New Musical I LOVE MY FAMILY, BUT… Begins Performances At Soho Playhouse, February 23

Collaborators Lauren Gundrum and Brandon Lambert are set to premiere their debut musical, I Love My Family, But..., at Soho Playhouse from February 23-April 8, 2023.

With books & lyrics by Gundrum and book, music & lyrics by Lambert, this musical centers on how a family is always there for you - in all the wrong ways! I Love My Family, But... is directed by Guy Stroman (Forever Plaid) and features music direction by Alex Ratner and choreography by Sierra Barnett.

The opening is set for Thursday, March 9 at The Huron Club at Soho Playhouse (15 Vandam St, Manhattan). Tickets are now on sale at www.ilovemyfamilybut.com.

Join Timmy, his parents, and their firecracker neighbor Claire on an 80-minute tour through life's wildest ups and downs. Whether it be the birds and the bees talk, funerals for pet fish, or asking for a divorce, this hilarious new musical will leave you screaming "that's my family!"

Reflecting on I Love My Family, But..., Gundrum and Lambert remarked, "We started writing comedy songs together in 2017. After four songs we noticed a pattern: all of them were milestone family moments with a twist. Sixteen songs later, we had a musical about a lovingly awkward family going through life's most important moments in their own weird yet caring way. I Love My Family, But... is intentionally not an epic tale; it's about life moments we all experience, the joy and frustration, and celebrating that with song."

Gundrum and Lambert have several projects in development including Jane, an original musical inspired by conservationist Jane Goodall.

The cast for I Love My Family, But... includes J.D. Daw as Frank, Julian Diaz-Granados (Dear Evan Hansen, Ruben and Clay's Christmas Show) as Timmy, Jennifer Dinolfo as Claire, and Katie Oxman as Martha with pianist Alex Ratner.

Twenty-one performances of I Love My Family, But... will take place February 23-April 8, 2023, at The Huron Club at Soho Playhouse, located at 15 Vandam St. in Manhattan. The performance schedule is Thursdays through Saturdays at 7 PM with an additional performance at 7 PM on Monday, March 13, and no performance on Saturday, March 18. Doors and the bar open 30 minutes prior to curtain. Critics are welcome as of February 25 for an opening on Thursday, March 9. The running time is 80 minutes with no intermission. Tickets, starting at $49, can be purchased at www.ilovemyfamilybut.com.

Form Theatricals (Anthony Francavilla and Reed Ridgley) serves as General Manager.

Please visit www.ilovemyfamilybut.com for more information.

About the Creative Team

Brandon Lambert (Book, Music, Lyrics) loves his family, but... the characters and events in this production are fictitious. No identification with Brandon's actual family members is intended or should be inferred. His musical At First Sight (co-writer Gary Jaffe) was commissioned and produced by the Mountain Playhouse, and he is currently developing the musical Fun at the Beach Romp-Bomp-a-Lomp!! (co-writer Martin Landry) with Mark Bell, director of Broadway's The Play That Goes Wrong. He is a proud member of the BMI Workshop (Harrington Award winner) and the Dramatists Guild.

Lauren Gundrum (Book, Lyrics) is an NYC-based lyricist and librettist. Lauren's debut musical PharmaBro (with Joel Esher) ran Off-Broadway in Summer 2017 and was nominated for an Off-Broadway Alliance Award for Best New Musical. PharmaBro had a sold-out developmental run at the Workshop Theatre and has been featured in Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, The NY Post and The NY Times among others. Lauren is a member of the Dramatist Guild and a participant in the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop. She held The Players Theatre Production Residency in Spring 2017. Her work has been featured at the Seattle Repertory Theatre, The Duplex, the Triad, the York, and 54 Below. www.laurengundrum.com

Guy Stroman (Director) is an award-winning director whose work in NYC and around the country includes: collaborations with Sandy Duncan, June Squibb, Lou Diamond Phillips, Sally Struthers, Lynn Redgrave, Jean Stapleton; directing a wide range of productions, including Twelfth Night, The King and I, The Glass Menagerie, Driving Miss Daisy, Man of La Mancha, The 39 Steps, Art, Shakespeare's R&J, Steel Magnolias, Love Letters, Boeing, Boeing, and numerous, long-running productions of Forever Plaid and Plaid Tidings. Guy originated the role of Frankie in Forever Plaid, in New York, London's West End, and LA, where he received a Best Actor award from the LA Drama Critics. Most recent: Lewis Black's One Slight Hitch and David Dean Bottrell Makes Love-A One Man Show (Dixon Place). www.guystroman.com

Alex Ratner (Music Director / Pianist) is a musical theatre writer, arranger, and music director. Recent projects include Tyrell, a musical prequel to Game of Thrones, which made its London debut in 2020, and music direction for The Magnificent Seven, a new piece about the 1996 U.S. Olympic women's gymnastics team, which premiered at Theatre Row in 2022. Member of the BMI Workshop, and winner of BMI's Jerry Harrington Award and Jean Banks Award. As an arranger, Alex adapted the score of Children of Eden, Junior for MTI, and wrote vocal arrangements as part of the Yale Whiffenpoofs. www.alexratnermusic.com

Sierra Barnett (choreographer) is a proud first-generation Chinese American from Columbus, Ohio, who can't help her smile or her love of a good homemade dumpling! She earned degrees in dance and business management from Point Park University in Pittsburgh, PA. Most recently, she worked as an associate choreographer on the recent revival of Into the Woods at Encores! and through its transfer to Broadway. Barnett was the assistant choreographer on the 2nd National Tour of LCT's My Fair Lady.

About the Cast

J.D. Daw (Frank) Regional Highlights: Spamalot (Sir Dennis Galahad), Funny Girl (Ziegfeld Tenor) w/ Shoshana Bean for North Shore Music Theatre; Next to Normal (Dr. Madden) w/ Christiane Noll for TheaterWorks Hartford; Music Man (Jacey Squires) and Sweeney Todd (Pirelli u/s) for MUNY St. Louis; Rags (Irish Tenor) for Goodspeed; and numerous plays at The Mountain Playhouse in Jennerstown, PA. J.D. played Jinx in Forever Plaid for the inaugural productions of both the Cosmopolitan Cabaret in Sacramento and the Pittsburgh CLO Cabaret under the direction of Guy Stroman.

Julian Diaz- Granados (Timmy) is thrilled to be reprising the role of Timmy! Broadway: Dear Evan Hansen (Jared/Connor), Ruben and Clay's Christmas Show. National Tour: Dear Evan Hansen (Jared/Connor). NYC/Regional Favorites: Newsies (Jack Kelly), Ordinary Days (Jason), Cabaret (Cliff).

Jennifer Dinolfo (Claire) is so excited to be making her off-Broadway debut! Most recently, Jennifer was seen in Kinky Boots at North Shore Music Theatre playing the Milan Stage Manager and u/s Lauren. Prior to Kinky Boots, Jennifer just returned from a year at sea playing Tracy in Hairspray for Royal Caribbean International where she has been playing the role since 2019. Some of her favorite past credits include: Songs For a New World (Woman 1), Legally Blonde (Paulette) and Curious George (Nettie). Jennifer holds a BFA in musical theatre from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee College of Music, class of 2018. You can find her released cover track of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" on Spotify, Apple, and all other major music streaming platforms. www.jenniferdinolfo.com,

Katie Oxman (she/her, Martha) is so thrilled to bring this show off-Broadway, after being with the show since it was just an idea on a piano and post-its on Lauren's wall. Katie is a creative across many disciplines and this year was selected to be one of 22 creators in the Disney Creators Lab. She has performed at Pittsburgh CLO, Prime Stage Theatre, Mountain Playhouse, Summer Theatre of New Canaan and across the country with the Candid Camera Live tour. Recently she performed in a reading of 'Beach Romp Bomp a-Lomp' in NYC directed by Mark Bell. She is also the voice of 'Retro Recipes' and often can be found singing new material for the geniuses at BMI (like Lambert & Gundrum!).

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