Uncharted Musical Territory

Ars Nova has continually been the place to be when you're looking for new, exciting theatrical works of genius. Their Uncharted series, concerts presenting the work of up-and-coming composers, was often a go-to source for discovering new writers. This year, Uncharted comes in the form of a development incubator, a writers group based on their playwriting meet-up, PlayGroup. With artistic director Jason Eagan's promise of beer and pizza and regular meetings, the four selected writing teams to participate in the inaugural writers group will develop new works to be presented and showcased over the course of the next year.

If you read the blog, many of these names will sound familiar. Still, here are the writers and some songs they performed at the kick-off concert:

Shaina Taub -- Shaina Taub is known for her smoky vocals, folksy melodies, and whimsical lyrics. Her Greek song cycle The Daughters features some banging tunes for female powerhouses, and her EP, What Otters Do, is a common selection on my iPod.

Charles Vincent Burwell and James D. Sasser -- I was probably least familiar with Sasser and Burwell going into this concert, but the songs they played from their modern day Cuban musical, Cubamor, quickly made an impression. With some diverse styles of music and bilingual lyrics, I'm most curious to hear what comes from this team next.

Anna K. Jacobs and Michael R. Jackson -- She wrote the critically acclaimed Warhol musical POP!; he's known for his subversive subject matter and deliciously complex songs. Together, they're writing an adaptation of independent horror film Teeth, which should prove interesting.

Gordon Leary and Julia Meinwald -- This duo never fails to produce rich songs for complicated characters, and their musical Pregnancy Pact never fails to showcase this. Excitingly, there seem to be a few new projects on the horizon for them, so here's hoping for more new work soon.

The "I Want" Song -- Behind the Music-al

I am going to make a little confession: I think I love Adam Guettel. And not just because he's a wildly talented writer/composer, but also because, as I learned from his moderation of last night's Behind the Music-al at 92Y Tribeca, he's also just an incredibly sharp person who can easily and passionately discuss the craft of writing.

I've been meaning to attend one of the evenings in the Behind the Music-al series for a while. Organized by composers Kyle Ewalt and Michael I. Walker, this regular series features conversations with awesome musical theatre writers centered around a particular theme/aspect of contemporary musical theatre. Last night's theme was the "I Want" song, which made for some really fascinating conversation about craft and what role desires play in driving character and momentum for songs in a musical piece. With writing teams Ewalt & Walker and Julia Meinwald and Gordon Leary, in addition to Michael Holland, taking the stage to share some of their work and chat with Adam Guettel, the night featured some diverse work from extremely talented writers.

(Ewalt & Walker's "I'm No Hero," a song that was performed last night.

Performed here at ANT Fest by Jonathan Whitton and Michael Buchanan.)

What I loved about Adam Guettel's moderation was how much he challenged every writer who shared his/her work. Through conversation, he quickly picked up on interesting musical conventions/themes that seemed to characterize each songwriters' style, and he pressed the writers to explain their choices and how those musical choices interact in context to the whole work and with audience expectation. In all cases, this led to the writers sharing really great tidbits and insight into their processes and not only standing by their decisions, but being able to articulate why they made the creative choices they did -- from Ewalt & Walker talking about the soaring tenors in Separate: Battle Songs of Youth to Julia Meinwald and Gordon Leary's explanation of why many of their songs from Pregnancy Pact don't have buttons.

(Julia Meinwald and Gordon Leary's "Love Me Better,"

a song that was performed last night.

Performed here at ANT Fest by Ally Bonino.)

I think it facilitated very honest discussion, which was refreshing to see in a public forum. It was even strangely thrilling when, at the very beginning of the evening, Adam asked about how a song Ewalt & Walker presented was orchestrated beyond just the piano part, and it turned into a little back-and-forth on what it means to score economically and write with future performance groups (and their limitations) in mind.

The "I Want" idea also fit nicely into the evening because it was such an all-encompassing theme that runs throughout musicals. While on the surface, there is a common trope of a very direct "I Want" song, there was also mention and discussion of less obvious "I Want" moments, like the "I Am Who I Am"-I Am What I Want song and the "I Don't Want" song. There was also a lot of talk about role pop music plays in contemporary musical theatre and how sometimes the inherent structure of a pop song, especially one that can standalone, can tend on the side of being an "I Want" song that is almost too explicit and selfish in its need to express what it wants directly to the audience.

Talking about wanting also extended itself to interesting discussion about the songwriting process itself. Michael Holland spoke very eloquently about the struggle to write and how he feels his songs come together. He also spoke about his career and about the transition from pop music and writing about his own personal wants to turning his focus on characters and stories and being inspired by their wants and desires. One of the greatest parts of the night was actually when he shared a song, and then Adam had the performer return to the stage to sing the song again without the piano. Showing how the melody stood up without accompaniment was inspiring and striking-- a rare opportunity to see a song deconstructed.

If you are at all interested in the craft of writing or theatre, I highly suggest attending Behind the Musical. Not only do they have great artists, but the laid back environment really allows for enlightening discussion amongst writers of many different backgrounds and approaches. It's a fascinating evening, and I, for one, can't wait to attend another one.

The 5-Question NYMF Interviews: JACK PERRY IS ALIVE (AND DATING)

Jack Perry is Alive (and Dating!) is a romantic story of a man and New York, exploring the sights, sounds, and neuroses of dating in the city. Performances start October 4th at the McGinn/Cazale Theatre, and tickets can be purchased here. To tell you more about the show, composer (and former fellow Crazytown blogger) Julia Meinwald answers 5 questions about the show (on behalf of Team Jack Perry that includes book and lyric writers Harrison David Rivers and Daniella Shoshan):

Me: How would you describe your show in one sentence?

Julia Meinwald: A romp. I would call Jack Perry is Alive (and Dating!) an hour-long, rose-colored romp through Manhattan with one jaded New Yorker who might not be as cynical about love as he thought he was.

Me: Protagonist Jack Perry is a Manhattanite. What role does New York play in the show?

Julia: You can really see NYC in the set design--we've got these cool tubes of light that evoke subway lines, the band may or may not be set up as buskers....Thematically, New York looms large for Jack because he's seen so many images, films, etc about Finding Love In New York. His reality pales in comparison, and he starts to feel a bit bitter about it.

Me: Jack Perry is Alive (and Dating!) is described as a “day-in-the-life” musical. How does time function over the course of the show?

Julia: The show takes place over the course of a single night, during which Jack tracks down all of his major exes in search of the source of a mysterious, flirtatious text message. So, he revisits many points in his romantic history within a few hours.

Me: How would you describe Jack Perry is Alive (and Dating!) musically?

Julia: Oh, you know....contemporary musical theatre...the score's got some pop influences, and a lot of the songs are short and sweet, which goes along with the general fast-paced feel of the show.

Me: What are you most looking forward to about NYMF?

Julia: It's always thrilling to have a show actually produced. You learn so much from workshops and readings, but actual blocking, sets, etc are gonna be pretty sweet. Also excited to see the other shows in our venue!

Follow Jack Perry himself on Twitter or 'Like' the show on Facebook.

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!

Composers Singing Composers

About a month ago, composers Gaby Alter, Joey Contreras, Drew Gasparini, Jonathan Reid Gealt, Adam Gwon, Ryan Scott Oliver, Brian Lowdermilk, and Zoe Sarnak took the stage at (Le) Poisson Rouge in an event called Composers Sing Composers. I've mentioned before how, as much as I love hearing talented performers KILL new writers' work, I always have a soft spot for hearing songwriters sing their own songs. But hearing other composers sing the work of their peers is also fascinating, to both see their interpretations and hear what they add to the arrangement. Also, many songwriters are performers themselves with stellar voices that mine amazing moments from any song.

Here are some personal highlights from Composers Sing Composers (though you can watch more at BwayWatcher's Youtube channel):

Zoe Sarnak singing "Run" by Joey Contreras:

Adam Gwon singing "Someone" by Drew Gasparini:

And Gaby Alter, Joey Contreras, Ryan Scott Oliver, Drew Gasparini, Brian Lowdermilk, Jonathan Reid Gealt, Adam Gwon, and Zoe Sarnak singing "Mrs. Sharp" by Ryan Scott Oliver:

But aside from songs just from that evening, here are other favorite performances of composers singing composers:

Jonathan Reid Gealt singing "The Ahrens Flaherty Menken Song" by Will Larche:

Christy Altomare singing "This is It" with lyrics by Gordon Leary and music by Julia Meinwald:

Katie Thompson singing "Say Goodbye" by Scott Alan:

Joe Iconis singing "Meet Me In The Park" by Chris Blisset and Matt Uremovich:

And last, but never least, Nick Blaemire singing "Alaska" by Adam Gwon:

I got you worst than anyone I ever had...

Unfortunately for me, I totally missed the Julia Meinwald/Eric March Cheap Show tonight since my roommate won tickets to Shakespeare in the Park (Merchant of Venice was awesome, by the way... though the intense feeling of swimming in the humid 90-something degree air made me with I was drinking cheap beer and listening to live music indoors on more than one occasion). But, in honor of their show, I thought I would post videos for two Julia Meinwald/Dan Collins songs that have been stuck in my head for the past week or so:

"Lovesick" sung by Nick Blaemire:



And "The Water Song" sung by Mary Ann Schaub and Liz Carbonell: