SMASH Creator Theresa Rebeck To Workshop New Musical TWO ORPHANS At Texas State

Award winning writer Theresa Rebeck will workshop a new musical, The Two Orphans, at Texas State University on October 28 as part of the Harrison/Bowman New Works Commission.

The workshop presentation will be at 3 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center Recital Hall. Rehearsals and a final presentation will be open to the public at no charge, although seating is limited. Tickets may be reserved at txstatepresents.universitytickets.com/.

Rebeck will team up with composer Kim D. Sherman, lyricist John Sheehy and musical director Kimberly Grigsby on The Two Orphans, a musical adapted from a 19th-century melodrama of the same name. Rebeck will write the book and co-write the lyrics with Sheehy, and Sherman will write the music. Kaitlin Hopkins, head of the musical theatre program at Texas State, will direct.

Set in New Orleans during the Reconstruction Era, The Two Orphans is the story of two African American sisters who are separated, and their journey to find their way back to each other. There will be a talk back with the creative team following the performance.

Rebeck is a widely produced playwright throughout the United States and abroad. In television, Rebeck has written for Dream On, Brooklyn Bridge, L.A. Law, American Dreamer, Maximum Bob, First Wave and Third Watch. She was also the creator of the NBC drama, Smash. Her produced feature films include Harriet the Spy, Gossip and the independent features Sunday on the Rocks and Seducing Charlie Barker, an adaptation of her play, The Scene. She is the author of three novels, Three Girls and Their Brother, Twelve Rooms With A View and I'm Glad About You. Rebeck is originally from Cincinnati and holds an MFA in playwriting and a Ph.D. in Victorian melodrama, both from Brandeis University.

Sheehy is the author of six full-length plays and numerous one-act plays. His play, Gave Her The Eye, was produced at Actors Theater of Louisville, the Samuel Beckett Theatre in New York City and Theater Geo in Hollywood, among others. Other performances of his work include The Strike (Playwrights Platform, Boston), Barely Dressed (Alice's Fourth Floor, New York) and Stopping at Union (City Theatre, Miami).

Sherman is a composer for the concert stage, theater, film and opera. Summer, 1976, a song cycle for lyric baritone and string quartet, was premiered at the Opera Center in New York City in 2016. Song of Songs, for strings, harp and soprano, was premiered by San José Chamber Orchestra and soprano Allison Charney. Graveside, an a cappella choral work, was recorded by Musica Sacra and has been performed throughout the United States and Europe. On Broadway, she wrote incidental music for I Hate Hamlet. She has received residencies at the MacDowell Colony and the Banff Centre.

As a musical director, Grigsby's extensive Broadway credits include Amelie, Spider-man: Turn Off the Dark, Spring Awakening and You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown.

A promotional video for the workshop can be seen below!

For additional information, please contact Kaitlin Hopkins at the Texas State Department of Theatre and Dance at (512) 245-6841 or kh40@txstate.edu

About Texas State University

Founded in 1899, Texas State University is among the largest universities in Texas with an enrollment of 38,694 students on campuses in San Marcos and Round Rock. Texas State's 181,000-plus alumni are a powerful force in serving the economic workforce needs of Texas and throughout the world. Designated an Emerging Research University by the State of Texas, Texas State is classified under "Doctoral Universities: Higher Research Activity," the second-highest designation for research institutions under the Carnegie classification system.