RSO: MONDAY THE 13TH feat. DRAG RACE’S JACKIE COX, BEN CRAWFORD, JAY ARMSTRONG JOHNSON, BONNIE MILLIGAN and MORE

September 4, 2021

Very Intense Productions is pleased to present RSO: MONDAY THE 13TH, an intimate evening of songs by multi-award-winning composer-lyricist Ryan Scott Oliver at Feinstein’s/54 Below. Show time will be 7:00pm on Monday, September 13, 2021. The show will also be livestreamed.

Rounding out the cast is Kerstin Anderson, Heath Saunders, Bandits on the Run, and Arielle Jacobs, with Kathryn Allison, Kae Bragg, Ethan Carlson, Lillian Andrea De León, Nicole DeLuca, Caitlin Doak, Alina Fontanilla, Jessie Hooker-Bailey, Michael Lowney, Miranda Luze, Adam Magnacca, Milo Marami, Kim Onah, The acoustic stylings of Eleri Ward, Donté Wilder, and Daniel Yearwood

It’ll be a scary good time.

Joshua Zecher-Ross music directs Allison Seidner on cello, Hiroko Taguchi on Violin, Yuka Tadano on basses, and Andrew Zinsmeister on guitars. Orchestrations are by Ryan Scott Oliver.

Audience members can expect to hear tunes from the prolific list of Oliver’s work, from Mrs. Sharp; Darling; 35mm: A Musical Exhibition; Jasper in Deadland; We Foxes; Rope; Otherbody, a brief musical allegory; Three Points of Contact, and world premieres from Oliver’s latest work from Heart and Souls, Hugo, and Shirley Jackson’s Demons.

RSO: MONDAY THE 13TH plays Feinstein’s/54 Below (254 West 54th Street) on September 13, 2021 at 7:00pm.  Seats for the show are currently sold out, but seats may come available closer to the show date. A live stream is available for $15 plus fees. Tickets and information for both are available at www.54Below.com. Tickets on the day of performance after 4:00 are only available by calling (646) 476-3551.

’35MM: IN FOCUS’ NOW STREAMING

March 18, 2021

John Johnson and Very Intensive Productions are pleased to announce the release of 35MM: A Musical Exhibition in Focus, an album of commentary, original cast interviews, and track-by-track song breakdowns. The album is available now (March 9) via Spotify, Apple Music, and all streaming platforms.

  • Did you know that the song “Crazytown” is structured around the 20 most common nightmares of college students?
  • Or that “The Ballad of Sara Berry” was written in 2 days before its world premiere?
  • Hear how the guitar riff of “Good Lady” was pulled straight out of “Giants in the Sky,”
  • The first line of “Party Goes with You” was recorded with the wrong lyric … and no one caught it,
  • And learn the tragically true story that inspired “Cut You a Piece.”
  • Plus so much more.

35MM: A Musical Exhibition is a cult-hit musical written by Ryan Scott Oliver that has been performed hundreds of times all over the world, including Japan, Australia, Scotland, England, Canada and across the US. With a cast recording (by Ghostlight Records) that has been experienced more than 20 million times, the show is song cycle based on photographs by world-renowned Broadway photographer Matthew Murphy (Murphymade.com).

The podcast-style album is narrated by Ryan Scott Oliver and features interviews with original cast members Alex Brightman, Ben Crawford, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Lindsay Mendez and Betsy Wolfe, with additional commentary by Murphy. Every song (including transitions) receives a track-by-track breakdown, analyzing music and lyrics and digging deep into their origins and inspirations.

A comprehensive deep dive perfect for actors, directors, writers, and creatives of any kind, 35MM: A Musical Exhibition in Focus also includes Oliver and Murphy reflecting on the decade-old songs and photographs respectively (“Matt and Ryan Grade 35MM”), a discussion with the original cast about the show’s legacy (“Parting Shots”), and a TedTalk-style tutorial guiding young creatives on how to develop and produce their own work by the writer himself (“RSO’s Thoughts on Making Stuff Happen”).

JAMES, MENDEZ, AND MILES STAR IN ‘RSO AT F/54’

February 16, 2020

Tony Award-winners Nikki M. James, Lindsay Mendez, and Ruthie Ann Miles star in RSO AT F/54, an evening retrospective of musicals by multi-award-winning composer-lyricist Ryan Scott Oliver at Feinstein’s/54 Below. Show time will be 7:00pm on March 31, 2020. 

The evening will also feature Tony nominee Kate Baldwin, plus Christy Altomare, Kerstin Anderson, Katie Rose Clarke, Ben Fankhauser, Drew Gehling, Jason Gotay, Troy Iwata, Jay Armstrong Johnson, John-Michael Lyles, Katie Thompson, and Natalie Walker.

Also featured during the evening are Ethan Carlson, Caitlin Doak, Ian Fairlee, Mary Claire Miskell, David Park, Bethany Perkins, and Donté Wilder.

Joshua Zecher-Ross music directs Max Grossman on Keyboard 2, Allison Seidner on cello, Coco Taguchi on Violin, Joseph Wallace on basses, Jeremy Yaddaw on drums, and Andrew Zinsmeister on guitars. Orchestrations are by Ryan Scott Oliver.

Audience members can expect to hear tunes from the prolific list of Oliver’s work, from Mrs. Sharp; Darling; 35mm: A Musical Exhibition; Jasper in Deadland; We Foxes; Rope; Otherbody, a brief musical allegory; Three Points of Contact, and world premieres from Oliver’s latest work.

You can purchase tickets at Feinstein’s/54 Below’s website.

RSO returns to Feinstein’s/54 Below this March

December 15, 2019

On March 31, 2020 — after two years away — RSO returns to Feinstein’s/54 Below for his most awesome evening of song to date. With a cast of Broadway stars and fan favorites (to be announced), audiences can expect to hear some of RSO’s best-loved songs from 35MM: A Musical Exhibition, Jasper in Deadland, We Foxes, Darling, Mrs. Sharp, and more — plus a few brand-new tunes!

The cast for the evening will be announced soon, but tickets are already on sale at the venue’s site.