Village Originals Announces Official Selections For 9th Annual Festival Of New Musicals 8/13-16

Village Originals has announced the official selections for the 9th Annual Festival of New Musicals taking place August 13-16, 2009 at the Francis J. Gaudette Theatre in Issaquah. This is an invitation only event, not open to the public.

The Annual Festival of New Musicals has become a jumping off point for a number of Village Theatre's most popular new works. Leading writers and producers from across the world come together for this invite-only event to be part of the process of developing new musicals. Since 2001, the Village Originals Festival has developed over 50 new musical and worked with over 100 authors.

This year's Festival features staged readings-fully sung presentations, performed with script-in-hand-of the new musicals Rocket Science, The Cuban and the Redhead, Green Gables, Route 66, Take Me America, and The Man Who Would Be King. Below please find a detailed list of this year's musical line-up:

Rocket Science

Book by Patricia Cotter

Music by Stephen Weiner

Lyrics by Jason Rhyne

Composer Stephen Weiner (Once Upon A Time in New Jersey, Iron Curtain) winner of the Richard Rodgers,

Jonathan Larson, ASCAP New Horizons, and New York Innovative Theater Awards, partners with 2008 Jonathan Larson Award recipient Jason Rhyne (lyricist) and Daytime Emmy-Award winner Patricia Cotter (book) to bring Rocket Science, the new musical based on the HBO film of the same name by Jeffrey Blitz.

Synopsis:

St-st-step into the shoes of Hal Hefner, a high school junior burdened with a surplus of family chaos and crazy teachers-not to mention the debilitating stutter that only recently came to join the party. Set to an upbeat rock score by Stephen Weiner (Once Upon a Time in New Jersey), Hal navigates the frenziEd Halls of high school-from his first attempt at romance, to the simple yet overwhelming task of ordering a slice of p-p-pizza, to the even more daunting prospect of competing in the state debate contest-and manages to keep both his dignity and his humor intact. This wryly-comical new musical will take you back to those high school years as you watch Hal discover the importance of friendship, trust, and self-confidence.

The Cuban and the Redhead

By Robert Bartley & Danny Whitman

 

The Cuban and the Redhead was recently featured in the NAMT Festival in New York, the Festival of New American Musicals in Los Angeles starring Jai Rodriguez, and a presentation at Off Broadway's York Theatre. As a director, author Robert Bartley has been represented by The Cuban and the Redhead, Family Fiorelli (NYMF), Hair in Peculiar Work's Obie-winning sequel East Village Fragments, and is currently working on a web series entitled Fangs of New York. Author Danny Whitman served as vocal arranger for Charles Strouse and John Bucchino on original revues of their songs, and for concerts by Portland Symphony Orchestra. Bartley is also a Broadway performer having been featured in such shows as Miss Saigon and CATS.

Synopsis:

Everybody loves Lucy...but what happened before Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz took Hollywood by storm? In this affecting new musical, watch as a young Cuban boy and a starry-eyed redhead from Jamestown set sail on a turbulent journey that leads them all the way to Hollywood-and into each other's arms. But life in Tinseltown, they quickly discover, isn't all it's cracked up to be. Struggling to keep their careers, egos, and marriage afloat, these two starlets are about to discover what it takes to make it in show business, and in life.

Green Gables

By Janet Yates Vogt & Mark Friedman

Based on "Anne of Green Gables" by L.M. Montgomery

Composer/lyricist/playwrights Janet Yates Vogt and Mark Friedman have been long-standing musical partners, performing together and collaborating on a variety of projects. Graduate and faculty member of the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), Vogt has sung under the direction of Leonard Berstein and James Levine. Her credits include work composing for the daytime dramas "The Guiding Light" and "Another World." Friedman has been a professional vocalist, actor, and musician for more than twenty years, and has had numerous musical compositions published nationally and internationally. Together Janet and Mark work as studio producers, arrangers, and performers and have published a large body of work that includes a choral cantata for young people which won a Unity Award in 2000 for Best Children's Musical of the Year.

Synopsis:

Charming readers for over 100 years, this beloved tale rises to the musical theatre stage with a spellbinding score. The Cuthbert's expected to adopt a boy, so imagine their surprise when a talkative and clever young girl steps off the train instead. Witness Anne's transformation into a confident young woman as she works her way into the hearts of everyone she meets-despite a knack for getting into trouble. Be captivated by this endearing coming of age story, as it transforms into a moving musical for all ages.

Route 66

Book by Jerold Goldstein & William Squier

Lyrics by William Squier

Music by Fred Stark

Emmy Award-winning author William Squier (book and lyrics) won the 2007 NMTN Director's Choice Award among many other awards. His work was last seen at Village Theatre in the 2007 Festival with his musical 100 Years Into The Heart. Squier partnered with Jerold Goldstein (book) to write not only Route 66, but also Music Is My Fist and Babalu. Goldstein is an accomplished performer with appearances on Broadway in How To Succeed... (with Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker), as well as national tours of Little Shop of Horrors and A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum. Fred Stark (composer) made his musical theatre debut as the composer for Rhythm Ranch, which premiered at Paper Mill Playhouse before being seen at Circa 21 and the Festival of First Stage Musical (NYC). Fred has been heard as a vocalist on hundreds of national TV and radio jingles for Coca-Cola, McDonald's, and GE.

Synopsis:

This upbeat country musical is a toe-tapping, foot-stomping journey about love and the American spirit. Take a breathtaking ride on Route 66, the iconic highway that is the backbone of this unexpected love story. A struggling journalist is given an assignment no one else would take that paired her up with a free-spirited photographer. The turn events forces her to look at life from a new angle. Their assignment: Route 66. Come along as this duo learns that success is about the road taken, relationships developed, and the people you meet along the way.

Take Me America

Book and Lyrics by Bill Nabel

Music by Bob Christianson

Bill Nabel (book and lyrics) is a recipient of a 2009 State of Connecticut Playwright Fellowship Grant and a finalist for the American Academy of Arts and Letters 2009 Richard Rodgers Prize for Take Me America. Nabel is an alumnus of: Charlie Schulman of the Writers Voice; the Lehman Engel-BMI Musical Theater Workshop, Tufts University, and is a member of the Dramatists Guild and Abingdon Theatre New Playwrights. Composer Bob Christianson has composed for Sex and The City, ABC Sports (EMMY Nomination), "Late Show/David Letterman" and much more. He has recorded with Chaka Kahn, Aretha Franklin, and Diana Ross. His composition for Take Me America was a finalist for the American Academy of Arts and Letters Richard Rodgers Prize.

Synopsis:

When Gary took his first job out of college at Immigration and Naturalization Services, he had no idea how trying his new career would become. Take Me America is an honest, striking, and sometimes-comical new pop/rock musical set in the single workday of three immigration agents. As Gary and his co-workers weigh the fear and integrity of each individual seeking refuge in America, they are forced to face the complicated space between right and wrong. Join them as they take in the extraordinary (and often befuddled) stories of those seeking refuge in America and struggle with the power they have been granted over the fate of others.

The Man Who Would Be King

Book and Lyrics by DJ Salisbury

Music by Neil Berg

Based on the novella by Rudyard Kipling

DJ Salisbury (book/lyrics) is an Emmy-Award winning author and co-found of NYC's Musical Writers' Playground. He penned the book and lyrics to a number of new works including In Search of the Sparkle, Children on Their Birthdays (based on a Capote story), and more. Salisbury partnered with Neil Berg (music), composer of the hit Off-Broadway musical The Prince and the Pauper which ran for two years at the Lambs Theater in New York City. Berg is widely involved in the production of a number of up and coming shows including the composition of the new Broadway bound musical Grumpy Old Men, based on the Warner Brothers film. The Village Originals Festival reading of The Man Who Would Be King will be directed by Tony-Award winner Brian Yorkey.

Synopsis:

Featuring a soaring score, this tumultuous musical breathes vibrant life into Kipling's celebrated novella. Two con men in search of the ultimate jackpot embark on an exotic quest as they devise a plan to conquer a native culture in colonial India. Originally focused only on treasure, both men are surprised to find that this particular adventure has much more in store, and much more at stake, than they had ever dreamed. Blinded by greed, power, and love, the two adventurers struggle to regain focus as they realize that the past can never be undone, and their futures are dissolving before their eyes.

The Festival of New Musicals also offers attendees a first look at potential upcoming Village Theatre Mainstage shows. Past Festivals have included shows that go on to be seen on Village Theatre's Mainstage such as Stunt Girl, Million Dollar Quartet, Little Women, Girl of My Dreams, The Wedding Banquet, Once Upon a Time in New Jersey, as well as the upcoming 2009-2010 Season's Chasing Nicolette and The Gypsy King. Village Originals has supported shows such as the Tony-Award winning Broadway musical Next To Normal (formerly Feeling Electric), Million Dollar Quartet, and The Ark, all of which have gone on to regional productions after getting a great start within the Village Originals program.

For more information about the 9th Annual Festival of New Musicals, please contact Michelle Sanders, Public Relations Manager at (425) 392-1942 x124 or at msanders@villagetheatre.org.

About Village Originals

Village Theatre's nationally-recognized Village Originals program is dedicated to every aspect of new musical development: workshops, readings, and full productions. To date, over 80 new musicals have been developed, many of which have gone on to stages throughout the world, including Next To Normal (Tony-Award winner), Stunt Girl, Saint Heaven, Million Dollar Quartet, Once Upon A Time in New

Jersey, The Ark (opened off-Broadway November 2005), After the Fair, Play It By Heart, Making Tracks, The Wedding Banquet, and Eleanor. Village Theatre is highly respected on a national level for its significant contribution to the world of musical theatre-only a handful of theatre companies throughout the country commission and develop new musicals.

Based in Issaquah, WA, with operations in Everett, Village Theatre is a leading producer of musical theatre in the Pacific Northwest. Producing entertaining quality productions for the entire family since 1979, Village Theatre has grown into one of the region's best-attended Equity theatres, with over 18,000 Subscribers and 170,000 projected total attendance each season. Through its Village Originals program, Village Theatre is nationally recognized for its contribution to the development of new musicals, having launched over 80 new works to date. Village Theatre also takes pride in nurturing tomorrow's audiences through its youth education programs, Pied Piper and KIDSTAGE, serving over 54,000 young people, families, and schools annually.

 

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