The Magnificent Seven

31 posts

The Magnificent Seven @ Urban Stages

I’m so excited to be sharing our draft of The Magnificent Seven in a free reading at Urban Stages next Monday, July 15 at 8pm. No reservations necessary, so come on up/down/over/in and hear what we’ve been working on!

Julia and I are so happy to be working once again with director Nikki DiLoreto (with whom we worked when we first developed the project with Fresh Ground Pepper and who has gone on to work on Kiss Me, Kate and the upcoming Soft Power), movement consultant Sunny Hitt (with whom we’re excited to work for the first time), stage manager Melissa Erickson (with whom we just worked on last month’s reading of REB+VoDKa+ME), and music director Rich Silverstein (with whom we work always)!

We’ve got a magnificent cast of new and returning faces, as well, including Kim Blanck (Octet, Alice By Heart), Ally Bonino (Elevator Heart), Nikita Burdein (UCB & The Magnet), Rachel Flynn (Ever After @ The Alliance, Heathers), Kendyl Ito (Soft Power, Wild Goose Dreams), Ellen Condon Macy (Elevator Heart), Madison Mullahey (Mary Poppins national tour), Allison Posner (The Last Song of Eddie Scourge), Lynne Marie Rosenberg (“Famous Cast Words” on All Arts), Ryan Speakman (Hunchback @ Argyle), and Tatiana Wechsler (Benny & Joon @ Paper Mill.)

If you can’t make it, the complete demo will be coming very soon to fulfill all your psycho-gymnastics fantasies!

The Magnificent Seven demos, pt. 2!

Julia and I are heading back into the studio over the next few weeks to record our newest songs for The Magnificent Seven with some of our very favorite people: Rich Silverstein, Carl Limbacher, Jeremy Yaddaw, Andrew Zinsmeister, Ally Bonino, Mackenzie Dade, Alexis Floyd, Sam Heldt, MinJi Kim, Amy Linden, Ellen Condon Macy, Katie Rodgers, Lynne Marie Rosenberg, Keith Rubin, and Lauren Worsham. And we’re so happy to be recording with Chris Gilroy at Mighty Toad Recording Studios again!

Stay tuned over the next few months for the final demos…

We stuck the reading!

And we have a musical!

Thanks to everyone involved in the Flint Rep New Works Festival for giving us the time and space to hear the entirety of The Magnificent Seven for the first time. Julia and I are so lucky to have gotten to bring along MD extraordinaire Rich Silverstein to work with director Michael Lluberes and a magnificent cast of eleven who vaulted right into a 22-song score with 16 hours of rehearsal. Our gymnasts (pictured above, from L-R) Samantha Carter, Taylor Jones, MaryPaige Reiffel, Amanda Kuo, Annadelle Kimber, Paige VanSickle, and Emily Fishman were joined by Stephanie Dean, Shelby Coleman, Paul Gregor, and Paul Nelson Gregory to bring the show to life for a friendly crowd who braved the snow.

We can’t wait to get to hear the next draft soon!


Vaulting to Flint

First up in 2019!

Julia and I are so excited to travel to Flint, Michigan for the first full public reading of The Magnificent Seven in the Flint Repertory Theatre’s New Works Festival!

The festival runs January 18-20 and will also include new work by Greg Kotis (Urinetown), Abbie Spallen (Pumpgirl), and Amber Palmer. Our reading will take place on Sunday, January 20 at 7pm, directed by Flint Rep’s Producing Artistic Director Michael Lluberes.

Follow it all on Instagram @gordonandjuliamusicals!

A magnificent first table reading!

We have a full draft!

And Julia and I gathered a wonderful group of friends and collaborators together to hear the entirety of The Magnificent Seven for the first time.

Thanks to Shaleah Adkisson, Renee Albulario, Delaney Amatrudo, Ian Axness, Ally Bonino, David Friedlander, Holly Gould, Brandon Michael Lowden, Ellen Macy, Lynne Marie Rosenberg, Keith Rubin, and Hana Slevin for a great read and a great discussion.

I’m so excited to get down to work based on the wonderful feedback I already did some rewriting… (And USA Gymnastics is certainly trying hard to keep the sport in the collective consciousness.)

For now, though, it was the perfect way to cap off a creative summer!