Next up…

Posted on September 28, 2016 by admin

The rock opera “Memory,” which I wrote with composer Andrew Seligman, is going to be given a concert presentation at the prestigious DiMenna Center for Classical Music in New York City.

dimenna-center

I’m very excited to see this wonderful, elegant show see the light of day, as part of what will be a very long journey.

I’m also very happy and proud to announce the cast:

Claudillea Holloway (“She”)
Christopher Sokolowski (“He”)
William Guango Su (“Figure”)

Above all, I am thrilled that Metamorphosis Chamber Orchestra will be bringing the music alive for the show! Metamorphosis is a respected Manhattan institution (the recording orchestra for GPR Records) whose main focus “is orchestral repertoire for chamber ensemble, ranging from early classical to 20th century music.” They serve to “unearth narratives of composers’ lives through innovative programming and story-telling” and also seek to “bring a fresh glance into the realm of classical performance.”

“Memory” show will be performed on October 21 at 8pm.

You can reserve your spot for the show here!

Thanks, Exit Theatre

Posted on September 1, 2016 by admin

I learned today that my historical farce “Philosophus” is one of three plays to be considered for the next theatrical production of Exit Theatre Company in London… what a great honor!

Exit Theatre Company is a wonderful local theater group in the UK which (rather uniquely) focuses on developing the work of emerging writers, which is a truly special (and needed) thing.

exit-theatre-company

A representative of the theater reported that he “thoroughly enjoyed” my play and called it “incredibly witty and well-crafted,” to which I say… “thank you!” I’m very proud of “Philosophus” and look forward to seeing it grace some lucky stage in the near future!

Many thanks to Exit Theatre for their consideration!

Looking good!

Posted on August 26, 2016 by admin

Memory Title JPG

(…courtesy of the talented Maxim Monchenko!)

“Kickstart” our show!

Posted on July 20, 2016 by admin

Recently, I completed a rock opera with the composer Andrew Seligson, due to be recorded at Premier Studios in NYC in September!

We’re at the point where we are looking for help funding the project so we can get a wonderful cast recording out of it!

Check us out here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/747007386/help-us-create-nycs-upcoming-fantasy-musical-memor

You will find

bios of the people involved
musical samples from the show
a nice DONATE button

Thanks for all your support! Spread the word!

Once upon a dream…

Posted on July 12, 2016 by admin

IN A DREAM, I’LL FIND YOU.
COME, LEAVE THE WORLD
A WORLD BEHIND YOU
WHERE
I’M THERE
LIKE A PRAYER
WAITING FOR YOU…

Enter into a new world of dreams coming true.

I have completed a wonderful, one-act rock opera with the very talented composer, Andrew Seligson. It is the story of a man and a woman who mysteriously meet in a blissful, serene dream and then, later, come face-to-face in the flesh underneath a majestic tree – a meeting which turns into several meetings, at different intervals of time. While the woman remembers the dream and the utopian peace it bestowed on her life, the man remains in ignorance, eventually causing a rupture between the two, the healing of which ultimately leads the man to a relationship of greater peace with the world and with his own place in it.

Ultimately, “Memory” is a thoughtful, touching, intimate tale about the emotional and spiritual journey of two souls looking for peace in their respective lives. I wrote the libretto and Andrew wrote the music and we are looking forward to having a cast recording sometime this Fall.

You can find out more about the piece here!

“Fifteen Men” a finalist

Posted on June 13, 2016 by admin

I’m very proud to announce that my play “Fifteen Men in A Smoke-Filled Room” was a finalist in the HRC Theatre New Playwriting Competition.

HRC Theatre Showcase is the “premier theater company of the Hudson River Valley.” It is based in Hudson, New York and was founded in 1991 by a group of dedicated theater artists (although the current name came later). The organization has always centered its mission around “the development of new plays and the presentation of classics.” Its new play contest was premiered in 1993 and currently garners upwards of 160 entries per year.

I am very, very honored to have “Fifteen Men” honored as a finalist in this year’s contest. My work was one of 14 plays (out of 130 submissions this year) to be so honored.

I have been invited to re-submit the work next year and will revise the play in preparation for that. It remains one of my personally best-loved and most sentimental plays.

“The Beggar of Bethesda”

Posted on June 3, 2016 by admin

“Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. 4 For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had…”

I am proud to announce I have finished a new play – entitled “The Beggar of Bethesda.” The play is a retelling of the story in the Bible when Jesus healed a lame man at the pool of Bethesda (John 5: 1-15). This Biblical story is one of the more interesting ones to me, both because it is told with the informative ambiguity that makes the Bible so fascinating and also because it embraces very forcefully the Christian concept of man’s relationship with God.

In my play, the story of the same man – the beggar of Bethesda – is re-told with a different lens, detailing the experience of the beggar before and after the miracle that made him walk. The beggar is not only lame, but cynical and spends his days conning passersby out of money in the great Temple of Jerusalem – until, that is, he meets this strange man who bids him to rise and walk. The news, however, is not as welcome as expected – not to the temple authorities, not even to the man himself – and so he is banished from the city and forced to wander aimlessly. Then, suddenly, a second chance at living comes the beggar’s way – perhaps the only chance he will ever have – but is he faithful enough to take it?

You can find more information about the play here!

“Philosophus” honored again

Posted on May 5, 2016 by admin

Today I learned that my new farce “Philosophus” has achieved semi-finalist status in The Summer Playwrights Festival sponsored by The Road Theatre Company of North Hollywood, California.

The Road Theatre Company is devoted to

supporting world, American, and West Coast premieres of theatrical works which introduce socially and/or politically relevant new voices and new thoughts to the American stage.
introducing younger audiences to the world of theatre through our mainstage productions, workshops, and free weekly reading series
promoting theatrical outreach programs to seniors and at risk groups
furthering their resident company as a leader and champion of new works in Los Angeles and the nation.

From their website:

“The Road Theatre’s annual Summer Playwrights Festival (SPF7) is a fundraising event in late July that mounts 40 staged readings of new plays in 8 exciting days. The festival is growing larger every year with playwrights from around the country and around the world participating… Readings are held in both our Historic Lankershim Arts Center Theater and Gallery and in our new 77-seat theater in the NoHo Senior Arts Colony. Although we receive hundreds of submissions for our festival, new and established playwrights are encouraged to submit.”

…and, of the hundreds, “Philosophus” is among the finalist pack! Thanks so much to Road Theatre Company!