Olympics - Closing Ceremony and Educating Rita at The Colony

A busy weekend for sure.

Steph and I made the drive out to The Colony Theater to see Educating Rita. Once again, Cameron Watson did a fantastic job directly the play and the performances of Bjørn Johnson and Rebecca Mozo are terrific. Cameron and Rebecca return to The Colony with this show after the huge success of Trying last year and their reprise of the show a couple of months ago. Educating Rita runs through Sept. 21st so head on out to go see it. A very enjoyable night in the theater.

The Olympics

I have to say that the opening and closing night ceremonies were absolutely mesmerizing. The massive amount of performers and the unity and precision in which they worked was just a joy to behold. I could not help but think that we could never accomplish that in the U.S. In a culture that seems to stem from being a cog in the wheel of a larger whole vs. our culture of thinking it is all about us and immediate gratification - it just makes you wonder how long it will be before China takes over the world. If we don't get some discipline back into our lives and culture, it will be much sooner than later.

At least now I can get some sleep!

Dreampeddler

GrooveLily Launches New Website

So one of my absolute FAVORITE bands and amazing writers/performers/maestros have launched their new site...

http://www.groovelily.com

Lots of new interactivity (blog spots and more) and the ability to order all of their music directly from them. It is a great new site and will reside on the right side here so you will always be able to find them!

For those of you who don't know GrooveLily they wrote STRIKING 12 and SLEEPING BEAUTY WAKES and are launching their newest musical LONG STORY SHORT, which opens this fall at City Theatre of Pittsburgh and TheatreWorks Palo Alto. They will release new songs every Wednesday from August 20 until opening night in Pittsburgh on October 29.

Enjoy,
Dreampeddler

Busy July - Lot's Going On - WHODUNIT?

It has been one busy July. Ed is busy at work on his WHODUNIT and we will be doing a reading of it here on the west coast. Stay tuned for the time and place.

Will be launching a new DREAMPEDDLER PRODUCTIONS website soon as well. I am currently raising money for a unique Theater Fund which will invest in 4 Broadway shows and 4 Developmental shows. More to come soon.

I attended Of Equal Measure at the Kirk Douglas Theater. It was very thought provoking in the sense that I walked out of the theater thinking about more than just the presidency of Woodrow Wilson, but of all our presidents. Theater is supposed to make us think and reflect, and Of Equal Measure did do that.

I also left the theater thinking how Center Theater Group would be a great place to work. Nothing like having a guaranteed budget to support new works. There are so many folks out there that are willing to give 5 or 10 thousand dollars to have their name in the program or on the wall and be able to say they support the arts... I'm hoping to many more that actually want to INVEST in the arts.

It's Only LIfe at Rubicon Theater

So I made the journey west on the 101 to see a show at Rubicon Theater. It was well worth the drive. It is always a pleasure to see folks up on the stage that you have worked with but even more fun when they look and sound great. Jessica Phillips (who I worked with in The Scarlet Pimpernel) sounded terrific as did the whole cast. Billy Porter (who I worked with in Grease) was also his usual amazing self and I am certainly looking forward to seeing his direction of Once on This Island for Reprise later this year. Although I highly recommend the show, I went on the closing performance so we will just have to get it up and running in another production soon!

Here's the breakdown on the show:

It's Only Life
Music and lyrics by John Bucchino

This joyous musical revue features the talents of recent Broadway discovery John Bucchino, a songwriting sensation whose music and lyrics have been recorded by Art Garfunkel, Michael Feinstein, Judy Collins and Patti Lupone. Each song is a revelation - an "aha" moment in which we discover something essential, something elemental, about life. According to the New York Times, Bucchino's "flowing, finely made piano ballads describe an urban life in which relationships come and go in cycles of yearning, fulfillment, heartbreak and healing" - where romantic love is anticipated with "high expectations, high anxiety and open hearts."

Happy July 4th

Hello all,

Happy July 4th to all. It has been a very busy month of June for Dreampeddler Productions. The Producer's Panel at ANMT was very invigorating. It was great to meet some of the directors of new development across town. Panelists I sat with included Tom McCoy (Executive Producer, McCoy Rigby Entertainment); Michael Michetti (Co-Artistic Director, The Theatre @ Boston Court); Michael Jackowitz (Producer/Director of New Works, The Rubicon Theatre); Hilary Genga (Producer); Arnold Margolin (Producing Director, Falcon Theatre).

What I found most interesting is how engaged all of the panelists were and how passionate the attendees were about musical theater. It is clear that there is a real desire to produce, write and mount new musical works throughout the city. We are currently taking meetings with multiple theaters and hope to announce an exciting project very soon. Keep an eye on the blog over the next month and I will keep everyone informed.

Don't forget, if you are in New York July 14th, check out Ed Dixon's new musical Whodunit? at the York Theater.

Amazing Show - Red Dog Howls

Hello all,

Just a quick note and recommendation. Ed is still working on his new chapters and should have them up soon. He has been finishing a new musical called "Whodunit?" and will be doing a reading of it at the York Theater on July 14th. Check out their info below. Also saw a very powerful show called "Red Dog Howls" at the El Portal last weekend. It stars Broadway great Kathleen Chalfant (Angels In America, Wit) and is about a young man who thinks he is Greek until he discovers a letter his late father wrote to his grandmother, who hid their Armenian origins. The last day to see the play is tonight!

WHODUNIT...THE MUSICAL BOOK, MUSIC AND LYRICS BY ED DIXON A wealthy spinster takes a large house in Connecticut for the summer and is joined by her surly maid and her beautiful niece who surprises everyone by bringing along a boyfriend. (Heavens!) However this isn't the only surprise awaiting the occupants of Sunnyside Cottage. The butler informs them that all the rest of the staff have quit due to "strange goings on" and before you can say Whodunit, there's a dead body in the middle of the living room... then another. This fast, breezy and tuneful period piece, set in the elegant 1930's, is a lot of laughs... and maybe a couple of screams.

Monday, July 14, 2008 • 7:30 PM

York Theatre Company 212-935-5824 x24 The Theatre at Saint Peter’s 54th Street, Just East of Lexington

www.yorktheatre.org

ADMISSION IS FREE!

Reservations are suggested. Email Jeff Landsman (please mention your name, phone number, the show you want to see, and the number of tickets you’d like) or call 212-935-5824, ext. 24. There is no admission charge.

THIS SERIES MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH A GENEROUS DONATION FROM THE DOROTHY STRELSIN FOUNDATION

Would YOU like to submit a show for inclusion in the Developmental Reading Series?
Our mission here at York concerns musicals only; we do not accept submissions of plays. A completed script must be submitted, as well as a sound recording of at least most of the songs. If you’d like your materials returned, you must enclose a self-addressed, postage paid envelope.
As we are one of the only theatres in the country which accepts unsolicited scripts, we receive around 400-500 scripts per year. We pride ourselves in properly evaluating each script, which takes time as we have a small staff and a loyal group of volunteer readers. It generally takes at least 6 to 12 months to get a script through our entire process.

Material should be submitted to: York Theatre Company, DEVELOPMENTAL READING SERIES, The Theatre at Saint Peter’s, 619 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022

Academy of New Muscial Theater

Hello all,

Just a quick update. Ed is working hard on the next chapters of Secrets From a Lifetime on the Stage... and Off! but in the meantime has written another FULL LENGTH musical. I'll be reading it this weekend! We are also pursuing a new production of RICHARD CORY, a musical he wrote based on A.R. Gurney's play, based on the famous poem. It truly is an amazing piece and we hope to get it up in a larger venue than the previously award winning version we did at the NYMF festival in 2005.

If you happen to be in LA at the end of June I will be sitting on a panel at The BIZ OF THE MUSICAL THEATRE BIZ Conference that will take place June 27-30 at The Academy for New Musical Theatre and the Colony Theatre in North Hollywood. My panel will be discussing:

GETTING TO THE TOP OF THE PILE

Producers, artistic directors and agents talk turkey about why they pick a submission from out of the Pile, and why they leave others at the bottom of the Pile. If you register for the conference (or for the Sunday-Only pass), you’re entitled to submit one project to the Pile. It’s up to you what kind of package you submit: full artwork/DVD/script, or just a script, or even just a pitch. The panel will discuss candidly which projects in the Pile get their attention and why. To be considered, submissions must arrive at ANMT no later than 3:00 p.m. Sunday June 29th.

Confirmed Panelists: Tom McCoy (Executive Producer, McCoy Rigby Entertainment); Michael Michetti (Co-Artistic Director, The Theatre @ Boston Court); Michael Jackowitz (Director of New Works, The Rubicon Theatre); Hilary Genga (Producer); Arnold Margolin (Producing Director, Falcon Theatre); Nick Cavarra (Producer, Off-Broadway)
Invited Panelists: Karyl Lynn Burns (Producing Artistic Director, The Rubicon Theatre); David Hamlin (Producer, East of Doheny); Amy Levinson Millan (Literary Manager/Dramaturg, The Geffen Playhouse); Pier Carlo Talenti (Literary Manager of CTG); Steve Rabineau (William Morris Agency); Michael Shepperd (Incoming Artistic Director, Celebration Theatre)

Look forward to seeing you there!

Dreampeddler