Crazytown Presents: A Q&A with Ryan Scott Oliver

If you've seen the little poster on the right hand side of the screen, you would know that the writers of Ryan Scott Oliver's Crazytown blog are putting on a show (yes, me included!). I am very excited about Crazytown Presents, a live show that will feature music, anecdotes, comedy, and multi-media, much like the material on the blog, which will be at Joe's Pub on 11/14 at 9:30. I can't tell you how lucky I feel to be presenting work alongside such talented writers, many of which have been mentioned on this blog, and to ring in the occasion, I asked blog creator Ryan Scott Oliver to answer some questions about what it's like to be a part of Crazytown and what to expect from the Joe's Pub show.

Me: How did Crazytown originate? How has it evolved since then?

Ryan Scott Oliver: I created Crazytown in January of 2010, but I had wanted to do a blog for a year or so before then. My hesitation with creating the blog prior to that was the unending difficulty of keeping a blog up, in terms of both my interest and my readers’ interest. That’s also why, after a year, I needed to grow the blog and join forces with other like-minded creatives to make it multi-authored.


Me: You’ve been sharing your musical, Jasper in Deadland, on the blog. What has that process been like?

RSO: Like anything, it’s hard to keep up, but I’m determined to complete this as a complete work just as I would a musical, song, or other form. It’s gratifying to be able to share my lonely inner-workings! I’m hoping young writers are getting something from it... If nothing else, I have found it useful to hear about the struggles and redirections of other writers during my own process of writing, rewriting, and revising.

Me: What can people expect from Crazytown Presents?

RSO: Oh! So much! The writers are amazing, the actors are hilarious, and we’re putting together quite a show of multimedia elements. Where else can hear stand-up comedy about first menstrations, watch clips of Jennifer Love Hewitt’s boobs, and hear musical theatre tunes about porn stars? And duh so more more....


Me: What has been the biggest challenge/most exciting aspect of putting together the blog’s first live show?

RSO: The most challenging part was figuring out what exactly it would be... But that actually also became the most fun part, knowing we were creating something unexpected, fresh and exciting on stage. “Performing” a blog is kick-ass.


Me: What have you enjoyed most about blogging/managing the blog?

RSO: Seeing writers of all shapes and sizes become serious bloggers, and filling the void in our community where we could have conversations about anything and share it publicly. Get the conversation going, you know? I knew there were tons of people who would like to write for a blog but didn’t have the time or energy to keep one going themselves; so this became an outlet for many folks.


Me: What are your hopes for the future of Crazytown?

RSO: I wanna see it keep expanding. No! Exploding!! I’d like to take on more writers and see the work branch out even further; perhaps even adding more components and weekly columns. We have a strong readership and we want to keep them happy while growing outward and bringing in new readers... It’s the endless battle, isn’t it? How are we doing? Are we winning yet?

Buy tickets to see Crazytonwn Presents (and come say hi!) here.

Some Song Things

Hey all! Just wanted to give a little round-up of some of the things I've been loving in the emerging musical theatre world as of late.

First of all, as a little plug, I'm going to be blogging with Ryan Scott Oliver's Crazytown for another two months, so keep tuning in on Thursdays for posts from me, Ryan Bogner (who is co-producing new Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis musical Yeast Nation playing as part of The Fringe in August), the hilarious Leah Bonnema, and Shoshana Greenberg (who provides your weekly new music fix with Rough and Ready).

Also, songwriting team Kooman and Dimond released their new album Out of Our Heads -- which, let me tell you now, is awesome. There are great voices on the recording (Heidi Blickenstaff, Kerry Butler, Natalie Weiss, Patina Miller, Anderson Davis, Matt Doyle, Phoebe Strole, Kyle Dean Massey, Chris Mann... look for an especially delightful track with Christopher Sieber), and all of the songs are beautifully recorded. There's a lot of love, pathos, and comedy in these songs, and I'm not only sure you'll be listening to them constantly but you'll want to be singing them too. You can purchase the CD from their website here and be on the lookout for their release concert at The Birdland on 7/18.

In speaking of cast recordings, if you want to help another album yet-to-be-made, support songwriting team Miller and Tysen's Kickstarter campaign to record their song cycle Fugitive Songs. Every song I've heard from this show is fantastic -- heartfelt and evocative, living up to the idea of being a fugitive in the way they just move musically. Even better? If you donate $150 or more, you get a recording of Burnt Part Boys, which is pretty good incentive, if you ask me.

Lastly, I just wanted to end with a couple of videos from recent concerts, the first being Nick Blaemire singing "Trouble" at his recent gig with band The Hustle as a part of Ars Nova's 54/10:

Then, from Good Clean Music: Another Michael R. Jackson Song Thing at The Beechman, Jeremy Morse singing "Girlfriend":

And, also from Good Clean Music, Molly Hager singing "Fairweather Friend":

Silly Wants: An Interview with Shoshana Greenberg

Shoshana Greenberg is a graduate of the NYU Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program and a talented writer/lyricist/bookwriter. In addition to her own writing endeavors, she is also a fellow Thursday blogger for RSO's Crazytown blog, where she curates pieces for the weekly Rough and Ready, a regular feature that debuts a fresh new musical theatre piece created within the last 2 weeks. Shoshana took some time to answer questions about her experiences organizing Rough and Ready, the inspiration for her own work, and putting her projects out there.

("Purple House" with music by Julia Meinwald, lyrics by Kirsten Guenther and Shoshana Greenberg, sung by Manoel Felciano and Lauren Worsham)

Me: How did the idea for Rough and Ready come about?

Shoshana Greenberg: Ryan Scott Oliver, the visionary behind Crazytown, emailed me at the end of December and said he was expanding his blog and would I be interested in doing a weekly post featuring new work written in the last two weeks. Ryan and I were in the same class at NYU’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing program, so he knew of my love for new work and writers. The idea of sharing the exciting work coming out of the musical theater writing community on the Blog was very intriguing. I immediately said yes.

Me: What is the process of curating these songs every week?

Shoshana: Sometimes people will submit work and sometimes I solicit people. It depends on what I have ready to go and what might be good for that week. I’m looking to partner with more places as I did with Primary Stages Einhorn School of Performing Arts (ESPA) last month and also to feature work that corresponds more with what’s going on in the theater community at the moment. For example, people who have just had a production announced or a concert or have one coming up.

Me: Have you found anything surprising about being able to feature work that is still relatively new to the world? Do you have any particular favorite featured songs since you started doing the column?

Shoshana: I think what I’ve found surprising, in a good way, is how willing people are to put themselves and their work out there. Everyone is so brave about it, especially with work that is so new. I guess we’re now living in an era with YouTube and our own websites where it’s not a big deal to put new work up all the time, but I’m still surprised and inspired by people’s courage to just put their work out there, to say, “I like my work. It’s good. Check it out.”

It’s really hard to pick a favorite song. I’ve really loved everything I’ve featured. Alex Beech and Karl Michael Johnson’s “Great New England Pumpkin Shoot” was cool because I read that lyric and was very taken with it, but when I heard the recording later, the music just made the lyric sing so beautifully. The songs from Gaby Alter and Itamar Moses’s show Nobody Loves You have been fun to feature as well -- I’m really excited that that piece is getting a production.

Me: You are also a writer/lyricist/bookwriter yourself! What projects are you currently working on, and will any of your work be featured on Rough and Ready in the future?

Shoshana: I just finished the first draft of my first play! I’d written musicals and wanted to expand into playwriting and I finally found the means and courage to do so by taking playwriting classes at Primary Stages ESPA. I’m going to rewrite that first draft in another ESPA class this summer. In the musical theater realm, I am getting ready to rewrite one of my thesis musicals from NYU with my collaborators. We are planning to do a reading at Primary Stages in the fall. Other than that, I have some musical projects in the very early stages with a couple collaborators. I hope something of mine can be featured on Rough and Ready soon!

A New Girl in Town

Hey all! So I have a cool announcement: as of this week, there are new additions to the cast of Ryan Scott Oliver's Crazytown Blog -- and starting today, I will be joining them as a secondary contributor! My first post on the divas of my childhood can be found here.

I'll be blogging every Thursday for the next three months on Crazytown, talking playwriting, finding inspiration from everyday things, and navigating the theatre/art world, with the occasional nod to the musical theatre artists who we talk about here. So if you're interested in more theatre talk with a slightly more personal twist and a glimpse into my own writing, then be sure to check in every Thursday (And everyday, really. There are some great writers on there!).

If you're not, have no fear. I will continue to update this blog regularly, bringing you the same musical theatre goodness. Either way, there are some exciting things coming down the pipeline, and I am just really happy to share it with you.

Visiting Crazytown/RSO Songbook Giveaway

Have you been reading Ryan Scott Oliver's Crazytown blog?

Because what was already a fun and informative blog now features a slew of guest bloggers, from musical theatre writers to producers to actors, and many in between. Best part? Every guest contributor has a post a week, so you can easily follow the different "columns" for your weekly fix. Get a glance behind the barricades at the stage door with Alex Brightman. Or find (another) producer's prospective with Ryan Bogner. Or catch up on some monkey business via Tony Asaro. Or hear newly born musical theatre songs curated by Shoshana Greenberg. Or share the perspective of a creative making her way through finance social circles with Kirsten Guenther. Trust me, there's a ton of good stuff on there, with Ryan Scott Oliver chiming in regularly. Here is a list of all the new contributors:

Alex Brightman

Alexander Nagorski

Brett Ryback

Daniel Mate

Geoffrey Kidwell

Gordon Leary

Isaac Oliver

John Constantine

Julia Meinwald

Kevin Michael Murphy

Kirsten Guenther

Matthew Murphy

Ryan Bogner

Sophie Modlin

Tony Asaro

Shoshana Greenberg

BUT WAIT!

I have more RSO goodness.

How is that, you ask?

In honor of the release of RSO's first songbook (with a concert on February 7th at Joe's Pub), we are giving away a copy of RSO's brand new songbook! It's easy to enter. Here are the details:

• To enter, simply post a link in the comments to your favorite RSO performance video. Need some inspiration? Look at any of the videos mentioned on this blog here, or check out RSO's youtube channel here.

• You have until 11:59 p.m. eastern time on Saturday, 1/29 to enter.

• The winner will be drawn at random and announced by 1/31. The winner's name will be posted on the blog then, so be sure to check back so you can send me your address if you win. If I don't receive the winner's information by 2/7, I will draw again.

I am very excited about this songbook, which would be perfect for any performer looking for dynamic, new songs. So be sure to put in your entry or spread the word to other musical theatre enthusiasts!