February Blog

Friends... I'll be updating my blog daily throughout February to reflect the exciting progress of my three musicals.  '40 is the New 15' at the Disney/ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop in Los Angeles, 'Now and Then a Hero' in a reading at the Secret Rose Theatre in North Hollywood, and 'All That He Was' in a student production at Tisch School of the Arts.

Award-Winning Musical “All That He Was” to Be Presented at Tisch School of the Arts

As a fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, the Tisch School of the Arts will be presenting the award-winning musical All That He Was, with music by Cindy O'Connor and book/lyrics by Larry Todd Johnson. 

Every year, Tisch School of the Arts and New York University select a season of student-run shows from a refined pool of proposals. All That He Was will be part of this season of shows.  All That He Was is a musical play about a young gay man’s experiences during the 1980s and his death from the AIDS virus.  It takes place at his funeral where individuals from his life are all present to pay their respects to him.  These people all stand beside their individual opinions of the man, and end up ignoring each other and avoiding the truth of what happened to him. The ghost of the Man attempts to make them connect with one another, on the basis that they all loved him, and share that love with one another as well.

All That He Was won the Kennedy Center/ACTF National Playwriting Award and the Musical Theatre Award as well.  It represented the United States at the Festival of the Human Voice in Barcelona, and had a successful, award-winning run at the Tamarind Theatre in Los Angeles. 

Performances will take place at 8pm on February 24, 25, 26 and 27.  (There will be 2 performances on Saturday 2/27, 2pm and 8pm) at the Shop Theatre on the NYU campus.  The theatre is in the Tisch building of NYU.  It is located at 721 Broadway, 2nd Floor, New York, NY  10003.   Tickets are general admission, in person, with a suggested donation of $5.00.   

All That He Was is published through Samuel French Publishers, Inc., and the script and rights are available here:

http://www.samuelfrench.com/store/product_info.php/products_id/2661

Here is a caption about the show from Samuel French:  "This winner of the National Playwright's Award and the ACTF Musical Theatre Award is a moving and surprisingly funny account of one man's struggle with AIDS. The deceased functions as host and narrator, invisible among the friends and family assembled to pay him final respects. Hoping for a day when the shattered pieces can come together, he leads them on a journey of shared reminiscences."

 

Songs from All That He Was are available on ITunes at:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/all-that-he-was-original-cast-recording/id129204906

"40 is the New 15" Receives a GLAAD Media Award Nomination

"40 is the New 15" received a GLAAD Media Award Nomination for Outstanding Los Angeles Theatre.  Nominations for the awards were announced today.

The GLAAD Media Awards recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and the issues that affect their lives.

http://www.glaad.org/mediaawards/21/nominees

“Now and Then a Hero” Set to Kick off Dark Night Series at the Secret Rose

“Now and Then a Hero”, a new musical with music by Jake Anthony and book/lyrics by Larry Todd Johnson, will appear in a developmental reading at the Secret Rose Theatre in North Hollywood on February 10, 2010, at 8:30pm. 

“Now and Then a Hero” is a powerful and uplifting series of musical playlets which explore a cross-section of real-life Americans from the 20th century, contrasting them with a cross-section of modern Americans.  It shines a light on everyday, un-sung heroes; aware that stories of simple heroism must continue to live on as an example for our children and their children.

The Dark Night Series at the Secret Rose is sponsored by the Academy for New Musical Theatre in North Hollywood, a community of professional writers, producers, composers and actors working together to create musicals for tomorrow’s audiences.  They foster the highest quality of musical theatre writing, and strive to advance the state of new musical production.

The Secret Rose is located at 11246 Magnolia Blvd., in North Hollywood.  $10 tickets will be available at the door on the evening of the performance.  Advance tickets will be available closer to the performance date.  For advance ticket information, check in at www.anmt.org.

“40 is the New 15” selected for Disney/ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop

“40 is the New 15” selected for Disney/ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop

“40 is the New 15”, a new musical with music by Cindy O’Connor and book/lyrics by Larry Todd Johnson, has been selected from over 300 entrants to be featured at the upcoming ASCAP Foundation Disney Musical Theatre Workshop in Los Angeles.  Selections from “40 is the New 15” will be featured on February 2^nd and February 18^th, 2010, at 7:00pm, at the Disney Feature Animation Studio Lot in Burbank, CA.

“40 is the New 15” recently completed a successful developmental run at the Secret Rose theatre in North Hollywood, produced by the Academy for New Musical Theatre.  The production enjoyed sold-out houses throughout its run.  There were raves about the "tuneful, clever songs, (and) engrossing storyline,” and critics called it "a diamond in the rough," "sweetly entertaining," and “something to sing about." 

Directed by Academy Award-winning composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Prince of Egypt, Godspell, Pippin, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame), the ASCAP Foundation Disney Musical Theatre Workshop is part of an ongoing series of workshops sponsored by The ASCAP Foundation to nurture new American musicals.