ACE - The New Musical

I am following this show with great interest that just opened at the Signature Theater in Washington, DC. It got a terrific review in Variety. Check it out.

Vanities at Pasadena Playhouse

For tickets click here.

Saw the show on Thursday night. I have always enjoyed the play - I very much remember the HBO version in the early 80s with Annette O'Toole and was even considering remounting a version of it last year before I heard they were doing a musical version of it.

From a development standpoint, since the play has been so successful and settled, the challenge is to see where (or if) you can insert musical numbers that do not interrupt the flow of the story. They are still feeling their way with this version but are definitely on the right track. By the end of this run, they will have a very good idea as to what works really well and what adjustments need to be made.

It is definitely worth seeing even at this stage of the process. The performances of the three ladies, Lauren Kennedy as Mary, Sarah Stiles as Joanne and Anneliese van der Pol as Kathy are all very good, especially Sarah Stiles in a very comedic turn.

I look forward to seeing how the show does in its next step and will be rooting for it to make it to Broadway!

Dreampeddler

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.