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Category Archives: Musicabilia
Mainstreet Musicals touts FEEDSTORE QUARTET
“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
HEXEN in HOF TONIGHT
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
Posted in Live! On Stage, Musicabilia, Notes in the News
Tagged Covid, Ed Elder, Florian Lühnsdorf, Germany, Hexen, Hof, musical, pandemic, repertory, Skype, theater, Theater Hof, Witches
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A NIGHT AT THE MUSICABRE – the Art is Alive Magazine Article
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
Posted in Cinema Scope, Literary Lyricism, Musicabilia, Notes in the News, Poe Musicabres
Tagged actor, Art is Alive, composer, Edgar Allan Poe, Filmmaker, I Too Sing America, Langston Hughes, Latin, macabre, Magazine, Matrell Wood, musicabre, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Tell-Tale Heart, writer
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CINS CHAT CORNER INTERVIEW
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
Posted in Beginnings, Literary Lyricism, Musicabilia, Notes in the News, Poe Musicabres, The Speakeasy Chronicles
Tagged Award, beTwixt beTween & beTWAIN, Blog Talk Radio, china, Cindy Mich, Cins Chat Corner, Danny Ashkenasi, I Too Sing America, IMDb, interview, Judy Garland, Red Sorghum, short film, Speakeasy, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Tell-Tale Heart, Zhang Yimou
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HEXEN in HOF
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
Posted in Live! On Stage, Musicabilia, Notes in the News
Tagged Bavaria, Carolin Waltsgott, Covid 19, English, Finale, foyer, German, Germany, Hexen, Hof, Julia Leinweber, musical, New York City, nine lives, pandemic, Peter Lund, reincarnation, theater, theatre, translation, two women, Witches
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LANGSTON HUGHES, TOO, SINGS AMERICA
Who But The Lord – Words: Langston Hughes; Music: Danny Ashkenasi The above words were written by Langston Hughes in the 1950s. It angers me that they still speak so closely to the struggles we are witnessing today, even more … Continue reading
DROPPING NAMES
A Collection of Mini Memoir Memories You may have seen this going around on Facebook or Twitter: People listing names of celebrities they have met in their life times, but including one name that is a lie. Then people … Continue reading
Posted in Beginnings, Cinema Scope, Musicabilia, Notes in the News, The Teaching Artist
Tagged after school drama program, Al Gore, Andy Serkis, anecdote, celebrity, Celeste Holm, Christopher Walken, Elijah Wood, Frank Sinatra, Gollum, High Society, Isabella Rossellini, Jack Gilford, Jennifer Anniston, Jessica Hecht, Jude Law, Kathleen Turner, Lecy Goranson, Leonard Bernstein, Lord of the Rings, Marni Nixon, NYU, Paul Rudd, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Political Psychology, Sean Mathias, The Dead, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Viggo Mortensen, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Witches, Woyzeck
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The Staten Island September 11th Memorial
This year at this date, I would like to share photos I took earlier this summer at the Staten Island September 11th Memorial, just across the water from Manhattan’s financial district, and the new World Trade Center. The memorial … Continue reading
Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Musicabilia, Notes in the News
Tagged 9/11, concert, memorial, photography, September 11, Staten Island, The Song of Job 9:11
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MARK TWAIN NEVER GOT TO THE LOUVRE (but I did)
A trip to the magnificent Louvre museum with Mark Twain. Well actually Mark Twain himself never got there, but he wrote about not getting there in “The Innocents Abroad”, and that satirical anecdote about what happens to unwary, blustery Americans … Continue reading
WITCHES IN HOUSTON
UPDATE: Lone Star Lyric has postponed their production of “Witches” to June, 2019 However, my Nov 3 talk at the Round Top Theater Forum will include numerous performed excerpts -songs and scenes – from the musical. —— Looking for something … Continue reading
Posted in Musicabilia, Notes in the News
Tagged Alicia Chew, Danny Ashkenasi, Halloween, Houston, Jim Elliot, John Arnold, Keith Weber, Kelli Estes, Lone Star, Lyric, Peter Lund, Roundtop, Sonja Bruzauskas, Theater Forum, Witches
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In Which I Complete the 30 DAY SONG CHALLENGE
Fun on Twitter. Last month I took on the #30daysongchallenge. Here are the complete results, lightly annotated: No kidding. Kurt Weill’s haunting masterpiece. The subject of one of this blog’s most widely read pieces: Speak Low, Phoenix, Speak Low… … Continue reading
Posted in Beginnings, Melodies Linger On, Musicabilia
Tagged #30daysongchallenge, Beyoncé, Brazil, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Charlene, Cyndi Lauper, Dschinghis Khan, Ella Fitzgerald, Gangsta's Paradise, I'm So Excited, Ian McKellen, Kate Bush, Kurt Weill, Linda Ronstadt, Love and Anger, Miss Marple, Neil Young, NPR, Philadelphia, Scissor Sisters, She Bop, Speak Low, Tears for Fears, The Beatles, Tue Colors, Wind of Change, Witches, Yes Sir I Can Boogie
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CANNIBALISM IN THE CARS – a Musical Take on Mark Twain’s Succulent Satire of Congress
Congress … yuck! A distasteful subject! Quite literally even, according to Mark Twain. Every year Congress gives us more reasons to loathe it. This year perhaps more than ever. Thinking ill and making fun of Congress is a sport that … Continue reading
SONGS OF JOB’S DESPAIR – “I’m Alive” & “Divine Intervention”
“I’m Alive” and “Divine Intervention” are two songs that speak to humanity’s age-old despair, in the person of one man crying out against overwhelming unspeakable events outside of his fault and control. They were written for The Song of Job … Continue reading
Posted in Literary Lyricism, Musicabilia
Tagged 9/11, Book of Job, Divine Intervention, I'm Alive, Job, Old Testament, oratorio, song cycle, The Song of Job 9:11
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Jacqui Sutton and the Frontier Jazz Orchestra perform “Grass Dolls”
My friend and collaborator Jacqui Sutton has posted a video of her and the Frontier Jazz Orchestra performing “Grass Dolls”, a live performance that also functions as a video submission for NPR’s Tiny Desk concerts. “Grass Dolls” is the first … Continue reading
Holiday Repost: HAPPY HOLIDAYS – How this Carol Curmudgeon Ended Up Unwittingly Writing Three Seasonably Suited Carols Himself
(Originally posted last Christmas… Last Christmas … sniff… R.I.P. George Michael…) I plead guilty to being a bit of a Christmas Carol Grinch. OK, I used to be a BIG Christmas Carol Grinch, really loathing most carols and sometimes resorting … Continue reading
Posted in Beginnings, Musicabilia, Two-fisted Touristing
Tagged atheism, Baby Jesus, Beethoven, beTwixt beTween & beTWAIN, Caroling, Carols, Christianity, Christmas, Damascus, George Michael, Grinch, Holy Land, Innocents Abroad, Jerusalem, Last Christmas, Mark Twain, musical, Nazareth, Ode to Joy, Pilgrims, Sea of Galilee
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