Playing a Game of Catchup

Hey, all! I know there's been a lot of radio silence on the blog lately; unfortunately, some of my other writing projects have been taking up a lot of my time and I haven't had a chance to really dive into the musical theatre scene yet this year. One of the biggest things on my plate was working on putting together a reading of my own work, The Memory Queen, which I'm happy to say went well last week. It was a great experience, though something that originally made me feel like this:

Made me also feel like this right beforehand:

Still, I survived and learned a lot and will hopefully be on the scene again blogging for you. That being said, there's a lot of new musical theatre stuff going on right now on the interwebs that has been doing my job for me. Here are some links to check out:

• On Crazytown, Michael Ruby has started an interview series with a bunch of great new composers.
• On NYTimes.com, Lynn Ahrens, Joe Iconis, and Marcy Heisler write songs about Mayor Bloomberg in celebration of Encores! Fiorello!
• Kerrigan and Lowdermilk had their first West Coast show! Watch songs from the concert here.
• Smash this season will feature songs from Drew Gasparini, Pasek and Paul, and Joe Iconis. Read about them here, and see "Broadway Here I Come" from the first episode of the new season.

Every Seven

Welcome to the new year, guys! We made it to 2013-- and while the future is still unknown, it's hard to ignore a new year ready for us to barrel on through. While I'll be one of the first to admit that I'm not sure what direction this year is going to take, I am thrilled to point out one great thing that has already come with this new season. As a part of a resolution to be less of a perfectionist, songstress Valerie Vigoda has launched the "Every Seven" project, where she will post a song (old, new, revamped) every seven days, all year long. This is a great opportunity to hear a wide range of work from Valerie, Valerie and Brendan Milburn, and GrooveLily as a whole.

Check back to Valerie's Youtube channel every 7 days for new posts. To get things started, here's their first post, "Desert With Lights," an upbeat tribute to LA (performed in front of a green screen...oooohhh):