Summer Update #3

It’s summer again! And that means it’s time to continue my yearly tradition of posting what I’ve been up to. I’m writing this from Pasadena, CA, where my musical PLACEBO opened Thursday night at the Carrie Hamilton Theatre at the Pasadena Playhouse, a beautiful and historic theater. It’s been a thrill getting to revise the show under the direction of renowned musical theatre writer Ryan Scott Oliver, who directed this production, and also a reading of the show at Pace University (where he is a professor) in June. PLACEBO won the Pasadena Musical Theatre Program Development Award this year, and the show has been significantly revised and now features two brand new songs. I’m very proud of the cast out here and it’s a real treat to see the revised show on its feet.

But I should back up. This year, I moved to New York City and completed my first year in NYU’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, where I studied with writers such as William Finn, Michael John LaChiusa, Mel Marvin, Rachel Sheinkin, Kirsten Childs, Sybille Pearson, and more. I wrote dozens of new songs with many collaborators, four of which were selected by William Finn for a cabaret which he hosted in May. My 20-minute musical “Sagittarius” was given an equity reading in May, starring Alex Gemignani (Broadway: Les Misérables, Sweeney Todd, Assassins) as the title character.

It was an exciting first year in New York. In December, my song “If We Never” was selected for TheaterMania’s ‘Original Songs of 2011′ Playlist. In January, my song “Nothing More Annoying” was featured on the TV show “Dance Moms”. Another song was featured on the TV show “Last Call With Carson Daly” in February. In April, I composed the score for a short film musical entitled “Missed Connections”, which premiered at New York’s Sunshine Cinema in May. In June, two of my songs were selected for an upcoming feature film “Waiting in the Wings”, which is expected to be released in 2013. Finally, just this week, Vital Theatre Company Announced the World Premiere of “Fancy Nancy the Musical“, with book and lyrics by Susan DiLallo (Iron Curtain, Angelina Ballerina, Once Upon A Time In New Jersey) and music and lyrics by me. “Fancy Nancy” is a theatre-for-young-audiences musical based on a bestselling picture book series of the same name. It will open this coming September at Vital Theatre in New York City.

This summer, I’ve been keeping busy with an internship at Davenport Theatrical Enterprises (the office of Broadway producer Ken Davenport), as well as revising “Placebo”, writing “Fancy Nancy”, and beginning work on two new thesis musicals that I will be writing this year at NYU.

It’s been a busy but exciting year, and I’m looking forward to the year ahead! Have a great summer everyone!