G r o o v e L i l y E – N e w s # 5 7
June 2008
A Mostly Monthly E-Newsletter by and about GrooveLily
Valerie Vigoda: vocals/violin
Brendan Milburn: keys/vocals
Gene Lewin: drums/vocals
A contest where everybody (and nobody) won…a little new FREE music to hear right this minute…a workshop in Pittsburgh…premiere of our newest ballad…and all our love. Enjoy!
- Playbill Article/Photos About Battle Of The Broadway Bands: No Contest
- Hear “Fragile As Love” From LONG STORY SHORT (Free) Right Now!
- LONG STORY SHORT Workshop @ Momentum Festival In Pittsburgh June 12-15
- Michael Winther To Sing “Still Love” From LSS @ Metropolitan Room June 18
- Upcoming Shows: Full List
1. Playbill Article/Photos About Battle Of The Broadway Bands: No Contest
It was a fun but slightly bizarre evening. The number of opening acts kept increasing (apparently people wanted to participate but NOT to compete!), so that by midnight the “contest” had not yet begun, though four bands had already played.
The organizers of the show made a quiet decision to nix the voting altogether, sometime around 2 in the morning…so after the final band played (the terrific ALBINOKID – led by actor Anthony Rapp, original star of RENT), the emcee (Dan Reichard from JERSEY BOYS) simply said “Thank you very much and goodnight!” – leaving us all slightly confused…however, in some way we felt like we had all won.
Matt Blank wrote an article for Playbill about the event (see below), and it features some fun photos by our friend Neale Eckstein, including one of Petal Pushers Pete and Bev.
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/118029.html
2. Hear “Fragile As Love” From LONG STORY SHORT (Free) Right Now!
Here’s a little taste of Val and Brendan’s new 2-person musical LONG STORY SHORT: it’s the first song we wrote for the show, and it’s available for listening (FREE) right now.
http://citytheatrecompany.org/momentum.html
3. LONG STORY SHORT Workshop @ Momentum Festival In Pittsburgh June 12-15
Brendan and Val have been hard at work on the second draft of the show, which will be unveiled next week at City Theatre of Pittsburgh’s annual Momentum Festival. In preparation for its fall 2008 world premiere, City Theatre is hosting 2 public readings of LONG STORY SHORT at the festival, featuring actors Pearl Sun and Benj Pasek. If you’re in the area, please join us!
Momentum weekend includes readings of four new works in various stages of development. The other three are: SPEAK AMERICAN, written and directed by Eric Simonson; HIM, written by Daisy Foote and directed by Stuart Carden; and WHEN JANUARY FEELS LIKE SUMMER, written by Cori Thomas and directed by Billy Porter.
Readings: $5
Momentum Pass (to get into all readings): $10
LONG STORY SHORT Readings:
Thursday, June 12 @ 7:30 PM and Saturday, June 14 @ 8:00 PM
Mainstage
City Theatre of Pittsburgh
1300 Bingham Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15203
412.431.CITY
We’ll also be participating in a writers’ panel, and leading a songwriting workshop. For more info on the festival, as well as the full schedule, go here:
http://citytheatrecompany.org/momentum.html
From Associate Artistic Director Stuart Carden’s blog:
The big weekend of readings takes place June 12-15 and is scheduled in a way that allows playwrights to hear one another’s work and promotes a dialogue between these artists. We’ll hold playwright and industry panel discussions, and a musical theatre writing workshop aimed at providing working writers, as well as audience members a window into the type of new play development we do at City. And since everyone loves a party (especially the lushes at City Theatre) we’ll throw one almost every night of the festival, celebrating the work of these excellent playwrights and the twenty five actors and directors participating in Momentum 2008.
http://stuartcarden.blogspot.com/2008/04/momentum-festival-2008-refreshing-plays.html
4. Michael Winther To Sing “Still Love” From LSS @ Metropolitan Room June 18
We adore Michael Winther, whom we’ve admired ever since he acted in Brendan’s grad-school reading in 1995. He’s including a brand-new song from LONG STORY SHORT (a ballad called “Still Love”) in his upcoming concert at the Metropolitan Room, which will be reviewed by the NY Times on Wednesday, June 18. Val and Brendan will be there cheering him on…so come join us if you’re in town! Details and description below.
“New Love Songs”
Michael Winther with Kimberly Grigsby
Wednesday, June 18
7:30 PM
The Metropolitan Room
34 West 22nd Street Between 5th & 6th Aves
New York, NY 10010
212.206.0440
http://www.metropolitanroom.com/
$20.00 Cover, $15.00 Minimum
Join Broadway actor-singer, Michael Winther (MAMMA MIA, 1776, SONGS FROM AN UNMADE BED 2006 Drama Desk Nominee — Best Solo Performance) and one of Broadway’s top musical directors, Kimberly Grigsby (GREASE, SPRING AWAKENING, LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA) for a unique, romantic evening of new love songs by some of our best contemporary theater composers and lyricists.
“A theater singer of unusual refinement,” Michael Winther “has a voice that also traverses genres. Endowed with a strong, appealing folk-pop voice, he also displays the range, ballast and discipline of a trained theater singer. Mr. Winther’s singing actually gains strength as he reaches into a clear, expressive head voice, maintaining perfect enunciation and control.” — Stephen Holden, The New York Times
5. Upcoming Shows: Full List
Friday, November 7 – Lewiston, ME
Saturday, November 8 – Keene, NH
Thursday, December 11 – Cerritos, CA
Friday, December 12 – Escondido, CA
Sunday, December 14 – Carmel, CA
Saturday, January 17, 2009 – Tulsa, OK
Saturday, January 24, 2009- Germantown, MD
Saturday, April 4, 2009 – Portsmouth, NH
www.groovelily.com/index2.html?gigs
We’ll be in touch again next month…
love,
GrooveLily
email:
us@GrooveLily.com
web site:
www.GrooveLily.com