HEREAFTER Musical to Make Off-Broadway Debut, 4/24

Co-creators Vinnie Favale and Frankie Keane draw from their personal loss to create HEREAFTER which will make its Off-Broadway premier on April 24 at Theater 80 at St Marks Place.

Favale’s songs eventually became the beginnings of a play called “Life & Death” [the show’s original title]. Favale worked on the project by himself for four years. After writing the first batch of songs, and working with the show’s music consultant Eric Garner on the demos, Favale realized that writing a full fledged musical was not going to be a walk in the park. Then as if by magic (or spiritual guidance?) Favale met Frankie Keane after she answered his Backstage ad to sing some demos for the character of Anita, a B-movie actress from the 1940s who dies in a plane crash.

Keane, a seasoned singer and vocal arranger, had an instant connection to Favale and his material, having lost her mother at a young age and in the past fifteen years lost two of her brothers in the prime of their lives. “As Vinnie and I spent more time together, we realized I had so much more to offer, which was my music and my own experience with the subject matter,” Keane said. It wasn’t long before Keane would become Favale’s creative partner, cowriting additional songs and the book as well as arranging all the vocals. With the addition of music director William Hindin to the team, and an amazing cast that has virtually remain unchanged since they started, they were able to make the leap from song workshops to sold-out live performances in less than a year. The group has held three concerts of the “Hereafter” catalog in Monmouth County, NJ in 2009.

There was also a six show, sold out, staged reading at the Roy Arias Theater, New York in 2010. The
following year, they worked on the book and finished recording the soundtrack. To date, “Hereafter
Musical” has been performed for over one thousand people, and their YouTube Channel just has its
22,000th visitor.

After a record-breaking Kick Starter campaign the summer of 2011 that raised over $60,000 in ticket and merchandise pre-sales, the team was able to take the show to a whole new level. And now with the new addition of acclaimed Director & Choreographer Terry Berliner, they are preparing for their off-Broadway debut. This limited, two week run has already sold out opening night and is fast approaching a complete sell out.

For more information, visit www.hereaftermusical.com.