The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge at the Commonweal Theatre What do you do if you don't like cold weather and hate traveling when there are large crowds at the airport? Well if you're me you go to Minnesota over the Thanksgiving long weekend. But it was worth it as I was visiting friends at the Commonweal Theatre Company to see their production of The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge. Three years ago the good folks at the Commonweal Theatre invited me [...]
Baskin Robbins is offering $1.50 scoops on Halloween. What's not to love about $1.50 scoops of ice cream?
Playwright's Notes For Around the World in 80 Days Years ago I was asked to write playwright's notes for the playbill for the Colony Theatre's production of Around the World in 80 Days. I wrote my notes and gave them to my wife to read. She read about 3/4 of the way and thought "My husband has lost it. He's rambling. He's all over the place." And then she got to the last paragraph and said to me "I can't [...]
From Idea to Finished Song Anyone who knows me knows I'm not the best singer in the world. Nor am I the best guitar player in the world. I took guitar lessons from a guy with huge ears at a dinky music store when I was in 7th grade and I haven't gotten any better. Seriously. But what I can do, as my friend Paul Mirkovich says, is write a song. And right now I've written a bunch of songs for [...]
New Bern Civic Theatre Heading Around the World New Bern Civic Theatre in New Bern, NC is producing my play Around the World in 80 Days, Sept 8 -17. That makes two productions opening in the same week (Servant Stage is the other production). Pay no attention to the helicopter. It didn't exist in 1872, but would have made the trip a whole lot easier. New Bern, NC, along the mighty Neuse River is the birthplace of Pepsi-Cola. Seriously. I hear [...]
Servant Stage Company Going Around the World in 80 Days Servant Stage Company in Lancaster, PA will be producing my play Around the World in 80 Days, Sept 7 - 17. (I have another production opening the same week at New Bern Civic Theatre.) I've seen some pictures of the Servant Stage production and the costumes and set look gorgeous. Cast The production stars: Dan Deal, Andrew Zahn, Kristen Brewer, Jacob Daniel Cummings and Brian McCreary. Tickets All tickets are pay what you want! Let's hope [...]
Hedgerow Theatre Company Goes Around the World The Hedgerow Theatre Company in Rose Valley, PA is going Around the World in 80 Days. And according to the reviews they're doing a bang up job of it. "Director Damon Bonetti and his ensemble of five gifted comedic actors (portraying 39 characters) breathe great comedic life into Brown’s script, while still finding its heart." ~ DC Metro "It’s precisely the sort of thing you want to witness on a lazy summer night." ~ [...]
Tom Jones the Musical Demo Sessions A few weeks ago I went into recording studios in NYC and LA to record demo songs for my new musical Tom Jones the Musical. I've been writing behind the scenes posts about the songs and the singers. This is the second to last installment. The Whole World Has Evil The song "The Whole World Has Evil" is our introduction to the show's antagonist, the priggish Blifil. I suppose you'd be a prig, too, [...]
Tom Jones the Musical Demo Sessions Last week the other week I wrote about the amazing recording sessions we had in NYC for my new musical Tom Jones the Musical. This is the first post about the incredible LA recording session. The One I think "The One" is the second song I wrote for Tom Jones. (The first being "Harlot Jenny Jones"). It's the third song of the show, when we first meet our lovers - Tom Jones and Sophie Western. [...]
Tom Jones the Musical Demo Recordings I've been chronicling about the recent demo recording sessions I did in NYC for my new musical Tom Jones the Musical. I worked with fantastic singers and am really happy with the results. Say Goodbye to Tom Jones "Say Goodbye to Tom Jones" happens late in the second act. Both Squire Western and the priggish Blifil want to get Tom Jones out of the way so Blifil can marry Squire Western's daughter, Sophie. Blifil [...]
