Fall/Winter 2005 - BMI.com

Vol. 6, No. 26 Fall/Winter, 2005 

Unsolicited Advice 

Over the last year, my editor’s box collected 

a few short pieces by Workshoppers 

wanting to share advice with 

other members. One by one, I approved 

each piece for publication, then at the 

eleventh hour kept pulling them, as 

themes of other Newsletters precluded 

extra material. But now that the pieces 

have unintentionally become the components 

of a small anthology, they’ve 

created their own theme—right when 

an edition of the Newsletter is open for 

one. And because I’ve never been able 

to resist a good roundup, I’ve added 

one of my own at the end. If you find 

any of this at all helpful or sufficiently 

amusing, let me know, and we may do 

more in future. Meanwhile, have an 

earful… 

BREAKING THE RULES 

by Ed Weissman 

Alan Jay Lerner tells the story in 

his autobiography of auditioning a 

choreographer for My Fair Lady. 

When they played “You Did It” for 

him, he told Lerner and Loewe 

“you can’t do that, you’re describing 

off-stage action.” They were 

breaking a cardinal rule. But were 

they Of course not, the action 

described was indeed off-stage, 

but the crucial conflict was happening 

on stage as Higgins and 

Pickering took credit for the triumph 

at the ball while ignoring 

Eliza who gets madder and madder 

and finally stalks out. 

We often hear “you need to 

Passings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 

Works 

(Continued on page 24) 

Table of Contents 

In Production . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 

In Progress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 

In Festival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 

In Cabaret & Concert . . . . .13 

Personals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 

Shelf Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 

And the Winner Is... . . . . . . . .18 

Master Class . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 

Emergence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 

Richard’s Almanac . . . . . . . . .38 

Richard Engquist

Passings 

Burton Sternthal 

We lost two of our most unique and 

uniquely gifted Workshop members this 

year. The first is remembered here by 

one of his classmates. As for the second, 

I got to peruse several touching Workshop 

remembrances geared toward the 

memorial service—but it was the words 

of his life partner, in response to the 

tributes and support he received, that 

seemed most to merit pride of place in 

these pages, and they are published here 

with his permission. 

I REMEMBER BURT7ON 

by BJ Bjorkman 

I can’t explain why, exactly, that I 

was so crazy about Burton. God 

knows our musical presentations 

couldn’t have been further afield 

from one another. I’m a “Big Band 

Baby” of the 40’s and 50’s and Burton 

was a “tomorrow guy,” singing 

songs to his feet (which always 

seemed to have a life of their own) 

as he sat at the piano and played his 

way into our hearts. But one thing 

was for sure, I dearly loved the guy. 

Bob McDowell 

What was he like Hard to say, 

really. Like everybody else on this 

earth, he was a heady mixture of 

talent, insecurity, humor, love, fear 

and vulnerability. And no matter 

how little I understood what the 

hell he was singing about, he 

always made me laugh out loud. 

Maybe it was the quirkiness of it. 

Maybe it was his sly humor that 

sneaked up on you, bringing 

every highfalutin sophisticate in 

the room down to earth. But make 

no mistake about it, he was definitely 

someone very special. Perhaps 

it was just that “specialness” 

that made him so admired and 

yet, at the same time, so elusive. 

This past year, as I sat at my battle 

station on the far side of the 

room, looking out at the faces of 

my wonderfully talented colleagues, 

I was struck by the fact 

that Burton and I were the only 

two people left from our original 

1995-96 class. For whatever reasons, 

we were the survivors. And 

word. The Producers and 

Hairspray are as real as anything I 

know, and deliciously enjoyable— 

the products of genius. A genius 

different from that which gave us 

Messiah and the Sistine Chapel, but 

genius nonetheless. There’s a 

story that on the opening night of 

Annie Get Your Gun, one of Irving 

Berlin’s friends said, “But it’s so 

old-fashioned,” to which Mr. B. 

replied, “Yes, a nice, old-fashioned 

hit.” Is popular a problem 

One of the Hairspray writers, 

Marc Shaiman, did strike back, 

making use of a website (talkinbroadway.com), 

but I can’t imagine 

he was seriously annoyed. 

How could he, or Thomas Meehan, 

or—for that matter—Mel Brooks 

be injured Their work needs no 

defense, explanation, justification 

or apology. 

In my devout youth I aspired to 

the attitude, “I’ve nothing to prove 

and nothing to defend; only a life 

to live.” It still sounds good. I 

also like the bit of doggerel Norman 

Vincent Peale used to quote 

when he heard people sneer at success 

which was—shall we say— 

less than highbrow: 

I hate the guys 

Who criticize 

And minimize 

The other guys 

Whose enterprise 

Has made them rise 

Above the guys 

Who criticize 

And minimize. 

It also seems futile to grouse—as 

Michael John does—about producers 

who mount catalog shows (collections 

of pop songs under the 

guise of musicals). The people who 

finance such as Lennon, The Buddy 

Holly Story and Good Vibrations are 

not, absent those properties, going 

to raise money for Lulu, Assassins 

or Marie Christine. They’re just not. 

Get over it. 

Mr. LaC. admits that catalog 

shows can be good: he admires 

Movin’ Out, but he classifies it as a 

ballet, not a musical, so perhaps 

some of his outpouring of anger 

comes from semantics. A catalog 

show is not ipso facto inferior: 

think of Ain’t Misbehavin’ and 

Smoky Joe’s Caféé. 

Of course, there are terrible 

shows of every type. Even competent 

writers have bad days. Bye Bye 

Birdie is a delight; Bring Back Birdie 

is dismal. Whorehouse is wonderful; 

its sequel is not. But as Carol Hall 

reminds us, no one writes bad stuff 

on purpose. Sometimes you don’t 

know what you’ve got until it’s too 

late. 

Hey, Michael John, I’m glad you 

got it off your chest, but you’re 

not going to change the world. 

Everything you write is going to 

be produced, so relax. Lighten up. 

Do us a favor and give us a musical 

comedy! 

Meanwhile, it isn’t cool to throw 

darts at people who don’t write 

what you write. Your First Lady 

Suite is terrific, but so is Hairspray. 

You’re too talented and still too 

young to come across like some 

cranky old fart. Leave that to those 

of us who’ve earned the right. 

2 

39

R 1 

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We all know that criticizing fellow 

writers is simply not done; especially 

in public; never in print. 

When someone is cheeky enough 

to break this rule, as Michael John 

LaChiusa did in his Opera News 

diatribe, The Great Gray Way 

(August issue, pp. 30-35) one can 

only wonder, what is going on 

here A grudge coming out into 

the open A bilious attack A 

demonstration of the notion that 

there is no such thing as bad publicity 

If you haven’t read the article, 

find it and do so at once. 

There’s much therein with which 

you’ll agree—as I do. Much that 

will make you think, much that 

will make you proud (on matters 

of craft, standards and taste). So 

let’s skip all that good stuff and get 

to the juicy parts, the parts I consider 

gratuitous, deliberately 

provocative (“The American Musical 

is dead.” Oh, really Folks been 

sayin’ that long as I can remember), 

or just plain tilting at windmills. 

Michael John seems furious that 

there is a lot of dumb stuff out 

there. Hello! There’s always been 

dumb stuff, there always will be, 

and it doesn’t matter. If Three 

D 2 

H 4 

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A 1 C 3 

C 3 

R 1 

S 1 

M 3 

L 1 

A 1 

A 1 

, 

A 1 

by Richard Engquist 

Stooges fans don’t dig Bob 

Newhart, what difference does it 

make There’s room in the world 

for Hellzapoppinand Regina, for 

Robert Service and Gerard Manley 

Hopkins, for Fats Waller, Ruth 

Wallis and J. S. Bach. If something 

bores or offends you, close the 

book, turn the dial, change the 

channel, leave at intermission. 

Why waste time and energy complaining 

about mediocrity What’s 

more, one man’s Mede is another 

man’s Persian: I know people who 

loved Tommy, others who insist 

that they enjoy the concert works 

of Elliott Carter. Shall I call them 

liars 

Michael John says it’s not the 

commercial success of what he 

calls ”faux” musicals that bothers 

him, but one can’t escape the feeling 

that it does. Since he seems not 

to be interested in commercial success 

for himself—if he were he 

would choose different properties—why 

lambaste those who 

have had it Do I detect a whiff of 

sour grapes Was that a greeneyed 

monster flitting among the 

flats 

Another thing: why “faux” The 

word suggests ersatz, manufactured, 

unreal. I think it’s the wrong 

so, every time he could make it to 

class (with him living in Philadelphia, 

the commute wasn’t easy), I 

made it a point to talk to him, to 

tell him how glad I was to see him 

and how much I loved what he 

was doing. At his last presentation, 

I repeated the ritual. However, 

this time, it was a little different. 

His presentation was more dialogue 

than music……more 

poignant than funny. The entire 

class responded to him and his 

material…about a man so unsure 

of himself, so rebuffed by love, not 

knowing what to do. We were all 

caught off-guard by his naked 

honesty. When I spoke to him 

later, he smiled that shy smile and 

said, “You know, BJ, that was really 

about me.” I smiled back—for I 

had figured that out and loved 

him all the more for it. The next 

day, I wrote him an e-mail, repeating 

how much I had enjoyed his 

presentation and telling him, 

again, how I thought it could 

stand on its own without any 

music at all. Once again, he had 

touched all of us…surely the sign 

of a true artist. 

When I spoke to his sister subsequently, 

she asked me the one 

question that nobody in this business 

can answer: “BJ, why do you 

think he never made it big Why 

didn’t he have the success we all 

thought he deserved” (If I had the 

answer to that one, I’d be on a 

yacht somewhere in the Mediterranean 

counting the royalties from 

my latest Broadway hit.) Here was 

a grieving sister, trying to figure 

out why her talented brother never 

“made it.” She deserved the most 

honest answer I could give her, 

which was, “Who the hell 

knows” (Said more demurely, of 

course) Was it the quirkiness of his 

material Timing Today’s audiences 

Location On the other side 

of that coin, is the same question 

with just a few words changed: 

“Why do some people make it” 

More talent (In some instances, 

that hardly seems to be the reason.) 

Plain, good, old-fashioned 

luck The right agent More influential 

mentors I tried to reassure 

her that there is no fast rule for 

success, and that maybe five years 

from now, had he lived, success 

would have found him. And that 

he wasn’t alone in his dreams, his 

disappointments and his tears. (I 

think there must be a collective 

tear duct somewhere that is constantly 

flowing for whoever needs 

it at the moment.) 

I don’t know how much comfort 

I gave her, but I did not let the conversation 

end until I made sure 

that she knew how wonderfully 

talented her brother was and how 

much everyone loved him and 

how much he will be missed. 

Burton was my friend and my 

colleague…a rare combination in 

this “dog-eat-dog” business. I 

always wanted him to succeed and 

always tried to give him words of 

encouragement in his efforts to do 

so. And he did the same for me. 

It’s simply amazing how much 

just a few words of encouragement 

mean to someone…and how easy 

(Continued on page 36) 

38 

3

Works 

In Production 

AVENUE Q in Vegas 

The Tony Award winning show, 

book by Jeff Whitty, music, lyrics 

and original conception by 

Advanced writers Robert Lopez & 

Jeff Marx, recently opened to rave 

reviews when it inaugurated the 

1,200-seat Broadway Theater at 

Wynn Las Vegas. Original Broadway 

stars John Tartaglia—who 

plays Princeton, Rod and others— 

and Rick Lyon—who handles 

Nicky, Trekkie Monster and 

more—are joined in the doubled 

ensemble (to allow for ten performances 

a week) by Angela Ai, 

David Benoit, Steven Booth, Minglie 

Chen, Tonya Dixon, Rita Dolphin, 

Natalie Gray, Phyre 

Hawkins, Nicholas Kohn, 

Michelle Lane, Kevin Noonchester, 

Brynn O’Malley, Cole Porter, 

Jonathan Root, Kelli Sawyer, 

Sharon Wheatley and Haneefah 

Wood. 

Tickets for Avenue Q at the 

Wynn, 3131 Las Vegas Blvd. 

South in Las Vegas, NV are available 

by phone or online at (702) 

770-7000, toll free (888) 320 7123 or 

w w w . w y n n l a s v e g a s . c o m 

and www.ticketmaster.com/ 

wynnlasvegas. And of course the 

show continues to play on Broadway 

at the Golden Theatre, 252 

West 45 Street. For more information 

on the show, visit 

www.avenueq. 

com. 

4 

THE DEVIL’S MUSIC: The Life 

and Music of Bessie Smith 

The critically acclaimed play 

with music by Angelo Parra 

(Librettists), conceived and directed 

by Joe Brancato, starring Miche 

Braden, seems unstoppable. After 

its off-Broadway success and 

many subsequent engagements, it 

surfaced this August-September 

yet again, for a three-week run at 

the Shadowland Theatre in 

Ellenville, NY. 

Angelo Parra 

DOG SEES GOD: Confessions of 

a Teenage Blockhead 

the award-winning 2004 FringeNYC 

take-off of the Peanuts 

characters, written by Bert V. 

Royal with original music by 

alumnus Tom Kitt (Debbie Does 

Dallas, Laugh Whore), will reach 

Off-Broadway later this year for a 

commercial run. The show brings 

together the original gang a 

decade later as their beloved beagle 

companion dies. A missing pen 

I will miss seeing him work an 

orchestra. Or a band. He was one 

hell of a conductor. Performers 

and musicians would follow him 

out the window, or off a pier. They 

only had to work with him once to 

bond with him, and they all knew 

instinctively how good he was. 

I loved being a couple with him. 

I loved throwing parties and holidays 

at our place, having him cook 

his brains out and making me into 

a very harried and somewhat 

reluctant sous chef. I loved going to 

our friends’ parties with him. Or to 

shows, good bad or indifferent, 

and listening to his tart comments 

afterward. Basically, I just loved 

having him at my side. 

My family loved him. My 

friends loved him. Pretty much on 

sight. He inspired that, even in 

doctors, nurses, health care aids 

(the better ones, anyway.) 

I’m angry, bitter, drained and 

generally pissed off. I’m 

also incredibly grateful he and I 

found each other, stuck it out 

through the ups and downs (and 

there were many), and had the 

time we had with one another. I 

can’t imagine my life over the last 

twelve and a half years without 

him in the center of it. I wouldn’t 

be the person I am. I know I 

wouldn’t be as good a writer as I 

am at this point if life 

hadn’t thrown him in my path. 

And I wouldn’t have known so 

many incredible friends but for 

him. I’m really grateful for that. 

We were both really grateful for 

that over the past couple of years. 

It was easy to get the measure of 

37 

his worth from the devotion and 

support we both received from all 

of you when we needed it most. 

So I sit at my gradually 

reclaimed apartment in early 

morning darkness and think about 

what’s next. Whatever that turns 

out to be, he will most definitely 

be a part of it, even if he isn’t here 

to witness it. I am definitely the 

better for having him in my life, 

and I will try very hard to temper 

my pain with that thought. 

My love and gratitude to all of 

you.

Passings 

(Continued from Page 3) 

it should be for us to do it. A 

recording engineer once said he 

thought that some people felt that 

by complimenting someone ELSE 

that they were in some way diminishing 

their own talents. Quite to 

the contrary: it makes everybody 

better. Try it sometime. You’ll be 

amazed! 

So, adieu, my friend. Thank you 

for making my life so much richer, 

so much funnier, so much more 

meaningful. It was a wonderful 

decade’s ride. 

AFTER BOB 

by Bill McMahon 

I am alone in the house, but for the 

cat. I have not had any moment of 

solitude in my apartment for perhaps 

a month or more, and while 

there’s a sad edge to it that we’d 

all have to expect, it’s almost like 

getting reacquainted with myself. 

I have begun the process of 

removing the visible traces of 

Bob’s illness from the place. Not 

him—he is in every corner of 

every room. But I have cleared 

away pills, medical supplies and 

the like—at least from the more 

obvious spots. Last night, after 

having dinner with friends, I broke 

down the hospital bed and leaned 

the pieces against the wall of the 

hallway, so I could sit in the living 

room again. I couldn’t 

spend another minute staring at 

that empty bed. It will go away 

from the house very soon, along 

with the oxygen and other medical 

supplies. 

I have good moments and bad 

ones. I’m okay one moment, then 

crappy the next. Then suddenly 

I’m a mess. And then I’m back 

again. And I know it will be like 

this for a while. 

I am taking care of myself. I 

know that at this point it’s my 

major priority, which is going to 

take some getting used to. I was 

in caretaker mode for Bob for so 

long at this point, I often have to 

stop and figure out what I actually 

need for myself. But sitting in 

my suddenly quiet apartment 

helps focus it for me. 

I’m taking a vacation sometime 

soon, to visit friends in San Francisco. 

Haven’t been there in years 

and I’ve been missing it. The last 

time was with Bob, who insisted 

one day on doing a walking tour 

of the Castro/Noe Valley area. 

Who else would stomp around 

those hills in cowboy boots 

to check out Painted Lady Victorians 

and various other historic hoohah 

I thought I was going to need 

paramedics that day, but he just 

followed the tour book like a dog 

with a bone. Headstrong. Stubborn. 

You know what I mean. 

I will miss him. Like air. Like 

water. I will miss the life we constructed 

together. I will miss the 

whole Bob-and-Bill thing. I will 

especially miss his music and 

lyrics, and working with him. I 

will miss all the projects we 

planned that won’t happen now. 

pal, an abused pianist, a pyromaniac 

ex-girlfriend, two drunk 

cheerleaders, a homophobic quarterback, 

a burnt out Buddhist and 

a drama queen sister fill the 

show’s ensemble. Trip Cullman 

(The Last Sunday in June) will direct 

the new run, which begins 

November 28 at the downtown’s 

Century Center for the Performing 

Arts. Opening is December 15. 

DR. SEX 

by Advanced writer Larry Bortniker 

(lyricist, composer, co-librettist) 

and Sally Deering (co-librettist) 

opened September 15 for a 

limited engagement through September 

30. Brian Noonan played 

Dr. Alfred Kinsey and Jennifer 

Simard was his devoted wife, 

Clara, in the New York premiere of 

the musical comedy at the Peter 

Norton Space, 555 W. 42nd Street 

(usually the home of Signature 

Theatre). Opening was September 

15. 

Sally Deering 

EVER AFTER 

A musical version of the film 

Ever After is eyeing a Broadway 

bow in the summer of 2007. The 

tuner, which will mark the musical 

debut of recent Tony-winning 

director Doug Hughes, will feature 

a score by the alumni team of 

lyricist Marcy Heisler and composer 

Zina Goldrich and a book 

by Julia Jordan, Ever After is a 

retelling of Cinderella. The film, 

released in 1998, was directed by 

Andy Tennant and featured a 

screenplay by Tennant, Susannah 

Grant and Rick Parks, based on 

Charles Perrault’s classic tale. The 

movie, which starred Drew Barrymore, 

received mostly-positive 

reviews and was a success at the 

box office. The musical version of 

Ever After will be produced by 

Adam Epstein,who is best known 

for producing Hairspray. 

THE GIRL IN THE FRAME 

was presented by Goodspeed 

Musicals as the third 2005 production 

at its developmental space, 

The Norma Terris Theatre, in 

Chester, Connecticut Nov. 3-27. 

The small-cast romantic musical 

comedy by alumnus lyricist-librettist-composer 

Jeremy Desmon has 

been seen in regional productions. 

The title refers to the idealized 

stock photo of a woman in a storebought 

picture frame, and how 

she comes to life to impose on a 

loving couple. 

GREY GARDENS 

a new musical by librettist Doug 

Wright, composer Scott Frankel 

and lyricist Michael Korie (alumnus), 

will be one of four world 

premieres in the 2005-06 season of 

Playwrights Horizons. Michael 

Greif (Rent) will direct the musical 

inspired by the creepy cult film 

documentary about relatives of 

Jacqueline Bouvier living in a 

squalid Long Island mansion. 

Tony Award winner Christine 

Ebersole (of the recent 42nd Street 

36 

5

and Steel Magnolias) and Mary 

Louise Wilson (Cabaret, Full 

Gallop) will star as daughter and 

mother Edie and Edith Bouvier 

Beale. 

THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA 

ALBA 

Lincoln Center Theater is 

developing the tuner, with music 

by alimnus Michael John 

LaChiusa, in preparation for a 

possible winter bow at the Mitzi 

E. Newhouse. Set in a small village 

in Spain, The House of Bernarda 

Alba centers on five unmarried 

daughters trying to escape a domineering 

mother. The musical version, 

which will be co-directed by 

Graciela Daniele (who previously 

collaborated with LaChiusa on 

Marie Christine at LCT) and 

Richard Nelson, features music by 

LaChiusa, lyrics by LaChiusa and 

Nelson and a book by Nelson that 

is adapted from the original story. 

INDEFENSIBLE 

by Justin Warner (Librettists), 

directed by Kim T. Sharp, was 

presented by the Abingdon Theatre 

Company as part of the 

Samuel French one-act play festival 

in July. 

THE LIFE OF A COOPERATIVE 

COMMUNITY 

is a powerful half-hour overview 

of the Amalgamated and 

Park Reservoir Houses, touching 

on their illustrious history and the 

experiences and enthusiasm of 

those living and serving in the 

Bronx. Directed, photographed 

and edited by John Driver (alumnus, 

Advanced & Librettists) the 

work was produced by Michael 

Max Knobbe, Executive Producer 

of BronxNet Community Television 

and was funded by the Herman 

Liebman Memorial Fund, 

Inc. 

MUSICAL OF MUSICALS 

is starting to appear in various 

theatres around the country. The 

show, with music by Eric Rockwell, 

lyrics by Joanne Bogart 

(both alumni) and a book by Rockwell 

and Bogart, is a satire of various 

musical theatre genres. One 

story is played five times, each 

incarnation in the style of a different 

musical theatre composer or 

team, including Rodgers & Hammerstein, 

Stephen Sondheim and 

Kander & Ebb. 

The show made its West Coast 

premiere in the summer at the 

Laguna Playhouse in California. 

The musical will also play the 

Prince Music Theatre in Philadelphia 

in October 2005. Spring 2006 

will see the musical open at both 

the Actors Playhouse in Coral 

Gables, Florida, and the San Francisco 

Playhouse. Additional productions 

in other U.S. cities are 

currently in discussion. Samuel 

French, Inc. has also secured the 

stock and amateur production 

rights and the publishing rights to 

the comical musical. For more 

information visit www.musicalofmusicals.com. 

over a whopping $9 before shipping 

for Harper (another Newman flick, a 

private eye essential, William Goldman’s 

first solo screenplay floating 

above a smooth-jazz Johnny Mandel 

score), but that one’s rare even in its 

US videotape edition, and has not 

yet been released on DVD. And a 

few others, some very recent, likewise 

unavailable in other formats. 

From a Canadian vendor selling 

remaindered Western releases of the 

early ’90s, I bought a friend her two 

favorite films: Bill and Ted’s Bogus 

Journey, for $1.99 and Dances With 

Wolves for $4.99. (No border problem 

there.) 

If you’re the kind of cinemaphile 

who demands digital state-of-theart, 

plus all the perks all the time, 

VCDs are probably only desirable 

when, as with Harper, there is no 

equivalent DVD release. Likewise, if 

a particular movie has a cherished 

place in your heart or memory, it’s 

always worth the extra bucks for the 

additional quality and features. But 

if all you want of a film is to have an 

official, packaged, reliable, eminently 

watchable, digital, hi-fi copy in 

your library, that won’t degrade 

with time, as videotape can—or simply 

have the desire to see a film you 

missed in the theatres, for less than 

the cost of a ticket and not a lot more 

than it would cost to rent it, that can 

be passed on like an old paperback 

at a garage sale—VCDs store easy, 

keep for life, make lovely gifts and, 

nestled in their multiple-disk jewel 

cases, or half-size, soft-plastic, double 

“clamshells,” are as cute as kittens. 

And I guess it’s fitting they mostly 

come from Asia, because they’re a 

bit like the popular cuisines: Once 

you collect a few, you may find 

yourself hungry for more… 

Endnote: To play a VCD on a PC, 

use Windows Media Player; on a 

Mac, use QuickTime. There are various 

free utilities you can download 

that specialize in VCD play, but the 

VCD is itself so “primitive” that they 

add little or no operational improvement 

to the process. If a VCD won’t 

play on your ’puter automatically, 

boot your applicable software, navigate 

to the video disk’s MPGAV 

folder and open the AVESQ.DAT file 

within. If there’s more than one 

AVESQ.DAT file, the last one of the 

numbered sequence will usually 

contain the film; the others will tend 

to be previews, studio logos and 

copyright advisories. 

6 

35

you’ll note that authentic DVD 

prices are commensurate with what 

you’d pay domestically.) 

Fifthly, finally and majorly— 

Commercial VCDs are legitimately 

cheap. 

More than that: stupid cheap. 

I have found three major VCD 

shops online, shipping out of 

Malaysia: CoolVCD.com, AllVCD. 

com, VideoCDs.com (a less-impressive 

fourth, Ezymovie.com, sometimes 

has a few harder-to-find titles 

in its more limited catalog). At 

CoolVCD.com, postage is a flat $7, 

for as many VCD titles as you care to 

order in one go, up to about 14. As 

for the catalog prices Here are some 

I recently bought: Each extended 

LOTR film in the trilogy is $13.88 

(AllVCD.com sells them for $12.50). 

I got the Shining miniseries at $9.88, 

and it’s now offered at stock clearance 

$3.38. Most current/recent 

films, like the subtitled Constantine, 

are $8.88 (AllVCD.com sells that one 

for $7.50, but their slightly different 

postage-price system can sometimes 

negate deeper discounts). Not every 

title is a substantial bargain relative 

to its DVD equivalent, but most are. 

(When in doubt, compare at Amazon.com 

and especially 

the too-tempting DeepDiscount 

DVD.com, which lives up to its 

name and never charges shipping 

fees.) [As I put the final polish on 

this piece, I’ve discovered yet another 

VCD site, based in China, catering 

to Chinese, Japanese and Korean 

audiences, with a whole different 

Western catalog: Yes Asia, at us.yesasia.com. 

All the Rodgers and Hammerstein 

musical films are there, for 

34 

$7.99 each. Buy several and they’re 

$4.99. Buy up to $39 worth of stuff 

and there’s no shipping charge.] 

VCD releases can go out of print 

quickly, reflecting the popular/current 

retail/rental marketplace, so for 

more “classic” titles that you might 

not find in the VCD shops, hit eBay. 

(If you want to “window shop,” go 

to “Advanced search,” select the category 

“DVDs & Movies” and type 

“VCD DVD” into the blank field. 

You’ll have to force yourself to stop 

browsing.) With eBay purchases, 

you’ll probably still wind up paying 

roughly $5-10 per title once postage 

(from Asia) is added, but relatively 

speaking, it’s often postage added to 

nothing, and you usually get a break 

buying multiples from the same vendor: 

I got the excellent cold-war 

thriller Ice Station Zebra (reportedly a 

favorite film of Howard Hughes, 

that he watched obsessively) for $4. 

The Paul Newman chain-gang saga 

Cool Hand Luke (whose Lalo Schifrin 

score gave ABC its Eyewitness News 

theme, and whose dialogue gave 

American colloq “What we have 

here is a failure to communicate”) 

for an equally cool $2.75. The same 

price per title also netted me George 

Pal’s 1952 War of the Worlds, The 

Sting, Waterloo, The Pajama Game, 

Finian’s Rainbow and the digitally 

remastered The Wizard of Oz. A new 

box set of all four Lethal Weapon 

movies: ten bucks. A used box set of 

the first seven Star Trek movies: 

twenty-five bucks (it’s about $35 

retail). Children of Dune (the miniseries 

sequel) plus Ghostbusters I and 

II (sold as a single unit), still in the 

shrink wrap: 99 cents each. I did fork 

THE NEWS 

A revised and streamlined version 

of the 1993 musical about 

husband and wife Ted and Liz— 

whose relationship is explored in 

the context of stories in The New 

York Times—was presented July 13- 

17 in Manhattan. The book and 

lyrics are by five-time Emmy 

Award winner Joe Keenan (alumnus), 

a writer on TV’s Frasier. He 

won the Edward Kleban Award 

for his lyrics for The Times more 

than a decade ago. (His new series, 

Out of Practice, premiered this fall 

on CBS, starring Henry Winkler 

and Stockard Channing.) Music 

for The News is by Brad Ross 

(alumnus), who composed the Off- 

Broadway musical Little by Little, 

which has also been seen in resident 

theatres around the country. 

(His symphonic work for family 

audience, A Family for Baby Grand, 

has played concert halls around 

the country, including the 

Kennedy Center.) The Times was 

awarded a Richard Rodgers 

Development Grant, which led to 

a workshop at Manhattan Theatre 

Club and the fully realized 1993 

production at the Long Wharf 

Theatre in New Haven. 

NORMAL 

The Transport Group presented 

the world premiere of the new 

musical Normal at the Connelly 

Theatre, from October 20 to 

November 12. The work, with 

book and lyrics by Yvonne Adrian 

(Librettists) & Cheryl Stern and 

music by Tom Kochan, was directed 

by Jack Cummings III. The 

stars were Barbara Walsh, Erin 

7 

Leigh Peck, Toni DiBuono and 

Shannon Polly. Normal was the 

recipient of a 2002 Jonathan Larson 

Performing Arts Foundation 

Award. The title refers to the 

American family depicted in the 

show—that is, until an unforeseen 

crisis, in the form of a life-threatening 

eating disorder, sends the 

clan into turmoil. 

SLUT! 

a musical comedy by Second 

Year writers Ben Winters and 

Stephen Sislen, played a limited 

engagement, at The American 

Theatre of Actors, 314 West 55th 

Street. As described: “He’s young. 

He’s straight. He’s single. And he’s 

probably not gonna call. Finally, a 

man—and a musical—with no 

cheesy lines or lame excuses. Slut 

tells the story of Adam, a single 

dude on a lifelong quest for onenight 

stands; his best friend, the 

brilliant Doctor Dan; and the sexy 

rocker Delia who comes between 

them. Set in the East Village and 

around the world, this highly 

improbable, irreverent adventure 

comes with singing, dancing, 

screwing and raspberry margaritas.” 

(www.slutthemusical.com) 

SONGS FOR AN UNMADE BED 

by alumnus lyricist Mark 

Campbell, featured music by a 

number of composers during its 

early summer run at the New York 

Theatre Workshop. Micheal 

Winther starred in the one-performer 

song cycle, and David 

Schweitzer directed. Among the 

BMI Workshop-affiliated composers 

were Peter Foley, Jenny

Michael Winther 

Giering and Joseph Thalken. The 

show was billed as a “unique 

music/theatre event that propels a 

smart, resilient, wry, and ultimately 

romantic gay New Yorker through the 

heartaches and triumphs of love in 

the big city.” 

THE TUTOR 

The multi-award-winning stage 

musical, book and lyrics by Maryrose 

Wood (Advanced), music by Andrew 

Gerle (participating collaborator) 

played a sixteen performance September-October 

limited run, presented by 

Prospect Theater, at 59 East 59th Street 

Theatres. The director was Sarah Gurfield. 

As described, “The Tutor tells a 

fresh, funny, contemporary tale of 

romance, art, and what it really takes 

to get into Princeton.” Said Wood: “A 

few years ago I met a couple of 20- 

somethings struggling to be artists 

and make a living in New York City. 

Many of them were equipped with 

Ivy League degrees, which I found 

rather dazzling because I come from 

humbler stock (I’m the first woman in 

my family tree to attend college at all, 

in fact). And the best work these 

brainiacs could find was tutoring rich 

8 

kids! It was all very dizzying and took 

hold of my imagination in the kind of 

way that generates lots of ‘what-if’ 

story ideas. Add to this that Andrew 

and I had a desire to write a small, 

contemporary show—our previous 

musical had a larger cast and was set 

at the turn of the century—and The 

Tutor was born.” (www.tutormusical.com) 

ZHIVAGO 

a musical adaptation of Boris 

Pasternak’s classic novel Dr. Zhivago, 

was the first musical presented as part 

of the La Jolla Playhouse’s four-yearold 

“Page to Stage” program in July 

and August. The director was Tony 

Award winner Des McAnuff, La 

Jolla’s artistic director. The book is by 

playwright Michael Weller (Moonchildren); 

music is by Lucy Simon (The 

Secret Garden); and lyrics are by alumnui 

Michael Korie (Doll) & Amy 

Powers (Sunset Boulevard). Anthony 

Crivello, who won a Tony Award for 

his role as Valentin in Kiss of the Spiderwoman, 

headed the cast. 

Editor: 

Newsletter Staff 

Associate Editor: 

Design and 

Layout: 

Contributing Editors: 

David Spencer 

Frank Evans 

Patrick Cook 

Richard Engquist 

Jane Smulyan 

is crisp and 

thrilling, with 

roaring Dolby 

surround. Almost 

as good, and of roughly standard 

VCD quality, is the miniseries of 

Frank Herbert’s Dune (written and 

directed by John Patterson, not to be 

confused with the David Lynch feature 

film), stereo and widescreen 

(from MediaMax), spread over six 

discs, approximately 44 minutes 

per—you forget about artifacting 

unless you obsessively scrutinize the 

image at the expense of enjoying the 

film. 

By contrast, the spellbinding and 

faithful mini-series of The Shining 

(teleplay by Stephen King himself, 

directed by Mick Garris, not to be 

confused with the “Original novel 

What original novel” Kubrick film), 

crams approximately the same 

amount of playing time into only 

four fullscreen discs from Warner 

Home Video (yes, they have an 

Asian branch), and the lesser quality 

is apparent right away. 

Okay, so given the no-frills nonfeatures, 

the slight-to-significant 

lower grade resolution, the other 

possible trade-offs, what are the 

advantages to VCDs 

Well, first of all: they’re free of the 

geographical region coding that 

plagues DVDs and irritates DVD’s 

international-minded connoisseurs. 

(Unless one owns a Region Free 

DVD player, region coding is how 

the motion picture industry regulates 

distribution and release, 

because coding prevents, for example, 

a USA [Region 1] machine from 

letting you play a UK [Region 2] 

DVD.) My brother currently resides 

33 

in Brazil (Region 3), but I was able to 

make him a gift of the LOTR trilogy, 

because any VCD is playable anywhere 

in the world, on almost any 

recent-vintage DVD player. (But it’s 

advisable to check first: I was surprised 

to learn of a few newish 

DVD/TV and DVD/VCR combo 

units that did not.) 

Secondly, as I say, any computer 

disk drive welcomes any functional 

VCD. 

Thirdly, and I offer this neutrally—use 

the info wisely, discreetly 

and morally—VCDs tend not to be 

copy-protected, or not very challengingly 

so. If a particular video is out 

of print, or you need to share potential 

source material with a collaborator, 

burning the odd one-off copy is 

a monkey chore. 

Fourthly, the VCD titles we Westerners 

are likely to purchase are 

almost always licensed and legal 

releases—even the ones offered on 

eBay, important if you get a disk that 

is damaged and needs to be 

replaced. (By contrast, most of the 

insanely inexpensive DVDs offered 

on eBay from Asian sellers, especially 

season sets for such as X-Files, 

Buffy, Millennium, The West Wing, 

and anime like the incredible Cowboy 

Bebop, are attractively boxed, beautifully 

designed, factory pressed, 

extravagantly professional, wholly 

satisfying—and totally bootlegged. 

Piracy of authentic video product is 

big business in Asia, laundering 

organized crime loot. [Canadian customs 

officials now assiduously stop 

counterfeit imports at the border; tell 

your Canuk friends.] Whereas if you 

go to an online Asian video vendor 

of licensed products [see below],

designed to recognize 

VCDs and 

others. And as for 

computers—VCDs 

don’t even require 

DVD facility. Like normal audio 

CDs, they play on any CD-ROM 

drive with the proper (and basic) 

software (see the endnote to this article). 

Consequently, Asian VCD shops 

all over the Internet have routinely 

added English-language mirror sites 

geared toward Western world customers—even 

to sell their native 

Asian fare! 

Cool, right Well, qualified cool. 

Here’s what VCDs don’t have—or 

if so, never comparably—that DVDs 

do: chapters, interactive menus, 

alternate audio/commentary 

tracks—or any extra features (i.e. 

behind-the-scenes documentaries) 

that aren’t a contiguous extension of 

the video program. VCDs also don’t 

let you skip around in a non-linear 

fashion: rewind and fast-forward are 

scanning operations, equivalent to 

searching on a VHS tape. And VCDs 

don’t feature the kind of double-layered 

DVD (MPEG3) compression 

allowing an entire film be stored on 

a single disk that plays at any one of 

three encoded speeds. A VCD, 

always single layered (MPEG1), 

plays at the one standard CD speed 

and holds, maximum, about 70-75 

minutes worth of movie (ideally no 

more than 60—the less compressed 

the files, the better the video and 

audio); most average-length films 

occupy two disks. Widescreen is 

rarely an option. Commercial VCDs 

also tend to conform to the European 

PAL broadcast system, rather 

32 

than the North American NTSC system 

(the difference has to do with 

how many lines create the picture on 

a traditional phosphor dot TV 

screen). But system compatibility is 

rarely an issue these days, since 

almost all newer DVD players have 

built-in converters, and can be set to 

automatically pump out an NTSC 

signal. And broadcast systems are 

not an issue with computer drives 

and monitors. However, if there are 

Malay and/or Chinese subtitles, 

their translated text is burned into 

the image (hardsubs) and can’t be 

removed or “deselected” (like softsubs 

on a DVD). 

More differences: Depending on 

the release, video quality of a VCD 

can be equivalent to, a little better, or 

a little less good, than VHS or slowest-speed 

DVD, with similar imperfections, 

sometimes evidencing 

what’s called artifacting, because the 

viewer can occasionally distinguish 

artifacts of the image: points on the 

screen where, especially if you’re 

right on top of it (as you might be, 

watching on a desktop or laptop 

computer monitor), you can see pixilation 

(literally, dottiness) during the 

quick “redraw” of action scenes; a 

vague “softness” to certain outlines; 

or blockiness and “shade shifting” 

within very “hot” solid colors, fadeins 

and fade outs (animated films 

can be especially susceptible). 

And, to borrow an infamous 

small print caution, “results may 

vary” from video to video: Each notquite-four-hour 

film in the Audio 

One label’s exceptional Special 

Extended Editions widescreen 

release of the Lord of the Rings 

(LOTR) trilogy, four disks per flick, 

In Progress 

9 

MARTHA—THE UNAUTHO- 

RIZED MUSICAL 

is a stage show about the 

domestic diva’s trial and tribulations 

told through song and dance. 

Well, sort of. The creators are being 

coy about who the actual subject of 

the show is—the lead character is a 

woman named Martha Blake, who 

“rises from her working-class Polish 

roots to become doyenne of 

American domesticity,” according 

to the show’s website. 

But there’s no question that 

Martha, which had an industryonly 

reading of its first act in June, 

is based on Stewart. The second 

act has the character involved in a 

“nasty” insider-trading scandal. 

“If there are any similarities, 

they’re unintentional, of course,” 

said James-Allen Ford (alumnus), 

Martha’s composer and co-librettist. 

“But if there are any,” he 

added, “we hope the audience will 

be on the side of the heroine, as we 

are. Great musical theater always 

has a character that has to overcome 

an obstacle or a tragic flaw, 

and we believe this character has 

that. We call it the price of perfection.” 

Ford, whose credits include 

the a cappella musical Along the 

Way, which ran at the 2003 New 

York Fringe Festival, collaborated 

with lyricist John G. Ekizian, a 

New York literary agent. “We 

started this before any of the scandals 

began,” said Ford, who is 

hoping for an eventual Broadway 

run. “We thought it was a compelling 

story then, and it’s just gotten 

more compelling.” 

Actress Sally Wilfert, who 

appeared in Assassins and Tom 

Sawyer, played the part of Martha. 

SISTER ACT 

Peter Schneider, the former Disney 

executive, will direct and coproduce 

a new stage musical version 

of the hit Whoopi Goldberg 

film comedy. Alan Menken is 

writing the music, Glenn Slater 

(alumnus) is lyricist and Cheri & 

Vill Steinkeller are in charge of 

the book. The show is being considered 

for a fall 2006 staging at 

the Pasadena Playhouse. Broadway 

is the expected next step. 

STRANGE FRUIT 

Four scenes from the opera, 

Strange Fruit, music by Chandler 

Carter, libretto by Joan Ross 

Sorkin (Librettists) were produced 

by Golden Fleece Ltd., The Composers 

Chamber Theatre in their 

evening of opera drawn from Literary 

Landmarks. The presenta- 

Joan Ross Sorkin

tion ran six performances at the 

Educational Alliance Theatre in 

NYC in May. Strange Fruit, adapted 

from Lillian Smith’s best-selling 

novel, is the story of an secret 

interracial love affair in Georgia, 

1920. The opera was originally 

showcased at New York City 

Opera’s VOX 2003: Showcase of 

American Composers, and was 

commissioned by Long Leaf 

Opera of Durham, NC. It will be 

premiered in Chapel Hill, NC in 

2007. 

WAR BRIDES 

The York Theatre Company’s 

Developmental Reading Series 

kicked off Aug. 23 with War Brides, 

a new musical that features a book 

by Ron Sproat (alumnus), music 

by Christopher Berg (alumnus) 

and lyrics by Frank Evans (Committee). 

The musical concerns the 

lives of World War II British war 

brides and their struggles to be 

reunited with the American soldiers 

they love. Playing the lead in 

the reading was First Year lyricist 

Kristen Maloney. 

In Festival 

THE BALLAD OF BONNIE & 

CLYDE 

by alumnus Michael Aman was 

presented as part of the New York 

Musical Theatre Festival. It 

starred country singer Sherrie 

Austin and Deven May (Batboy, 

York Theatre Weird Romance). 

Michael Bush (MTC) directed and 

Randy Skinner (42nd Street) choreographed. 

BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER 

was presented at the Theatre at 

Saint Clements, September 13-25, 

as part of the 2nd Annual New 

York Musical Theatre Festival. 

The musical—based on the Lions 

Gate film by Jamie Babbit 

and Brian Wayne Peterson—features 

book and lyrics by Bill 

Augustin and music by Andrew 

Abrams. Daniel Goldstein directed 

the workshop presentation, 

which featured choreography by 

Wendy Seyb and music direction 

by Brian Nash. But I’m a Cheerleader, 

according to production 

notes, “is a wacky coming-of-age 

comedy about Megan, a typical 

high school cheerleader who has 

the perfect life. That is, until she 

finds out that everyone she knows 

thinks she’s a lesbian and her parents 

send her away to a rehabilitation 

camp called True Directions. It 

is at this camp, under the strict 

tutelage of headmistress Mary 

Brown that Megan meets Graham, 

a sexy tomboy who shows her 

exactly what her ‘true 

direction’ is.” 

way to own movies. But in that era, 

VCDs constituted a luxury medium, 

requiring luxury electronics to play 

them. You had to own either a laser 

disk (LD) player or a “CDi” player 

(in turn requiring a special cartridge 

into which your VCDs could be 

loaded)—both shelf units. This rendered 

VCD portability almost moot; 

and LDs remained superior. Plus in 

that era, home computers (just beginning 

to become common) still used 

floppy disks as their primary 

portable media, grayscale and B&W 

displays still common. CD-ROM 

drives would not become essential 

for several years. 

Needless to say, America and the 

Western world passed on the VCD 

format so quickly that, today, the 

average Westerner doesn’t even recognize 

the acronym. (I think the only 

format that vanished even faster was 

the Capacitance Electronic Disk, or 

CED—a mid-80s medium whose 

video-audio info was stored on 

grooved platters played with a stylus, 

like vinyl LPs! Google that one sometime, 

it’s the grand Edsel of phosphor 

dot leisure.) Thus videocassette 

players, which also recorded, maintained 

their already-viselike hold on 

the marketplace without so much as 

a minute’s interlude. 

Conversely, in Asia it was VCRs 

that never really gained a toehold. 

But when Video Compact Disks 

were introduced, they jibed with the 

Asian outlook on what Michael 

Crichton called—in a nonfiction 

book of the same name—“electronic 

life,” and the format took off like a 

rocket: cheap VCD players began to 

proliferate like bunnies. And a large 

proportion of commercial VCD titles 

were drawn from American and 

British films. That remains so to this 

day: Western titles are routinely also 

issued in the Asian VCD marketplace, 

from Miss Congeniality 2 to 

Hellboy to season sets of The West 

Wing. 

Thus VCDs account for the predominant 

commercial video format in 

the world, outpacing DVDs by a surprising 

margin. 

In the interim, of course, DVDs 

increasingly took over the Western 

marketplace. Right technology, right 

marketing, right time for consumer 

interest. 

Ironically, this granted commercial 

VCDs retroactive consumerfriendliness 

in the West, because the 

format backed into compatibility 

with what had become everyday, 

household-and-portable equipment. 

Now that we live multi-disk-format 

lives, DVD players have become 

more comprehensive, routinely 

10 

31

place where the crap, I mean, 

goods, were (was). Our “tour” of 

Chinatown’s knock-off underbelly 

included a scary elevator and basement 

where they probably lock up 

bad children. The teenagers of 

course were thrilled with their purchases 

and can’t wait to do it again. 

For more Chinatown ideas, 

check out columns by the experts. 

Robert Sietsema did some great 

articles for the Village Voice on the 

best cheap chow, and here’s the 

link: http://www.villagevoice.com/ 

nyclife/0523,cheapchownow,64696, 

19.html. 

There’s another great link on the 

Manhattan and Flushing Chinatowns:http://pitchblack70.tripod. 

com/gaijingirl/Links.html. 

Also, if you want to search further 

check out Jim Leff ’s 

www.chowhound.com and look for 

the most recent posts on NYC Chinatown 

(restaurants as you know 

can get raves in 2002 and panned in 

2005). 

Since Chinatown’s huge, there 

are a million other places we 

haven’t been. If you go, report on 

what you’ve found please, and 

send tips on where to go in Flushing, 

too. See you all soon. 

THE LESSER-KNOWN PLATTER 

by David Spencer 

30 

My first set of VCDs was a 21 disk 

collection of the early-90s animated 

Tintin adventures, based on the 

world-famous graphic novels about 

the intrepid, young, bequiffed 

reporter-adventurer by the late Belgian 

cartoonist Georges Remi (a.k.a. 

Hergé) and produced for television 

by the Canadian studio Nelvana. I 

paid way too much for the collection 

via one of my first eBay auctions, 

but I needed it to research a project, 

it was a remaindered set, out of 

print, and at that time the episodes 

did not exist on DVD. 

The disks’ audio tracks, said the 

listing, were English, but the 

licensed manufacturer-distributor of 

the set (now defunct) had been 

based in the Philippines, so the eBay 

listing also “cautioned” that there 

would be Malay subtitles burned 

into the images. I didn’t need to be 

told that the acronym VCD stood for 

Video Compact Disk, and from there 

it wasn’t much of a leap to assume 

that a VCD was exactly that, a basic 

CD that carried both audio and 

video data—but otherwise, I wasn’t 

sure what the hell I was buying, or if 

the disks would even play on my 

equipment. 

Well, they not only played—on 

everything I owned with a disk drive 

connected to a monitor—but they 

made me rabidly curious about the 

format. And here’s what I learned: 

Sony and Phillips tried to introduce 

VCDs to the US in the early 1990s, as 

a nifty, highly portable, space-saving 

David Spencer 

THE FABULIST 

an epic fable of Aesop, book by 

Stephen Witkin (Librettists alumni), 

music and lyrics by David 

Spencer (Committee, Second Year 

co-moderator), based on a novel 

by John Vornholt (alumnus, 

Lehman Engel’s L.A. classes) held 

the coveted Saturday night slot in 

the 2005 Festival of New Works at 

the Village Theatre in Issaquah, 

Washington. Starring as Aesop 

was Second Year composer-lyricist 

David Austin. The Fabulist is the 

winner of a 2002 Richard Rodgers 

Development Grant and two 

Gilman and Gonzalez-Falla Theatre 

Foundation grants. 

FEELING ELECTRIC 

From a note by alumnus composer 

Tom Kitt: “I am proud to 

announce that in September, Feeling 

Electric, the original musical I 

have been working on with [alumnus] 

Brian Yorkey, will have its 

New York premiere as part of the 

NYMF Festival. We have been 

developing this project for some 

time, and are extremely excited 

about this production. We are 

joined by director Peter Askin 

(Hedwig and The Angry Inch) and 

an amazing cast: Anthony Rapp 

(Rent, on Broadway and the 

upcoming feature film), Amy 

Spanger (Kiss Me Kate, Chicago), 

Joe Cassidy (Dirty Rotten 

Scoundrels), Ben Schrader (Big 

River), and Analeigh Ashford. In 

addition, we have an amazing 

crew working behind the scenes 

including the incredibly talented 

musical director Alex Lacamoire 

(Wicked) and set designer Robert 

11 

Brill (Assassins).” 

GOING TOO FAR 

by Joan Ross Sorkin (Librettists) 

was featured in July’s Samuel 

French Original Short Play Festival. 

The play is adapted from the 

real life incident involving Rachel 

Corrie, an American girl who was 

killed by Israeli bulldozers during 

a protest against the demotion of a 

suicide bomber’s home in Gaza. 

ISABELLE AND THE PRETTY- 

UGLY SPELL 

an upside-down Cinderella fairy 

tale, music and lyrics by Steven 

Fisher (Alumnus), book by Fisher 

& Joan Ross Sorkin (Librettists), 

was presented by the New York 

Musical Theatre Festival in September. 

Isabelle is the story of a 

scatterbrained fairy godmother 

who goofs when she casts a spell 

and has only three days to make 

things right or the spell will never 

be broken. The show recently 

enjoyed its first professional production 

on the mainstage at the 

Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle 

Theatre in Coral Gables, FL. The 

show, the winner of the 10th 

Annual National Children’s Theatre 

Festival contest, ran for 30 

performances, and over 13,000 

“children of all ages” saw the 

show during the course of its onemonth 

run. 

MEET JOHN DOE 

based on the film by Frank 

Capra, music by Andrew Gerle 

(Participating Collaborator), lyrics 

by Eddie Sugarman (Advanced), 

book by the songwriters, with

Eddie Sugarman & Andrew Gerle 

additional story by Matt August, 

was the runaway hit of the National 

Alliance for Musical Theatre 

(NAMT) Festival. As described: 

“A powerful, jazz-driven show 

about greed, lies, ideals, and a 

media battle for the heart of the 

American people,” The stars were 

Donna Lynne Champlin and 

Michael Rupert. 

ROOMS 

a “rock romance” co-written by 

Paul Scott Goodman (alumnus), 

who musicalized Bright Lights, Big 

City, was part of the 2005 New 

York Musical Theatre Festival 

from September 13-23 at the 45th 

Street Theatre. Goodman, a native 

Scotsman, penned music and lyrics 

for the new two-actor project and 

co-wrote the book with Miriam 

Gordon. Scott Schwartz (The Foreigner, 

Bat Boy, Golda’s Balcony) 

directed the production, which 

stars Jeremy Kushnier (Footloose) 

and Natascia Diaz (Bright Lights, 

Big City). “Rooms centers on songwriting 

partners Monica Miller and 

Ian Wallace, who meet in Glasgow, 

Scotland in 1977,” according 

to production notes. “Monica is a 

middle-class Jewish girl interested 

in the bright lights of Broadway 

while Ian is a working-class rock- 

12 

and-roll Catholic boy. Nevertheless, 

opposites attract and the two 

form an instant bond. Their music 

takes them from Glasgow to London 

to New York. Though Monica 

longs to see every room in the 

world, Ian is happy with four 

walls, a window, his music and a 

scotch. This rock romance explores 

their musical journey around the 

world and through time.” 

RAW IMPRESSIONS FILM FES- 

TIVAL #7 

Take a group of approximately a 

hundred writers, directors, actors, 

producers, directors of photography, 

editors—and composers— 

divide them almost randomly into 

teams, and tell them they have two 

weeks to create a film that will be 

shown in a series of screenings 

about sixteen days hence…and you 

have the 7th Raw Impressions Film 

Festival, a kissin’ cousin to the Raw 

Impressions Short Musicals Festivals. 

Though the RAW films that 

have gotten the most Workshop 

attention have been musicals (Love, 

Mom, by workshoppers Maryrose 

Wood and Andrew Gerle, and Free 

Fall by David Simpatico and workshopper 

Jeff Blumenkrantz), RAW 

also produces non-musical film festivals, 

and two workshoppers tried 

their hand at film scoring for the 

first time: Daniel Acquisto 

(Advanced) and David Spencer 

(Committee) were the composers 

for Festival #7 films The Death of 

Nathan’s Ghost and Static respectively. 

Screenings were held in 

early November. For more information: 

www.rawimpressions.org. 

the further east you go. Ordering 

things by the pound makes the 

owners happy. You’ll usually get 

charged more for smaller quantities. 

Sponge cake is big in Chinatown, 

and Chinese bakeries pride 

themselves on their own versions. 

On Mott just south of Canal there’s 

Fay Da (83 Mott), a bakery where 

the staff is patient with overwhelmed 

English speakers. It’s 

pricier (cheap still by NYC standards) 

but friendly to non-Chinese 

speakers. Ovaltine’s also popular in 

Chinatown, and you’ll find it at 

almost any bakery. 

On Mulberry there’s a small grocery 

store, Tongin Mart (91 Mulberry, 

down the stairs), which isn’t 

overwhelming like Deluxe Food 

Market and has higher but still fair 

prices. There are large bottles of allnatural 

Pearl River Superior soy 

sauce (the “light superior” sauce is 

good) for a little over a buck, and 

tons of interesting sauces. It’s also a 

great place to go for sushi supplies. 

Right across the street is the 99-Cent 

Chinatown store that’s huge, fun, 

and crowded; it’s easy to go way 

overboard with stuff you don’t 

need. Around the corner is the Chinatown 

Ice Cream Factory (65 

Bayard at Elizabeth), which makes 

29 

its own exotic flavors like green tea, 

almond and red bean. 

The medicinal herb places can 

intimidate the uninitiated, but it’s 

fun to look. Mary, who’s our tea 

expert, seemed to like Ten Ren on 

Mott Street south of Canal, which 

specializes in exotic green teas. 

Chinatown has tons of shavedice 

places but we haven’t tried 

them yet. Mary and I checked out 

an Asian shaved-ice dessert stand 

on St. Marks near 1st Avenue, 

Dumpling Man, where the counterpeople 

shave the ice for you and 

ladle sweet beans with special 

syrups on top. Then Mary charmed 

the proprietor by speaking Mandarin 

and now has yet another 

friend for life. 

This summer, two otherwise 

wonderful teenagers wanted me to 

help them buy the counterfeit bags, 

jewelry and other stuff that makes 

Chinatown a tourist destination. 

Gack! Our morning was filled with 

folks muttering “Vuitton, Vuitton” 

under their breaths and showing 

pictures of their merchandise. 

When my charges nodded eagerly 

at a picture, the “lead generators” 

would palm us off to a “scout” 

who’d take us to some hidden

field. 

I have never been cheated on a 

purchase from any of the sites 

named above, but remember, caveat 

emptor—let the buyer beware. Some 

sites do offer various forms of protection 

on what you buy. 

The process of selling online is 

for another article. Selling isn’t 

hard, but you have to run it like a 

small business. Begin with buying. 

Once you get the hang of that, you 

may find you’ll want to go into selling 

just to support your buying 

habit. 

Musical Theatre—it’s like drugs 

without the needle marks… 

MEANDERING IN 

CHINATOWN: 

A STARVING ARTIST’S GUIDE 

by Alison Loeb 

Here are some favorite spots in 

Manhattan’s Chinatown, given the 

thumbs-up by my family, the intrepid 

Mary Feinsinger, and two 

teenagers. Warning: Most of this 

info is for the food-obsessed. 

There is an enormous food court 

between Mott and Elizabeth streets, 

Deluxe Food Market (79 Elizabeth, 

just north of Canal) where you can 

grab a snack of scallion pancakes, 

$1, Chinese pastries, and large bubble 

teas—taro’s a favorite—for 

$2.50. (Bubble tea’s been around 

awhile. For those new to it, it’s 

sweetened milk tea, different flavors 

served on top of cold black 

tapioca balls, which you slurp 

through a straw. The experience is 

probably similar to sucking small 

eyeballs, but perhaps tastier and 

without messy optic nerves getting 

28 

caught in your teeth.) You’ll see 

animal organs on display…amazing 

how many different kinds of 

innards and outards there are. You 

can order an incredibly cheap lunch 

there, and if it’s an “off-peak” time, 

you might even get a seat. Further 

up Elizabeth is the Chinese grocery 

store, Dynasty Super Market (68 

Elizabeth) with rows of Asian products. 

On the way, you can watch 

fishmongers chase the crabs that 

jump out of the barrels and onto 

the street. We cheer for the crabs, 

but you don’t have to. 

Further east on Eldridge, there’s 

the Dumpling House (118 Eldridge 

at Broome), with dumplings 5 for 

$1 and up. Dumpling House also 

makes small sandwiches on sesame 

bread with beef and marinated carrots, 

which are similar to Vietnamese 

bahn mi. Another 

dumpling place, purported to be 

greasy but great, is Fried Dumpling 

on 106 Mosco Street. 

The prices at the vegetable 

stands are similar from stall to 

stall…one favorite is on Grand and 

Centre. Though there are stands 

west of Broadway, prices get better 

Alison Loeb 

A TEXAS FUNERAL 

a short play by James McGuire 

(Librettists), described as “a comic 

look at an eccentric family’s dead 

grandmother and the daughters’ 

struggle for burial rights,” directed 

by Christopher Presley was presented 

in May’s Playwrights/ 

Directors Workshop Festival featuring 

readings and workshops of 

new plays developed in The 

Actors Studio Playwrights/Directors 

Workshop. 

THE TUTOR 

the new Rodgers Award-winning 

musical by lyricist-librettist 

Maryrose Wood (Advanced) and 

composer Andrew Gerle (Participating 

Collaborator), had a developmental 

workshop in the Village 

Originals program of the Village 

Theatre near Seattle, WA, June 17- 

19. Village Theatre is a leading producer 

of musical theatre in the 

Pacific Northwest. (See also The 

Tutor under Works: In Production.) 

Maryrose Wood 

13 

In Concert and 

Cabaret 

AN EVENING WITH ALAN 

MENKEN 

Alan Menken 

The emeritus multi-award-winning 

composer of Little Shop of 

Horrors, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, 

Weird Romance, the Madison 

Square Garden A Christmas 

Carol and numerous animated 

Disney features, including Beauty 

and the Beast (which spawned the 

still-running stage version) and 

The Little Mermaid (stage version 

pending) was the focus of a concert 

at Merkin Hall on Monday, 

September 26. The concert featured 

guest vocalists Judy Kuhn, 

Michael McGrath, Kerry Butler 

and Brian d’Arcy James, a medley 

performed by the composer himself, 

and Lynn Ahrens (emeritus) 

as emcee/interviewer. The program’s 

selections were drawn from 

prior works whose lyricists includ-

ed BMI Workshop affiliates 

Howard Ashman, David Spencer 

and Ms. Ahrens; as well as selections 

from forthcoming works 

including Sister Act and Leap of 

Faith, with lyrics by Workshop 

alumnus Glenn Slater. 

AMANDA GREEN & TOM KITT 

PLAY WITH THEMSELVES 

The alumni lyricist and composer 

continue appearing on the 

cabaret circuit, this time at Birdland 

on October 17 with Special 

Guest Stars Brooks Ashmanskas, 

Jenn Colella, and Amy Spanger; 

and featuring Peter Sachon on 

Cello and Christian Hebel on Violin. 

As described: “Amanda & Tom 

perform songs of theirs from various 

projects, including Feeling 

Electric, High Fidelity, Debbie 

Does Dallas and more!” 

CHARLES BLOOM CABARETS: 

The work of the alumnus composer-lyricist 

will be featured in: 

Revue #1: Beyond the Music: 

The Songs of Charles Bloom. 

Director: Michael Cassara. Location: 

Don’t Tell Mama, 343 West 

46th Street (between 8th and 9th 

Aves.) Dates/Times: Monday, 

12/12 at 6:30pm: Sunday, 12/18 at 

8pm: Monday, 12/19 at 6:30pm. 

Reservations (Suggested): (212) 

757-0788. Admission: $10.00 Cover 

(plus 2-drink minimum). “This 

will be the first revue of my work 

in NYC since I was in college. The 

objective of the revue is multi-fold: 

to do a great deal of material 

which has never been sung before, 

to introduce my work to the crop 

14 

Charles Bloom 

of young performers who don’t 

know it and, most importantly, to 

do a show which gets, well, 

‘beyond’ theatre scores.” 

Revue #2: I HAVE ALWAYS 

DEPENDED UPON THE KIND- 

NESS OF STRANGERS. Director: 

Andrew Glant-Linden; Musical 

Director: Eugene Gwozdz; 2nd 

Piano/Synth: David Snyder; Location: 

The Triad, 158 West 72nd 

Street (between Amsterdam and 

Columbus Aves.) Dates: Monday, 

1/16/06 at 7:00 pm; Monday, 

1/23/06 at 7:00pm. Reservations: 

(212) 877-7176; Admission: $10.00 

(plus 2-drink minimum). 

Charlie’s song, “The Straits of 

Magellan” appeared in the 

November ASCAP/MAC Showcase. 

JILL ABRAMOVITZ AND BRAD 

ALEXANDER 

were among four featured writers 

on Sunday, October 16th at 

Any Minute Now’s A Beat Ahead 

series at The Triad. They present- 

available for 

immediate 

sale are 

flagged “Buy 

It Now.” 

There is only 

one copy of 

Making Musicals 

up for auction, and its starting 

bid is set at $11.51. The “Buy It 

Now” price is $12.75. Add in the 

$3.95 shipping costs, and—is this 

guy nuts Why should you pay as 

much as $16.70 for a book you can 

get for $11.79 

Why indeed 

Books are all well and good, but 

what of CDs For our example 

here, with apologies to Messrs. 

Lopez and Marx, let’s choose the 

original Broadway cast recording of 

Avenue Q, which lists for $18.98, but 

is available at Amazon for $13.49. 

However, it’s also available there, 

“used and new,” from $8. Half.com 

offers a “Brand New” CD for $8.88. 

And here’s a factory-sealed copy on 

eBay with a starting bid of 99¢¢. I 

doubt if that bid will win this particular 

auction, but while I’ve been 

writing this article another factorysealed 

copy sold for $7.77. 

By now you see the pattern, 

which continues for 

videos/DVDs—this stuff is out 

there, and it is cheap. 

Primary lesson: before you buy 

anything from any of these sites, 

mouse around for the best price. I cannot 

stress this strongly enough. 

And don’t forget to figure in the 

shipping charges, which can vary 

wildly, especially on eBay. 

One last eBay point—many of 

these sellers (like me) run small 

27 

operations where it makes no sense 

to accept credit cards. If you plan to 

do any significant buying on eBay, I 

advise setting up a free PayPal personal 

account through the link on 

the eBay site. Then you can use 

PayPal like a debit card, paying for 

your purchase directly from your 

bank account without having to 

mail a check and wait for it to clear. 

Once you’re comfortable with 

buying small things, in no time at 

all you’ll be fearlessly seeking out 

greater savings on the kind of gear 

many musical dramatists swear by. 

Perhaps you’re a composer who 

needs a digital or analog recordermixer 

workstation. You’ll not only 

find substantial savings on new 

models—you’ll find unbelievable 

savings on discontinued models, 

with no loss of professional quality. 

The Roland VS1680 Digital Workstation, 

formerly $2,500, can now 

be found for under $500; the dedicated 

CD burner that goes with it 

retails for $300, but you can find it 

for $175. 

Do you write words rather than 

music New computers, peripherals 

and other really useful hootenannies 

can be had at considerable 

savings if you look outside the Big 

Box. 

While this newsletter would 

never encourage anyone to do anything 

illegal it should 

be noted (just for the sake of curiosity) 

that if one were seeking a legitimate, 

low-cost “DVD player” that 

was both “region-free” and “VCR 

friendly,” it might be as close as 

typing those three phrases—each in 

its separate set of quotation marks, 

as shown—into a Google search

Jerry James 

your books, CDs or videos/DVDs 

from various online dot-com Big- 

Box stores. 

Stop! Don’t do that! There are 

sites out there that allow individuals 

to sell these things for much less 

than you’ll pay at the dot-com mall. 

And once you begin buying small 

items, the door will swing open 

to—but I am ahead of myself. Here 

follows an introduction to the 

online sites where I buy from those 

individuals the things I cannot otherwise 

beg, borrow or steal. 

I assume you have access to a 

computer and a credit card. These 

sites will require you to register (for 

free) in order to buy from them. 

Prices are as I found them the day I 

wrote this—your mileage may vary. 

And now, on with the shopping. 

Let’s begin with books, seeking 

out Making Musicals by Tom Jones, 

a volume worth knowing. If you 

must have this book in the next 

three hours or lose a job, then bite 

the bullet, run down to the Drama 

Book Shop (250 W. 40th St.) and 

buy it. If not, let’s begin our search 

at a spot you probably already 

know, www.amazon.com. 

Making Musicals lists for $16.95 

on Amazon, but they will sell it to 

you for $11.53. However, right 

under this offer, what do we see 

Amazon casually mentions it also 

has for sale by individuals 28 

26 

copies of Making Musicals, “used 

and new,” from $11.48. (I’ll bet this 

thrills Tom Jones to death, encouraging 

buyers to spend their money 

where he gets no royalties.) The 

$11.48 copy is described as “Brand 

New,” with a shipping charge of 

$3.49. Total — $14.97. 

That’s a good price, but how 

good To see, let’s go to 

www.half.com. 

At Half.com, as in the “used and 

new” section of Amazon, individuals 

post their wares for sale. A copy 

of Making Musicals, described as 

“Like New” is going for $9.00. Add 

Half.com’s $2.79 shipping charge. 

Total — $11.79. 

Much better price, isn’t it But 

we’re not through yet. Let’s check 

in at www.abebooks.com. 

Abebooks is a consortium of 

over 12,500 independent booksellers 

worldwide, their inventory 

all neatly gathered in one cyberplace, 

awaiting only you and your 

credit card. Making Musicals is 

available “Brand New” for $10.94 

from a shop in Avalon, PA. Shipping 

is $3.85. Total—$14.79. 

(Please note that for out-of-print 

works, Abebooks is invaluable. A 

hardcover copy of Words with Music 

by Lehman Engel, described as 

“Very Good,” is available for $8.50 

from a store in Emeryville, CA. 

Shipping is $3.50.) 

But before we decide to buy 

Making Musicals from the seller at 

Half.com, we must check out the 

monster of them all, 

www.ebay.com. 

The mighty eBay is unlike these 

other sites in that it is primarily an 

auction house, although items 

ed material written with past and 

current Workshop-member collaborators 

Aron Accurso, Andrea 

Gellert, Adam Mathias and Joy 

Son. 

MARY FEINSINGER (A Miscellaneous 

Listing): 

In her own words, from an 

email: ”(1) I wrote music (a song 

and incidental music) for two 

shows which were created this 

past summer at Camp Theatreworks 

(Theatreworks/USA), for 

which I was music director. (2) I 

recreated the role of Rifke—aka 

Ruth—in a production of Di Yam 

Gazlonim (a Yiddish version [by 

Al Grand] of The Pirates of Penzance] 

at the 92nd Street Y.” 

Personals 

COMPOSER/LYRICIST WANT- 

ED FOR AMERICAN SOME- 

BODY 

Nationally successful pop musician 

(Howard Stern, Carson Daly, 

Dennis Miller, Janeane Garofalo, 

etc) working on musical parody of 

American Idol and the big media 

machine, looking for collaborator. 

Very Hudsucker-ish, Lots of contacts. 

Book is almost complete. 

Contact Onedder@aol.com. 

LYRICIST WANTED 

Composer looking for lyricist for 

future collaboration. Composer is 

a member of both ASCAP & BMI 

and is a published composer of 

two children’s musicals. Looking 

15 

for people who have burning 

desire to write for musical theater. 

Contact Steven Silverstein, 

StevenFS@aol.com. 

CHRISTMAS MATERIAL FOR 

YOUNG AUDIENCES 

From Advanced composer Lisa 

DeSpain: “I work as the vocal 

coach at Professional Performing 

Arts High School and Junior High. 

I’m putting together our ‘Holiday’ 

program and am finding myself 

short on great Hanukkah material 

and/or comedy Christmas material. 

(Kwanza) I wondered if some 

of our fabulous writers had some 

trunk songs or theatrical holiday 

material they’d be interested in 

contributing to our program. The 

kids are FABULOUS! It’s going to 

be a great show. If anyone wishes 

to contact me with their material 

I’ll be at (917) 385-9594 or at 

DeSpanish@aol.com.”

Shelf Life 

THE JEFF BLUMENKRANTZ 

SONGBOOK 

A piano/vocal folio of songs 

with music by the Tony-nominated 

(Urban Cowboy) Advanced composer-lyricist, 

plus lyrics by himself, 

Annie Kessler, Edna St. Vincent 

Millay, and Libby Saines, is 

now available. For more details 

and links to purchase, visit 

www.jeffblumenkrantz.com. 

THE LAST STARFIGHTER on 

CD 

(As reported in Playbill Online by 

Ken Jones) 

The score to the musical The Last 

Starfighter, by composer-lyricist 

Skip (a.k.a. Walter Edgar) Kennon 

(First Year Moderator, ex officio), 

will be released on a world premiere 

recording from Bruce Kimmel’s 

new Kritzerland label, 

according to an announcement on 

Kimmel’s Haineshisway.com. 

The CD is set to come out late 

16 

October or early November. Website 

pre orders at www.kritzerland.com 

will be shipped earlier 

than the street date. 

The Last Starfighter is a science 

fiction musical inspired by the 

1984 screenplay of the motion picture 

of the same name. It opened 

the 2004-05 season of New York’s 

Storm Theatre, breaking the theatre’s 

weekly attendance and 

weekly box office records. According 

to the collaborators, it lured 

not only the regular theatre audiences, 

but also sci-fi fans from as 

far as Seattle, L.A., Santa Fe and 

Colorado, many of whom professed 

to have come to New York 

especially to see the musical. (Science 

fiction musicals are rare, to be 

sure: Little Shop of Horrors [by 

Howard Ashman and alumni Alan 

Menken] and Weird Romance 

[by Menken, committee-member/moderator 

David Spencer and 

Alan Brennert] come to mind.) 

This was lyricist-composer Skip 

Kennon’s first score heard in New 

York since Manhattan Theatre’s 

not just the fussiness of your high 

school English teacher. Rhyme 

makes meaning clearer. As a song 

goes by at its own speed, anything 

that focuses the ear (I know, I 

know) serves the great god of clarity. 

False rhymes also may create an 

impression of your character that 

you don’t necessarily want—an 

impression of carelessness or confusion 

or illiteracy. Lerner gets 

away with nine/time because the 

parallel structures ending with ‘you 

were late’ makes the meaning so 

clear that the false rhyme really 

doesn’t fudge the meaning. As 

well, since the character is clearly 

unclear, the false rhyme sort of 

seals the deal. 

Sometimes we mistake a rule for 

what is but a convention. And conventions 

are only innovations on 

the path to becoming clichés. Look 

at the dream ballet (okay, don’t)— 

what was once fresh became a 

shorthand so generic as to become 

meaningless. 

We tend to think that rules 

require an “I want” song to be a 

solo for your leading character. Not 

necessarily. “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” 

as a number for Liza and some 

cockney men does a far better job of 

showing us who Miss Dolittle is. 

She doesn’t want a castle in Capri 

or a trip to Paree or a summer by 

the sea, but a warm room somewhere. 

She doesn’t have grandiose 

dreams but basic needs. Eliza is not 

just dreaming; and the contrast 

between her and the men really 

tells us that she is going to go after 

something. She is made of the stuff 

that gives her the courage to get 

herself to Mayfair in the next 

25 

scene—a journey farther than the 

sea or Paree or Capri. 

Rule says we have to care about 

our leading character(s). True 

enough. But that does not mean to 

make them goody two-shoes. We 

care about characters when we 

understand the situation they are in 

and are invested in how they 

resolve it. We love Mrs. Lovett—her 

amorality is breathtaking and 

charming. “And I’m tellin’ you, 

them pussycats is quick” sealed the 

deal for me. 

The great shows re-invent the 

rules as they go along. That’s why 

they’re great. The worst thing that 

can happen to a rule is that it turns 

into a formula. Formulae are only 

great in math and maybe the cradle. 

Remember the description of 

our art, a new musical. The most 

important rule is: make it up as you 

go along. Just don’t forget conflict, 

character, clarity and making the 

audience feel for the characters. 

As Lehman Engel said, feeling is 

first. 

And all the rest is talk. 

BUYING CHEAP 

by Jerry James 

Like most BMIers, you’ve learned 

to squeeze a dollar till George 

Washington grins (lyric by Jimmy 

Cox). Your video store is the New 

York Public Library. You scour the 

steps of the Metropolitan Museum 

for a discarded button-of-the-day 

rather than pay admission. You 

arrive at the AMC 25 in the morning, 

buy one ticket, then spend the 

day sneaking into as many other 

movies as you can. And you buy

Unsolicited Advice 

Ed Weissman 

(Continued from Page 1) 

know the rules before you can 

break them.” What does that mean 

I think, if it is more than a truism, it 

means that if you really understand 

the rules, you’ll know when you 

can get away with breaking them. 

But that doesn’t give much guidance. 

What are rules anyway I 

think they are attempts to codify 

inchoate principles of dramatic 

construction. (The ultimate oxymoron 

is an inchoate know-it-all.) 

There are times when the rules 

really do not do a good job of 

encompassing the more general 

principles. That’s when breaking 

the rules is not only okay, but desirable. 

For instance, the rules generally 

demand that the leading character 

gets the eleven o’clock number. In 

Guys and Dolls, the rule is broken: 

Nicely-Nicely, a secondary character, 

gets “Sit Down You’re Rockin’ 

The Boat.” In one of the greatest of 

all musicals the rule is broken for a 

very good reason: the central conflicts 

are not between Adelaide and 

24 

Nathan or Sky and Sarah, but gamblers 

versus the save-a-soulers. It is 

Nicely (who has nicely introduced 

the show, by the way) who resolves 

the conflict. 

Rule says no self-pity on stage. 

Most commentators say Adelaide 

gets a pass on that rule because her 

lament is so funny. I’m not sure. 

More is going on here. Given her 

era, class and gender, Adelaide 

probably has no more than an 8th 

grade education. Yet, here she is 

plowing through a medical text, 

sounding out the big words, and 

attempting to understand her 

predicament. In other words, she’s 

not self-pitying at all, she’s angry 

and on the path of self-knowledge. 

And that’s why we love her. 

Sometimes the rule isn’t needed 

to achieve the larger purpose. 

“We met at nine” 

“We met at eight” 

“I was on time” 

“No, you were late.” 

The rule is, of course, no false 

rhymes. Why no false rhymes It’s 

Alan J. Lerner 

Club’s presentation of Time and 

Again. Kennon is also known for 

the solo-actor musical, Herringbone 

[book by Tom Cone, lyrics by 

emeritus Ellen Fitzhugh]. 

The Last Starfighter draws on the 

Jonathan Betuel screenplay, about 

a teen video-game player enlisted 

to save a universe. Fred Landau 

(Librettists alumnus) wrote the 

libretto. The movie marked the last 

motion picture appearance of 

Robert Preston. 

The performers on the CD 

include members of the 2004 New 

York production, among them 

Charlie Pollock (Bobby Strong of 

Urinetown on Broadway), in the 

dual lead role of Alex Rogan and 

the Beta unit ”double” put on 

Earth to take Alex’s place; DeeGee 

Brandemour, Brad Coolidge, 

Bernardo De Paula (Jesus on TV’s 

Rescue Me), Jan Leigh Herndon 

(Broadway’s original La Cage aux 

Folles), Paul Jackel (Broadway’s 

The Secret Garden), Hugh Brandon 

Kelly, Joseph Kolinski (Broadway’s 

Titanic, LesMisérables and 

The Human Comedy), Julia Motyka, 

Georga Osborne (Broadway’s 

Meet Me in St. Louis, two-time 

MAC Award winner), William 

Parry (Broadway’s Sunday in the 

Park With George, Gypsy and Passion), 

Catherine Remmert, 

Jonathan Richard Sandler, 

Heather Spore (who will play the 

“Catherine Deneuve” role in Two 

River Theater’s upcoming Umbrellas 

of Cherbourg) and Travis Walters 

(Broadway’s Our Town). 

“In a small town nestled in the 

Sierra Nevada Mountains in 1983, 

Alex Rogan is about to discover 

the adventure of a lifetime,” 

17 

according to production notes. 

“An 18-year-old with an uncertain 

future, Alex becomes the master of 

a video game only to discover that 

Centauri, a huckster trying to save 

his vulnerable galaxy and make a 

little money in the process, put it 

on Earth as a testing ground. Centauri 

offers Alex membership in an 

elite cadre of space pilots charged 

with protecting the universe. Alex 

must find a way to reach his 

potential, while a great danger 

looms out in space, waiting for 

him.” 

The Storm Theatre production of 

The Last Starfighter had direction 

by Storm artistic director Peter 

Dobbins, with choreography and 

musical staging by Jennifer Paulson 

Lee. 

THE MUSICAL THEATRE 

WRITER’S SURVIVAL GUIDE 

by David Spencer (Committee, 

2nd Year co-moderator) is fast selling 

out its first print run, and 

receiving consistent five-star ratings 

at Amazon.com. For more

info, excerpts and accolades by 

Larry Gelbart, Richard Maltby, 

Jr., Alan Menken, Gerard 

Alessandrini and others, go to 

www.aislesay.com/NY-GUIDE. 

html. Published by Heinemann 

Drama. 

SEX KITTENS AND HORN 

DAWGS FALL IN LOVE 

A new novel by Maryrose Wood 

for teens and other people who 

want to know the secret of love, 

published by Random House, will 

be in stores January 24, 2006. Preorder 

on Amazon.com now 

(www.maryrosewood.com). As 

described: “Meet Felicia, 14-yearold 

student at the Manhattan Free 

Children’s School (also known as 

the Pound). In Felicia’s world, she 

and her best friends, Jess and Kat, 

like to refer to themselves as the 

Sex Kittens, and the boys they 

know as the Horn Dawgs. Felicia 

is getting tired of waiting for a 

Horn Dawg to notice her uniqueness, 

however. So she devises a 

project she and the object of her 

affection, Matthew the Science 

Brain, can work on together. Felicia 

is determined to discover the 

Secret of Love with Matthew while 

winning both Matthew’s heart and 

the science fair. But love has other 

plans. (Doesn’t it always)” 

And the 

Winner Is... 

CHAVEZ 

a play by Richard Aellen 

(Librettists), was selected as a runner-up 

in the MetLife Foundation 

Nuestras Voces National Playwriting 

Competition. The play 

received a $500 prize and a staged 

reading directed by Cyn Canel 

Rossi at the Repertorio Espanol 

theater in New York. 

HARRINGTON AWARDS 

The BMI Foundation recently 

announced the winners of the 6th 

Annual Jerry Harrington Musical 

Theatre Awards in recognition of 

outstanding creative achievement 

in the BMI Lehman Engel Musical 

Theatre Workshop. Patrick Cook, 

artistic coordinator of the workshop, 

presented certificates and 

cash prizes during a cocktail reception 

June 13 at BMI’s New York 

office. 

The 2005 recipients of the Jerry 

Harrington Musical Theatre 

Awards are First Year Workshop 

member Phoebe Kreutz (now in 

Second Year); Second Year Workshop 

member Jill Abramovitz 

(now in Advanced); Librettist 

Workshop member Adam B. 

Matthias; and Advanced Work- 

Nancy Ford 

Kristen Maloney & Frank Evans 

18 

23

cist Will Randall reprised their hit 

of the last BMI Showcase, “It 

Shoulda Been You,” from The 

Wedding Project. 

Underscoring the theme of the 

evening was the “borrowed” set 

for another show (dark that 

evening) on which the concert was 

performed: Enjoying a sold-out 

limited run in Theatre B was yet 

one more musical by workshop 

writers, Maryrose Wood and 

Andrew Gerle’s prize-winning 

The Tutor. 

Pat Cook 

shop member Sean Hartley. 

Established by Harrington’s 

longtime friend and colleague, 

BMI executive Evelyn Buckstein, 

the awards were given each year 

in Harrington’s honor to celebrate 

the late attorney’s lifelong love of 

musical theatre. According to the 

BMI announcement, “In only five 

years, these awards have already 

given early recognition to some of 

the most talented and promising 

young musical theatre composers 

and librettists working in the field 

today, including Tony Award winners 

Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx 

(Avenue Q) who received the first 

Harrington awards in 2000.” 

selected as a finalist in the Jackie 

White Memorial National Children’s 

Playwriting Contest. Yucky 

Puce is a musicalized sequel to The 

Upside Down King of Minnikin, 

written by Fran for Polka Dot 

Door, a children’s TV show in 

Toronto and published by Annick 

Press. 

Jeff Marx & Bobby Lopez 

Barbara Anselmi 

Beth Falcone 

David Spencer 

ISABELLE AND THE PRETTY- 

UGLY SPELL 

a Musical Fairy Tale, with music 

and lyrics by Steven Fisher (alumnus, 

Advanced) and book by Joan 

Ross Sorkin (Librettists) and 

Steven Fisher, developed at BMI in 

the Librettists Workshop and the 

Second-Year Class in 2001-2002, 

was chosen as the winner of the 

10th Annual National Children’s 

Theatre Festival contest at the 

Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle 

Theatre in Coral Gables, Florida. 

Honoring the winner, the Actors’ 

Playhouse mounted a full production 

of Isabelle in this year’s festival 

with a 20-performance run on their 

mainstage from April 27-May 27, 

2005. 

YUCKY PUCE 

book and lyrics by Fran Handman 

and music by Sheldon Gartner, 

both alumni of BMI, has been 

BMI-Lehman Engel 

Musical Theatre Workshop 

320 West 57th Street 

New York, NY 10019 

212-830-2508 

theatreworkshop@bmi.com 

Jean Banks – Senior Director 

Steering Committee 

Patrick Cook 

Richard Engquist 

Frank Evans 

Frederick Freyer 

Nancy Golladay 

Alan Menken 

Susan H. Schulman 

Jane Smulyan 

David Spencer 

Maury Yeston 

22 

19

Master Class #7 

David Yazbeck 

On Thursday, September 29, the 

BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theatre 

Workshop offered its fifth Master 

Class (the first of the season) in the 

third floor Media Room. Composer/Lyricist 

David Yazbeck (The 

Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) 

was the panelist invited to comment 

on the work of two selected 

Advance class writing units. As 

usual, committee member David 

Spencer served as moderator. 

The two shows represented by 

25 minute excerpts were Haunted, 

music by Jason Coll, lyrics by 

Marcus Stevens, Carla Arnone, 

and Jason Coll 

20 

Adam Overett 

Carla Rose Arnone, book by visiting 

collaborator Marcus Stevens; 

and Call it Courage, book, music 

and lyrics by Adam Overett based 

on the YA novel by Armstrong 

Perry. 

Emergence 

Gerard Alessandrini 

BMI, The Prospect Theatre Company, 

and Musical Mondays Theatre 

Lab presented an evening of 

“songwriters who emerged from 

the BMI Lehman Engel Musical 

Theatre Workshop,” performing a 

concert on September 14 at 59E59 

Theater’s Theater B space (59 East 

59th Street). The BMI Songwriters 

Showcase was part of the New 

York Musical Theatre Festival, 

and Gerard Alessandrini, creator 

of the Off-Broadway mainstay Forbidden 

Broadway, hosted. 

The evening featured a number 

of Tony Award-winners, including 

composer/lyricist Maury Yeston 

(Nine and Titanic); the team of 

Robert Lopez & Jeff Marx 

(Avenue Q); and composer Judd 

Woldin (Raisin), who joined 

Drama Desk-winning lyricist 

Richard Engquist (Kuni-Leml) in 

songs from their recent off-Broadway 

musical Little Ham. 

Drama Desk Award winner 

Nancy Ford, composer to lyricist 

Gretchen Cryer for the current 

American Girls Revue, performed 

a song from their Eleanor and 

Franklin. David Spencer sang 

“Need to Know” from his, Alan 

Menken and Alan Brennert’s 

Weird Romance; there was an 

early preview of songs from Frank 

Evans’ War Brides (which would 

be featured as part of the NYMF 

Festival on September 27 at BMI); 

lyricist Patrick Cook and composer 

Frederick Freyer, (who co-wrote 

the Drama Desk nominated Captains 

Courageous), sang songs 

from their new musical version of 

The Night Before; Jeff Blumenkrantz 

(an Urban Cowboy 

contributor) and Beth Falcone 

(Jonathan Larson Fellow) showcased 

original work; finally, composer 

Barbara Anselmi and lyri- 

21 

Maury Yeston

Fall/Winter 2005 - BMI.com

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