Winter 2007 - BMI.com

NEW YORK STAGE AND FILM2006 SEASONBMI alumni Andrew Lippa andDavid Tenney both had theirwork presented as part of the 2006season of the highly successfulNew York Stage and Film, locatedat the Powerhouse Theatre on theg rounds of Vassar College inPoughkeepsie, NY. The season alsof e a t u red new works by playwrightsDaisy Foote and K e i t hHuff, as well as fresh musicals byRachel Portman, Beth Henley,and a new revue of songs byStephen Sondheim called M i x e dCompany.Jerry Christmas, Lippa’s newmusical with librettist D a n i e lG o l d f a r b was directed by D a v i dWa r r e n and performanced July28th-30th. The show re v o l v e sa round a Jewish movie star whotries to reinvigorate his career witha television Christmas special.W h a t ’s Appropriate on a FirstDate With an Earthling, DavidTenney’s “sci-fi rock opera” withl i b rettist Steven Mark Te n n e y,was off e red as a special pre s e n t a-tion on July 1st and involves abeautiful alien, a burnt-out scientist,his daughter, a cyberpunkbiker and a visit to the Capitol.LISA DESPAINLisa Despain (Advanced) hadher first symphony, Sand & S t e e l,commissioned by the A m e r i c a nComposers Forum, pre m i e re lastJuly in Gary, Indiana as the culminatingevent in the City of GaryCentennial Celebration. A d d i-t i o n a l l y, Lisa’s oratorio An Ameri -can Nativity p re m i e red last7December at the Shubert Theatrein New Haven and featured Metsoloists Brian Mulligan a n dAmanda Borst, the vocal ensembleVo c e, and the New Haven Symph o n y, which commissioned thepiece.SCRUBS: MY MUSICALThe popular hospital sitcomScrubs o ff e red a unique musicalepisode in which a patient isfound to have an aneurysm thatcauses her to hear music. Theevents of her treatment are dramatized(and musicalized) from herperspective. The score for theepisode was provided in part bythe emeritus Avenue Q team of JeffM a r x and Robert Lopez, and inpart by supervising producer ands t a ff writer Debra Fordham(lyrics) in collaboration with veteranScrubs composers Paul F. Perryand Jan Stevens. The episode firstaired on January 18, 2007.SISTER ACTa musical based on the popularfilm scripted by Joseph Howard,with music by Alan Menken,lyrics by Glenn Slater (both emeritus),and book by C h e r i & B i l lS t e i n k e l l n e r, directed by P e t e rS c h n e i d e r, is currently in its outof-towndevelopment phase, havingjust finished a pre m i e reengagement at the Pasadena Playho u s e in California, and headingt o w a rd the Alliance Theatre i nAtlanta, Georgia.