Gordon Leary, Author at Gordon Leary

Back at Flint Rep!

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Julia and I were thrilled to be back at Flint Repertory Theatre from November 11-13 for our first workshop of the first full draft of These Familiar Spirits. Directed by Colette Robert, with music direction by Adam Yankowy and stage management by Rae Ocenasek, we spent a few brief days learning the score and exploring the book. We had a private reading for a few friends of the theater at the end of our time – it was thrilling the hear the full draft for the first time!

Our wonderful cast included Audrey Allen, Olivia Bath, Sabrina Dahlgren, Leslie Hull, Chloe Kirchmeier, Megan Krause Meyer, and Ash Moran, with stage directions by Bree Wilson.

Thank you to the amazing Flint Rep staff – Michael Lluberes, Nicole Samsel, Taja Calhoun, and Emily Nichter – for welcoming us back and for giving us the time and space to further develop the show. We love being there and can’t wait to get back again!

When I think of home…

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I had the absolute pleasure and privilege to help assemble a celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Stagecrafters Youth Theatre, my original artistic home in Pepper Pike, Ohio. Like so many, I found my artistic voice and my artistic joy in this program that is rooted in the building of confidence and community through musical theatre. The celebration culminated in a performance featuring more than 100 alumni at the State Theatre, part of Cleveland’s Playhouse Square, which I co-directed with Jamie Koeth with music direction by Jared Stein, on August 19, 2024.

Broadway alumni Jordan Brown, Max Chernin, Hannah Delmonte, Ben Fankhauser, David Holbert, Andrew Kober, Halle Morse, Robb Sapp, Elena Shaddow, and Jason Weston performed songs from their childhoods, their professional careers, and from the Stagecrafters vault, while a chorus with decades of alumni shared some favorites. About three dozen speakers told the story of the program and shared the ways in which the program shaped their lives, both on- and off-stage. Current participants and students also joined the alumni for a number of songs to show that we are indeed a family!

Most importantly, we were able to honor program founder Loe Goldwasser with a scholarship named in her honor (funded by her family) and current director Wendy Scott-Koeth with a rehearsal studio named after her. Their work shaped so many generations of artists (and humans) and it meant so much to create a way to acknolwedge and celebrate them both with the community they built!\

First read/sing of the first act!

Readings These Familiar Spirits

There are few things as exciting as hearing the songs you’ve written sung for the first time, especially when they are sung by some of your most trusted (and talented) collaborators.

Julia and I were thrilled to have a table reading of the complete (and sprawling) first act of These Familiar Spirits – all 90 minutes and 16 songs of it!

Thanks to our readers and singers – Shaleah Adkisson, Liz Carbonell, MinJi Kim, Lauren Marcus, Allison Posner, Hana Slevin, Rebecca Spiro, and Colette Robert – and music director extraordinaire Rich Silverstein for tackling a lot of material in a short amount of time and letting us hear this new project for the very first time! What could be better than an afternoon with generous, talented, and insightful artists??

On to Act II and Michigan later this year!

Florida Festival of New Musicals

Cheer Wars Readings

Karlan and I had a wonderful time at the Florida Festival of New Musicals seeing a reading of the first act of Cheer Wars. Over the last 15 years we’ve had some amazing opportunities with the show, and it was great to expand the squad of artists who have been a part of the journey!

Thank you to director Desiree Montes, music director Harrison Light, stage manager Hillary Humphries, and our wonderful cast: Jake Aboyoun, Lizzie Black, Lindsay Diaz, Mahalia Gronigan, Victoria Highsmith, Rachel Hope Ihasz, Brandon Roberts, Carly Simpson, Vanessa Sotomayer, Avianna Tato, Addison Ward, Kelly Wells, and Chase Williams. Thanks always to the wonderful staff at the Winter Park Playhouse – Roy Alan, Heather Alexander, Lisa Milello, Todd Allen Long, and festival coordinator Conny Williamson – for welcoming us to Florida and putting on such a wonderful event.

I’m hopeful that there will be more cheer in the future!

Cheer Wars returns!

Cheer Wars Readings

Cheer Wars will be featured in this summer’s Florida Festival of New Musicals at the Winter Park Playhouse in Winter Park, Florida!

The festival will feature six musicals by writers across the country over the course of four days, June 20-23, 2024.

The time has never felt more right to stake a claim for joy, and I’m excited to revisit this project with Karlan almost 17 years (gulp!) after we started writing it!