Trouble was that I forgot that love can make you sad...

Last week, I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Davenport Theatrical's developmental reading of new musical Date of a Lifetime, with lyrics and book by Carl Kissin and music by Rob Baumgartner. The musical, which follows a couple on speed date as they imagine their lives together, was a fun ride that seems to have come a long way in a relatively short amount of time. I'm excited to see where it goes and really enjoyed hearing people discuss their thoughts as the creative team continues to work on the show.

One of the things that struck me about the show was how beautiful the music was. I really loved the way it was constantly in conversation with the lyrics, punctuating jokes and building on itself with energy and wonder. Rob Baumgartner has collaborated with Heidi Helig on projects The Hole and Under Construction, the latter which features the following gorgeous song "The Man Who Isn't There" sung by Rob Baumgartner himself:

He also worked with Dante Russo on the family show Radiant Ruby, but the songs I've been playing most throughout this past week have been the beautiful songs of Rob's Adam Lives, which tells the story of a composer who leaves his home and wife to write a new single for pop star Jude Kane in New York. Watch the following songs from the show:

"Trouble Is" sung by Cait Doyle:

And "Pictures of the Border Signs" sung by Lindsay Mendez:

There's something really exhilarating about the way these songs explore romance and love -- examining both the thrilling and flawed moments of loving someone. The music isn't afraid to be quiet, to breathe, to contemplate, and most of all to feel the absence of someone or something who should be there. I love the way thoughts are broken down and deconstructed and pushed out into the world in moments that seem to take flight, and I highly recommend checking out all the music available at Rob's website.

Too Damn Good Not To Post

As its run comes to an end at Ars Nova, the creative team is going all out to celebrate all that is Bloodsong. A ticket to this Sunday's performance will also buy you a ticket to Joegasm with a post-show concert featuring the cast, as well as Lindsay Mendez and Jay Armstrong Johnson. Need more convincing?



Watch this and I dare you not to be there.

Joe Iconis and Rated RSO marathon

Not going to lie... I'm kind of in a state of euphoria right now after a night of back-to-back (ok, I totally indulged in some Shake Shack in between) concerts courtesy of Joe Iconis and Ryan Scott Oliver. Too much of a good thing? Never! Though I have to admit I think concentrating so much in a relatively short period of time is pushing things a bit.

Both shows though were awe-inspiring, some of the best performances I have seen of either composer yet. For a free event, Joe put on a wonderful, fully-realized set with a diverse sampling of his musical abilities. A combination of tunes from The Black Suits, Bloodsong of Love, The Plant that Ate Dirty Socks, and many stand alone songs from Things to Ruin and Rock 'n Roll jamboree, I was thrilled to witness an audience, many who seemed new to Joe's songs, get to experience a thorough sampling of his work. With Krysta Rodriguez, Lance Rubin, Jason "Sweet Tooth" Williams, and Katrina Rose Dideriksen rocking the mics, there was little need (not that I don't miss the rest of the band) for more than the piano and the powerful voices to fill that auditorium and perhaps spill into the rest of the library.

Something I remembered through this performance is how amazingly Joe is able to capture youth in his songs, from the most angsty moments to the most sincere, from the silliest to the most heartbreaking. All of them are underscored, though, by a simple truth, the validity of a specific perspective that almost always puts the driver right in the passenger seat alongside the performer. They are in on all the jokes, and they feel the weight of all the confusion. There isn't a moment when a song isn't trying to express something, to show a psychology or process behind someone's actions. The characters are often flawed and hardly ever are those flaws without consequence or introspection, and regardless of the fact that Joe didn't provide much context for these songs in the interview portions, the way they took shape for themselves only served as a testament to his craft. Watching host John Znidarsic's face throughout the performances was really gratifying; he gladly went along for the ride and commented himself about how impressed he was with the journey he ended up taking.

Rated RSO was a bit more of a whirlwind, but it was one of the most beautiful storms I could have possibly weathered. It was every kind of artform combined into one: the images from the 35 MM project, the acting skills of the likes of Lindsay Mendez and Alex Brightman, the full-bodied music provided by an amazing band, the pure voices of talents like Natalie Weiss and Eric Michael Krop, and finally the sheer artistry of Ryan's lyrics made this show a feast for the senses. The songs were varied in style and context, but each of them had a confidence and twistedness that was perfectly in the RSO style. Every one of the songs created a little world within themselves, daring the audience to come in and even making them fear the thought of leaving those worlds behind.

I think what shows like tonight's remind me of is the beauty of musical theatre, not only in the art of writing music and lyrics but in the beauty of it in performance. The temporary nature of it makes the experience unique and special, while also reminding us of the importance of enjoying simple pleasures while they last. This medium combines so many elements that express the incommunicable. I feel lucky to have gotten a chance to see what I did tonight, and I only wish that everyone can find opportunities to find experiences like this for themselves.

I don't really have any links or videos for this entry, though as soon as concert footage finds its way to interwebs, I'll be sure to link to it. In the meantime, I thank you for letting me rant, and look forward to getting to blab on about even more new talents in the near future.

Hemming and Hawing

I was all set with an idea of what I wanted to post about today (thrilling revelations, I assure you)… until I came across these videos today from one of my favorite composers on the scene at the moment, Ryan Scott Oliver. I already had him on the brain after receiving an awesome Christmas gift of tickets to Rated RSO at Joes Pub in January, but recently uploaded, incredible videos, teasers for 35 MM, also feel like an unexpected present.

According to the information in these videos, "35MM is a multimedia 'musical exhibition' in which photographic images inspire music and lyrics, and inversely music and lyrics inspire photographs." The photographic inspiration comes from Matthew Murphy, and the songs that result from the collaboration of text/performance/image is absolutely stunning and uniquely twisted and gorgeous in a way that I only seem to find in RSO's work.

This song in particular really struck a chord with me, with its dark, haunting, but gleeful energy that is reminiscent of an Edward Gorey cartoon:



I've heard a few RSO songs that are meant to be stand-alone, but an aspect of his work that I've always been in awe of is the fact that his music is always so theatrical. I don't mean this in a way that implies that his songs are flamboyant or epic, but that they always move a story forward, seamlessly combining emotion and musicality with the practicality and enthusiasm of storytelling. I feel like his work is incredibly generous to book and back story, a truth that is evident in his contributions to musical web series "The Battery's Down" in the way that it defined Jake Wilson's character's story arc in two songs book ending the three seasons of the series, perhaps more than any of the plot twists in any of the episodes. There's poignancy and matter-of-fact wicked humor that runs through any of the works in his song book that implies strong characters and a whole world unto itself, a reason why I can imagine people latched on to "This is Your Life" from TBD's inception or why Cait Doyle's theme song for "Hot Mess in Manhattan" is so endearing.

If I had to describe Ryan Scott Oliver's work in one word, I would have to say: compelling. Not only in the sense that it's moving and encompasses many layered emotions, but also in the most literal sense of the word. His music is a call to action, a moment in motion, and it sweeps through a story as though music is the only way of expression in that instance. My most vivid example of this was when he closed his set at SPF's lounge concert this summer with "Song of the Dead Fairy," and within the first chorus, I felt compelled to clap even though no one else was. I held back, but then Ryan actually looked right over at our table and kind of gestured as if to say, "Why the hell not?" Needless to say, that's all it took to really get into it.



Also, as a last note, can I just comment on how amazing the combination of Ryan Scott Oliver and Alex Brightman is? I've seen Alex in a few readings and performances now, but there's something about the energy and sincerity of the way he approaches the genius twist of a troubled Peter Pan or a love-crazed student that really makes for a stellar performance.