News Archive
Previous posts from the home page:
12/10/13
Last night I was honored to co-moderate the first-year class of the BMI Musical Theater Workshop, of which I'm a longtime member.
11/25/13
Writing for The Water Coolers has reached a fever pitch, with projects in just the last two months for the BizBash Style Awards, NACD, IFMA, the Iowa State University Research Foundation (ISURF), Harland Clarke, USAA, and the CIC Hall of Leaders. Plus, a new song for the group's core material and a holiday song to be released shortly.
10/15/13
Two of my comedy sketches, "Actionable Intelligence" and "EndUser," were featured in The Arts Center of NC's No Shame Theatre. I've also recently finished a new draft of the EST/Sloan Foundation commissioned play A WIRE IN WATER. And I've been writing a ton of material for The Water Coolers and its sister production You! The Musical - dozens of songs for 11 clients since July. More to come!
7/8/13
The musical-in-progress THE NOTORIOUS MR. BELL is now a play-in-progress called A WIRE IN WATER. As always, further changes may occur!
7/1/13
The song "Angora" from THE PASSION OF ED WOOD (music by Rob Kendt) is one of this month's "Featured Five" in the Directory of Contemporary Musical Theatre Writers, under the appropriate heading "Wonderfully Absurd."
Also, in this month's issue of AMERICAN THEATRE, I have an article on the Gun Control Theatre Action Project, a mutli-pronged effort to sustain the post-Sandy Hook conversation via theatre.
5/6/13
Holy smokes! PARENT INTERVIEW swept the finals of the 19th Annual NYC 15-Minute Play Festival, winning Best Play, Best Actress (Christine Brooks Bokhour), Best Actor (Dan Hodapp), Best Director (Jim Santangeli), and Audience Favorite! Full results here. So proud of my amazing team!
4/25/13
PARENT INTERVIEW has advanced to the finals of the 19th Annual NYC 15-Minute Play Festival! A sold-out house voted us Best Play of our evening in the semi-final round. We'll perform again in the finals on Friday, May 3, 7 pm, and Saturday, May 4, 5 pm. Featuring the talents of Christine Brooks Bokhour (Broadway's CHICAGO, DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS), and Dan Hodapp and Langan Kingsley of the hilarious Upright Citizens Brigade sketch group Beige. Directed by Jim Santangeli.
On a completely different note, I recently wrote an article about a young man living with a lab-engineered bladder for ChemMatters (PDF). And more lyrics for the corporate musical comedy troupe The Water Coolers.
3/25/13
Another article in AMERICAN THEATRE (April 2013 issue). This one's about the continuation of The Liaisons Project, which has commissioned 36 adaptations of Stephen Sondheim compositions for solo piano. Many new pieces just debuted at Symphony Space in NYC; pianist Anthony de Mare will perform them on tour through at least summer 2014.
3/19/13
I'm both the subject and author of articles in the latest HAVERFORD alumni magazine. My recent reading of THE PASSION OF ED WOOD is featured in the "Mixed Media" column (PDF), and my profile of indie film innovator Emily Best, founder of Seed & Spark, starts on p. 41. (PDF)
Meanwhile, the Northwest Playwrights Alliance/Western Washington University "Theatre Ambassadors" tour, which includes my short play PARENT INTERVIEW and others, continues through England, with performances Wed. March 20 at the Banbury Mill and Sat. March 23 at Sophie's Barn in Chacombe. The tour culminates with a performance at the Abingdon Theatre in NYC on March 30.
2/18/13
Wrote this article on sniffing out signs of cancer for ChemMatters, the magazine for high school science students published by the American Chemical Society. (PDF)
2/1/13
Wrote this short feature in the latest AMERICAN THEATRE magazine on Michael Mitnick's ED, DOWNLOADED at the Denver Theatre Center. (PDF)
1/11/13
Great turnout and audience response at THE PASSION OF ED WOOD reading! Thanks to everyone who made it possible. We look forward to the next stage of development.
1/8/13
My short play PARENT INTERVIEW is a part of this year's Northwest Playwrights Alliance/Western Washington University annual short play tour of the Pacific Northwest, New York, and England. First performance is tonight at Seattle Rep. The tour continues into the spring.
1/2/13
Getting close to the reading of THE PASSION OF ED WOOD on Thursday, January 10 -- 6 pm at the Jerry Orbach Theatre in the Snapple Theater Center, 50th/Broadway. Check out the Playbill.com release, the Facebook event page, and the Musical Mondays Theatre Lab homepage for details!
11/28/12
A short podcast for AAAS Science Update that I wrote (about foxes and Lyme Disease) is today's Featured Show on the National Science Foundation's Science 360 Radio site.
11/27/12
Recent features added to Print/Radio/Web page: a preview of YOSHIMI BATTLES THE PINK ROBOTS at La Jolla Playhouse for AMERICAN THEATRE, a profile of Broadway producer Barbara Whitman for NYU, and a feature about the role of government in society for HAVERFORD.
10/9/12
This Thursday, October 11, two songs from THE PASSION OF ED WOOD will be featured in a FREE concert by Musical Mondays Theatre Lab. They'll be performed by Jed Resnick (AVENUE Q) and David Garry (COMPANY). It's a preview of the upcoming season of new musical readings, including PASSION OF ED on January 10. 6:30 pm, Jerry Orbach Theatre, Snapple Theatre Center, 50th & Broadway. No reservations.
9/5/12
My review of a new Larry Hart biography and Jerry Schoenfeld's autobiography is published in the September issue of American Theatre. For a pdf, see my Print/Radio/Web page.
8/1/12
My children's musical, CINDERELLA'S MICE (book & additional lyrics by me, music & lyrics by Ben Morss), has officially migrated to the Samuel French publication catalog. (It was originally published by Baker's, a Sam French subsidiary, which has now been absorbed completely by French.)
7/19/12
My 10-minute play GHOST LITE is a finalist for the Heideman Award in the National Ten-Minute Play Contest at the Actors Theatre of Louisville. This is the seventh play of mine to be named a finalist. Winner announced in January.
7/17/12
My profile of humanitarian superstar Charles Vincent '77 appears in the new HAVERFORD magazine (PDF).
5/25/12
Just taught a Young Playwrights monologue workshop for two sections of seniors at William Cullen Bryant High School in Astoria, Queens. This summer: musicalizing the second act of THE NOTORIOUS MR. BELL with Adam Gwon (EST/Sloan Commission), and further construction on ED & BELA with Rob Kendt.
2/13/12
Congrats to MASKED ZINFANDEL composer Peter Yarin, pianist for Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks, for their work on the Grammy-winning soundtrack to HBO's Boardwalk Empire!
1/5/12
First 2012 project: lyrics for another Water Coolers show.
12/5/11
Smashing read of THE MASKED ZINFANDEL to a full house at Greenwich House Music School on November 21, featuring Broadway's Stanley Bahorek, Raymond Bokhour, Mike McGowan, Lauren Molina, and Sarah Sokolovic, along with the awesome Emily Borromeo, Dewey Caddell, David Garry, Charlotte Graham, Caryn Hartglass, Lawrence Rush, and Doug Shapiro, directed by Hilary Adams and music-directed by Jody Schum. Now turning attention to some new recordings, and other shows in development.
11/10/11
Attention drama and wrestling fans: My profile of Pulitzer finalist Kristoffer Diaz (THE ELABORATE ENTRANCE OF CHAD DEITY) appears in the latest NYU magazine.
11/3/11
Opening night in Chicago for the Appetite Theatre's Bruschetta festival, including my short play GHOST LITE! The show runs Nov 3-19 at Live Bait, 3914 N Clark St in Wrigleyville. This is my second time in Bruschetta; the first was the premiere of PARENT INTERVIEW in 2007. It's also the second production of GHOST LITE, following North Carolina's 10x10 in the Triangle fest this summer.
11/2/11
Wrote this report on innovative depression-prevention research for the British magazine New Scientist.
10/21/11
On Monday, Nov. 21, 8 pm, Greenwich House Music School (46 Barrow Street, NYC) hosts a concert reading of THE MASKED ZINFANDEL, a musical comedy with book and lyrics by me, and music by Peter Yarin, directed by Hilary Adams. For more, check out the MZ show page!
9/14/11
New piece on the Big Jewel: From The Complete Sonnets of Sir Mix-A-Lot.
8/7/11
New article on remarkable civil rights veteran Norman Hill ('55) in the latest Haverford alumni magazine: (PDF)
8/3/11
You're looking at it: a brand-new website! Thanks to joshlevineDESIGNS for the site and programming, and Nice n' Easy Photo for the headshots. Have a look around. More to come in the next several months, including audio.
Recently on the writing front: The 10 by 10 in the Triangle Festival in North Carolina went swimmingly, with special nods to my play GHOST LITE from Triangle Arts and Entertainment ("The best short play of this year's 10 by 10 Festival... Wonderfully witty.") and the CVNC Arts Journal ("Most of the plays went for laughs, much to the delight of this packed house, with the winner of the evening being Ghost Lite.")
I also taught a playwriting workshop for LeadAmerica at Fordham University through Young Playwrights Inc.(got that?) The students, mainly high school juniors, came up with some great stuff in a short time.
