"My Van" comes from The Dirty Hippie Jam Band Project, an original musical about a gaggle of modern-day neo-hippies who follow a Phish-style band around the country. The composer is Dan Israel, lyricist is Phoebe Kreutz and bookwriting is shared by Adam Mathias (See Rock City) and Ms. Kruetz, who is a singer/songwriter (Disney's Johnny and the Sprites.) Performers include Sandie Rosa (Wanda of Wanda's World,) Brandon Ellis (Company), Amy Zelcer, Bret Carr, Ben Fusco-Gessick, Evan Siegel and David Soson.
"With Enemies Like You," is a duet from The Masked Zinfandel by Peter Yarin and Justin Warner, which will be performed by Bradley Dean, the current El Gallo in The Fantasticks, now celebrating its 50th anniversary at the Snapple Theater Center and by Raymond Bokhour, Workshop Member and Chicago cast member. Yarin and Warner have been selected
to present ...Zinfandel at the upcoming BMI Workshop Master Class with Master Tom Jones (Fantasticks, I Do, I Do, 110 in the Shade).
The Suicide, Thing about Joe, Dirty Hippie... and ...Zinfandel have all been seen in the Musical Mondays series at the Snapple Theatre Center.
"This Should Be Easy" is from Greenbrier Ghost with music and lyrics by Clay Zambo and book by Susan Murray. Greenbrier Ghost is based on the true story of an 1897 murder case, the only time in history when testimony from a ghost was admitted at trial. Zambo and Murray's new musical is winner of Academy for New Musical Theatre's 2009 Search for New Musicals and will be presented next season at the Colony Theatre in Burbank CA. The duet between
dueling trial attorneys is performed by Carl Danielsen, recently Off-Broadway in the York's Enter Laughing and The Big Voice: God or Merman and Will Trice, named one of the Top 10 Cabaret Performers of 2007 by John Hoglund/theatrescene. Greenbriar Ghost has also been chosen for the upcoming Tom Jones BMI Workshop Master Class.Craig Baldwin and Kathy Lombardi's are adapting Strindberg's The Stronger.
Baldwin has been both a Broadway performer (La Cage Aux Folles, The Producers) and conductor (Fame Becomes Me). Lombardi is a veteran songwriter with a string of Top 10 hits and is the recipient of the Nashville International Award for excellence in songwriting. "I Have a Secret" will be performed by Workshop member Tracy Sallows (Angels in America) and Shira Lissek, soloist with the Gulf Coast Symphony.
Phillip Chernyak, a songwriter and filmmaker whose musical short films have been seen everywhere from Los Angeles to Stockholm is represented with two songs. "What a Great Day," his solo creation, is from The Driller Killer which centers around a struggling artist who caves under the pressures of everyday life and embarks on a drill-happy killing spree. "Tiny Sting," with music by Chrenyak and book and lyrics by Blake Hackler is from The Wasp Woman, based on the 60's cult film which tells the story of Janice Young, aging CEO and spokesmodel for YoungThing cosmetics and her dangerous and destructive search for the fountain of youth. Lyricist and Librettist Hackler's writing credits include The Boss in the Satin Kimono ( 2008 NY Fringe Fest) and Mother Courage of Westchester-(NYTE). The song is performed by Kimberly Stern (A Doll's Life, Bar Mitzvah Boy).
Other songs include "I Can See Things," from the songwriting duo of David Gaines and Kellen Blair and "When It's Right" from the team of Ilene Weiss and Michael Kooman.
The event is co-produced by Kleban Award Winner Patrick Cook, Artistic Coordinator of the Workshop and Frank Evans, Special Events Coordinator. Cook garnered an Outer Critics Circle Award Nomination for Captain's Courageous, produced by Manhattan Theatre Club. Evans, whose musicals have been seen from Alaska to London is a Jerry Bock Award winning lyricist. He has been named on Best of The Year Lists in The Palm Beach Post, The Norwich Bulletin and TheatreWeek and is producing director of Musical Mondays Theatre Lab.
The BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, recipient of a 2006 Tony honor, Drama Desk Award and Drama League Award for Excellence in Musical Theatre, was founded in 1961 by the late Lehman Engel, dean of American musical theatre, to create a setting where new writers could learn their craft.
Now marking its 65th year in business, BMI is an American performing rights organization that represents more than 300,000 songwriters, composers and publishers in all genres of music. With a repertoire of more than 6.5 million musical works from around the world, the non-profit-making corporation collects license fees from businesses that use music, which it then distributes as royalties to the musical creators and copyright owners it represents.
