Category Archives: Musicabilia

About my musicals that are not “Speakeasy” or a “Poe musicabre”

Seasons Greetings

Posted on December 7, 2025 by dannyashkenasi

We dressed our tree. Our windows have lights. Even our trellis is dressed. I prefer to call it a Solstice Tree. And since this is a very Queer home, our tree angel is a vintage Billy doll. He’s very anatomically … Continue reading →

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Beyond / Jenseits – The Grand Finale

Posted on June 5, 2024 by dannyashkenasi

We have come to the final episode of the Beyond / Jenseits blog posts, at least as far as recounting the little night opera’s libretto and music in German and English. (Catch up with all of the opera and the … Continue reading →

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BEYOND / JENSEITS – Torn Between Two Lovers

Posted on May 9, 2024 by dannyashkenasi

Welcome back to the next episode of our little night opera, Beyond (catch up on previous installments here). This is the section where our favorite opera diva’s dilemmas with the men in her cosmic life-in-review come to a head. I … Continue reading →

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BEYOND / JENSEITS – Turning the Tables on the Therapist

Posted on April 24, 2024 by dannyashkenasi

Section XVI of the little night opera I composed for my mother Catherine Gayer with librettist and family friend Helga Krauss (catch up with all previous episodes via the opera’s homepage) takes the Woman back into therapy analyzing dreams. When … Continue reading →

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BEYOND / JENSEITS – Just Some Bimbo from the Ballet

Posted on April 15, 2024 by dannyashkenasi

In this installment of Beyond – a little night opera, the Woman walks in on her lover, the Conductor, in flagrante delicto with another woman. (Catch up on all installments of Beyond/Jenseits on its home page.) The Conductor rather slimily … Continue reading →

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BEYOND / JENSEITS – On the Therapist’s Couch

Posted on April 5, 2024 by dannyashkenasi

At the beginning of Section XII of the little night opera “Beyond” AKA “Jenseits”, written for my mother Catherine Gayer (catch up on previous installments via the opera’s main page), the 1st Angel takes on the persona of the 4th … Continue reading →

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BEYOND / JENSEITS – The Husband and the Lover

Posted on March 29, 2024 by dannyashkenasi

Husband and lover. In the Woman’s memory, they are not the same man. At the close of the previous section of Beyond (Jenseits), the “little night opera” I composed for my mother, the lullaby for her Son transitions to an … Continue reading →

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BEYOND / JENSEITS – A Lullaby

Posted on March 20, 2024 by dannyashkenasi

In this fourth installment of the opera I wrote for my mother (you can find links to the first three installments on the JENSEITS / BEYOND home page), we are introduced to a new theme, a lullaby. We have just … Continue reading →

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BEYOND / JENSEITS – An Encounter with the Conductor

Posted on March 14, 2024 by dannyashkenasi

Above is a picture of myself, my mother Catherine Gayer and family friend Helga Krauss after the New York stage premiere of Beyond, the little night opera Helga and I wrote for my mother. This is Part 3 of sharing … Continue reading →

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BEYOND / JENSEITS – A Life in Review

Posted on March 6, 2024 by dannyashkenasi

Welcome to the second post about the little night opera “Jenseits” AKA “Beyond” I composed for my mother, Catherine Gayer. Helga Krauss wrote the libretto, which I translated into English. Read and listen to the first post here, and follow … Continue reading →

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BEYOND / JENSEITS – an Opera for my Mother

Posted on February 29, 2024 by dannyashkenasi

Twenty years ago family friend and screenwriter Helga Krauss and I created a one-act opera for my mother, Catherine Gayer (AKA Catherine Ashkenasi, her maiden name being her stage name). Helga wrote the libretto and I composed the music. It … Continue reading →

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Mainstreet Musicals touts FEEDSTORE QUARTET

Posted on December 4, 2021 by dannyashkenasi

“Feedstore Quartet”, a musical created by Jack Hilton Cunningham and myself, has been selected by Mainstreet Musicals, a non-profit that “promotes development opportunities for new musicals throughout regional America”, as a Director’s Choice Award Winner. Jack and I met at … Continue reading →

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HEXEN in HOF TONIGHT

Posted on October 21, 2021 by dannyashkenasi

A Bewitching Production Born out of a Pandemic My musical “Hexen” (“Witches”) is back on the boards, or rather the foyer, in Theater Hof in Germany. Originally premiered in the fall of 2020, it is back in repertory this season, … Continue reading →

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A NIGHT AT THE MUSICABRE – the Art is Alive Magazine Article

Posted on March 4, 2021 by dannyashkenasi

Art is Alive Magazine’s Matrell Wood interviewed me a few weeks back and the article has just been published. It touches upon “The Tell-Tale Heart – a musicabre“, its companion piece-in-the-works “The Pit and the Pendulum – a musicabre” as … Continue reading →

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CINS CHAT CORNER INTERVIEW

Posted on November 15, 2020 by dannyashkenasi

Friday, November 13th, I recorded an interview with Cindy Mich from Art is Alive, which she has now posted on her Blog Talk Radio webpage and YouTube (see below). We talked for nearly 90 minutes about my short film musical … Continue reading →

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HEXEN in HOF

Posted on October 2, 2020 by dannyashkenasi

A New “Witches” Production Premieres Tonight in Bavaria The new production of “Hexen” (“Witches“), the two women musical I created with Peter Lund, that is premiering tonight in Theater Hof, in northern Bavaria, Germany, has at least two strong claims … Continue reading →

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