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.

‘JASPER IN DEADLAND’ MAKES EUROPEAN PREMIERE IN GERMANY

January 31, 2019

RSO and Hunter Foster’s musical Jasper in Deadland, which opened Off-Broadway in 2014 and moved to Seattle’s acclaimed 5th Avenue Theatre in 2015, opened on January 21 in Hildesheim, Germany.

Elisabeth Köstner and Nicolo Soller
Amanda Whitford

Tickets and more information may be found here. Check out the official show program here.

Jasper in Deadland continues performances around the world. Go to Samuel French’s website for licensing information, and listen to the cast album on Spotify.

2018 YEAR IN REVIEW

December 30, 2018

Here’s a look back on 2018. 

RSO MUSIC HIT 1 MILLION STREAMS ON SPOTIFY

Thanks for listening!

¡HAVANA!, DIRECTED BY WARREN CARLYLE, PREMIERED

In the spring, the musical, which features RSO tunes and lyrics, set sail on Norwegian Cruise Lines brand new ship, the Bliss, and has since opened on a second ship — the Jade.  ¡HAVANA! also includes songs by Cuban pop sensation and Grammy Award winner Albita. Find out more

PLAYBILL GAVE ¡HAVANA! SOME LOVE WITH AN INTERVIEW AND PHOTO FLASH

Check out production stills here.

RSO INTRODUCED THE WORLD TO THREE POINTS OF CONTACT

RSO’s latest show, THREE POINTS OF CONTACT, was presented at 54 Below in April. The cast included Britney Coleman (Sunset Blvd.), Ben Fankhauser (Newsies), Katie Rose Clarke (Miss Saigon), Eric William Morris (King Kong) and more. Find out more

CRAZYTOWN CAME TO LONDON

In March, RSO returned to London with an evening of songs, directed by Adam Lenson and music directed by Joe Bunker (the three previously collaborated on an acclaimed run of 35mm: A Musical Exhibition at The Other Palace).  Find out more

crazytown scores

…and then in December, Britishtheatre.com critic Julian Eaves called it one of London’s theatrical highlights for 2018. Read the article

PLUS NEW SHEET MUSIC RELEASED

Music and Lyrics by RSO: Volume 4 was released (also featuring tons of gender-bending keys for old favorites), as well as the complete vocal score to Otherbody, a brief musical allegory. Find out more

AND HERE’S A LOOK AT WHAT’S COMING IN 2019 …

Keep your eyes peeled:

  • Gavin Creel, Lindsay Mendez, Jenn Colella, and so many more have recorded a conceptual album of RSO’s Three Points of Contact, from the producers of 35mm: A Musical Exhibition.
  • Universal Theatrical Group has commissioned RSO and his Mrs. Sharp collaborator, bookwriter Kirsten Guenther, to adapt a musical version of a popular 1990s film …
  • Pulitzer-prize winning opera librettist Royce Vavrek will team up with RSO for a musical adaptation of an Oscar-nominated film …
  • Playwright Chelsea Marcantel and RSO are musicalizing a brand new play set in Cajun country, Louisiana …
  • ¡Havana! will open on a third ship …

Plus —

  • The audio release (finally!) of Darling, live in concert, starring Nicholas Christopher (Hamilton, Miss Saigon) and Kerstin Anderson (LCT’s My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music) …
  • Jasper in Deadland will receive its German premiere …
  • One of RSO’s most beloved shows will be adapted as a novel …
  • And much more to be announced!

Coming at you, 2019.

RSO’S CRAZYTOWN IS A HIGHLIGHT OF LONDON’S 2018 SEASON

December 30, 2018

Britishtheatre.com critic Julian Eaves named RSO’s Crazytown: The World of Ryan Scott Oliver one of five London theatre highlights this season.

From Britishtheatre.com:

“In March, ‘Crazytown: The World of Ryan Scott Oliver‘, at The Other Palace Studio, directed by Adam Lenson, with musical direction by Joe Bunker and RSO himself on hand to sing and play with the band was lush and wonderful.  Incredibly, this was only given for a single evening, and it is undoubtedly one of the best musical events to have appeared in this country all year.  Why, when so many inferior works get bigger and longer productions – when they plainly do not merit them – does a writer of such genius languish in a nearly forgotten corner?  There is no sense in this world.  Nonetheless, the supply of dross kept on coming, and I had to waste evening after evening sitting through shows that should never (and I mean, really… never!) have been shown the light and sound of a full production.  Why do people continue to throw good money after bad in this way?  It beggars belief.  Meanwhile, quality remains neglected.  There is something wrong here.  I’m actually forced to wonder whether Theresa May has something to do with the funding of new shows.”

Read the full article and see Mr. Eaves’s other highlights here.

Crazytown The World Of Ryan Scott Oliver

The cast of Crazytown