelles, and Jenns) includes Jennifer Daly, Maddie Dyer, Mary Jardine, Tiana Monique Jung, Kylie Lavrenchik, Chanel Morehead, Caroline Reinstadtler, Cuinlan Pedretti, Scottie Schwefel, and Ruby Zinner.

Performances run March 29 to April 5 in the Frederick Loewe Theatre at 721 Broadway. Ticketing information coming soon…

I can’t wait to be back in the room with the show and see it on its feet once again!

HAVISHAM: An Annie Lennox Playlist

Readings

Thanks to the wonders of Facebook, I know the exact day that I came up with an idea for the only jukebox musical I’d ever want to write:

And it’s only taken about six years, but I finally made the dream come true (only with a title change.) And thanks to the overwhelming talent and unmatched kindness of Karl Saint Lucy, Victoria Huston-Elem, Sam Heldt, and Ally Bonino I got to hear HAVISHAM: An Annie Lennox Playlist aloud for the first time this weekend!

The show is a through-sung 90 minutes that is purely Annie Lennox songs, with no dialogue and not a single word changed. It tracks Miss Havisham’s heartbreak and scheming to break Pip’s heart by using Estella, and in the end is a story of cycles of hurt and the power of forgiveness.

I have no idea what the next step could be – short of Annie herself loving the idea and giving me permission to use her catalogue, I don’t know how it works – but I’m very excited to have discovered what feels like a perfect match of songbook to story, and looking forward to seeing where this may lead!