Winter Hibernation Must Watch List

Hey, guys! It's been a little while, but I hope you're all enjoying the holidays. I've personally been incredibly busy preparing for the end of the year, but luckily there has been some great end-of-the-year musical theatre goodness to send 2013 off in style. On the roster of things you can do to celebrate Christmas with musical theatre, there's the tried and true Joe Iconis Christmas Spectacular coming up. Tonight, there's also this concert at the D-Lounge featuring holiday songs by BMI alumni, and Bill Finn's Ridiculously Talented Composers and Lyricists You Probably Don't Know But Should at 54 below.

If you're like me, however, and haven't had time to experience some of the great winter concerts and events in person, there is still great music to enjoy from your home. Here are some of the things that are getting me through this winter:

I couldn't be more happy for my friend, Sam Willmott, who won ASCAP's 2013 Harold Adamson Award this year. He performed recently at the Kennedy Center as a part of the ASCAP Centennial Celebration concerts, along with Amanda Yesnowitz and Deborah Abramson and hosts Pasek and Paul. Watch the whole concert here, and above is Sam's song "Recession Kind of Christmas" because, well, tis the season.

It feels like EVERYONE on Twitter was a-twitter about the 54 Below concert of Hit List, the fictional fringe musical from the short-lived TV show Smash. This concert reunited 3 of the original cast members and creative team from the show, including songwriters Pasek and Paul, Joe Iconis, Drew Gasparini, and Andrew McMahon. Above is Jeremy Jordan singing "Caught in the Storm," and you can view more here.

For anyone who might think the magic of Disney has dimmed over the years should be pleasantly surprised by The Mouse's latest movie, Frozen. Not only is the movie itself charming, but it also features the immense music-writing talents of Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez and performer extraordinaire Idina Menzel. Need proof? Watch the video above for the sequence for the song "Let It Go."

Stay warm, guys! See you in the next year.

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.

Cutting Edge Composers III for your viewing pleasure

A little over a month ago, I reported back from Cutting Edge Composers III, which had a couple performances as a part of NYMF. There were a ton of great songs, and most of them are up on Cutting Edge Composers' Youtube channel. Still, for some highlights, I thought I would post some of the performances I had mentioned in my earlier write-up:

Blake Daniel singing Will Reynold's "I Knew a Boy"

Matt Bailey, AJ Shively, and Joe Cassidy singing

Drew Gasparini's "The Whistler"

Emma Hunton singing Anna Dagmar's "We Were Children"

Emma Hunton singing Zack Zadek's "Just Me"

Also...

Lilli Cooper singing Zoe Sarnak's "Easy"

Check out all the great performances and songs at Cutting Edge Composers' Youtube channel here.

Party at the TBG

NYMF is in full swing, and I am trying to get out there to cover some of the shows that weren't covered in the NYMF 5-question interview series. The first two shows, however, on my NYMF itinerary were mentioned here before: Man of Rock and Crazy, Just Like Me -- both of which are running at the TBG Theater at 312 W 36th St. The shows are, as you can imagine, quite different in music style and content, but both are very charming, funny takes on love.

There's a quote from The SF Bay Guardian that describes Man of Rock as the "thinking man's Rock of Ages," and I totally agree. With great 80s tunes that channel the chart-toppers of the decade, the show captures the spirit of glam, larger-than-life rock without needing to use other people's songs. And while the concept of turning a Restoration Comedy into an 80s musical could have easily stuck to a one-trick gimmick, Man of Mode slipped pretty seamlessly into this retelling, creating a John Hughes-worthy romantic story of a womanizing rocker who fall in love with a Connecticut socialite. The voices on these performers were amazing, and I loved how each person really embodied a different kind of 80s rock star.

Crazy, Just Like Me is a little less rock, but with great contemporary music telling this modern-day love story, it creates a unique plot that I haven't seen on stage yet. Simple in its construct but complicated by its lovable characters, Crazy tells the story of a man who realizes, through therapy, that he is in love with his best friend. The thing I probably loved most about the show, however, is that instead of playing up the soapy drama that could come from this situation, it instead becomes a character study of 3 characters and their attempts to control their impulses: Simon trying to understand his feelings for Mike, Mike trying to deal with his fear of commitment to his girlfriend Lauren, and Lauren trying to stop herself from questioning she and Mike's relationship. It's enough to understand that we're all a little crazy, but that finding someone who understands that is the most important thing to work through it.

So check out either of these shows at the TBG Theater! And if you see anything particularly good at NYMF, feel free to share! Also, check back for some more coverage over the next week; very excited to share more about some of the great shows being featured this year.

The 5-Question NYMF Interviews: CRAZY, JUST LIKE ME

Next up in our NYMF interview series is Drew Gasparini and Louis Sacco's Crazy, Just Like Me. Drew and this show has been mentionedhere on the blog before, and Crazy, Just Like Me will start its NYMF performances on Tuesday, September 27th. For a live preview of the music, you can check out the show's free event at New World Stages' TONY Lounge on Sunday, 9/11 at 9:30 pm, but in the meantime, Drew offered to answer his 5 questions about this NYMF production:

(Drew Gasparini singing "In Love With Crazy"
from Crazy, Just Like Me)

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

Drew Gasparini: Really f***ing awesome.

Me: You guys have worked on a few projects together. How did you guys start collaborating?

Drew: I wrote the show in 2006, then met Louis Sacco in 2009. We met through mutual friends and he saw that Crazy, Just Like Me (which had already been produced a few times at that point) had more potential. We worked together on making the book for the show better and then started pushing the show as a team. He had great business sense, and I did not.But since then it’s been billed as “MUSIC AND LYRICS BY DREW GASPARINI” and “BOOK BY DREW GASPARINI AND LOUIS SACCO.”

Me: What inspired Crazy, Just Like Me?

Drew: Not to sound like a total cliché or a bore, but what inspired Crazy, Just Like Me was a really rough break up with my ex-girlfriend. And it all started when I was 19 which is a very impressionable age. I was so sad all the time I started writing songs to not only get me through my emotions, but also songs to make myself laugh… I mean… why else would anyone write a song called “Funky Fried Piece of Man Meat”. Haha. Obviously the show has different meaning now. As I’ve gotten older and grown with the show, I’ve learned a lot and have re-written the show to seem more relatable and really worked on voicing the characters of the piece.

(Keith White and John Krause perform
"Funky Fried Piece of Man Meat")

Me: What has the development process of the show been like up to this NYMF production?

Drew: Before NYMF, this show was (kinda still is) the little show that could. There was always enough people to like it for it to open regionally in San Francisco, L.A., Dallas, Nebraska, and even Australia…. But a New York audience is something very different and I’m happy that the show is finally in a place where we are accepted into the New York Musical Theatre festival. Before this it has opened in MANY cities. Been performed as a concert in Australia. Was featured in NAMT (National Alliance of Musical Theatre) songwriter showcase, was in the San Francisco Theater Festival, and has been a reading starring Matt Doyle in NYC. But now we are in NYMF… we could do well or NOT so well… but I think we’re in good shape.

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

Drew: I’m just looking forward to working with the amazing team we have. We’ve all become fast friends and we are getting WORK DONE!!!! It’s exciting to get along with people who take the job seriously and really look out for the shows best interest. Our creative/production teams are stellar and the cast is remarkable. And Stephen Agosto (our director) has found a really great way to communicate with everyone which is making this process not seem like work, which is the ultimate goal. We’re having a blast. I’m also looking forward to seeing some other NYMF shows.

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:

New Year, New (and Old) Shows

2011 so far has been insane -- in one of the best ways possible -- and one of the things that has blown my mind is all of the great shows I've had the privilege of seeing in this new year. Since I haven't really had time to recap them all, I just thought I would share some of the highlights from the past couple of months and some of the videos from them that are (thankfully) up on Youtube for all to enjoy.

This past weekend, Kerrigan and Lowdermilk finished their "You Made This Tour" with a final performance at (Le) Poisson Rouge. While I didn't get a chance to make it out for their last hurrah, I have been rather obsessed with the following two performances from their other "You Made This Tour" gig:

The Spring Standards singing "Berkeley":




Lewis Grosso, Aaron Bantum, and Sarah Safer singing "She's the Best"(music by Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk, lyrics by Adnan Ahmed [age 9]):




With the recent release of his first songbook, Ryan Scott Oliver celebrated with a concert at Joe's Pub packed with old and new favorites, fun anecdotes, and a whole lot of talent. A couple great ones from that night:

New song "Agnes" sung by Alex Brightman:




Katie Thompson singing "To Do":




I know I've been talking up Joe Iconis' Things to Ruin lately, but I also loved letting loose at his Friday Night Commotion at The Laurie Beechman before the run. A lot of newer songs made an appearance, with a few that are still stuck in my head:

Krysta Rodriguez singing "Broadway, Here I Come!":




Jeremy Morse singing "Kevin":




Aside from Joe & Company, one of the most raucous nights of music I've had lately was attending a concert of The Civilians' new show, Pretty Filthy, at Joe's Pub about the porn industry (my friend even won a prize for thinking up a porn title based on Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, so it was the show that kept on giving). Michael Friedman's music is so astute and conversational -- it's really a joy to watch. There aren't any videos available from that evening, but here is a video of Greg Hildreth singing another song from Pretty Filthy, "Impossible Girls," which was performed at the NewMusicalTheatre.com concert that also took place recently (fair warning: Not Suitable For Work):



Also, be sure to check out some other videos from the NewMusicalTheatre.com concert at their Youtube channel because there was an awesome assortment of writers in that show. One song in particular I've always loved is Gaby Alter's "Deep in February," sung here by Catherine Brookman:




...And all of this only begins to scratch the surface. If you really want to get in on the experience of some of the new musical theatre happenings lately, you can also watch, in full, streaming concert footage from Drew Gaspirini's Joe's Pub concert here or David Henry Hwang, Kevin So, and Kevin Merritt's concert of their new musical Great Wall here.




On another note, even with all of the new concerts and shows in development, I actually saw a couple of the latest Broadway musical offerings (the first time in a while) and just have to comment on how funny it is that a lot of things out there (even the newer musicals) are so much in the traditional musical realm. I have to admit it was almost a little jarring last night seeing How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying with so many huge dance numbers and such elaborate sets, when I had become so accustomed to minimal staging and small casts. There was something very reassuring in it, though -- to see to see how things have changed and to see how the tradition is still being carried on and paid homage to. Most of all, I was really happy to see that a musical that first was released in 1961 can still feel joyous, that satire and wit can still assert themselves in song, and perhaps most importantly (especially with How to Succeed), that talent can still find energy and passion in material years down the road. Having that as a little takeaway, I'm excited to see the future of these new writers who constantly bring their talent and passion in droves are continuing to share their music, bring houses down, and, hopefully, endure.

...Even if it means I go broke in the process of following their work.

I know I missed out on a lot of shows/concerts too. Anyone else see something awesome recently worth sharing?

Aren't we all a little crazy when it come to love?

I first heard of Drew Gasparini when I saw this video from Emma Hunton's concert at (le) Poisson Rouge where he smoothly finesses a cover of Damien Rice's "Volcano" (with the always lovely Emma):

So imagine my excitement when I found out that he also writes music. And it's good.

Two of his musical projects (with books co-written by Louis Sacco) Crazy, Just Like Me and Circles, both explore human relationships, examining love, hope and human connection and feature gorgeous songs that slow big moments and emotions, prodding and finding greater meaning in them.

A couple of my favorites from Circles includes "What Remains" (sung here by Jennifer Damiano and Matt Doyle):

"Two Little Lines" (sung by Anna Ty Bergman):

Drew is also a recent addition to NewMusicalTheatre.com, where you can download his sheet music for songs like the following "My Year" (sung by Alex Ellis) and the hilarious "The Text Message Song" (performed in Cait Doyle's Hot Mess in Manhattan):