Gordon Leary

159 posts

New Haven is for First Drafts!

REB+VoDKa+ME Retreats

Julia and I had a wonderfully productive in our two week Alumni Residency at the Yale Institute for Music Theatre, and came back to New York with a full draft of REB+VoDKa+ME! (You can see the whole thing mapped on our apartment wall in this photo…) It’s such a great feeling to have a whole draft of the show and to have been able to flesh out all the work we accomplished with R&D Group and MTF. All we need to do now is share it with the world! (And then rewrite it, of course.)

Not only did we get a draft out of it, but we also got to know some of our new very favorite writers! I’m so impressed and amazed by the work that Annie Tippe, Molly Beach Murphy, Jeanna Phillips, Brett Macias, and Christina Quintana accomplished on Cowboy Bob and GUMBO. And getting to see actors I’ve always loved like Alison Fraser, Andrea Jones-Sojola, and Trent Armand Kendall (and new favorites like Eddie Cooper and Lizan Mitchell) put their all in these new works made me giddy.

Thanks to Mark Brokaw, Kay Perdue, and the whole Institute staff for giving us this opportunity!

Return to 54 Below!

In Concert REB+VoDKa+ME Something Blue The Magnificent Seven

Julia and I are so happy to have been invited back to Feinstein’s/54 Below to kick off their NEW WRITERS AT 54 summer series on Sunday, July 30 at 7pm. We’re thrilled to have the chance to share songs from REB + VoDKa + ME, Something Blue, and The Magnificent Seven all in one night!

We’re also excited/honored to be among friends in the series like Sam Salmond, Alexander Sage Oyen, Katie Thompson, and the newly announced Sukari Jones & Troy Anthony!

Tickets are on sale now. (There’s even a discount if you buy a tickets to three or more shows in the series…) Check back here for more updates in the coming weeks!

The Loneliest Girl in San Diego!

Production The Loneliest Girl in the World

I am so thrilled to get to share the news that The Loneliest Girl in the World will have its world premiere production at Diversionary Theatre in San Diego, CA in 2018!

With Diversionary’s Artistic Director Matt Morrow at the helm, the show will run May 24 through July 2, 2018. (Only 361 days until the first rehearsal, not that I’m counting.) Before the production, Julia and I will get to head out to San Diego later this year to do some work and meet some San Diegans.

Founded in 1986, Diversionary’s mission is to “provide an inspiring and thought provoking theatrical platform to explore complex and diverse LGBT stories, which influence the larger cultural discussion” and to “foster and amplify the next generation of LGBT voices by providing live entertainment in a dynamic, inclusive and provocative environment that celebrates and preserves our unique culture.”

To top it all off, the rest of the season is filled with West Coast premieres of work by some amazing playwrights and peers. Check out the rest of the season on their website!

Big thanks to NAMT for their generous support of the production.

Check back here for more information as I continue my year-long countdown…

AMTA

Updates

Julia and I are pleased to be working with students at The American Musical Theatre Academy (AMTA) on songs from our collection. AMTA was founded in London in 2010 as a training ground for musical theatre performers, and a program began in New York this past fall. Over the next few weeks, along with music director extraordinaire Rich Silverstein, we’ll be spending time with a class of 8 students as they learn our songs (and learn some of the skills needed to work on a new musical. It’s such a fun chance for us to revisit some of our favorite material, and a great way to meet the next generation of musical theatre performers! Thanks to co-founder Christie Miller for getting us involved!