Gordon Leary

159 posts

A Little New Music Spotlight Series

In Concert

Julia and I were thrilled to be featured in A Little New Music‘s Spotlight Series! We’ve been fans of the Los Angeles-based A Little New Music concert series for years, which have featured our songs and songs by some of our favorite writer-friends. It was a joy to get to chat with them about our work, look back on their performances of our work (featuring Lisa Musser, Laura Nicole Harrison & Kim Dalton), and share a brand new song from a brand new project we’ve been working on for the last year or so.

Thanks to the wonderful Tatiana Wechsler, Ally Bonino & Hana Slevin for their amazing video performance, and thanks to amy francis schott, Luke Klipp, Kila Packett, and everyone at A Little New Music for having us!

Check out the performance of the new song (“Scar” from These Familiar Spirits) in the recording of the livestream interview below!

Twenty twenty.

Updates

This certainly wasn’t the year that I was planning! But it was still a year of returns (Pregnancy Pact! Diversionary Theatre! Weston Playhouse!) and new beginnings (Havisham! Lots of video and animation! These Familiar Spirits! Zoom…) In the midst of all of the anxiety and loss and upheaval and stasis, I count myself as incredibly lucky.

And I am especially lucky to have spent the year working with so many of my forever favorite people and brand new favorite people: Bryan Banville, Ally Bonino, Nancy Renée Braun, Aidan Cole, Michael Cusamano, Jennifer Daly, Catie Davis, Sarah DeMarino, Amanda Drewes, Maddie Dyer, Mark Evans, Hannah Ford, Jasmine Forsberg, Josie Gerk, Natasha Harris, Elexa Hanner, Sam Heldt, Victoria Huston-Elem, Mary Jardine, Will Jewett, Tiana Monique Jung, MinJi Kim, Kylie Lavrenchik, Adam Lawrence, Patrick Marion, Ryan Mazer, David Merino, Chanel Morehead, Matt Morrow, Elexis Morton, Alannah O’Hagan, Jennifer Peacock, Jake Pedersen, Cuinlan Pedretti, Jeanna Phillips, Caroline Reinstadtler, Karl Saint Lucy, Scottie Schwefel, John Simpkins, Caitlin Stebelman, Gabrielle Stravelli, Becca Suskauer, Annie Tippe, Emily Walton, Tatiana Wechsler, Kate Wild, Ruby Zinner, and Andy Zinsmeister.

I’m looking forward to the moment in 2021 when I can finally sit in a room with other people. I can’t wait to hear live voices. I can’t wait to laugh with my collaborators. I can’t wait to have a moment of realization or inspiration or catharsis in a room with those who inspire it. Here’s to hope!

REB+VoDKa+ZOOM

Readings REB+VoDKa+ME

We were lucky enough to spend the fall working on REB+VoDKa+ME with the senior class of Penn State’s Musical Theatre program over Zoom. Led by director John Simpkins and music director Jennifer Peacock, it was an exciting chance to dive deep into the show. It was lovely to hear the songs sung again, but it was also an amazing opportunity to talk through the story and the characters as we approach some new rewrites, especially without the pressure of polishing the work for a presentation. It’s so rare to get to listen and think and talk in these settings (29 hours doesn’t allow for much more than music learning on musicals) and it was such a gift to have the chance to do so with actors Aidan Cole, Amanda Drewes, Jasmine Forsberg, Elexa Hanner, Will Jewett, Jake Pedersen, Caitlin Stebelman, Becca Suskauer, and Kate Wild. I’m hopeful that someday we’ll get to be in the same room as all of these folks!

REB+VoDKa+VIDEOS

REB+VoDKa+ME

Over the summer, Julia and I had the chance to bring REB+VoDKa+ME online and make a series of videos of songs from the show! It felt like the perfect work to be doing at a time when we’re all longing for connection and (mostly) having to find it through a screen. You can see the videos and find out more about the show at www.rebvodka.me!

We were thrilled to collaborate with director Annie Tippe, video editor Ryan Mazer, audio engineer Andrew Zinsmeister, and performers Ally Bonino, Sam Heldt, MinJi Kim, Adam Lawrence, David Merino, Elexis Morton, Jeanna Phillips, Emily Walton, and Tatiana Wechsler to imagine our work in an online space (which thankfully is the setting of the show!) and bring our vision of this corner of the internet to life.

Special thanks to Iris Dart, Janis Purins, and the Dramatists Guild Foundation for awarding Julia with the 2020 Thom Thomas Award and funding this project!