August 24, 2011 – 2:43 pm
Yesterday I got a terrific surprise in my inbox–a fan from the Bay Area sent a video of her teenage son singing “Rewind” impromptu in the car. This is the kind of thing that makes us feel life is worth living, makes us grin from ear to ear. Check it out: I’m officially a very [...]
August 24, 2011 – 2:36 pm
Kathy Diamant did a phone interview with us about the origins of Sleeping Beauty Wakes and what we’re up to–and we ranged far and wide in our conversation. Check it out: http://www.kpbs.org/news/2011/aug/23/groovelily-wakes-sleeping-beauty/ It’s a pretty nice story of how we got where we are, and what we hope for the future.
We’re in the darkened theatre–the big proscenium stage of the Weiss Theatre at La Jolla Playhouse. We stay in this dark room for 10-12 hours a day now, with brief 10-minute breaks every hour or so when they turn on the house lights on and we go outside to get a moment of beautiful Southern [...]
Check it out: http://www.playbill.com/news/article/152312-Rhinebeck-Writers-Retreat-to-Nurture-New-Musicals-by-Alex-Timbers-Michael-Friedman-GrooveLily We’re in pretty august company, and it’s nice to read that Gaby Alter and Itamar Moses’ terrific piece “Nobody Loves You” is getting more work time at the Rhinebeck retreat AND is getting a production at the Old Globe. Val and I will be there with bells on–this show kicks butt.
I’ve often wanted to get a time machine and at the very least, send a message to my former self. If I could, it would go something like this: Dear 16-year-old Brendan, Congratulations. You’ve written your first song for a musical. You’ve recognized that pop songs in and of themselves are too limiting for you, [...]
Phoebe Snow is dead. Amidst all the other news going on, and our myopic focus on our show 24/7, I failed to notice until today that Phoebe Snow died on April 27, just about a week ago. In 2002, I was at a recording studio in Englewood, New Jersey, overseeing the digital transfer of some [...]
The night before last was a dress rehearsal where everything seemed to be so far from good that we’d never fix it and we were doomed. “People will laugh at us,” we said. “Critics will excoriate us. Audiences will say to each other ‘Bwa-ha-ha-ha-haa. What a stinker that was.’” And then last night, an invited [...]