Drama League Honors BMI WorkshopThe Awards Committee of TheDrama League announced therecipients of its three specialtyawards, which were presentedalong with the production awardsat the Annual Awards Luncheon onMay 13th at the Marriott Marquisin Times Square.

The Distinguished Award inMusical Theatre will be bestowedupon the BMI-Lehman EngelMusical Theatre Workshop. Theaward can only be given to anorganization or individual once.Previous honorees include DonnaMurphy, Yul Brynner, Gwen Ver-don, Anne Reinking, GerardAlessandrini (workshop alumnus),George Abbott, Stephen Sond-heim , Agnes deMille, AudraMcDonald and Bob Fosse.

Tony Award winning composer-lyricist and Advanced WorkshopModerator Maury Yeston presented the award to 2004 Tony AwardWinners for Avenue Q., RobertLopez and Jeff Marx, who accept-ed on behalf of the Workshop.

Also at the Annual Awards Cere-mony, eight time Tony Award win-ning director Mike Nicholsreceived the Julia Hansen Awardfor Excellence in Directing. TheBilly Rose Theatre Collection atthe New York Performing ArtsLibrary was honored with theUnique Contribution to the The-atre Award.

Vol. 6, No. 25 Spring, 2005

Cardiff in Bloom . . . . . . . . . .2

Works

In Production . . . . . . . . . . .4

In Progress . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Personals . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Shelf Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Non-writing Gigs . . . . . . . . .21

And the Winner Is... . . . . . . .17

Unique and Special Events . .23

Opening Doors . . . . . . . . . .26

Master Classes . . . . . . . . . . .20

Richard’s Almanac . . . . . . . .40Richard Engquist

Table of Contents

Cardiff in Bloom, and Vice Versa

Editor’s Intro: Alumnus composer-lyricist-librettist Charles Bloom’sInsomnia was one of only six musicalsselected for The Cardiff InternationalFestival of Musical Theatre inWales, and the sole American work. Ina manner somewhat similar to theNAMT Festival here in New York City,the Cardiff festival showcases its musi-cals as 45 minute abstracts, featuringhighlights and key moments. In a man-ner dissimilar to NAMT, the contribut-ing authors have no advance say in theabridgements, nor in casting. Assum-ing they can even attend the festival(travel expenses are not provided,though lodging is), their input issolicited, but it must be tempered by acertain common sense and restraint: therehearsal period is limited and by thetime any author is on the scene, muchof the groundwork has been laid.

This festival being a curiosity—andeven, until now, an enigma—to manyof us on this side of the pond, I asked

2

Charlie via email and instant messageif he was keeping written records thatmight be the basis of a Newsletterstory. In fact he was: he cc’d me afterthe fact on several emails he’d sent tofriends, along with the first pass at ajournal entry, covering the first of histwo week adventure, and gave mecarte blanche to use, edit and organizethe material as I saw fit. The stuff wasterrific, so I asked Charlie if he’d keepthe reports coming. A dicey requestas, when you’re in rehearsals, youdon’t often have brain cells for muchelse. But, Charlie being Charlie, hefound the time to ruminate and reportfor us, in a most comprehensive andengaging manner. (You’ll know wherethe composite from emails ends andthe solicited report begins, becausethat’s when his overview of Week Onegives over to daily installments fromWeek Two.)

I kept my editing to a judiciousminimum. I used my discretion aboutcarving away email passages thatseemed a bit too private and privi-leged for publication; I removedredundancies (the emails and journalsometimes covered similar ground);here and there I reordered informationto follow the implied day-by-daychronology (some entries of the origi-nal draft consolidated two days into asingle day’s report); and rarely and

Charles Bloom

by Charles Bloom

or: Tales from Wales

always lightly, I provided tweaks andlinkage for clarity and continuity. Butthose amount to the smallest fine-tun-ing. For all intents and purposes, thisis, as they might say in the U.K.,Charles Bloom, straight up.

Week One:Four days in London plus three inCardiff plus not knowing anythingabout how your show is going tobe presented plus not knowingwhere anything is, adds up to afair amount of acute, ongoing vul-nerability and anxiety but, as ofthis writing, I’m happy to reportthat all is Welsh and well. The castreadying to perform 45-ish min-utes of Insomnia is a great bunch ofpeople. They’re deeply committedto the piece and to making sure itcomes off strongly before themany, many theatre people whohave flown in from all over theworld to be a part of this city-wideevent.

The director, musical director(MD) and festival personnel are allauthor-friendly and my beinghere, though incredibly expensive,helped answer questions quickly

which, in turn, kept rehearsalsmushing along which, in turn,finds us in the good place we aretoday. I have had a few days onmy own to wander around Cardiffbut will join the whole Insomniafamily this evening at BBC-runrehearsal facility to see howthey’re doing. I was told by thedirector that a preliminary presen-tation before a “trial audience” lastSaturday evening brought forthmuch laughter and even sometears.

Stuff about this place:• No trash on the streets…any-

where. Also, very few trash cans.• Hardly any police and even

fewer with guns. Some wear cutsyellow “saftey” vests, but that’s asauthoritative as it gets.

• Everything is pretty expen-sive.

• By English standards, myapartment is luxurious but, evenso, there’s only about 10 minutesof hot water available per shower.

• This is not a place to live if oneis a vegetarian. I mean, they have

3

Sally Rapier, Charles Bloom, Carole Todd

(Continued on page 25)

ANYPLACE BUT HERE (a.k.a.STUCK),

a play by Joan Ross Sorkin(Librettists,), was presented forfour performances by FleetwoodStage, New Rochelle, NY as partof their mainstage subscriptionseries, March 24-27, 2005. Underits alternate title, Stuck, it was pre-sented as a staged reading byInnovative Stages in Bronxvilleand Mamaroneck, NY in January,2005. The play was directed byBMI alumnus John Driver.

ARE WE THERE YET? a revue with music by John

Glaudini (alumnus), plus lyricsand sketches by James Hindman,Ray Roderick and Cheryl Stern, ishaving a March-April world pre-miere at Stage One of Wichita. Asdescribed, the show “uses song,dance and sketch comedy to take afresh, contemporary look at thetypical—and not so typical—American family.”

AVENUE Q, LONDONAs reported in Playbill Online by

Ernio Hernandez:Broadway’s successful under-

dog Avenue Q is planning its nextstaging—in addition to theupcoming Las Vegas run—in Lon-don for next year, producer JeffreySeller told The Wall Street Journal.The puppet and people-populated musical—which

recouped its initial Broadwayinvestment last year—currentlyplays at the John Golden Theatre.The show will be next seen in LasVegas in the fall in a 1,200-seat($40 million) theatre within WynnLas Vegas Resort and CountryClub, a new $2.5-billion casinoresort set to open in April 2005.

Producers are currently search-ing for a theatre in London andconsidering a number of options,Playbill.com has learned. Produc-tion spokespersons could not con-firm the London run or anydetails.

The 2004 Tony Award winnerfor Best Musical, Avenue Q sendsup popular children’s televisionshows such as Sesame Street andThe Electric Company, while servingup a bounty of pop culture refer-ences. The production bears thewarning: “Full puppet nudity, notsuitable for children.”

The show’s creators RobertLopez and Jeff Marx [bothAdvanced] earned a Tony for theirscore as did bookwriter Jeff Whit-ty and the musical itself garneredthe top prize as Best Musical atthe 2004 Tony Awards. JasonMoore (Steel Magnolias) directedwith musical direction by GaryAdler (Altar Boyz).

Avenue Q plays at the GoldenTheatre, 252 West 45 Street. Formore information on the show,visit www.avenueq.com

4

Works In Production

THE AUDIENCEAs reported in Broadway.com,

“Musical theater favorites RitaGardner and Dee Hoty [head-lined]the Transport Group pre-miere of The Audience, a newmusical about an audience watch-ing a Broadway musical. The pro-duction, conceived and directedby artistic director Jack Cum-mings III , played March 31through April 23 at The ConnellyTheatre.

“The Audience is the work of 30different writers, who all con-tributed to pieces of the book,music and lyrics. Among them areSteven Alper (The Immigrant), JeffBlumenkrantz (Urban Cowboy)[Advanced], Joe Calarco (R&J),Mark Campbell (Splendora), Fid-dler on the Roof star John Cariani(whose play Almost, Maine recentlypremiered in Maine), Brian Craw-ley (Violet, The Little Princess)[alumnus], Lewis Flinn (Musicfrom a Sparkling Planet, MondoDrama), Jennifer Gibbs, JamesHindman (Pete ‘n’ Keely), SarahKnapp (The Immigrant), TomKochan (Psycho Beach Party),Michael John LaChiusa (First LadySuite, Marie Christine, The Wild

Party, LittleFish) [alum-nus], MicheleLowe (TheSmell of the Kill)and CherylStern (That’sLife!). Withsimultaneousstorylines andoriginal songs,

the show tells the story of onevibrant group of theatergoers whoventure to a Broadway theater onerainy Saturday night to see a newcontemporary American musical.The curtain rises on a pair of ush-ers stuffing programs. Soon, thehouse opens and the audiencemembers gradually enter and taketheir seats.”

A BAND OF ANGELSwritten by Myla Churchill (Sec-

ond Year), commissioned and pro-duced by the prestigious MakingBooks Sing and based on the pop-ular children’s book by DeborahHopkinson, had its world premiereand kicked off its Spring 2005 tourat the Lovinger Theatre at LehmanCollege in late January-early Feb-ruary, to coincide with African-American History Month. Asdescribed, “A Band of Angels fea-tures a rousing score of spirituals totell its inspirational tale about thetriumphs and struggles of freed

5

Jeff Blumenkrantz

slaves seeking an education afterthe Civil War: the Jubilee Singer’strue story is told through the expe-rience of a contemporary middleschool student, Ella Sheppard, whois failing in class and finds herselftransported back in time to 1871 totake the place of her great-greatgrandmother, encountering pover-ty and racism as she and her class-mates embark on an historic con-cert tour along the UndergroundRailroad, sharing with the publicthe unforgettable music of slavery.”The show is choreographed anddirected by Rajendra RamoonMaharaj; Linda Twine is musicdirector and arranger.

BREATHE the award-winning musical by

Dan Martin and Michael Biello(both Emeritus) played through-out February 2005 in RichmondVA in a lovely production of theRichmond Triangle Players. “Sto-ries that touch your heart andmake you laugh with recognition,”wrote the Richmond Times-Dis-patch; while Style Weekly pro-

claimed, “A joyous new musical,Breathe honors the extraordinary inthe ordinary, offering a refreshingand uplifting take not just on gayand lesbian life, but on life in gen-eral.” Quoth GayRichmond.com:“Thanks to Biello and Martin forreminding us of the awesomebeauty of human existence.”

DESSA ROSEbook and lyrics by Lynn

Ahrens, music by Stephen Flaher-ty (both emeritus) opened inMarch at the Mitzi E. NewhouseTheatre at Lincoln Center. Themusical is based on a novel of his-torical speculation by SherleyAnne Williams, who took the truestory of a pregnant black womanwho helped to lead a slave upris-ing (LaChanze) and the true storyof a white woman living on an iso-lated farm who gave refuge to run-away slaves (Rachel York) andpostulated what might have hap-pened if they’d met. Direction andchoreography are by GracielaDaniele.

THE DEVIL’S MUSIC: THE LIFEAND BLUES OF BESSIE SMITH

Librettist Angelo Parra’s critical-ly acclaimed play with music, dra-matizing the turbulent life of theBlues legend Bessie Smith andfeaturing the songs she madefamous, was presented one nightonly on Saturday, Feb. 5, at 8 p.m.at the Cultural Arts Center atRockland County College in Suf-fern, New York. The show, namedone of “the top-10 Off-Broadwayexperiences of 2001” by the New

6

Lynn Ahrens & Steve Flaherty

York Daily News, showcased thetalents of the New York creativeteam, star Miche Braden anddirector Joe Brancato.

THE GIRL IN THE FRAME by Jeremy Desmon (alumnus)

was presented at MusicalFareTheatre in Buffalo, NY, January 6 -February 6. As described: “Inbrand-new picture frames there isalways a picture of an impossiblybeautiful woman—The Girl in theFrame. She’s sexy..…She’s per-fect…and now she’s sitting onAlex’s couch! A new musical com-edy about our obsession with find-ing the perfect person.”

GOD BLESS YOU, MR. ROSEWATERThe first collaboration between

Alan Menken (emeritus) and thelate Howard Ashman (participat-ing collaborator), God Bless You, Mr.Rosewater, was presented April 1-3in a concert staged reading as partof the Spring Musicals in Muftiseries at the York Theatre Compa-ny. The director was Sheryl Kallerand the musical director FredLassen. Based on the best-sellingKurt Vonnegut novel, the musicalwas written in 1978. Rosewater,which debuted at the WPA in thatsame year, marked the 50th pro-duction in the Mufti series. Thisparticular Mufti occurred in thewake of a triumph with last sea-son’s Spring Mufti presentation ofthe science fiction musical WeirdRomance, which also has a scoreby Menken (lyrics and co-librettoby Committe member DavidSpencer); that reading was alsoshepherded by Kaller and Lassen.

JEWISH THIGHS ON BROAD-WAY

Advanced writer and veteranperformer Penny Orloff’s nation-ally acclaimed semi-autobiograph-ical solo performance is populatedby an oddball immigrant family,diets from Hell, and a Rogues’Gallery from the Showbiz under-world, which features songs ofBerlin, Sondheim, others, playeda limited March engagement.Music Director: Jose C. Simbulan.More info: www.jewishthighs.com. (For the novel version of thetale, see this same title under ShelfLife.)

THE LIVING ENDAs reported by Kenneth Jones

in Playbill Online:The idea of packaging one-act

musicals, as was done in The AppleTree, Romance/Romance and 3hree,lives anew in the world premiereof The Living End, planned for aFebruary bow at Lyric Stage in

7

Penny Orloff

8

Texas.The Dallas County resident profes-

sional company devoted to musicaltheatre—and gaining a national repu-tation—presents four new musicalsby different writers, including 2003Tony Award nominee Jeff Blu-menkrantz [Advanced] (nommed forBest Original Score for Urban Cowboy),in one full-length experience Feb. 11-26.

The Living End is four one-act musi-cals compiled by Lyric Stage foundingproducer Steven Jones. According tothe Lyric Stage announcement, inAugust 2001, Jones met writer AnnieKessler [Advanced] at a showcase ofsongs from new musicals at LincolnCenter. Kessler and her partners, JeffBlumenkrantz and Libby Saines[Advanced], had written a one-actmusical, Woman With Pocketbook,which Jones loved. But it wasn’t clearhow to present a 25-minute musical.In what format? Under what umbrel-la?

“Fast forward three years,” accord-ing to Lyric Stage notes. “As he isputting together Lyric Stage’s 2004-2005 season, Jones remembers WomanWith Pocketbook. He contacts Kesslerwho suggests some possible compan-ion pieces.”

The short musicals Precious LittleJewel, The Ransom of Red Chief andThe Life and Times of Joe JeffersonBenjamin Blow are joined WomanWith Pocketbook, and The Living Endwas born.

Annie Kessler and Libby Saineswrote the book and lyrics to Jeff Blu-menkrantz’s music for Woman WithPocketbook. In it, “Doris Platt arrives atthe pearly gates, pocketbook in hand.She took it everywhere with her in

life…why should this be any differ-ent? Unfortunately for Doris, worldlygoods are a no-no in heaven.

Composer Blumenkrantz—alsoknown as a Broadway character actorin A Class Act and as Bud Frump inthe revival of How to Succeed in Busi-ness Without Really Trying—againteamed with lyricist Libby Saines forPrecious Little Jewel, adapted fromKate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour,about “young Louise in turn-of-the-century New Orleans as she learns ofher husband’s untimely death in atrain crash. How will she go on with-out him? What’s left for her, now thatshe can no longer be his ‘precious lit-tle jewel?”

Brad Alexander [Advanced] com-posed the music, Helen Chayefsky[alumnus] wrote the lyrics and theycollaborated on the book for The Ran-som of Red Chief, an “updated musicaladaptation of the O. Henry story” inwhich “a small-time crook finds thatthere may indeed be something worsethan owing money to the mob. Itdoesn’t take long for the hapless crim-inal to realize that kidnapping aspoiled, recalcitrant 10-year-old maynot be the best solution to his dilem-ma.”

Andy Monroe [Advanced] createdthe The Life and Times of Joe JeffersonBenjamin Blow. “In 12 minutes, we seeJoe’s entire life, from birth to death.Watch Joe try to make sense of it all ashis life goes hurtling by in this zany,heartwarming musical.”

Thorstein Veblen’s THEORY OFTHE LEISURE CLASS

Described as “Wall Street meetsVaudeville 1900,” book and lyrics byCharles Leipart, music by Richard B.

Evans (Advanced), directed byKaren Azenberg, was presentedby The Steinhardt School at NewYork University in the Province-town Playhouse, March 24-26. Asfuther described, the show “is amusical comedy romp demonstrat-ing that not much has changed inover 100 years of American con-spicuous consumption.” One ofthe songs, “Greed Is Good” asperformed by Matt Bogart , isavailable to listeners of Broadway-world.com Radio at www.broad-wayworld.com/radio under“Lyrics by Leipart: Songs for theTheatre.”

PLAY IT BY HEARTa new musical by David Span-

gler (music, lyrics), Jerry Taylor(lyrics) and R.T. Robinson (lyrics),and alumnus Brian Yorkey (book)opened for a world premiere onMarch 17 at the Village Theatrein Issaquah, WA. Billed as “a newcountry musical,” the limitedengagement plays through April24. As described, the show con-cerns “the country’s reigningqueen of country music [who]struggles to stay true to themusic she loves in a changingworld. Her meddling mother andher up and-coming pop-star sisterchallenge her at every turn…but asecret from their past will changeall of their lives forever.”

FLIGHT OF THE LAWNCHAIRMAN

As reported in Playbill Onlineby Kenneth Jones (abridged):

Christopher Sutton will play

Jerry Gorman, the real-life averageJoe who attached balloons to patiofurniture, in Goodspeed Musicals’production of the musical Flight ofthe Lawnchair Man, May 19-June 12at the Norma Terris Theatre.Billed here as “funny and inspir-ing,” the musical first dawned asone-act in a trio of musicals called3hree. It has now been expandedand revised by its collaborators,[alumnus] composer-lyricistRobert Lindsey (formerly RobertLindsey Nassif) and book writerPeter Ullian.

Lynne Taylor-Corbett directsand choreographs a company thatincludes Donna Lynne Champlin(Hollywood Arms) as Jerry’s girl-friend, and [longtime Workshop“rep” player] Susan Jacks asMother Gorman.

Flight of the Lawnchair Man was[also presented] at the NationalAlliance for Musical Theatre’s16th Annual Festival of NewMusicals in October 2004.

SEE WHAT I WANNA SEEAs reported in Playbill Online

by Robert Simonson (abridged):[Alumnus composer-lyricist]

Michael John LaChiusa’s newmusical, See What I Wanna See—formerly titled R Shomon—willhave its New York debut at thePublic Theater in the fall.

The work premiered at theWilliamstown Theatre Festival’sNikos Stage on July 21, 2004.Four-time Tony winner AudraMcDonald starred, along withMichael C. Hall, Henry Stram,Mary Testa and Tom Wopat. Pub-

9

lic artistic director Oskar Eustisconfirmed that he was seekingMcDonald for the [restaging]. TedSperling will be director, repeatinghis Williamstown work.

See What I Wanna See is drawnfrom the short stories of RyonsukeAkutagawa—also the inspirationthe classic Kurosawa filmRashomon. The film concerned thedivergent and conflicting eyewit-ness accounts surrounding a rapeand a murder in a remote woodedarea. With each new bit of infor-mation, the truth surrounding theincident becomes less easy to com-prehend.

“It’s actually based on severalshort stories, one of which is thefamous Rashomon story,” Sperlingtold Playbill.com. “That one is seton the eve of the premiere of themovie, in 1953, and then the sec-ond act is another story which iscontemporary. Both take place inCentral Park.”

BAD GUYS DON’T KNOWDICK

(a.k.a. The Continuing Adven-tures of Dick Danger Episodes III& IV) had a test-run reading at theBMI workshop room on February9th. Based on The ContinuingAdventures of Dick Danger, a longrunning show by the lyricist-libret-tist Chris Boal, the shoe featuresmusic by Andrew (Debbie DoesDallas: The Musical) Sherman.

A BROOKLYN TALEa play by Joan Ross Sorkin

(Librettists), was presented as astaged reading by EmergingArtists Theatre Company in theirLab Series in New York City inJanuary, 2005. Emerging Artistspresented an earlier staged read-ing of the piece last June.

CALL IT COURAGEmusic, lyrics, and book by

Adam Overett (Advanced), basedon the book by Armstrong Sperryhad a staged reading in late marchat Chelsea Studios. The directorwas Devanand Janki and the castfeatured Alan Ariano, Eric Bon-doc, Telly Leung, Alan Muraoka,Timothy Ford Murphy, MelanieMay Po, Hazel Raymundo, BenWu, and Lisa Yuen. Musical direc-tion by (this is not a typo) EdwardG. Robinson. As described:“Mafatu’s name means ‘StoutHeart,’ but ever since his motherdrowned when he was a youngchild, he has been terrified of thesea. At fifteen years old, ashamed

10

In Progress

of his lifelong cowardice, he setsout on the ocean with his onlyfriend, his dog Uri, knowing hecannot return home until he hasconquered his greatest fear—nomatter what he must risk on thejourney.”

THE POSSESSION OF MRS.JONES

D’Arcy Drollinger (Librettists)is currently working on this newmusical to open in mid-June for aspecial “Stage to Screen” programat the Los Angeles Film Festival.Charles Herman-Wurmfeld, direc-tor of the films Kissing JessicaStein and Legally Blonde 2, isdirecting. As described: “Duringthe summer of 1963, Evelyn Jones,the perfect American housewife,wins a brand-new ultra-deluxe,atomic washing machine by Prod-uct-O-Matic; but when God andSatan use the appliance as a portalfrom the After-worlds, Evelyn’sworld begins to unravel. Soon shemust battle an attempted rape, anadvancing valium addiction, aTupperware party hold-up, thepossession of her children andReligion itself, in order to save herfamily from certain disaster. ThinkBewitched meets Spinal Tap.”

THE UNAUTHORIZED BIOG-RAPHY OF SAMANTHABROWN

music and lyrics by Brian Low-dermilk (Advanced), book andlyrics by Kait Kerrigan (FirstYear), from an original concept byZach Altman had an April readingat Makor. Produced by GeoffreySoffer for the Artists Showcase

Series, the reading cast featuredAlison Fraser, Michael Arden,Sara Chase, John Herrera, CeliaKeenan-Bolger and Vadim Feicht-ner. Elizabeth Lucas directed.

The musical, according to pro-duction notes, concerns Sam, “asenior in high school, [who] haswhat everyone always wanted: aboyfriend who loves her, function-al parents and an acceptance letterto the school of her choice. Andsince she’s moving to New YorkCity she doesn’t even need the dri-ver’s license she’s too chicken toget. So she doesn’t need to be wor-ried. And she doesn’t need to behappy. Right?”

ALLOY: Concert / TheaterBROADWAY VOICES + AMERI-CAN ART SONG

From the press release: “The worlds of Broadway and

American art song [combined] tocreate ALLOY Concert / Theater, anew staged concert event co-pro-duced by Andrew Gerle [partici-pating collaborator] and ColumbiaUniversity’s Miller Theatre. Sevenof Broadway’s most spectacularvoices [brought] their dramatic tal-ents to music and text by suchmasters as Samuel Barber, WaltWhitman, Leonard Bernstein,Langston Hughes, Ned Rorem,Edna St. Vincent Millay, andCharles Ives. Combining song andmovement in the true theatricaltradition, the concert featur[ed]more than 30 selections, includinga new, staged performance of Bar-ber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915,in an arrangement by Mr. Gerle.

“ALLOY is the brainchild of11

12

award-winning composer andpianist Andrew Gerle. ‘I want tocelebrate the storytelling of the the-ater and classical art song reper-toire I grew up with,” says Gerle.“The texts these composers haveset are so rich and full of character,they’re made for the terrific singingactors on Broadway today.’

“The format of the evening[strayed] from the traditionalrecital, giving the actors freedom toreact to the space, scenic elements,and other actors. ‘I want to playwith juxtaposing the songs I’veselected, creating context andthrough-lines beyond the songsthemselves,’ says Gerle, who willaccompany the singers at thepiano.”

Among the artists in the May2nd event were: Rebecca Baxter,Suzzanne Douglas, MerwinFoard, Danny Gurwin, RosenaHill , Ryan Lowe and Workshopalumna composer Jenny Giering.Andrew Gerle was musical direc-tor and Casey Hushion, stagedirector.

THE CELLO PROJECT(As Reported by Kenneth Jones

in Playbill Online)The New Voices Collective,

known for its concerts of newAmerican songs, recently present-ed theatre composers, musicaldirectors and orchestrators with aunique challenge for its next pre-sentation: Create a chamber piecefor cello. The result, The Cello Pro-ject, 7 PM March 7 at the LeonardNimoy Thalia at Symphony Spacein Manhattan, [was] “an ambitious

cycle of 12 world-premiere cham-ber pieces featuring American cel-list Peter Sachon.” [It was] part ofNVC’s Rush Hour Chamber Musicseries.

The starry array of composerswhose works was premiered onthe program include StephenSchwartz (Wicked), Michael JohnLaChiusa [alumnus] (Hello Again,Marie Christine, The Wild Party),John Bucchino (Lavender Girl, It’sOnly Life), Bruce Coughlin (a TonyAward nominee for his musicaltheatre orchestrations), Jeff Blu-menkrantz [advanced] (UrbanCowboy), Georgia Stitt (The Water),Steve Marzullo (known as a musi-cal director), Dan Lipton (Joe!),David Rossmer (Joyce Jackson’sGuide to Dating), Tom Kitt [alum-nus] (Feeling Electric, High Fidelity),Charles du Chateau (associate con-ductor of Broadway’s Fiddler on theRoof), Jason Carr (Born Again, LeeMiller) and George Stiles (MollFlanders, Tom Jones).

According to NVC, “The 12pieces explore the cello’s almost

Rebecca Luker

13

limitless possibilities as both a soloinstrument and chamber-musicpartner. Written across a wide-range of styles and for variousinstrumental combinations, thepieces [also showcased] the talentsof artists such as Rebecca Luker,soprano; Joshua Rosenblum,piano; Christian Hebel, violin;Gregory Landes, percussion; EdMatthew, clarinet; and BillyMiller, percussion.”

MAKE THEM HEAR YOU:Ahrens and Flaherty

The Kaufman Center kicked offthe 2005 Broadway Close Upseries with this presentation onMonday, April 4, at 8 PM atMerkin Concert Hall. TonyAward-winning playwright Ter-rence McNally hosted an in-depthdiscussion with the emeritus teamof lyricist Lynn Ahrens and com-poser Stephen Flaherty about theirinnovative scores including theTony Award-winning Ragtime,Once On This Island and theOscar-nominated animated filmmusical, Anastasia. Songs fromthese and other Ahrens and Flaher-ty musicals, including Lucky Stiff,Seussical and A Man of No Impor-tance, were performed by TonyAward-winners Audra McDonaldand Brian Stokes Mitchell (Rag-time) and Andrea Martin (Tonywinner for My Favorite Year),alongside Malcolm Gets, KeciaLewis, Janet Metz, Sean McCourt,Kenita R. Miller and StevenPasquale.

MUSICAL MONDAYSMusicals tonight has been pre-

senting three April-thru-May Mon-day evenings showcasing thework of selected Workshop writersat the 45th Street Theatre (354West 45th Street, NYC, between8th and 9th Avenues). Curtaintimes for all are 6:15 sharp. Reser-vations: (212) 989-6706 or Musical-Mondays@aol.com. The scheduleis as follows:

April 4: Doug Katsaros Solo.Broadway’s most animated com-poser-conductor-arranger! Doug’smusic is all embracing with itsstrong melodic line and up-to-the-minute sound. On Broadway,Doug composed Laughing RoomOnly, conducted and arrangedFootloose, wrote arrangements forThe Life, orchestrated The RockyHorror Show and Welcome to theClub, composed and orchestratedfor The Tony Awards and starredin Hair. Off Broadway Doug mostrecently served as orchestrator andCD producer for Altar Boyz. Hehas written two shows which are

Doug Katsaros

under option for Broadway: Val-adon and Orphan Train.

May 2 : Jenny Giering andFriends. Winner of the JonathanLarson and Fredrick Loeweawards, composer and performerJenny Giering’s work has beenperformed at the Eugene O’NeillTheatre Center ,Theatreworks/Palo Alto, Barring-ton Stage Company and TheWilliamstown Theatre Festival.Her special guest star for thisevening is Rebecca Luker, recentlyseen on Broadway as Claudia inNine and Maria in The Sound ofMusic. Ms. Luker is also a TonyNominee for her portrayals ofMagnolia in Show Boat and Mari-an the Librarian in The MusicMan.

May 16: Barbara Anselmi’s TheBig Picture (previously known asThe Wedding Project). A standoutfeature of the 2004 BMI-Manhat-tan Theatre Club Showcase, thisnew musical takes a skewed lookat a modern-day wedding.

LOPEZ AND MARX IN CON-CERT

The Tony-winning Avenue Qteam from Advanced class per-formed their own songs at thefamous jazz club Birdland on 44thStreet, November 29, 2004.

RAW IMPRESSIONS MARA-THON 2005

From the www.rawimpres-sions.org website: “8 composersand 8 writers who have never metare paired on a Friday evening.They are given guidelines in creat-

ing a new 10 minute music theatrepiece. Then they have: 2 days forthe first draft, 3 days for rewrites, 4days for rehearsal…and they pre-sent the new pieces to the public aweek after the first reading.”

Among the many Workshop-affiliated writers represented inthe February Raw ImpressionsMusic Theatre evenings were:Adam B. Mathias, Brett Nichol-son, Joy Son, William Wade,Jill Abramowitz, Alan Gordon,Masi Asare, Paul Scott Goodman,Brad Alexander , Joan MarieDelahunt, and David Turner.

THE SONGS OF BRIAN LOWDERMILK AND KAITKERRIGAN

Advanced and First Year writersrespectively, were December 12’sfeatured entry of Under-ExposedPresents, at Opia, a continuingseries that introduces audiences tothe next generation of talentedmusical writers. From the pressmaterial: “Under-Exposed Pre-sents is the brainchild of producerDavid Leidholdt, who wasresponsible for creatingUpstairs@Red, a cabaret theatre inHell’s Kitchen. Mr. Leidholdt isknown for hisdevelopmentof new workswith the NewYork MusicalFestival, Gen-esius Guildand MidtownInternational

14

Kait Kerrigan

15

Theatre Festival. Under-ExposedPresents is being produced in col-laboration with Opia’s LionelCasseroux.

“ ‘The Under-Exposed Presentsseries introduces audiences to thenext ground-breaking composers,lyrists and songwriters who pushthe boundaries of traditionalcabaret and musical theatre, withtalents like Brian Lowdermilk andKait Kerrigan; we are consistentlyachieving that goal. Now with thepremier of Brian and Kait’s newten-minute musical The Kid WhoGot a D in Gym, we get to take theseries into a new level,’ says Leid-holdt.

“The evening [was] directed byMichael Cassara and [featured]some of Broadway’s most well-known names: Alison Fraser (two-time Tony-nominee, The Secret Gar-den and Romance, Romance),Michael Arden (Bare, Big River,Pippin concert), Kate Shindle(Cabaret, Jekyll & Hyde, Miss Amer-ica 1998), Mandy Gonzalez (DanceOf The Vampires, Aida), Sara Chase

(Boston’s Bat Boy), Rodrick Cov-ington (The Lion King, Fosse),Michael Hunsaker (Ragtime),Randy Redd (Parade), Pearl Sun(Irrationals), Natasha Y’VetteWilliams (Parade, Ain’tMisbehavin’) and Josh Young (LesMisérables).”

For future entries in the series:“Opia is located on 103 East 57thStreet off Lexington Ave. Ticketsare $15.00 cover plus a $15.00 foodor drink minimum. $5.00 discountswill be offered to anyone whobrings a toy or makes a donationto TOYS FOR TOTS. For reserva-tions, call (212) 688-3939 or visitwww.liveatopia.com for moreinformation.”

BARNSTORMERAs reported in Playbill Online

by Kenneth Jones (abridged):Barnstormer, the award-win-

ning new musical inspired by thetrue story of black aviatrix BessieColeman, will receive a publicreading 2 p.m. April 22 at the LarkPlay Development Center’s homein Manhattan, as part of the Lark’s“Studio Retreat” initiative, thework by [almumna] lyricist-libret-tist Cheryl Davis (winner of theKleban Award for the libretto) and[alumnus] composer DouglasCohen gets 30 hours of intensiverehearsal [leading to] a publicreading at the Lark.

The reading will be followed bya Lark “BareBones” production(simply staged, fully rehearsedpublic presentations of plays in thefinal stages of development) in thefall of 2005, partially funded byThe Larson Performing Arts

Brian Lowdermilk

Foundation.The spring reading cast features

Cheryl Alexander, EverettBradley, Kecia Lewis, MontegoGlover , Stu James, Wayne W .Pretlow and Josh Tower. JerryDixon will direct.

“Before Amelia Earhart, therewas Bessie Coleman—the firstBlack Aviatrix—who moved fromthe cotton fields to the clouds,”according to the Lark announce-ment.

The development of Barnstormerwas partially supported by theNational Alliance for MusicalTheatre’s Producer-Writer Initia-tive and The ASCAP FoundationIrving Caesar Fund . (See alsoCheryl Davis under “And the Win-ner Is…”)

DIRECTOR SEEKS MATERIAL“I am a young director/choreog-

rapher (currently working on myMaster’s Degree at NYU—concen-trating on direction and contempo-rary musical theater) and havebeen approached by an investorinterested in producing a musicalhere in New York, most likely off-Broadway in the near future. Idon’t have much interest in usingthis opportunity to revive an olderpiece, so I am looking for a newproperty, perhaps in—or near—thefinal stages of development. Cur-rently, there are no preferences tostyle or content; we’re simplylooking for a piece that we findinteresting and exciting. Therefore,we are eagerly accepting all scriptsfor consideration.

“Scripts and other materials canbe mailed to: Michael Harrington/ 500 West 56th Street #1908 /NY, NY 10019.”

PLAYWRIGHT SEEKS COMPOSER…to collaborate and convert a

play about Edgar Allen Poe into amusical. Other collaborations pos-sible. Please contact DavidShrepard at (718) 789-6886 or viaqingbian@nyc.rr.com.

ACTRESS SEEKS MATERIALFrom an email to Jean Banks:

Dear Jean -I am a member of BMI and was

referred to you by Samantha Coxsome time ago. I am a singer,

16

Personals

BMI-Lehman EngelMusical Theatre Workshop

320 West 57th StreetNew York, NY 10019

212-830-2508theatreworkshop@bmi.com

Jean Banks – Senior Director

Steering CommitteePatrick Cook

Richard EngquistFrank Evans

Frederick FreyerNancy GolladayAlan Menken

Susan H. SchulmanJane SmulyanDavid SpencerMaury Yeston

actress, and songwriter and havewritten a one-woman musicalcomedy show called Sleep WithMe Now, Date Me Later, a roman-tic comedy that has been com-pared to Seinfeld and I LoveYou, You’re Perfect, Now Change. Itreceived rave reviews last yearand was performed to sold-outaudiences at several clubs, includ-ing Danny’s Skylight Room. Iwould like to develop the script toa full-length musical and performit at an off-Broadway theatre. I amcurrently looking for a writer tohelp me develop the script to afull-length show, as well as a musi-cal theatre composer and lyricist tocollaborate on the music. In addi-tion, I am seeking a director tohelp me bring the story to lifeonstage. I would love to presentthe project to the BMI LehmanEngel Musical Theatre Workshopto see if any of yourstudents might be interested.

I am a singer, pianist, and actressand have won numerous musicaland theatrical awards, as well asreceiving acknowledgement by theJohnny Mercer Foundation,National Academy of PopularMusic, and the National Endow-ment for the Arts. I perform regu-larly at jazz and bluesclubs throughout the city, includ-ing Terra Blues, Zinc Bar, Kave-haz, and Bemelman’s. I have alsoperformed stand-up comedy atCaroline’s, Stand-up New York,and the Comedy Cellar, as well aswith The Groundlings in L.A. I’veworked extensively at the Ensem-ble Studio Theatre and performedin off-Broadway musicals, includ-

ing I Married an Angel and Foxy.I would be happy to speak with

you further about the project andwould appreciate any assistanceyou can provide. Feel free to con-tact me anytime at (212) 764-9090. Ilook forward to hearing from yousoon.

Warm regards,Jennifer

www.jenniferscheer.com <http://www.jenniferscheer.com>

www.jenniferscheermusic.com <http://www.jenniferscheermu-

sic.com>

LIBRETTIST SEEKS COMPOSERto collaborate on Slowly I

Turned: Love at the Brink of Nia-gara Falls. It’s an old fashionedboy-meets-girl book musical aboutthe Tong wars fought between thehotels and motels over tourists. Italso has some things to say aboutavarice and big business. The storyis told through a 30ish motel guyand a 55ish hotel owner—whoboth fall in love with the youngexec from the Chamber of Com-merce sent to make peace. The bat-tle then is no longer business—it’s personal. First draft is completeas well as lyrics to eight songs.

17

Jennifer Scheer

Contact Neil Graves by phone,(917) 669-0293 , or email, ngpostman@aol.com.

COMPOSER/COLLABORATORWANTED

Untried but mature writer seekstunesmith/arranger of traditional(no rock, r&b, or new age), dra-matic, melody-driven songs tobring musical play to life.Book/lyrics complete. This taletakes place in the 1920s (but withno gangsters or flappers). Experi-enced/veteran would add much tothe mix. email interest/back-ground/mix of samples tobrucewpratt@netscape.net or mailto: B.W . Pratt, P.O. Box 127,Deland, Florida 32721-0127.

COMPOSER WANTEDPlaywright Sarah Tuft seeks

composer for a new musical enti-tled True Hero. Existing first draftlibretto offers ample room for col-laboration. True Hero is a musicalabout a reporter ’s mis-guided search for a hero in theaftermath of September 11th.Although ultimately a love story, itreveals the anguish of the day, aswell as the destructive impact ofthe media on its survivors. TrueHero is based on Sarah’s play 110Stories, which was staged at thePublic Theater this past Septem-ber for a benefit reading with acast that included Ossie Davis,Ruby Dee, Edie Falco, James Gan-dolfini, Neil Patrick Harris,Michael Hayden, Neal Huff,Mary Stuart Masterson,James McCaffrey, Tonya Pinkins,Jay O. Sanders, Susan Sarandon,

Daniel Sunjata, Myra LucretiaTaylor and John Turturro. Where-as 110 Stories preserves the storiesof those directly affected by 9/11,True Hero is an original musicalinspired by Sarah’s experiencerecording the events. ContactSarah Tuft by email:110Stories@hit.net.

LIBRETTIST WANTED“I am a lyricist-composer (stud-

ied at Catholic University and theCollege-Conservatory of Music—Cincinnati) in search of a lib-rettist to assist me in the comple-tion of two musical dramas. Muchof the work is done. Structureaside, the libretto is weak. Finish-ing, forging, and polishingremains.” Contact: Bradley Buckat (931) 358-5285 or bradley_buck@jenkinsandwynne.com.

LIBRETTIST WANTED IIA lyricist and a composer are

seeking a book writer to collabo-rate on an established idea for ahistorically accurate musical pro-ject based on a Biblical theme. Ifinterested, please contact PaulColwell at (970) 376-0974 or atpaulkath@vail.net.

SEEKING LYRICISTa past workshop Participating

Collaborator who has worked withmany workshop writers has “anexcellent project based on afamous play for which I’m seekinga lyricist.” Contact Brad Ross at(212) 268-1093 or at Bradford-WRoss@aol.com.

18

JEWISH THIGHS ON BROAD-WAY: Memoirs of a Little Trouper

by Penny Orloff (AuthorHouse$18.95) is the semi-autobiographi-cal novel whence sprang theauthor-performer ’s one womanshow (see Works in Production).Available at all the best dot-combook stores online, the funny andtouching book has been brilliantly[and deservedly—ed.] reviewedfor its wit, its insider perspectiveand its comic-tragic passion.

L-O-V-Ea one-act play by Joan Ross

Sorkin (Librettists) was publishedby United Stages, Inc. It is includ-ed in an anthology of one-act playsfrom Emerging Artists Theatre,entitled EATfest, and is availableat The Drama Book Shop in NYC.

THE MUSICAL THEATREWRITER’S SURVIVAL GUIDE

by David Spencer (Committee,Second Year Co-Moderator), fore-word by Avenue Q songwriter-cre-ators Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx(both Advanced), published byHeinemann is now available fordiscount pre-order atAmazon.com and BarnesandNo-ble.com pending its late Springrelease. A comprehensive guide toart, craft, politics and presentation,it has garnered several advance“celebrity” endorsements includ-ing:

Larry Gelbart: “At long last: ahow-to book written by someonewho actually knows how to. It hitsso many nails on the head I couldbarely get through it for the soundof all that hammering!”

Richard Maltby, Jr.: “DavidSpencer has written a book aboutwhat it’s actually like to functionin the world of professional musi-cal theatre. It is unlike any book onwriting I’ve ever seen. It is practi-cal! It is written in unusually clearno-nonsense language, and it isfull of truths a young writer will

19

Shelf Life

Marx, Spencer, Lopez

not find articulated anywhere else.Most of us in the theatre gainedour ‘experience’ by making mis-takes and learning from them.David’s book lets you gain the‘experience’ and skip the mistakespart. Anyone maneuvering thetreacherous waters of musicals willfind it not nearly so lonely or baf-fling with this remarkable volumeas a companion.”

For more endorsements fromAlan Menken and GerardAlessandrini, as well as additionalbook info: www.aislesay.com/NY-GUIDE.html. For excerpts fromthe book: www.aislesay.com/NY-GUIDE-Glimpses.html.

TING TWUSTERSAdvanced writer Mary

Feinsinger’s collection of comicsongs to disrupt your diction, isnewly available from BitterpearlMusic Publications, snail mail:2350 Broadway, Suite 607, NewYork, NY 10024 or e-mail: bit-terpearl@nyc.rr.com.

The collection has received thisrave review from Sharon Mabryin the Spring 2005 issue of TheJournal of Singing:

“There is nothing more fun andexciting than to acquire a stack ofnew music and find a jewel or twoamong the lot. These pieces aregems indeed …Ting Twusters: TenTongue Numbing Numbers , forvoice and piano by MaryFeinsinger, a composer/lyricist atthe BMI-Lehman Engel MusicalTheatre Workshop in New YorkCity, is as wacky and wonderfullywitty as Nora was deliciously dra-

matic. Feinsinger has created ajazzy, inventive, and clever set often short pieces out of some veryfunny and well-known tonguetwisters such as ‘red leather, yel-low leather’, ‘unique New York’,and ‘Peter Piper.’ Her titles areequally creative as follows: BettyBotter ’s Butter; Tooting Tudor;Where Are Those Peppers?; BitterBitterns; A Flea and a Fly; SixThistle Sticks; Red Leather, etc.;Skunk on a Stump; Selfish Shell-fish are Seldom Seen; and That’sMy Town!

“Once you have ordered these,sung through them, and finallystopped laughing, use them foryourself or your students. You willprobably never see diction practiceput to better use in a more enter-taining way. These pieces are greatfor all voice types. The vocal linesand rhythmic settings of the textsshow a keen sense of the tactilefeel for language. The piano partsare inventive and have melodic,rhythmic and harmonic indepen-dence that translates what might

20

Mary Feinsinger

be a diction exercise by a lessercomposer into something muchmore intellectual and artistic.Though they are terrific teachingpieces for students, their sophisti-cation would provide a hilariouscontrasting set on any recital andare guaranteed to get a hail ofhollers rather than a smattering ofsnickers from the audience.”

Librettist Angelo Parra has beenelected President of the Board ofTrustees of Penguin RepertoryCompany, the Rockland County-based professional Equity theatrewhich, for more than a quartercentury, has developed and pre-sented new American plays alongwith the production of establishedworks.

The Jewish People’s Philharmon-ic Chorus with Binyumen (“Ben”)Schaechter (alumnus), conductor,will perform in New York City inJune.

Full concert of JPPC: Sunday,June 5th, 2005, 3:00 PM, HebrewUnion College, 1 West 4 Street,NY, NY. Tickets: $15; $10 forseniors and children 12 andunder.

Featured chorus in 3rd AnnualNew York International ChoralFestival: Alice Tully Hall Tuesday,June 28th, 2005, 8:00 PM, LincolnCenter, NYC. Tickets: $30, $60 and$100 ($20, $40, $75 for children

under 10 and seniors).The Chorus is recording its 1st

CD this Spring. Advance orderswill be taken for the first time atthe June 5 concert.

For additional info or to reservefor a group: call (646) 602-2007 orwrite to JPPC@nyc.rr.com.

DESSA ROSEIn December, the National

Endowment for the Arts awarded$19.9 million in Access to ArtisticExcellence grants for a variety ofprojects, including work in theatre,musical theatre, and dance.

Grants for theatre went to 34New York City organizations. TheVivian Beaumont Theater led theNYC grantees with $60,000 to sup-port the world premiere of DessaRose, a new musical based on anovel by Sherley Anne Williams.Librettist-lyricist is Lynn Ahrens,composer is Stephen Flaherty(both emeritus) and the director isGraciela Daniele.

Non-WritingGigs

And theWinner Is...

21

HEAVEN KNOWSbook, music and lyrics by

Charles Bloom (alumus) receiveda $2,200 grant from The AnnaSosenko Assist Trust toward theproduction of its demo recording.This particular trust was also help-ful toward the completion of theInsomnia demo (also by Charles) afew months ago (see this issue’slead article).

INSOMNIAbook, music and lyrics by

Charles Bloom (alumnus) wasselected for The Cardiff Interna-tional Festival of Musical Theatre(a.k.a. The Global Search For NewMusicals), the most prestigiousplatform for the presentation ofnew works in Great Britain. Theshow is one of only six new worksfrom a field of 245 shows submit-ted from 13 countries selected by ablue-ribbon panel whose membersinclude Cameron Mackintosh,Julia Mackenzie, George Stiles &Anthony Drew (writers of the newsongs in Mary Poppins) and festivaldirector, Sally Rapier.

As described, Insomnia “is abouta gay screenwriter in Hollywoodwho battles his personal-and-pro-fessional nocturnal demons overthe course of a sleepless night.” Itreceived a successful debut pro-duction last summer in NYC aspart of The Midtown Internation-al Theatre Festival.

The Cardiff International Festi-val of Musical Theatre, whoseguest of honor this year wasStephen Sondheim, ran fromMarch 29th-April 17th in Cardiff,

Wales. For more information, logonto www.cardiffmusicals.com.(See also this issue’s feature story,Cardiff in Bloom and Vice Versa.

LOVE, MOMA short film originally created

for the fourth RAW ImpressionsFilm Event, screenplay and lyrics

by Maryrose Wood (Advanced),music by Andrew Gerle (Partici-pating Collaborator), directed byTed Sperling, and starring Tonya(Caroline, or: Change) Pinkins, hasbeen heating up the film festivalcircuit. It was a prize winner at thePalm Beach International FilmFestival, received a Director ’sChoice Award from the BlackMaria Film Festival and was fea-tured in the Independent BlackFilm Festival and the TrentonFilm Festival.

NAMT’S 2005-06 PRODUCER/WRITER INITIATIVE GRANTS

provide awarded theaters with$3,000 to help fund a writingteam’s residency for a minimum ofseven days, supporting housingand travel costs and an artist

22

Tonya Pinkins

stipend for the writing team.Among this years winners, select-ed by lottery, are:

The Musical Mondays TheatreLab (NY), which, working in col-laboration with the AbingdonTheatre Company, will present astaged reading of composerRichard Evans (Advanced), libret-tist Jane Stroll and lyricist FrankEvans’ (Committee) Ripe! The NotReady For Middle Age Musical.This fellowship is underwritten byJamie deRoy & Friends.

The Village Theatre (WA) willhost a two-week workshop ofAdvanced lyricist-librettist Mary-rose Wood and participating col-laborator Andrew Gerle’s RodgersAward winning The Tutor in theirVillage Originals Series. This fel-lowship is underwritten by TheASCAP Foundation Irving CaesarFund.

The residencies will take placebetween May 1, 2005 and April 30,2006.

PSALM 23 by composer Mary Feinsinger

(Advanced) was a finalist in theDiana Barnhart Festival of NewAmerican Song competition, andwas performed in Philadephia onFebruary 26. Ms. Feinsinger wasalso a prize-winner in this compe-tition three years ago.

REDby Advanced composer-lyricist

Brian Lowdermilk and librettistMarcus Stevens was among thewinners of the 2005 RichardRodgers Development Award. As

described: “The events leading tothe executions of Julius and EthelRosenberg—as seen through theeyes of Lenny Bruce—are featuredin [the musical], which tells thelove story of “two people withpassionate beliefs who neverbetrayed each other even to savetheir own lives.” Winners werechosen by a seven-member jury,under the chairmanship ofStephen Sondheim. The jury com-prised Lynn Ahrens, Jack Beeson,Sheldon Harnick, RichardMaltby, Jeanine Tesori and JohnWeidman.

BABY LOPEZThe newest member of the

Lopez and Anderson families, lit-tle Katie Lopez, was born onMarch 25th, 2005. She was 6 lbs,10 oz. Daddy Robert Lopez andMommy Kristen Anderson-Lopezare both members of the Advancedclass who first met in the Work-shop. As a celebratory gift, Bobby’sAvenue Q collaborator, Jeff Marx,provided what no new babyshould do without—her own per-sonal web domain! Thus, morepictures, and even video, can beseen at www.babylopez.com. Allof Kristen and Bobby’s friends andcolleagues at BMI send love andcongratulations.

23

Unique andSpecial Events

LITTLE WOMEN the durable Louisa May Alcott

title that has inspired countlessmovie, play and musical versions,emerged once again on April 21with a Manhattan public presenta-tion of Advanced writers AlisonHubbard, Kim Oler and SeanHartley’s musical take on theproperty. The show, given a stagedreading in The York Theatre Com-pany’s Spring DevelopmentalReading Series, represents arevised version of the Oler-Hub-bard score that won the RichardRodgers Development Awardwhen it was linked to a libretto by

Allan Knee. That earlier show wasbeing developed for Broadway,but its producers chose to keepKnee’s book and bring on anothersongwriting team, resulting in thecurrent Broadway run of LittleWomen: The Musical starring Sut-ton Foster as Jo. (For a more com-prehensive view of what hap-pened to Oler and Hubbard on theway to Broadway, go to www.aislesay.com/NY-WIMMINGS.html.)

The Little Women presented bythe York featured its new librettoby Hartley (known for the musicalCupid & Psyche). Peter Flynndirected the reading. Musicaldirection was by Mark Goodman.

The cast included Donna LynnChamplin as Jo and Alma Cuervoas Marmee, with Wynne Anders,Justin Bohon, John Bolton, Kath-leen Earley, Willy Falk, Rex Hays,Mary Stout, Allison Walla andBecky Watson.

James Morgan is producingartistic director of the York TheatreCompany. Jeff Landsman is coor-dinator York’s DevelopmentalReading Series.

SHOW BUSINESSdirector Dori Berinstein’s docu-

mentary, had its world premiere atthe Tribeca Film Festival in April.The 102-minute film, which waswritten by Berinstein and RichardHankin, follows four Broadwaymusicals from inception throughthe 2004 Tony Awards. The musi-cals include Wicked, the hitStephen Schwartz musical at theGershwin Theatre; Avenue Q,the Tony-winning musical at the

24

Baby Lopez

Alison Hubbard & Kim Oler

Golden Theatre; Taboo, the short-lived Boy George musical pro-duced on Broadway by RosieO’Donnell ; and Caroline,or: Change, the much acclaimedmusical by Tony Kushner and Jea-nine Tesori (alumna), which wasdirected by George C. Wolfe.

25

Newsletter Staff

Editor: David Spencer

Associate Editor: Frank Evans

Design and Patrick CookLayout:

Contributing Editors:

Richard EngquistJane Smulyan

P ds F om the

The Fred Ebb Foundation(Mitchell Bernard, Trustee of theFred Ebb Foundation) is pleased toannounce the inauguration of theFred Ebb Award for aspiringmusical theatre songwriters. Theaward is named in honor of thelate, award-winning lyricist FredEbb.

The Fred Ebb Award will recog-nize excellence in musical theatresongwriting, by a lyricist, compos-er, or songwriting team that hasnot yet achieved significant com-mercial success. The award ismeant to encourage and supportaspiring songwriters to create newworks for the musical theatre. Theprize includes a $50,000 award.

Applications can be obtainedthrough the official website atwww.FredEbbFoundation.org.

Submissions will be acceptedbetween May 1st 2005 and June30th, 2005. The winner will beannounced at a ceremony inNovember 2005.

The judges will be Broadwaydirector Scott Ellis; lyricist, writerand composer Sheldon Harnick;playwright and producer TimPinckney (librettists) and theatreproducer Arthur Whitelaw.

Due to the longstanding rela-

tionship between Mr. Ebb and theRoundabout Theatre Company,the Roundabout will provide cre-ative and administrative guidance.In its six-year run, Roundabout’sTony Award-winning productionof John Kander and Fred Ebb’sCabaret became the theatre com-pany’s most successful production,creating the opportunity forRoundabout to make Studio 54 itspermanent home for musical the-atre.

As a BMI-affiliated writer, lyri-cist, composerand director,Fred Ebb madeincalculablecontributions tothe New Yorktheatrical com-munity. Mr.Ebb was a

Tony, Grammy, Emmy, Olivierand Kennedy Center Honors Life-time Achievement Award win-ning recipient. His first profession-al songwriting assignment came in1953 when he and Phil Springerwere hired by Columbia Recordsto write a song for Judy Garlandcalled “Heartbroken.” Mr. Ebbwas introduced to composer JohnKander in 1964 by music publisher

26

Opening Doors The Fred Ebb Foundation Announces the Creation of the Fred Ebb Award for Aspiring Musical Theatre Songwriters.

The Inaugural Fred Ebb Award will be Awarded in November 2005.

Tommy Valando and they becameone of the most legendary song-writing teams in American history.Their first successful collaborationwas on the song “My ColoringBook ,” recorded by BarbraStreisand. Their second theatricalcollaboration, Flora, the Red Men-ace, made a star out of Liza Min-nelli in her Tony Award-winningBroadway debut. In 1966, their col-laboration Cabaret, opened andreceived seven Tony Awardsincluding Best Musical and BestScore. A 1972 movie version ofCabaret starring Liza Minnelli wasnominated for 10 AcademyAwards, won eight and was fur-ther nominated for nine GoldenGlobe Awards, winning threeincluding Best Picture, Musical orComedy. The same year, the song-writing team wrote a number ofsongs for Minnelli’s television spe-

cial Liza With a Z, which receivedan Emmy Award for OutstandingSingle Program, Variety or Popu-lar Music. In 1975, the team wrotethe Broadway musical Chicago,directed by Bob Fosse and starringGwen Verdon, Chita Rivera andJerry Orbach.

The musical was successfullyrevived 20 years later at City Cen-ter Encores! and subsequentlytransferred to Broadway where itis currently the longest runningrevival in Broadway history.

In 1977, the team collaboratedwith Martin Scorsese on themovie New York, New York; thetitle song was introduced by Min-nelli and later recorded by FrankSinatra, becoming the unofficialtheme song of New York City.Their Minnelli Broadway vehicleThe Act also opened that year.After a four-year absence, Mr. Ebband Mr. Kander returned withWomen of the Year (1981), TheRink (1984), Kiss of the SpiderWoman (1985) and Steel Pier(1997). Miramax’s 2002 featurefilm Chicago was nominated for 13Academy Awards and won six,including Best Picture and wasnominated for eight Golden GlobeAwards and won three, includingBest Picture, Musical or Comedy.

The official Fred Ebb Founda-tion website, with additional infor-mation on the award, includingeligibility, application, submission,selection and announcementdetails can be accessed atwww.FredEbbFoundation.org.

27

On Thursday, December 14, 2004,The BMI-Lehman Engel MusicalTheatre Workshop offered its fifthMaster Class (the first of the sea-son) in the third floor MediaRoom. Composer David Shire(Starting Here Starting Now, CloserThan Ever, Baby, Big) and his col-laborator, lyricist-librettist anddirector Richard Maltby, Jr. (allthose plus Miss Saigon, Ain’t Misbe-havin’, Song and Dance, Dancin’,Nick and Nora) comprised thepanel invited to comment on thework of two selected Advanceclass writing units.

The two shows represented by25 minute excerpts were The Storyof My Life, music and lyrics byNeil Bartram, book by visiting col-laborator Brian Hill); and Sto-ryville, music by Lisa DeSpain,lyrics & co-libretto by KristenAnderson-Lopez, and co-librettoby visiting collaborator ShawnChurchman.

28

Master Classes #5: Maltby & Shire

Pictured L to R, top row: Brian Hill, Neil Bartram, David Spencer, Richard Maltby, Jr., David Shire. Bottom row: Shawn Churchman,

Lisa DeSpain, Kristen Anderson-Lopez

On Wednesday, April 4, 2005,the second Master Class of the sea-son (#6 in the series) featuredStephen Sondheim as guest pan-elist.

The shows represented, also by 25minute excerpts, were King Matt, book and lyrics by SeanHartley , music by JihwanKim; and A Tour of the Ruins,book, music and lyrics by MichaelOgborn.

Per usual, Committee MemberDavid Spencer served as produc-er/moderator for both evenings.

29Jiwan Kim & Sean Hartley

Michael Ogborn

#6: Stephen Sondheim

veggies here and there but, overall,you might as well call the placeCarb-diff.

So far, the most important artis-tic lesson I have learned (and thereal lesson-teaching days are stillahead) is that the real test of one’swork is not the degree to which awriter can retain control to ensurehis original vision is preserved andrespected. Rather, it’s more aboutthe inherent elasticity within thework which allows people to bringto it things a writer could neverhave foreseen…but likes, anyway.I mean, I’m here, they consult me,are deferential, and all that; but, inreturn, whenever possible, I try toadopt an attitude of, “Sure, try itthat way and see what happens.”In the final analysis, we authorshave to give it away and let it goand this is one of my first, formal,slightly higher visibility lessons indoing just that.

That said, I have been politelyinsistent that the structural andmusical reductions make harmonicand compositional sense but, luck-ily, our MD is highly sensitive toall that and is quick to stand at myside when, even with the best ofintentions, something is suggestedwhich would suggest that I knownothing about song form and con-struction. When people are seeingwhat is essentially a “Highlightsfrom…” sort of presentation, theidea is to try to come up some-

thing as smooth-seeming as possi-ble so that the reaction can be, “Isay, that was an interesting 45 min-utes. I wonder what the other 45minutes are like.” To help answerthat question, I have 60 simple, butcomprehensive “promo packs,”containing a CD, synopsis, charac-ter breakdown, etc. to hand out asneeded…let’s hope I run out.

I haven’t seen anyone in four daysor so, but the director dutifullyreports back to say that all hasmarkedly improved from where Isaw it last week. Truth to tell,when I saw it, it was only afterthree days of rehearsal and, allthings considered, they weren’tdoing badly at all. When I arrivedfor the first time, they promptlyasked if I would wait outside for20 minutes…they wanted to“show off” the opening number tome, which was very sweet. It’s funbeing called “Mr. Bloom” all thetime and then saying, “Oh, pleasecall me Charlie,” but liking all the“Mr. Bloom” stuff, anyway.

The actress playing the character“Linda” isn’t really a soprano, sothe song “All That Matters” isbeing a transposed down at least aminor third, but it’s cool…maybethe effect will be a warmer sound.

Life in London and Cardiff is adiverse challenge and, though myapartment is pretty luxurious, Ican only say it’s a good thing Ihave great legs because, to thetune of miles and miles a day, I amcertainly using them. Getting any-

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“Cardiff In Bloom”(Continued from page 3)

thing done here is a schlep and adrama. Naturally, as soon as peo-ple detect I’m a tourist, they try tofleece me…then I let them knowthat I know what they’re up to andwe have a big laugh…and thenthey try to fleece me again. I’vetoured Cardiff Castle (whose struc-ture goes back to 76 A.D.—trulyamazing), wove my way throughthe shopping district, did a bit oftame clubbing and, of course, getlost constantly.

I have seen a couple of shows inconnection with the Festival: KissMe, Kate and Merrily We Roll Along.Both unremarkable, though theorchestras of both were quitestrong. and the dance arrange-ments for KMK were actually out-standing. No big deal. I don’twatch these things expectinggroundbreaking theatre. It’s justnice to be out here. My work, fromhere on in, is going to be moreabout marketing, hand-shaking atthe opening and, ideally, unload-ing some or all of the 60 CDs Ihave in my possession.

There are occasional bouts ofwistfulness since I am doing somany things alone, but I haven’tentirely vacated my gregarious-ness and, when necessary, I’veengaged others and have had areserved British blast. Tonight,though, I’m home and happy to beso.

Week TwoMonday, April 4. Well, the rain hasstopped, but I think I’m in for the

night. I spent much of the day ofsearching out a tailor who does hiswork on his premises.

Today held another surprise. Ineeded to get ten more InsomniaCDs duped and (surprise, sur-prise) there’s not a single place inCardiff which does that sort ofthing…well, not without a goodfleecing, of course. Anyhow, Iasked a guy in a photo shop whereI might find such a place and,since he knew of nowhere, heoffered to do it himself…at 75% ofwhat the fleecer had in mind forme. Fleecers aside, people are gen-erally very helpful here. Everyoneseems to know about the festivaland when they learn of the natureof my connection to it, theybecome incredibly helpful andaccommodating. Welsh accents area little hard to decipher at certainrates of speed but eventually I getit.

The news is, of course, wall-to-wall John Paul II. He was a para-doxical Pope, I think. He had theshowmanship of a liberal-mindedman but, as a matter of most poli-cies which would reflect real (evena little dangerous) change, he wasquite unchanging. Perhaps, by theend of the next papacy, he will beseen as more of a transitional fig-ure: someone who loosened thingsup a bit, but didn’t set them entire-ly free. Perhaps, his successor willdare to evolve where evolutionbeckons and not be afraid tounderstand that the more we con-front, admit and act on the various

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matters of human beings beinghuman, the closer we ultimatelyare to God.

There’s a big rehearsal tomor-row and I’ll be there but, as I’vealready decided, mostly as a pro-pellant. The cast needs to gathertheir own steam now on the wayto Friday so I intend to only givesmall, easily doable notes; but,from what I’m learning, they seemto be in very good shape...andthey’re off-book which, for presen-tations like this, is unusual. Thedirector insisted on it, much to thecast’s initial surprise.

Tuesday, April 5. Today was thegrand reunion between actors andauthor after five days in separatecities.

We reconvened in our secondconsecutive, cavernous rehearsalhall, this one also run by the BBC. Isat off to one side, but in shortorder was asked to sit with thedirector, Carole Todd, on stage,which I appreciated. Sheannounced that, to warm up,there’d be a casual sing-through ofthe opening number around thepiano. Carole, I should add here, isa highly experienced director ofmusicals, having done it for 20-25years. She has been, from Day Oneof my involvement to the date ofthis entry, a joy to work with andis particularly good at gettingwhat she wants out of actors with-out raising either hand or voice.Translating the show into a coher-ent miniature without medicatingthe author isn’t easy, but Carolehas managed.

While I’m at it, I’d like to alsobring up our Musical Director,Richard John, a young man who,to improve his professional oppor-tunities in places of more creativefertility, temporarily left a wife andtwo beautiful children in Australia.He’s working very hard not onlyon Insomnia, but two other showsand, though he’s employed to playpiano, not favorites, there areinnumerable examples of his goingbeyond the call of “ditty” so I can’thelp feeling that Insomnia meanssomething to him.

And I’m happy to report that theresult of his transposing “All ThatMatters” down a major third isindeed only a warmer sound and,since it now sits more comfortablyin the actress’s voice, the lyric,whose content is supposed to besoothing and wise, is being deliv-ered with more ease and, for her,less risk of laryngitis.

Carole called “Places!” Richardgave everyone that “Are youready?” look and we were off. Itook a brief, shining moment totake it all in…to look at all thesepeople I hardly knew working sohard on something which, lessthan three-and-a-half years ago,was a notion I had in my bathrobeone morning after a particularlynasty sleepless night; but, then, adouble-forte F9+5/Eb chordrocked my reverie and I wasback…

…back in Pimlico. I was remem-bering all those promises they did-n’t need to make in an effort toassure but then, to my surprise,what I began to see on stage evi-

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denced no visible “effort” at all.The fabric of the short, but search-ing talks Carole and I had, themajor decisions we had to make infive-to-ten minutes were every-where to be seen and heard.

Gone were the flailing gestures,the grand pauses, the excessive ad-libbing, the indicating; and in theirplaces were characterizations bur-geoning with strength borne of anew-found simplicity. Were theremuffed lyrics? Forgotten lines?Slow tempos? You bet…lots…andthey are the best sign that the finalascent into a performance-level ofclarity has begun. I’ve found it’swhen everyone is coasting alongwith a week to go, frozen in com-placency and contentment, thatone starts to revisit nail-biting.

The gloss of the previous weekhad become the beginning of agleam. The last 15 minutes waslike watching a baby too young tojump, but one who now knowshow not to fall. As if to glimpse thelast leap they’ll all be making, thefinal ballad, “In Here”, soared. Noone moved, talked, people outsidethe room stopped and looked andlistened through the glass, openingthe door slightly. I love the theatre.

Wednesday, April 6. So, todaycame the doubt. The disquietbefore the storm. I had a minormeltdown and after an otherwiseproductive rehearsal, the groundsimply gave out from under me. Itwas the literary equivalent of thewell-known Actor’s Nightmare: Icouldn’t recall writing the showand, thus, dreaded the idea of

being asked a question about it. Iwas convinced the audienceswould hate Insomnia, was certainthey’d hate me and I was suddenlyfilled with the feeling that, at anymoment, I’d be found out andexposed to everyone as a fraud.

The truth is, I am apprehensivethat the audience won’t connectwith the piece, won’t take awayeven one of the free 60 CDs I’vetoted across the Atlantic; especiallywith this trip being taken at a greatpersonal, financial risk. This is notone of those hedged bets. Losing ispossible. So, I tried to ease myfirmly furrowed brow with phras-es like, “If not now, when?” Thenthe panic burned out and passed.Peace of a sort returned to roost.And I left for rehearsal like a JamesBond martini: “Shaken, but notstirred.”

As I traversed the series of dog-leg turns on cobble-stoned roads, Iwondered what the performancevenue would look like. They toldme, “It’s a black box.” Now, in myparlance, that’s a shiver-sender,but I kept my counsel. Thoughwhen I passed a pub called TheButcher’s Arms, I emitted an audi-ble sigh.

My destination building provedto be an inviting, economicalangled, brick structure which, inaddition to two “live” stages, alsoboasted a movie theatre. I ascend-ed two flights of stairs, crossedeverything on my body which didnot impair circulation, swungopen the doors, opened my eyesand gazed upon no “black box” asI’d ever defined it. There were 100

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or so raked, felt-covered seats, anicely appointed tech booth, spots,specials, etc.

Exhale. The show would, indeed, have a

proper nest from which to fly. Thecast started to file in, we sang“Happy Birthday” to one of thecast members and everyone coziedup to the piano.

To get an acoustical grasp, Iperched myself up in the back row.In no time, it was clear that gonewould be the chance for the cast tohide pitch mistakes in this envi-ronment. Our echo-chamberishpast had dissolved into an unfor-giving, half-dead arrangement ofair space. Better to have thisextreme than the other. Actually,with projection and enunciation, Ididn’t “forehear” a problem. It wasjust the newest of the new chal-lenges greeting everyone at theswinging doors. So everyone pol-ished off their tuning forks, didwarm-up scales and then did whathas now become usual: the casualsing-through of the opening num-ber. I agree with this. If they nailthe opening, the rest will be com-parative cake…or, at least, scones.In the final moments, I made ateeny lyrical adjustment, some castmembers ran up to me with ques-tions and, now, on a real stage, wewere at it again.

The new location seemed tothrow off the general timing. Itwas encouraging here and there,but still spotty. Lots of voice mark-ing, which was perfectly under-standable. I gave some brief noteswhich, essentially, focused on the

importance of trusting the songs,not adding on rubato sectionswhere they’re not written and tobe careful not to miss the smallwords. Sometimes, saying an“and” or a “so” instead of a “but”is the difference between gettingand not getting a laugh and, since Iam a product of a show-bizupbringing, losing a laugh is like adeath in the family.

Richard continued to make peo-ple aware of the built-in musicaldevices intended to perk thingsup, grab the audience, etc.because, at this generally fastrehearsal pace (adding the fact thatthe cast is doing two other showssimultaneously with mine), thingscan be innocently overlooked. Idon’t think each and every nuancewill be observed but, from whatI’ve seen, I think our cast is poisedto rise to any and all occasions.

The launching pad is now beingapproached and, from here on in(except for the group photo) I startto keep a little more distance. Ithas to belong to all of them now.

Thursday, April 7. Due to thoseinevitable “technical delaysbeyond our control,” the cue-to-cue lighting and sound fun-festmoved all final dress run-thrusahead two hours so Insomnia didn’teven get started until 11p.m. Thecast, all of whom were at the endof a very long day, had earned theright to a portion of catatonia but,troupers all, they turned in a gen-erally energized go of it, in prepa-ration for what I understand willbe three packed houses.

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One of those delays, though,was well worth watching. Carole,clearly, has a secret desire. No, Itake that back: a not-so-secret tal-ent for lighting design. With whatappeared to be no lighting noteswhatsoever, she created three com-pletely separate schemes for all theshows in our program. I finallysaw the other two pieces for thefirst time tonight.

One was a Capra-eqsue pieceabout a bum being raised toworldwide celebrity. It’s calledMeet Mister Future and Carole lit itwith a show-biz look. The secondpiece is a much darker, moodierpiece about Anne Sexton, a poetwho committed suicide. Shadowsare everywhere. This piece is enti-tled The Ambition Bird. Insomniacloses out the evening and hasreceived an effective, starkerlook—almost as if the motion ofthe lights is somehow coordinatedto the protagonist’s blinking. Car-ole’s interpretation of color as itrelates to mood was never by roteor obvious. In short, peopleattending our three shows, whoare expecting to see a semi-circle ofactors wearing black and holdingscripts are in for a pleasant (andwell-lit) surprise.

The Insomnia final-dress didhave its share of humorous andentirely forgivable marks offatigue. One of the cast who, tothis point, had kept his Americaninflections nicely preserved, nowplayed his role with his nativeScottish brogue. Some people con-served their energy a little whileothers seized the day…uh…

night…uh…very late night to riseto a performance level, since thiswas their last chance to do it infront of familiar faces. This wasparticularly true of Peter Caulfieldwho plays “Nick,” the main char-acter’s as-yet unborn child. I didn’tspeak to Peter as much as I wouldhave liked to during rehearsal but,from last night, can tell he hassome very special things in storefor this evening’s audience.

All the cast, though, is poised,ready to play and, as I recall fromthe days when I was an actor,eager to get all those writers anddirectors out of their hair and takeover the theatre. After three weeksof rehearsal, the cast of Insomnia isbest described by that well knownBob Merrill lyric: they are mostdefinitely “People who need peo-ple.”

Me? I’m a ghost now. Well, aghost who carries around a bag ofCDs hoping that the bag will getlighter.

After the final dress, nine or tenof us went to (and were the onlyones in) a cozy hotel bar. Since itwas only us, I couldn’t resist theopportunity to say, “This round’son me!” In NYC, we’re fairlyawash in musical theatre festivals(as of this writing, I have anothershow of mine submitted to three ofthem), but these people are navi-gating the only event that showcas-es new works in all of GreatBritain. If that doesn’t warrant around of cocktails, what does?Well, I hope (as do they) that theyget company soon.

So, we ran through our rounds,

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traded anecdotes and, come 1:30 orso, shuffled our ways home. I layin bed for a while watching a tele-vised Snooker tournament. Ilooked around the room for Totobecause if he needed any evidencethat we weren’t in Kansas any-more, a televised Snooker tourna-ment should’ve sealed it.

Insomnia? Well, now I think it’sgoing to be just fine. I chose tothink about my Dad. The last andonly time I was in England waswith him. When we were here,there were still shillings. He neverwanted me to be an actor, a writeror, for that matter, pursue any lifein the arts but, having had a front-row seat to his life in the arts madeit impossible for me to look away.{Editor’s Note: Charlie’s dad wasscreenwriter Harold Jack Bloom, whocreated several TV series and scriptedthe feature films A Gunfight and TheNaked Spur, among others.]

To date, material success hasmanaged to elude me but, thoughI knew he placed a great deal ofimportance on material success, Iknow he’d be proud of both whatI’m doing here in Wales and, ingeneral, that I’ve stayed in thegame this long. Our family is meekin number, but mighty of heart. AsI said to him when I was a kid,“Our family has one of each…nounderstudies.” After hearing a linelike that, I think Dad knew he wasnot raising a welder.

Friday, April 8. Performance Day.Morning in Wales. The SnookerTournament is still on TV but, takeheart, it’s not raining, which is fur-

ther testimony to the fact that Godloves musicals. I’m off to the the-atre early to see the three presenta-tions that comprise the second fes-tival program.

I took a new route to the theatretoday. It wound me through amore industrial area of town. Istopped to get a coffee and, whilewaiting in line, spotted an older,ruddy-looking gentleman withbright blue eyes. He was wearingblackened work gloves. The needfor small talk presented itself so Ibrought up the Festival and thenature of my involvement. Hisalready-bright eyes broadened andbeamed. It seemed he’d heard allabout the festival and said that heand his wife had tickets for theafternoon. He was very excitedabout it. Though the festival iswidely known in Cardiff, I’d neverseen anyone brighten up to thatdegree. He nearly spilled his cof-fee.

As we both made our way out,before we went in separate direc-tions, I asked him what he did fora living. He took a long sip of cof-fee, looked through me with thoseeyes and said, “I’m a welder, son.”

As the lights dimmed, I had oneunfestive festival thought. Theaudience had seen five 45-minutepresentations before Insomnia.Would they have anything left?Would they be able to laugh, cry,applaud and, most of all, give meone of those lovely little end-of-the-show silences? You know theone I mean, right? The one thatcomes just after the last moment

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and before what you hope will bean eruption. I’ve read about them,anyway.

What seemed like piano notesbegan to spill out. I say “seemed”because, as friends know, some-times I temporarily lose my senseof hearing during performancesbut, tonight, all seemed aurallyintact. Then, the real music began:the first few jokes landed…and ondifferent surfaces. There were gig-gles, chortles, chuckles, cacklesand all warmed my cockles. Hal-lelujah. They were with us. I set-tled in for the ride.

The cast took control and, line-by-line, song-by song, they pro-ceeded to hit a 45-minute home-run. A few times, after somethingwent particularly well, I was onthe receiving end of a few, reassur-ing shoulder taps. I didn’t lookback to see from whom they came,but they were the theatrical equiv-alent of a caress. I was so proud ofmy cast...how they cared about thepiece and how dedicated theywere to its deliverance. I must,though, single out one: RachelIzen. She played “Sylvia,”, thecomic lead. What a pro. Never abeat missed, never a momentwasted or overplayed. To cite PatCook, not only did she give theaudience “permission to laugh,”she also never gave them a choice.

…and so it went: line, laugh,song, blackout, shouldertap…Even during the quieterplaces, no pins dared to drop. Thefinal, anthemic ballad, “In Here,”began to breathe its final bars and,then, there it was: that lovely, sto-

rybook silence. It only lasted oneor two seconds but, in that time,the audience asked, “Is it over?Can I go crazy now?” And theydid. Cheers, screams, etc. Not eventhat formidable, British reservestood in the way this time. Theygot it. By Jove, I think they got it!

The lights came back up: hugs,shoulder taps (more like squeezesnow) and questions about the his-tory and future of the show startedto fly. Before I answered, I noticedthe welder and his wife across thecrowded room, giving me a heartythumbs-up.

I strolled into the lobby where,on a table, was a large stack of CDswhich, to my delight, were quicklydisappearing. I shook a lot ofhands, kept three conversationsgoing at once and received enoughbusiness cards to build a small raft.A distant strain of “Putting ItTogether” ran through my head,but no complaints here.

Finally, the last palm pressed, Iembraced the cast and drifted outthe door. I was separated from thecobblestones by my mood but, as Ifloated just over them, I wonderedthe usual thing, “So, what happensnow”? No clue…but no problem,either.

Insomnia went to England andthe two got along famously. Inever intended to leave here a con-quering hero. I’m in the businessof beginnings…

…and that, for now, is the per-fect place to end.

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The patron saint of musical theatreis Cinderella.

Whoever concocted the originalstory bequeathed to the world ofpopular culture a gift that neverstops giving. Cinderella is theengine that drives more thana hundred movies, more than afew stage plays, operas andoperettas, and countless TV showsincluding the “makeover” models,the “queer eye” transformations,and even the redecoration of hous-es.

The process of turning a sow’sear into a silk purse—or merelybringing out its hidden beauty—has universal, undying appeal.Just as no one ever went brokeunderestimating the taste of theAmerican public, no one ever wentwrong by waving a magic wandover a kitchen slave and watchinga princess emerge. There’s a touchof the miraculous about it, likewatching a monarch butterflyemerge from its husk(or whateverthat is) and spread its wings.

Nowhere is this more obviousthan in the world of musical come-dy that we love. The many monthsof grueling work it would havetaken in reality to transform the

guttersnipe Eliza Dolittle into thebelle of the ball are telescoped intoa few brilliant strokes of words,music and stagecraft and—voila!We don’t see the magic wand, butit’s there.

The real-life awkward teenagerLouise Hovick did not turn intothe graceful, witty Gypsy Rose Leeovernight, but on the stage it hap-pens gloriously before our eyes inthe space of a musical sequence.Magic!

Who learned this lesson betterthan Jerry Herman and his collab-orators? We see the ordinary Albinrecreate himself into a powerfuldiva. The grieving widow Mamecomes back to life in a spectacularway. The hardworking matchmak-er Dolly Levi puts on a red dressand is resurrected into her youth-ful self. Irene Molloy tries ribbonsdown her back. Other working-class people know the powerof “elegance” and are not reluctantto put on their Sunday clothes.Gooch in Mame takes off her glass-es, puts on a girdle, and thus revo-lutionizes her life.

Kander and Ebb did variationson the Cinderella archtype. Theircharacters may be stuck in prison

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or other unappealing locales, butthe power of imagination creates akind of glamour that astonishes us.Whatever happened to class?There it is in the image of the Spi-der Woman, everyone’s fairy god-mother.

Imagination turns Aldonza intoDulcinea and Lizzie intoMelisande. Arthur Laurents isresponsible in part for Gypsy (seeabove); for Leona in Do I Hear aWaltz?, a very ordinary womantransformed by love; for Maria inWest Side Story who “feels pretty”(with an assist from Sondheim andBernstein) when she’s loved by apretty wonderful boy.

Even when characters don’tchange physically or undergo ego-enhancing experiences, they canaffect us dramatically simply bygetting dressed up: Tracy and hermother in Hairspray. The instanta-neous, extreme makeover of Pas-sionella in The Apple Tree is daz-zling.

If you’d like to see some strikingexamples of this scene in variousforms, check out the followingfilms: Lady for a Day (1933) inwhich the aged May Robson istransformed from a drunken baglady into a society grande dame.Repeated, with Bette Davis, in APocketful of Miracles (1961). Thesame scene in reverse: Jan Sterlingtakes off her face in The High andthe Mighty (1954). ShirleyMacLaine, having taken her faceoff, puts it back on in Postcards fromthe Edge (1990).

All of these are variations on theCinderella moment. But in musical

theatre, it’s more than a moment;it’s a raison d’être. Consider whatFrank Loesser did in reinventingSidney Howard’s play, They KnewWhat They Wanted. The heroinegets a new name and a new glow.The dialogue gets poetry and gor-geous music. A drab, depressingplay becomes a thrilling, life-affirming event. Cinderella sleight-of-hand on a grand scale.

Ah, change, unexpected anduplifting! An illiterate country girlbecomes the star of a wild-westshow and gets to sing like EthelMerman! Another illiterate girlmarries a miner who becomesa millionaire and then she becomesThe Unsinkable Molly Brown! Aprostitute becomes the first lady ofArgentina! An orphan is adoptedby the richest man in the worldand gets to meet the president ofthe United States!

Hope, magic, miracles—not tomention glamour. But let’s tacklethat tangential subject anothertime around.

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