NewMusicalTheatre.com, a website that sells sheet music by musical theater writers, launches the sheet music catalogue for Michael Friedman, the composer of hit musicals Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and Gone Missing. Michael Friedman is the last writer to be added before NewMusicalTheatre.com's Launch Concert on April 26th at 10pm at NYC's (Le) Poisson Rouge. The concert will be a celebration with headliners Tony nominees Kelli O'Hara (South Pacific, The Light in the Piazza) and De'Adre Aziza (Passing Strange), as well as Rescue Me's Steven Pasquale, Million Dollar Quartet standout Levi Kreis and singer/songwriter Greg Naughton. Additional performers will be announced shortly.
The event will not only salute the website's launch, but will celebrate the future of musical theater by bringing together an unparalleled group of young songwriters with some of Broadway's best talent. Presented by Sh-K-Boom &
Ghostlight Records, the show will highlight the work of the original eight writers represented on the site -
Nick Blaemire (
Glory Days),
Adam Gwon (Ordinary Days),
Joe Iconis (The Black Suits, Things to Ruin),
Kait Kerrigan and
Brian Lowdermilk (The Unauthorized Autobiography of
Samantha Brown, Tales from the Bad Years),
Ryan Scott Oliver (Mrs. Sharp, Darling), and
Benj Pasek and
Justin Paul (Edges, Dogfight).
Michael Friedman, whose Bloody Bloody
Andrew Jackson just opened at
The Public Theater to rave reviews, is the newest writer represented on NewMusicalTheatre.com. Michael's other work as composer/lyricist includes:
The Civilians' This Beautiful City, Saved, Hoover Comes Alive!, The Brand New Kid, and In the Bubble as well as
The Civilians' [I Am] Nobody's Lunch, Canard, Canard, Goose? and the long-running Gone Missing. With Steve Cosson, he co-wrote Paris Commune, which was produced at
The Public Theater in 2008. Music for film and TV include the films On Common Ground and Coach. His music has also been heard at NYTW, the Roundabout,
Second Stage,
Soho Rep, Theater for a New Audience, Signature, and
The Acting Company, and at many regional and international venues. He was also the dramaturg for the recent Broadway revival of A Raisin in the Sun, directed by
Kenny Leon. He is currently working on an adaptation of Jonathan Lethem's The Fortress of Solitude, a piece about the adult film industry for
The Civilians, and on commissions at
Center Theatre Group,
Playwrights Horizons, and the Huntington Theater. Currently Barron Visiting Professor of Environmental Science at Princeton University, Michael is also an Artistic Associate at New York Theatre Workshop, a founding Associate Artist of the Obie-Award-winning Civilians, and a recipient of a MacDowell fellowship, a Hodder Fellowship, and a 2007 Obie Award.
NewMusicalTheatre.com already sells sheet music written eighteen of the most exciting writers of musical theater today. Among them, they've netted six
Jonathan Larson awards, two
Ed Kleban awards, two Rodgers awards, one
Fred Ebb award, one Obie Award, and two Tony nominations, as well as having had songs featured on television, and several Broadway, off-Broadway and regional productions. In addition to the original eight writers represented on the site, artists include Gaby Alter (Band Geeks),
Jeff Blumenkrantz (Tony-nominee for Urban Cowboy),
Ryan Cunningham and Josh Salzman (I Love You Because),
Jonathan Reid Gealt (Forward),
Paul Gordon (Tony-nominee for Jane Eyre),
Jeremy Schonfeld (Drift),
Georgia Stitt (Ordinary Thursday) and most recently
Michael Kooman and
Chris Dimond (Dani Girl).
The site was created by writers for writers as an alternative to traditional publishing. Most songs have mp3s or video samples. NewMusicalTheatre.com uses new technology to protect writers from having their sheet music illegally downloaded by password protecting the downloaded file with the customer's credit card number. While protecting the writer, it also allows customers to have more control over their purchase. Rather than having to print their sheet music right away, they can keep the sheet music on their computer for continued access to the file and multiple printings.
When
Jeff Marx (co-creator of Avenue Q) previewed the site, he said, "Whoever thought of making your credit card number the password to unlock the downloaded file was an absolute genius. That changes everything and serves everyone. This is going to be bigger than porn."
Photo Credit: BWW-Staff
