Musical Theatre You Should Know

There is a wealth of new musical theatre concerts happening this time of year, from benefits to Cutting Edge Composers, from Contemporary Musical Theatre Songwriters You Should Know to Songs You Should Know. It's always a welcome thing to find yourself with an abundance of new musical theatre presentations, but when your budget and time are limited, how do you decide on what to see?

Last night I had the immense pleasure of attending Libra Theater Company's tuneful evening of new songs, conveniently titled, Songs You Should Know. And while admittedly (and in a good way) a lot of the writers are no longer people to know but people we already know and love, I realized through Libra's presentation what makes for a good musical concert of new songs.

The main thing is just that they're new. Fresh. That they give an indication of who the composers are and, more importantly, what they're working on next. As I listened to Caleb Hoyer's "If I Had Met You First," sung by Max Chernin, I was reminded of that feeling that I love when I see a new show-- that desire to have a single song last forever, or at least long enough so you can peel back the layers and live inside it for a little while.

I knew very few of the songs presented last night, but perhaps if you played them for me with no introduction, I could've made a guess and at least gotten kind of close. Miller and Tysen's "Town Goes Boom" was so specific to place and culture, a fresh slice of life delivered in a song as only they can. Joe Iconis' "Michael in the Bathroom" was a deliciously endearing geek-rock song that captured his brand of misfit like none other. And Amanda Green's haunting "Nowhere" and righteously angry "Waiting on My Thank You" demonstrated her great writing for self-aware, engrossing characters. It was also very cool to hear Amy Molewski and Nick Luckenbaugh's music make its 54 Below debut with "Rising Fire" and "Fall."

The evening was tied together by hilarious host Lauren Marcus, whose use of PowerPoint was better than half the things I've seen on Shark Tank. Her proof that she and Katie Thompson are basically the same person from behind was also quite compelling. The best part was that the evening felt very casual, very homey, a sense that I'm starting to get from a lot of Libra's productions.

On Being a New Yorker

While there were no projections of multiplying Beyonces or major reunions of Destiny's Child members, there were much more intimate fireworks over at Joe's Pub in the second installment of Once Upon a Time in NYC, an evening of brand new songs from musical theatre composers about New York City. The timing of this show uncannily comes around my fifth anniversary since moving to this city, and it was wonderful to get a musical perspective of New York from such a wide range of New Yorkers, whether they have since moved, have lived here their whole lives, or are just starting their journeys. Organized by Jennifer Ashley Tepper and Caleb Hoyer, this concert was clearly a labor of love, and it was such a lovely opportunity for writers to be able to celebrate and eulogize their experiences in song. We should all be so lucky to be able to distill something so special in such a perfect, compact way.

Below are some highlights, though all the songs are well worth a listen to and can be found here.

George Salazar with Michael Gioia, Will Roland, Yaniv Zarif singing Sam Salmond's "Walk Wrong":

Krysta Rodriguez singing Amanda Green's "A New York City Prayer":

Benjamin Howes singing Joseph Church's "Walking Shoes":

Jessica Phillips singing Amanda Yesnowitz and Doug Katsaros' "The Thing About Dylan":

Elanna White singing David Are's "All Over 28th Street":

And perhaps my favorite of the night (thought it's hard to choose): Jeff Blumenkrantz singing his own "Aunt Betty":

A Whole Lot of Concerts Going On

As much as I want to keep doing new posts of composer/writer profiles, so many things are happening this summer with many of my favorite writers that it's hard to focus on the past when so many exciting events are coming up in the near future.

First of all, I can't stress enough how great it would be to snag a $12 ticket, drink some coffee, and gear up for a late (but well worth it) night at Joe's Pub on Thursday to catch Nick Blaemire and Danica Dora (and friends!) do their thing. From a few performances I've seen of both talented songsters, you'll be doing yourself a favor.



Also, with Monday's free performance at the Astor Place cube still in the rearview of the Iconis vehicle, go revel in the Bloodsong love as Iconis performs at the Duplex this Saturday at 7. It's set to be an intimate evening with familiar faces and lots of whisky-soaked goodness.

In speaking of Joe, he and many other stars are set to perform at the Laurie Beechman's Sondheim Unplugged. And while Sondheim is hardly up-and-coming, the show features many great Broadway, Off-Broadway, and cabaret talents from around the city, including writers Joe Iconis and Katie Thompson, who I've mentioned a few times on this site. The show will be running every Monday through July at 7:00, and to be honest, any excuse to hear Katie reinvent a tune with her gorgeous voice is money well spent in my book.

Lastly, check out Amanda Green & Friends in concert at The Birdland (one of my favorite venues in New York) on July 19. As a descendent of musical theatre legend and the lyricist for short-lived High Fidelity on Broadway, she's worked with Pulitzer-winning Tom Kitt and is currently developing Bring It On the musical with Kitt and Lin Manuel Miranda which will premiere at The Alliance Theater in Atlanta in January 2011. The concert is set to feature Jenn Colella, Ann Harada, Andy Karl and Howard McGillin and should be a ton of fun, and read more about her on her website here.

And to end with a song, here's Will Chase singing one of my favorite songs from High Fidelity, "Desert Island Top 5 Break Ups":