Songs from MY HEART IS THE DRUM will be featured at this year's 46th MINUTE Concert at the NAMT Festival! We'll be presenting shortened versions of "A World Beyond Kafrona," sung by Brittney Johnson (Sunset Boulevard, Motown, Beautiful, Les Mis) and "Your Heart Is the Drum," sung by Danielle Greaves (Sunset Boulevard, Hairspray, Rent).
Read MoreWell, THAT was fun. Just spent a fabulous week at the Rhinebeck Writers Retreat with Phillip Palmer, working on Saving Amelia (working title). Wrote two songs, dug deeper into the story.
Another highlight: taking a ride in this bi-plane, which has been around since 1929…
Read MoreSo...what do you do when you have a play that gets you super jazzed...that has had several staged readings and a few honors, but no full production...a play that you've always felt somehow ought to go deeper, but feels a little bit stuck?
You turn it into a musical.
Yes, the play formerly known as JINXED, about Jackie Cochran and Amelia Earhart, is being reimagined as a musical, with the working title SAVING AMELIA. Music by Phillip Palmer and book and lyrics written by me….
Read MoreHonored to share this BMI award with DRUM composer Phillip Palmer. Standing to Phillip's right is Sheldon Harnick, who wrote the lyrics to FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. My favorite moment of a lovely luncheon was when Mr. Harnick pretended to steal my prize money.
Read MoreOur world premiere, and a wonderful 10-week run, March through May.
Read MoreThe sitzprobe (seated orchestra rehearsal) sounded great last night. So proud of the cast and orchestra. Ten-day countdown to opening!
Read MoreTwo weeks until opening night.
Read MoreOne morning last December, as I was rewriting a lyric, I received a call from a man named Elliot Brown who told me he was from the Kleban Foundation. ("Omigod, I'm a finalist. Do not get overexcited. A finalist is great, it's great. I am a finalist, a finalist, a finalist.") And then, after affirming he had reached me, he said, "Hold on while I get Richard Maltby on the phone." ("Omigod...I am NOT just a finalist....") Flash forward to February 8, 2016….
Read MoreThe lyricist, librettist and playwright Stacey Luftig and the writer and director Daniel Goldstein are the recipients of the 2016 Kleban Prize for promising musical-theater writers, the sponsors of the prize announced this week. The awards each come with $100,000.
Read MoreOn November 30, Phillip Palmer and I received the 2015 Fred Ebb Award for excellence in musical theater writing. An incredible honor. Not the least of which because an idol of mine, Sheldon Harnick, was one of the judges. The materials we submitted (Phillip, music; me, lyrics) were four songs from MY HEART IS THE DRUM….
Read MoreOur first staged reading of MY HEART IS THE DRUM–the entire show–will take place at the Village Theatre at 7:30 p.m. on August 9, 2014. Our cast and music director are wonderful, and of course, we love our director, Schele Williams, who also directed for us at NAMT. And Issaquah, Washington, where the Village Theatre Festival is held, is a beautiful and friendly city. Phil, Jennie, and I are jet lagged but happy.
Read MoreWhat a wonderful week! Seven days in snowy East Haddam, Connecticut to work with Phillip Palmer and Jennie Redling on My Heart Is the Drum--in cozy house of our own. Loved the time to share work and shmooze with such talented writers and with gifted dramaturg Lee Johnson. Thank you Donna Lynn Hilton, Bob Alwine, and Jonathan Brielle for the opportunity!
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