On Monday, March 1, Larson Award-winning songwriters Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk featured their work in a special concert at Birdland. The event was part of the Broadway at Birdland concert series, which showcases performers and songwriters from the Great White Way.
"Kerrigan & Lowdermilk: Under the Influence" featured songs from a variety of Kerrigan-Lowdermilk shows, including The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown, Tales From The Bad Years and The Woman Upstairs, as well as covers of songs that have influenced their writing.
Starring in the concert were Broadway's Caissie Levy (Hair), Annaleigh Ashford (Hair), Kacie Sheik (Hair), Celia Keenan-Bolger (Tony Award nominee for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), Lisa Brescia (Wicked, Aida, Ordinary Days), Matt Doyle (Bye Bye Birdie, Spring Awakening), Katie Thompson (R.R.R.E.D.), Meghann Fahy (Next to Normal) and Jay Armstong Johnson (Hair), as well as popular indie musicians Vienna Teng and The Spring Standards.
The concert was directed by Daniel Goldstein with music direction by Vadim Feichtner. The concert was presented by Jim Caruso's Broadway at Birdland in partnership with Katie Riegel as part of Sh-K-Boom/Ghostlight Records' ongoing concert series.
Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk made their Off-Broadway debut with Henry And Mudge, now on its sixth national tour. Their original musical The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown had in a developmental production at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in the spring of 2009 (producers Beth Williams and Broadway Across America). Other musicals include Tales From The Bad Years (Theatreworks New Works Festival 2009), The Woman Upstairs (NYMF 2004), Wrong Number (NYMF 2005) and The Freshman Experiment. Their songs have been recorded and performed internationally including "Say the Word," which was performed by Miss New York in the 2009 Miss America Pageant live broadcast. Their work has been developed by the ASCAP/Disney Workshop, Goodspeed New Works, La Jolla Playhouse, the LArk Theatre Company, NAMT, Perry-Mansfield New Works, Primary Stages, Theatreworks and others. Among them, Kerrigan and Lowdermilk have been awarded the 2006 Jonathan Larson Award, a 2004-2005 Dramatists Guild Fellowship, and a Richard Rodgers Award. Most recently, Kerrigan was the recipient of the 2009 Kleban Award for Most Promising Librettist.
For more information on Birdland, visit www.BirdlandJazz.com.
Photo Credit: Monica Simoes
Matt Doyle, Morgan Karr, & Jay Armstrong Johnson
Matt Doyle, Morgan Karr & Jay Armstrong Johnson
Kait Kerrigan & James Smith and Heather Robb (The Spring Standards)
Kait Kerrigan & James Smith and Heather Robb (The Spring Standards)
James Smith
Kait Kerrigan, Brian Lowdermilk, & Jenni Barber
Kait Kerrigan, Brian Lowdermilk, & Jenni Barber
Kait Kerrigan & Brian Lowdermilk
Kait Kerrigan, Lisa Brescia, & Celia Keenan-Bolger
Cast of Kerrigan & Lowdermilk: Under the Influence
Kait Kerrigan, Lisa Brescia, & Celia Keenan-Bolger
Kait Kerrigan & Brian Lowdermilk
Kait Kerrigan, Nick Blaemire, Matt Doyle, Jay Armstrong Johnson, & Morgan Karr
Meghann Fahy & Annaleigh Ashford
Kait Kerrigan & Brian Lowdermilk
Cast of Kerrigan & Lowdermilk: Under the Influence
Cast of Kerrigan & Lowdermilk: Under the Influence
Kait Kerrigan, Nick Blaemire, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Matt Doyle, Morgan Karr & Jenni Barber
Vienna Teng
Cast of Kerrigan & Lowdermilk: Under the Influence
Kait Kerrigan, Kacie Sheik, Caissie Levy, & Brian Lowdermilk
Jenni Barber, Matt Doyle, Morgan Karr & Jay Armstrong Johnson
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