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After the better part of a year, Gordon and I are so excited to have a shiny 22-song set of These Familiar Spirits demos (16 of which are new from this recording round). Just in time for spooky season!
Music by Julia Meinwald Book and Lyrics by Gordon Leary Performed by Shaleah Adkisson, Delaney Amatrudo, Kim Blanck, Ally Bonino, Carina Gravante, Tori Huston-Elem, Amy Linden, MinJi Kim, Alllison Lian, Elexis Morton, Allison Posner, Hana Slevin, Gabrielle Stravelli, Tatiana Wechsler Mixed by Andrew Zinsmeister Music Direction by Rich Silverstein
So excited to have videos from Shoshana and my May cabaret! Can you guess the theme of the show on whose set we were performing? No you cannot. It was "Little House on the Prairie in Fire Island". So grateful to all the performers (credited in the videos) and the wonderful Matt Brogan (graphic design), and Rebecca Spiro and Robin Dahan (themed desserts.) It takes a village, y'all!
Full PlaylistSelects I put on a cabaret with the wonderful Shoshana Greenberg! A helpful FAQ:
Is the show inconveniently late and/or tediously long? Nope, it’s at 7pm and will be under 90 minutes. Will I likely be awed and inspired by the performers? I expect so. Look at this roster: Courtney Bassett, Ally Bonino, Matthew Clemetson, Sean Doherty, Sam Heldt, Allison Lian, Alyse Alan Louis, McKay Marshall, Allison Posner, Tatiana Wechsler. With Jeff Cubeta, Rich Silverstein, and Rusti Stern at the piano! Wait, did you and Shoshana write a ton of songs together? No! The set will be half my songs (music by me, lyrics by a handful of my favorite lyricists), half Shoshana’s songs (lyrics by Shosh, music by a handful of her favorite composers), and one song we actually wrote together. Not to be presumptuous, but will there be an assortment of free desserts? Yes, there will be an assortment of free desserts inspired by the songs. Where do I get my ticket? Tickets and more info are here. The Duplex is a small/intimate venue, so I recommend snagging a ticket in advance in case we sell out (she humble-bragged, thus assuredly jinxing the prospect of selling out.)  Gordon and I were so happy to have a chance to revisit REB+VoDKa+ME through a two-day workshop at Manhattan School of Music's Musical Theatre Lab with a few new songs and brand new group of amazing actors!
The workshop featured Lucy Ames, Hallie August, Timothy Bevens, Cory Brooks, Maithili Ginde, Carina Gravante, Callie Anna Henrysen, Ayla Gittelman Ipek, Gigi Mechetti, Teyla McAdoo, Sammi Pillow, Kenneth Sweeney, and Yoyo Zhou, directed by Madsie Flynn with music direction by Rich Silverstein. Thanks to Aaron Riccardi and Liza Gennaro for this opportunity to revisit this project.  Gordon and I were overjoyed to be back at Flint Rep to workshop the first full draft (phew!) of our new musical, These Familiar Spirits. This is our first commission, and everyone at Flint Rep has been so supportive! Plus there's nothing better than discussing open questions with Artistic Director Michael Lluberes over crepes (we ate no less than one crepe per day during our stay.) We're so grateful to our cast of superstars and creative team, and excited to continue work!
 Gordon and I were so pumped to hold a table read of Act 1 of These Familiar Spirits with some of our very favorite actors and singers! It was our first time hearing the full score (the first 16 songs anyway...) out loud, hearing how the songs and scenes work together, and generally get a sense of what the heck we've got after the last couple of years of writing in a virtual void. We're so excited to continue developing the piece with Flint Rep this winter!
Flint Repertory Theatre's production of THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN is nominated for 16 BroadwayWorld Michigan Awards, including Best New Play or Musical, Best Musical, Best Director, Choreographer, Music Director, Scenic Design, Lighting Design, Performer in a Musical (x4!), Supporting Performer in a Musical (x4!), and Best Ensemble.
Want to vote for us? Just enter your email address(es...) and you can! https://www.broadwayworld.com/michigan/voteregion.cfm Very excited to see that Flint Repertory Theatre's production of THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN was recognized with four Wilde Awards from Encore Michigan! Best Ensemble, Lighting Design, Costume Design, and Best Musical! Plus it's exciting that Flint Rep topped the list with 25 awards... And that our dear friends and Mag7 family members Bryana and Elexis received awards, too!
Gordon and I assembled (via Zoom) some of our nearest and dearest to do a first read of the first act (ish) of our new musical, These Familiar Spirits, commissioned by Flint Rep. So helpful and fun to hear the material out loud for the first time, plus to spend time with these nice faces.  For your consideration: Magnificent Seven on the Grammy ballot for Best Musical Theatre cast album. I know, posting about just being on the ballot is a bit silly, since against shows like Kimberly Akimbo and Sweeney Todd we are basically a lock. Still though, thought I’d take the opportunity to signal boost our album and see if you might want to listen to a tune or two?
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