A Mostly Monthly E-Newsletter by and about GrooveLily
Valerie Vigoda: vocals/violin
Brendan Milburn: keys/vocals
Gene Lewin: drums/vocals
G r o o v e L i l y E – N e w s # 5 3
Writing, writing, writing, making sheet music, making demos, making plans, making coffee, fending off frostbite, teaching Mose about “please” and “thankyou” (his latest statement on the subject being “hitting is good, please!”) … teaching Elias about the difference between snare drum and tom toms, and not to drum directly on Da-da’s shins (his latest statement on the subject being “bwahbwah!”) … working on the new GL website, and sending you all February love from frozen Brooklyn.
1. Larson Award, Again!
2. “Long Story Short” World Premiere Announced: Pittsburgh & Palo Alto 2008
3. “Long Story Short” Workshop Feb 29, City Theatre Of Pittsburgh
4. What’s Gene Up To? Laurie Krauz, Broadway Boys, Audra McDonald Gigs
5. Photo From First High School Production Of “Striking 12″ (Tampa, FL)
6. “Sleeping Beauty Wakes”: Working On The Show/Concert Version Underway
7. “Toy Story: The Musical” Disney Cruise Info, In Case You’d Like To Join Us
8. Since You Asked: Mark Wood’s New Electric Violin Starter Kit
9. Upcoming Gigs: Coming Soon. Keep Resting.
1. Larson Award, Again!
Val and Brendan had the great honor of accepting a *second* Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation award this week (the first was 2 years ago). City Theatre of Pittsburgh will utilize the grant specifically for the development of our new 2-person musical “Long Story Short” (adapted from the David Schulner play “An Infinite Ache”). The awards luncheon was at the “21″ Club in NYC on February 14, where we hobnobbed in our dressy clothes and got to hear amazing performances by the likes of Neil Patrick Harris, Anthony Rapp and Mary Testa. The whole Larson family was there, and we were incredibly happy to be part of this warm, supportive, wonderful group once again.
From the Larson website: Jonathan Larson’s dream was to infuse musical theatre with a contemporary, joyful urban vitality. After 12 years of struggle as a classic “starving artist,” his dream came true with the phenomenal success of RENT. To celebrate his creative spirit and honor his memory, Jonathan’s family and friends created the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation. The mission of the Foundation is to provide financial support and encouragement to a new generation of musical theatre composers, lyricists and bookwriters.
2. “Long Story Short” World Premiere Announced: Pittsburgh & Palo Alto 2008
It’s officially happening this year! Val and Brendan are hard at work on the musical adaptation of “An Infinite Ache,” a 2-person musical now officially titled “Long Story Short.” Originally commissioned by City Theatre of Pittsburgh, the world premiere of the show will be presented by both City Theatre of Pittsburgh and TheatreWorks Palo Alto. Tracy Brigden, Artistic Director of City Theatre, will direct.
(Val and Brendan will NOT be performing the show. They will be gleefully spectating and taking notes.)
Pittsburgh: October 23 – November 15, 2008
Palo Alto: December 3 – December 28, 2008
“Long Story Short,” based on a David Schulner play about a “roller-coaster romance, examines the life-cycle of a relationship from first date through old age. It retraces a brief encounter between two 20-somethings which develops into a love affair that lasts a lifetime.”
Full stories here:
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/114882.html
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/living/events/s_550760.html
http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_8172187
3. “Long Story Short” Workshop Feb 29, City Theatre Of Pittsburgh
If you are in or near Pittsburgh this month and would like to check out a sneak preview of “Long Story Short,” we’d love for you to join us.
This is a workshop (informal reading, with scripts in hand and a pianist) of our first draft of the show – so who knows what may change between now and opening night. We are thrilled to be working with wonderful actors Deborah Craig (original Marcy Park in “Spelling Bee” on Broadway) and Wayne Wilcox (star of “Coram Boy” on Broadway).
Friday, February 29, 2008
Hamburg Theatre, City Theatre of Pittsburgh
7:00 PM, FREE but *extremely* limited tickets
Reservations required: (412) 431-CITY [2489]
4. What’s Gene Up To? Laurie Krauz, Broadway Boys, Audra McDonald Gigs
While “Long Story Short” and “Toy Story” are going up, Gene is playing lots of great music. He writes:
I’m rehearsing with singer Laurie Krauz, musical director Daryl Kojak, and bassist Sean Conly in preparation for Laurie’s new CD “Tapestry Rewoven,” a re-imagining of Carole King’s classic recording. Laurie is a good friend, great singer, and incredibly dedicated artist…this record is going to be really cool. For more info, check out:
www.lauriekrauz.com
I’m also playing with “The Broadway Boys” (a fantastic vocal group led by the fabulous Jesse Nager, our friend and co-conspirator on “A Little Midsummer Night’s Music” – you may remember his glorious singing on “All Shall Be Well”). The Broadway Boys play Birdland on March 9th. Come check it out if you’re in NYC!
www.myspace.com/thebroadwayboys
And I’m going out on the road again with the wonderful Audra McDonald:
Friday, March 28th at the Lucas Theatre for the Arts in Savannah, GA
Sunday, March 30th at the Ferst Center for the Arts in Atlanta, GA
5. Photo From First High School Production Of “Striking 12″ (Tampa, FL)
The largest cast to do “Striking 12″ so far is Wharton High School in Tampa, Florida. The Wharton Thespians performed the adapted version of the show this past December…and we were delighted to see this fun photo from their production. Go Wharton!
http://pics.tampabay.com/?method=view.image¶m=27458¶m=188
6. “Sleeping Beauty Wakes”: Working On The Show/Concert Version Underway
Thank you for all your inquiries about what’s next for “Sleeping Beauty Wakes,” and for your many messages asking about recordings of the songs! Rest assured, we have very high hopes for the future of the show, and will keep you posted along the way.
What’s happening right now:
1) Brendan, Rachel and Val have completed a second draft, and there will be an informal reading of this version in a rehearsal room at McCarter Theatre in Princeton, NJ on March 8, as part of their IN-Festival. (Unfortunately the room is too small to invite you to join us — our apologies!)
2) Gene, Brendan and Val are putting together a concert version of SBW for GrooveLily to perform.* The first one has already been booked, by the Portsmouth Music Hall in Portsmouth, NH for April 2009. We plan to record the album of songs in preparation for these concerts…stay tuned.
*This concert version is entirely separate from any future full productions of the show, which will include American Sign Language and a much larger cast.
7. “Toy Story: The Musical” Disney Cruise Info, In Case You’d Like To Join Us
Val, Brendan and two-year-old son Mose will be cruising to the Bahamas from March 16-20, to help oversee the first public performances of “Toy Story: The Musical” on the cruise ship Disney Wonder. The whole creative team will be there…and we can’t wait to see the full production in action, with the giant puppets and amazing set design on the beautiful Broadway-sized (and watertight) stage!
8. Since You Asked: Mark Wood’s New Electric Violin Starter Kit
Val is frequently peppered with questions about her Viper violins and violin playing, everything from what the electric instruments feel like to play, how they’re tuned and how heavy they are, to how much they cost and where to get them, to how a person can learn to play non-classical styles…
She would like you all to know that for the first time, Mark Wood (inventor of the Viper) is introducing an extremely affordable electric violin starter kit. Val thinks this is BRILLIANT: it contains everything you need to get going on the electric violin, including your instrument, an amp, a wah-wah pedal, an instruction book, and all the cables you’ll need to plug in and play. Check it out, and enjoy!
http://www.woodviolins.com/html/home.html
9. Upcoming Gigs: Coming Soon. Keep Resting.
We’ll be in touch again next month…
love,
GrooveLily
email: us@groovelily.com
web site: www.groovelily.com