RSO Returns to LA at Rockwell in Hollywood 11/21

November 7, 2016

From BroadwayWorld.com:

On November 21, acclaimed composer-lyricist Ryan Scott Oliver will return to Los Angeles with a concert at Rockwood in Hollywood. Show time is at 8:00pm.

Featured that evening will be: Kerstin Anderson(The Sound of Music National Tour), Jason Michael Snow (The Spongebob Musical, The Book of Mormon), Eric Krop (Godspell), Ben Davis (The Sound of Music National Tour), Jared Gertner(The Book of Mormon), Deborah S. Craig (25th Annual…Spelling Bee), Carly Jibson (Fat Camp, Cry-Baby), Andrew Samonsky (The Mystery of Edwin Drood), Kate Reinders (Something Rotten!), Anna Grace Barlow (Scream Queens), Chris Meissner (Grease Live!), Kate Pazakis (The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas), Katherine Washington, plus more to be announced – and the composer himself.

Attendees can expect to hear selections from RSO’s numerous musicals including Mrs. Sharp, Darling, 35mm: A Musical Exhibition, Jasper in Deadland, We Foxes, Rope, Out of My Head and many more. Emily Clark and the Unknown Artists will co-produce, and Rodney Bush will music direct the 5-piece band.

Oliver was called “the future of Broadway… a major new voice in musical theatre” (Entertainment Weekly) and is “shaking up musical theater with his dark, twisted and genius work … [Oliver] could very well be musical theater’s answer to an auteur filmmaker or a gothic novelist” (Huffington Post). He is the winner of a Larson Grant, Rodgers Award, ASCAP Harold Adamson Award, New Musicals Awards from Weston Playhouse, Pace University, and Lortel Award Nomination. He wrote the music and lyrics for Jasper in Deadland (premiered off-Broadway and remounted at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre), 35mm: A Musical Exhibition (licensed by Samuel French, original cast recording avail. on Ghostlight Records), Darling, Mrs. Sharp, Out of My Head, and more. He is currently at work on a trilogy of new musicals beginning with We Foxes and continuing with Rope and Three Points of Contact, both currently in progress. More info can be found at ryanscottoliver.com, and his morbidly optimistic musings can be followed at @ryanscottoliver.

Rockwell Table & Stage is located at 1714 N. Vermont Ave. Tickets are on sale for $20/$30/$40 at Rockwell-la.com.

HARVARD BRINGS 35MM TO LIFE; LINDSAY MENDEZ AND RSO OFFER MASTER CLASS

September 28, 2016

35mm: A Musical Exhibition will be presented by students at Harvard University this fall on October 7th, 8th, and 9th. In preparation for the show, RSO and Lindsay Mendez, an original cast member, will come from New York, NY to Cambridge, MA to work with Harvard’s 35mm production team.

From press notes: “While on campus, Oliver and Mendez will also hold two master classes presented by Learning From Performers, a program of the Office for the Arts at Harvard. The first is a seminar led by Oliver focused on creativity in art-making and the second is a workshop based on Oliver and Mendez’s Actor Therapy program in which selected musical theatre students will perform for and receive feedback from Oliver and Mendez.

“The cast includes Ashley LaLonde, Brooke Sweeney, Brian Cami, Geoffrey Binney, and Jacob Rienstra. The production is directed by Missy Dreier, music directed by Liz Kantor, and stage managed by Kira Telgen. The production team also includes Kara Roberts, the producer, and Lindsey Ruggles, the production advisor.

“The show will be performed in the Adams Pool Theatre at Harvard University on October 7th at 7:30pm, October 8th at 2:30 pm and 7:30 pm, and October 9th at 2:30pm. Please visit www.hrdctheater.com/35mm for tickets and more details.”

RSO JOINS DUNCAN SHEIK, MARC SHAIMAN AND MORE FOR SH-K-BOOM 16TH BIRTHDAY

May 20, 2016

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Ryan Scott Oliver joined other all-star artists in concert to celebrate Sh-K-Boom Records “Sweet 16” birthday on April 14 at Symphony Space’s “Leonard Nimony Thalia.”

The music portrayed at the event spanned the spectrum of contemporary and classic theater talent that has earned Sh-K-Boom records three Grammy Awards, twelve Grammy nominations, and a Drama Desk “Special Award.”  Among these was RSO’s ‘35 MM.’  

In ‘35MM,’ each photo creates a unique song, moments frozen in time; a glimmer of a life unfolding, a glimpse of something happening.  The multimedia musical explores a groundbreaking new concept in musical theatre through a series of vivid, imaginative songs.  This show was represented at the Sh-K-Boom Birthday Concert with Grace McLean singing “The Ballad of Sara Berry” with Ethan Carlson, Mary Claire Miskell, David Park, and John-Michael Lyles.  

“I’m proud of the range of music our label has preserved and highlighted over the last 16 years,” says Kurt Deutsch, founder and producer.  “We are thrilled to have all this musical creativity together on one stage with such stellar performing talent to celebrate the records that are treasured within the community and around the world.”

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KATIE THOMPSON, NIC ROULEAU, JAY ARMSTRONG JOHNSON AND MORE SING WE FOXES AND ROPE IN CONCERT

February 19, 2016

March 14, 2016 7pm & 9:30pm AT FEINSTEIN’S/54 BELOW

RSO54-WEFOXES-GREENFEINSTEIN’S/54 BELOW, Broadway’s Supper Club, presents the music of Ryan Scott Oliver in We Foxes and Rope on March 14, 2016. We Foxes and Rope represent two of three musicals in a trilogy of musical folk operas Oliver is writing about American desperation in war-time.

RSO is returning to 54 Below with a concert show featuring the music of his next two major works. Vocal powerhouse Katie Thompson (Giant) is joined by Jay Armstrong Johnson (On the Town, upcoming Quantico) Nic Rouleau (Book of Mormon), Alex Wyse (Spring Awakening), Kerstin Anderson (The Sound of Music), and F. Michael Haynie (Wicked, Dogfight) in presenting audiences a first-look at two works on the same stage. We Foxes is a musical tale of salvation in the face of murderous manipulation set in small town Missouri, 1945. Set against the Civil War, Rope explores the bonds of brotherhood when a blind boy, Shy, becomes tied to the gang-thief, Clay, and they embark on a  quest through war-torn America.

Jill Abramovitz (Cinderella), Andi Alhadeff (Jasper in Deadland), Will Erat (Catch Me If You Can), Victoria Huston-Elem (Addams Family), and Cory Jeacoma (Fan Girl) are also confirmed to perform with more to be announced.

Matthew J. Schneider will serve as the Director of the evening with Music Direction provided by Joshua Zecher-Ross who will play piano along with a five-piece folk band.

RSO at 54: We Foxes and Rope plays Feinstein’s/54 Below (254 West 54th Street) on March 14, 2016, at 7pm and 9:30pm. There is a $30-$40 cover charge and $25 food and beverage minimum. Tickets and information are available at www.54Below.com.  Tickets on the day of performance after 4:00 are only available by calling (646) 476-3551.

RSO LIVE AT LINCOLN CENTER

January 8, 2016

DEREK KLENA, LINDSAY MENDEZ, KATIE THOMPSON, AND MORE JOIN RYAN SCOTT OLIVER TO OPEN LINCOLN CENTER’S AMERICAN SONGBOOK SERIES

12489894_10153183943696246_1931776842_oAward-winning composer Ryan Scott Oliver will open the 2016 season of Lincoln Center’s acclaimed AMERICAN SONGBOOK series with a free concert on Tuesday, January 19 at 7:30 pm in the David Rubenstein Atrium. Now in its 17th season, American Songbook celebrates the best of American singing and songwriting as interpreted by top performers and rising stars.  Admission is free; no tickets required; seating is first-come; first-served.

The concert will star Kerstin Anderson, Nick Blaemire, Ben Crawford, Jason Gotay, John-Michael Lyles, Julia Mattison, Derek Klena, Lindsay Mendez, Katie Thompson, Betsy Wolfe, and more to be announced.

It will also feature Ethan Carlson, Jessica Crouch, Ian Fairlee, Mary Claire Miskell, Tatiana Lofton, Daniel Yearwood, and the cast of Pace University’s Pace New Musicals developmental workshop of Oliver’s latest musical, ROPE. The concert will feature a dynamic range of songs spanning Oliver’s career.

For the third year, through Lincoln Center’s partnership with PGIM, the global investment management business of Prudential Financial, Songbook’s “Invest in the Future of American Song,” gave members of the public the opportunity to select the artist to open the Songbook season with a free concert at the Atrium. Oliver received the most votes, earning him the opening spot on January 19.

The Larson Grant Award-winning composer’s work has been presented at the Kennedy Center and Joe’s Pub, among other notable venues. Oliver created the music and lyrics for Jasper in Deadland premiered Off-Broadway and remounted at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre); 35mm: A Musical Exhibition (licensed by Samuel French, with original cast recording on Ghostlight Records); Darling, Mrs. Sharp, Out of My Head (licensed through Steele Spring Stage Rights) as well as the commission We Foxes (Broadway Across America). Additional career highlights include a commission for Disney Theatricals, projects for Rosie O’Donnell’s Theater Kids and Theatreworks USA’s We the People.

Oliver is the Director of New Musicals at Pace University in New York City and the Artistic Director of the Pasadena Musical Theatre Program. He is currently at work on the new musical Rope, a commission for Grove Entertainment. Visit RyanScottOliver.com and follow him on Twitter @ryanscottoliver.

American Songbook continues with performances in The Appel Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center from January 20 through February 27, followed by American Songbook in the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse from March 16 through April 1. For more information and to purchase tickets to these performances go to AmericanSongbook.org, call CenterCharge at 212.721.6500, or visit the Alice Tully Hall and David Geffen Hall Box Offices, or Frederick P. Rose Hall Box Office.

Since its launch in 1998, American Songbook has been dedicated to celebrating the extraordinary achievements of the popular American songwriter from the turn of the 20th century to the present day. Spanning all styles and genres from Tin Pan Alley and Broadway to the eclecticism of today’s songwriters working in pop, cabaret, rock, folk, and country, American Songbook traces the history and charts the course of the American song from its past and current forms to its future direction. For a list of artists that have performed in American Songbook over the years, as well as the composers that have been honored by evenings of their music, click here.

Lead Support for American Songbook provided by PGIM