I’ll be posting updates from time to time on this site while we’re out in San Diego, but for up-to-the-minute photos and updates, you should follow @theloneliestgirlintheworld and @diversionarysd!
T-minus 4 days to the first rehearsal…
UPDATE: You can now follow @gordonandjuliamusicals for information on all of our work!
We are two weeks away from our first rehearsal for the Diversionary Theatre production of The Loneliest Girl In the World and I couldn’t be more excited. The script and score have been submitted, and I’m dutifully putting off packing as long as I can.
In the meantime, though, I’m so happy to share the wonderful (and recently announced) cast – Allison Spratt Pearce (Anita), Sam Heldt (Tommy), Steve Gouveia (Bob, etc.), Marci Anne Wuebben (Kay, etc.), Lauren King Thompson (Mary Ann Mobley, etc.), and Shaun Tuazon (Kyle, etc.)
And on top of a wonderful cast, we’ve got a wonderful team bringing the show to life – Matt Morrow (Director), Patrick Marion (Music Director), Stephen Brotebeck (Choreographer/Associate Director), Robin Sanford Roberts (Scenic Design), Elisa Benzoni (Costume Design), Christina J. Martin (Lighting Design), Matt Lescault-Wood (Sound Design), Bonnie Durben (Properties Design), and Peter Herman (Wig Design.)
(Yes, we have a wig designer, and yes, that makes me very happy.)
Grab your tickets now… Previews start May 24 ahead of our June 2 opening night!
My wonderful collaborator Julia was one of eight composers award a Discovery Grant for Female Composers by OPERA America to support further development of REB+VoDKa+ME! We are so excited and honored that our show has been recognized in the opera world, especially in the company of friends and colleagues. We can’t wait to dive back into our theatrical Tumblr over the next year! Check back here for more updates as planning gets underway…
Read a little bit more about both the organization and the grant:
OPERA America draws on resources and expertise from within and beyond the opera field to advance a mutually beneficial agenda that serves and strengthens the field through programs in the following categories: creation, presentation and enjoyment. The association provides members with an array of publications and online resources, regional workshops, an annual conference and network-specific services such as conference calls, listservs and direct contact with staff with expertise in opera production, administration and education. OPERA America provides members with tools to maximize the effectiveness of financial and human resources, expand the scope of repertoire and programs, and extend their reach to new and diverse audiences. Founded in 1970, OPERA America has an international membership that includes nearly 150 Professional Company Members, 300 Associate and Business Members, 2,000 Individual Members and over 16,000 subscribers to its electronic news service.
OPERA America’s Opera Grants for Female Composers program provides financial assistance to identify, support, and help develop the work of female composers writing for the operatic medium, raising their visibility and promoting awareness of their compositions to the field. Funding for this program is provided by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Program for Commissioning Women in the Performing Arts.
While you wait for more information, you can always tide yourself over by listening to the new complete demo!
The entirety of (the current draft of) REB+VoDKa+ME is now recorded. Give it a listen!
This combines our two sessions with 24 amazing singers:
Ally Bonino, Jack Brinsmaid, Jackie Colquitt, Jessica Fisher, Holly Gould, Hanako Greensmith, Sam Heldt, Angelina Kelly, Kelsey Lake, Adam Lawrence, Lily Lester, Allison Lian, Evan Maltby, Lauren Marcus, Elexis Morton, Matthew Oster, Sam Paley, Angela Pardini-Gomez, Allison Posner, Katie Rodgers, Daniel Saulle, Libby Servais, Rich Silverstein, and Emily Walton…
Plus our two amazing engineers, Chris Gilroy and Andrew Zinsmeister!
Ten years ago today, I sent Julia an email.
We’d written a few songs together at warp speed after grad school that we both liked. So when my friend Jeremy Gold Kronenberg told me he was looking for a short musical to direct for Prospect Theater Company but only had 6 weeks to develop it, I asked Julia if she might want to apply our speed songwriting skills to a full project. We cranked out a 35 minute musical and loved what we wrote together. So when I read an article the next month about a group of high school girls in Gloucester, Massachusetts who were rumored to have made a pact to get pregnant together, I asked Julia if she thought it might be our first full-length musical.
Now we’re getting ready to start our seventh full-length musical next month while we’re out of town rehearsing for the world premiere of another show. And in the intervening decade we’ve been lucky enough to build a network of actors, singers, musicians, directors, designers, and friends to help us explore limitless empathy, terrible decision-making, building legacies, and growing up.
Here’s to what’s to come in the next 10 years of our collaboration!