Author Archives: dannyashkenasi

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About dannyashkenasi

I'm a composer with over 40 years experience creating music theater. I'm also an actor, writer, director, producer, teacher and general enthusiast for the arts.

Last Night at the Festival

Posted on May 23, 2015 by dannyashkenasi

We performed “Two Songs from Speakeasy” at the LES (Lower East Side) Festival at the Theater for the New City last night (The festival continues through Sunday at the TNC).  Big crowd, big ovation, it was fun and sweet and … Continue reading →

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FIRST GRADE OPERA #3: Mermaids and Blue Sharks and Red Sharks, Oh My!

Posted on May 19, 2015 by dannyashkenasi

“And when a mermaid bumps Into a blue shark They kiss” Class 1-3’s opera this year opens with a rather prettily moody song* (for first grade) about the Mermaid Castle and the Mermaids and Blue Sharks who cavort merrily within … Continue reading →

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SPEAKEASY songs to be performed this Friday at the LES Festival

Posted on May 16, 2015 by dannyashkenasi

Two songs from my musical “Speakeasy – the Adventures of John and Jane Allison” will be performed at the Lower East Side Festival at the Theater for the New City. Andrea Pinyan and Rachel Green will perform the songs “Wonderland” … Continue reading →

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Forbidden Movies, Forbidden Music

Posted on May 14, 2015 by dannyashkenasi

I walked out of the Film Forum mind abuzz and guts churning.   I was chewing on a whole lot of food for thought as well as the ice cream melt I bought to soothe my emotion roiled innards. I’d just … Continue reading →

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Five Reasons to be GLEE-ful!

Posted on May 11, 2015 by dannyashkenasi

Ed and I watched every episode of Glee.  We remained loyal throughout its wild upswings and downturns in popularity and storytelling.  Being of a generation that grew up with few television shows of a musical nature to turn to, and … Continue reading →

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THE SOUND OF MUSIC: Embracing the “Sugarcoated Lie”

Posted on May 6, 2015 by dannyashkenasi

Ed and I were in Berlin* a couple years ago visiting my folks when we stumbled upon a German movie from the 1950s being shown on TV.   We missed the first seconds of the credit sequence and so didn’t catch … Continue reading →

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More fun with FIRST GRADE OPERAS: the King, the Queen and the Wacky Witch

Posted on May 3, 2015 by dannyashkenasi

KING COFFERN (looking through his special magnifying glass): “I want to find a queen who is beautiful and kind.  Let’s see what Queens I can find with my magnifying glass.  All right let’s see … here’s a Queen … hmmm, … Continue reading →

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SPEAKEASY and the “breaking into song with music out of nowhere” musical trope

Posted on April 30, 2015 by dannyashkenasi

                            Alice goes through the Looking Glass JANE (puts the Drink Me bottle back onto the little table): How much hooch will I have to down before I get to the Wonderland? (singing) WHAT ARE THESE DRINKS THAT I’M DRINKING … Continue reading →

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How Cabaret circumvented the “characters breaking into song” musical trope

Posted on April 27, 2015 by dannyashkenasi

When people who say they hate musicals explain why they hate musicals they usually fall back on this well-worn reason: it is unrealistic that characters just break into song and dance; this doesn’t happen in “real life”.  I find this … Continue reading →

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FIRST GRADE OPERA #1: Astronaut Alice and the Moon Aliens

Posted on April 25, 2015 by dannyashkenasi

ALICE: I told Lollipop I would never ever forget him or leave him and now he is gone.  I  can’t find him. DIGGER: Alice, we will find him together, just like we found the moon rocks. Don’t give up, we … Continue reading →

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Des Broadways liebstes Kind – Broadway’s Dearest Child

Posted on April 22, 2015 by dannyashkenasi

I was introduced to American musicals through German television.  Although I saw much music theater on stage growing up in Germany, it was all opera productions my mother (the coloratura soprano Catherine Gayer) was performing in.  I performed musicals at … Continue reading →

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The Wonderland “Cha Cha” Oopsidaisy

Posted on April 20, 2015 by dannyashkenasi

The other day the director Lissa Moira and I were conducting one of our regular weekly meetings, reading through the Speakeasy libretto and discussing production and staging possibilities. We got to the song “Wonderland” as sung by the Tweedle Sisters … Continue reading →

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Mister Danny and His Most Sung Song

Posted on April 18, 2015 by dannyashkenasi

I am a teaching artist. Which means that I freelance as a visiting music and drama teacher to conduct arts education projects in the classroom for limited time periods, usually 8-12 weeks, in schools all across the New York metropolitan … Continue reading →

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The Walk in the Park that Conceived “Speakeasy”

Posted on April 16, 2015 by dannyashkenasi

I came up with the idea for “Speakeasy” while strolling in Prospect Park with Ed six or seven years ago. But I had the ideas that would lead to the idea for Speakeasy many years, even decades before that moment. … Continue reading →

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How this young chum came to the Cabaret

Posted on April 14, 2015 by dannyashkenasi

This Christmas one of my “stocking stuffers” from Ed was the gift that thrilled me the most this holiday season: a (battery operated) votive candle with an actual screen cell of Liza Minnelli singing the title song from the movie … Continue reading →

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THE SPEAKEASY INTRODUCTION – A fantastical musical of Prohibition era NYC Queer life.

Posted on April 12, 2015 by dannyashkenasi

The following is the official introduction/synopsis for Speakeasy. While you read it, you may want to listen to the Wonderland’s Master of Ceremonies Chet Cheshire sing the Speakeasy opening number: (If you are “greedy” and want to listen to more … Continue reading →

Posted in LGBTQ Alphabet Soup, The Speakeasy Chronicles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments