Astrology-Inspired Musical SIGNS OF LIFE to Have Developmental Reading

This New Work With Book, Music, And Lyrics By Christopher DeLair Is Directed By James A. Rocco And Produced by Erin Coomer For Astro Lab Productions And Features A Cast Of Sixteen Broadway And Regional Professionals

Astro Lab Productions announces its inaugural project, a new musical Signs Of Life with book, music, and lyrics by Christopher DeLair will have an Industry Reading in New York City from October 3 through 5, 2024. The reading is by invitation only. The project is being led by Executive Producer James A. Rocco who is also serving as director. The Lead Producer is Astro Lab's CEO, Erin Coomer.

Signs Of Life explores a young man's magical return to his chaotic childhood on Long Island. Christopher is a struggling musician in his early thirties living - as he describes it - a "life in the air" floating carefree among the clouds, his mind disassociated from his troubled life. Yet he is increasingly visited by painful flashbacks to the past and the traumatic home life he escaped.

When a younger version of Chris sees a late-night TV infomercial pitching a book that promises emotional relief by connecting its reader with the 12 Signs of the Zodiac, he sends for it. Amazingly, it works! One by one, the Astrological Signs manifest, embodied by the feminine, and transformed into voices that send him on a musically and visually transcendent journey that guides both Older Chris and Young Chris through the tricky process of growing up, finding a voice, and healing the past.

Led by Tara Rubin Casting, the reading's cast is complete and includes Stavros Koumbaros as Older Chris, Leif Coomer as Young Chris and Lauren Blackman (Lempicka, The Music Man), Allison Blackwell (New York, New York, Pretty Woman: The Musical), Pamela Bob (Hand To God, A Gentleman's Guide To Love and Murder), Maya Days (Jesus Christ Superstar, Aida), Alexa Green (Wicked), Ashanti J'Aria (Saturday Night Fever), Heidi Johnson-Spoon (Big River), Veronica Otim (& Juliet, Jagged Little Pill), Diane Phelan (Into The Woods, School Of Rock), Elena Ricardo (Water For Elephants, Mamma Mia!), J Savage (Bad Cinderella, Empire: The Musical), Sabrina Shah (Kimberly Akimbo), Kaye Tuckerman (Mamma Mia!, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical) and Maria Wirries (Dear Evan Hansen, Kinky Boots) round out the cast.

"Signs Of Life has been in development in Seattle for over a year and we are thrilled to bring it to life here in New York. Our upcoming reading has an incredible cast of actors bringing their stellar voices to this beautiful story. We look forward to growing our audience by sharing it with the industry in early October and beyond," said Lead Producer Erin Coomer.

Learn more at signsoflifemusical.com.

BIOGRAPHIES

Christopher DeLair (Book, Music, and Lyrics) Christopher is a NYC-born, Seattle-based composer. He's been playing piano and writing songs since he was a child, and Signs of Life will be his first major work as writer of both the script and score. He is a nature lover, and a certified Astrologer. Aquarius to a fault, he is passionate about all the esoteric sciences. He identifies as the boy who fell to Earth. Past writing projects include More Than a Feeling, an original, 7- 7-episode series featuring the students at Shorecrest High School. Many stand-alone songs have been featured in New York's cabaret scene, most recently a concert at Symphony Space to raise money for ALS and to celebrate the life and talent of the late Rebecca Luker.

James A. Rocco (Executive Director and Director) James Rocco's theatrical work has been seen on Broadway, London, Off-Broadway, Tokyo, Film, Recordings, and in Concert Halls worldwide. He began his career as a NYC-based child actor and directed his first show in NYC at 16. His adult career began as the co-creator of the off-Broadway cult hits Nite Club Confidential and Hooked on the 70s. He followed that by joining the original Broadway Production of Cats as "The Rum Tum Tugger" and national productions of Jesus Christ Superstar as "Judas" and Into The Woods as "The Witch." As a director/choreographer he has put his stamp on a variety of works including The Wizard of Oz (Madison Square Garden), Singin' In the Rain (Papermill Playhouse), Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Broadway Asia) Chess (San Diego Starlight and Stage One), Annie (Ogunquit Playhouse), Big River (Music Theatre Wichita and Papermill Playhouse), Yankee Doodle Dandy (World Premiere at 5th Avenue Theatre), White Christmas (5th Avenue Theatre) among many more. For twelve years, James led The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts as Producing Artistic Director, and in 2019, he was recognized by The Broadway League and The Coalition of Broadway Unions and Guilds for "30 Years of Dedication, Craft, and Contribution To the Theater" at their annual Broadway Salutes Ceremony.

Erin Coomer (Lead Producer) With over thirty years of musical theatre experience, Erin is a passionate advocate for the arts. She has a BA in Music Education and Vocal Performance and a background in songwriting and production. Erin has spent the past two decades supporting organizations for young people in Seattle. Erin believes strongly that community involvement is a vital part of life. In 2023, Erin co-founded Astro Lab Productions for the purpose of supporting new artists and new works of art. She envisions the company growing to become a place where people from all walks of life can find and discover their voice and create an impact within the broader community through art. She is thrilled to be giving a voice to the work of Christopher DeLair with Signs of Life, the premiere production of Astro Lab. Learn more at the website astrolab.productions.

Chris Ranney (Music Director) Originally from Washington State, Chris now resides in New York and most recently served as the Associate Conductor of the hit Broadway musical Come From Away. Chris has worked extensively at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre and Village Theatre as a musical director, conductor, and pianist. Chris holds bachelor's degrees in Electrical Engineering and Sound Engineering from the University of Michigan. Chris can frequently be seen in concert with Tony nominee Jenn Colella as her music director and pianist. During the pandemic, Chris launched the critically acclaimed online traditional music platform Tune Supply along with partner Caitlin Warbelow.

Billie Wildrick (Associate Director) Billie is a multi-faceted creative professional working as an actor, singer, voiceover artist, director and professional speaker/communication coach. She has been seen on stages across the country: Broadway, Washington DC, the Twin Cities, Sacramento, CA and Sarasota, FL as well as on her beloved home boards of Seattle. As a performer, Billie debuted on Broadway with Scandalous and is featured on that Original Broadway Cast Recording as well on the original cast recording of A Christmas Story. You can hear Billie's voiceover work on video games, commercials, meditation apps and the new audio drama, Moonlight and Love Songs. She has also written and performed original work at the Seattle Fringe, SPF, Liberty Deli, Thumpers and The Studios. Billie flies around the world prepping speakers as the Coaching Lead at woman owned Ovation Communication.

Albert Evans (Dramaturg) Albert is the long-time Dramaturg at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre, where he has written music and/or lyrics for several mainstage productions including Yankee Doodle Dandy and Paint Your Wagon and the songs for the touring show Rosie the Riveter, music directed by Signs of Life author Chris DeLair. In NYC, Evans composed the off-Broadway shows Pageant, The Texas Chainsaw Musical, and Nite Club Confidential and wrote English lyrics for New York City Opera's performing edition of The Merry Widow, broadcast on Live from Lincoln Center (PBS). For ten years, Evans served as resident composer at New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse, where he wrote "soundtrack" scores for play versions of Wuthering Heights, Great Expectations, Jane Eyre, and A Tale of Two Cities, as well as lyrics for Mikado Inc.

Tara Rubin (Tara Rubin Casting) Casting for the upcoming NYC Industry Reading of Signs Of Life is led by Tara Rubin. She and her team are responsible for casting Broadway and touring productions including The Heart of Rock and Roll, The Who's Tommy, The Wiz, Water For Elephants, The Outsiders, Here Lies Love, Back to the Future, Bad Cinderella, KPOP, Mr. Saturday Night, Six, Ain't Too Proud, King Kong, Summer, The Band's Visit, Prince of Broadway, Miss Saigon, Bandstand, Falsettos, A Bronx Tale, Dear Evan Hansen, Cats, Disaster!, School of Rock, It Shoulda Been You, Gigi, Doctor Zhivago, Bullets Over Broadway, LES MISERABLES, Aladdin, Big Fish, Scandalous: The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson, Ghost, Jesus Christ Superstar (NY Casting), Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Promises, Promises, A Little Night Music, Billy Elliot, Shrek, Guys and Dolls, Young Frankenstein, The Little Mermaid, Mary Poppins, My Fair Lady, The Pirate Queen, Spamalot, Jersey Boys, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Producers, Mamma Mia!, Phantom of the Opera, Good Vibrations, Bombay Dreams, Oklahoma!, Flower Drum Song, and Disney's On the Record.

Joey Monda (General Manager) Joey is a three-time Tony Award-winning producer who currently serves as a Producer and General Manager with Sing Out Louise Productions. With Sing Out Louise Productions, he is a Producer on the current Broadway productions of Days of Wine & Roses starring Kelli O'Hara and Brian d'Arcy James, The Notebook, & Juliet (Tony nomination), and Hadestown (Tony Award) and the previous Broadway productions of A Strange Loop (Tony Award), Mrs. Doubtfire, The Inheritance (Tony Award), Slave Play (Tony nomination), Mike Birbiglia's The New One and The Cher Show. With fellow Sing Out Louise partners Lorenzo Thione and Jay Kuo, Sing Out Louise Productions shepherded actor and activist George Takei's true-life experience of WWII Japanese American internment camps into the Broadway musical and subsequent film Allegiance, which starred Takei and Tony Award winner Lea Salonga which enjoyed a successful run in London's West End in 2023.

Joey and Sing Out Louise are passionate about extending the brand, reach, and impact of Broadway through cinema-quality stage-to-screen films and Joey has served as the Executive Producer on the films of Allegiance and Bandstand and oversaw the full marketing and distribution of the Broadway musical Kinky Boots film.

In addition to his extensive producing work, Joey is a General Manager specializing in new work and self-Producing Artists. Joey has overseen the Off-Broadway productions of Fern Hill, Smart Blonde, Goldstein, the bi-annual commissioning Inner Voices series, as well as the National Alliance for Musical Theatre Festival of New Musicals (2012-present), multiple New York Musical Festival (NYMF) productions, the Musical Theatre Factory, and the multi-city charity concert Concert for America, which has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the National Immigration Law Center, NAACP, Sierra Club, and Planned Parenthood with performances from Barry Manilow, Wayne Brady, Jane Lynch, Melissa Manchester, Alan Cumming, Tina Fey, Andrea Martin, Chita Rivera, and many more.

Astro Lab is a new theatre production company based in Seattle set out to build stellar musical experiences for audiences big and small, worldwide. The primary focus is developing new works with new artists, working with each opportunity to help a show find its best home and its natural audience. Astrolab.Productions.