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Back at Flint Rep!

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…

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!\

The Magnificent Seven: The Album

It’s happening! We re-assembled the wonderful cast and band of The Magnificent Seven at Theatre Row to record our first-ever cast recording!

The album was recorded September 23, 25 & 26 and October 5, 2022 at John Kilgore Sound & Recording and The Bunker Studios, engineered by John Kilgore. The album is produced by Steve Kyriakis & Matt Donaldson of MDSK Productions.

We can’t wait to share it with you soon… The album will be available on your favorite streaming platforms in early 2023!

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!

Want something new? SOMETHING BLUE!

Videos are now online from last month’s concert of songs from Something Blue!  Check out the 9 songs we presented at the D-Lounge, featuring the wonderful Jeremy Morse, Blake Segal, and Phoebe Strole!

Thanks to Joe Barros, Laura Brandel, and everyone at the New York Theatre Barn for welcoming us back to the D-Lounge.  Big thanks to director Ethan Heard, music director Rich Silverstein, and musicians Chris Blacker, Michael Blancaflor, David White, and Andrew Zinsmeister.

We can’t wait to finish this show and share it again sometime soon!