‘RSO AT 54 BELOW’ will feature Klena, Mendez, Johnson and more

November 28, 2014

On Feb. 2, RSO will bring Alex Brightman, Katie Rose Clarke, Ben Fankhauser, Lindsay Mendez, Derek Klena, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Julia Mattison, Katie Thompson and many more to be announced to 54 Below.

artistpage_rso1Audiences can expect to hear songs from RSO’s latest tuner We Foxes, plus favorites from 35mm: A Musical Exhibition, Darling, Jasper in Deadland, and a few world premieres.

Most importantly, ticket buyers can get 50% off tickets purchased “Cyber Monday,” Monday, Dec. 1.  (A code will be offered via Facebook, and also placed here on Dec. 1.)

Get tickets here.

 

RSO Comes to The Beechman November 7th

October 20, 2014

A night of RSO songs, featuring actors from Bridges of Madison County, Chaplin, and Jasper in Deadland will take place on Friday, November 7th at 7:00pm & 9:30pm.

RSO at the Beechman will feature songs from many of RSO’s award winning shows, including 35MM, Jasper in Deadland, and We Foxes. Under the music direction of Joshua Zecher-Ross, the show features Charles Franklin (Bridges of Madison County), Michael Mendez (Chaplin), Andi Alhadeff (Jasper in Deadland), and John-Michael Lyles (Jasper in Deadland) with Aaron Albert, Ethan Carlson, Danae Ervin, Christian Lane Greene, Carson Higgins, Melissa Rose Hirsch, Missy Karle, Tatiana Lofton, Amy Marik, Mike Millan, Mary Claire Miskell, Jonathan Mushock, Katy Rea, Jenyth Rosati, Ryan Vasquez, and Joel Waggoner.

The Laurie Beechman Theatre is located at 402 West 42nd St. Cover charge is $20 plus a food/drink minimum.

Click here for tickets.

‘WE FOXES’ SELECTED FOR NEW HORIZONS MUSIC FESTIVAL

September 15, 2014

‘We Foxes’ is one of two shows selected for the New Music Theatre concert in Truman State University’s New Horizons Music Festival.

RSO’s new show We Foxes, which recently had a reading at the York Theatre, was selected to have selections performed at the New Music Theatre concert at Truman State University, on October 25, 2014. We Foxes was selected from 130+ submissions from 11 different countries.

We Foxes is a southern Gothic thriller set in small-town Missouri, 1945.  It’s the story of Willa, a tough and unmannered orphan girl, and her adoption by the crafty Sheriff’s wife, Vesta Quimby.  When Willa discovers the dark secrets beneath the floorboards, a war cuts them apart and Willa must fight to survive.  After all, Vesta Quimby is the most beloved and powerful woman in town … Yet she’s less humanitarian socialite than she is Machiavellian sociopath…  Can Willa discover her own salvation, deliver herself into courage, and sacrifice everything to escape Vesta?  It is a story of intense human struggle, deliverance, and the great salvation found only through oneself.

The epic period musical is mostly sung-through, combining bluegrass, country, big band and concert music of the 1940s, infused with the contemporary folk-rock of today. We Foxes is a commission from Broadway Across America, and has been in residence at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s Writer’s Retreat, CAP 21, and the Weston Playhouse.

The New Horizons Music Festival is a day of contemporary music featuring performers from the university and the surrounding region. The Festival includes music from most of the major genres in modern performance: chamber groups, multimedia, solo performers, large ensembles, and theatrical performance. The concerts and ongoing curated exhibition provide a substantive slice of contemporary music focusing on music that leverages the techniques of the classical musician and looks to the future.

As the sixteenth edition of Truman’s festival of contemporary and experimental music, this year’s Festival features six concerts on the beautiful Truman State University campus in Kirksville, Missouri. The New Horizons Music Festival will be held on the Truman campus on Saturday, October 25th.

For more information, email newhorizonsmusicfestival@gmail.com.

RSO SHOW ‘WE FOXES’ READING AT THE YORK THEATRE

August 25, 2014

Mike Donahue to direct free reading of Ryan Scott Oliver’s We Foxes at the York Theatre, with a cast featuring Katie Thompson, Ben Platt, Forrest McClendon and more.

Read the Playbill.com press release HERE.

The York Theatre will produce a reading of Ryan Scott Oliver’s new show We Foxes as part of its NEO Reading Series on September 12th at 3:00pm. Directed by Mike Donahue, with music direction by Rich Silverstein, the cast includes Katie Thompson, Ben Platt, Forrest McClendon, Anne L. Nathan, with Andie Alhadeff, Alex Brightman, Jon Ellison Conlee, Natalie Charle Ellis, Will Erat, F. Michael Haynie, Erik Liberman,  Ellyn Marsh, and introducing Emily Rogers.

We Foxes is a southern Gothic thriller set in small-town Missouri, 1945.  It’s the story of Willa, a tough and unmannered orphan girl, and her adoption by the crafty Sheriff’s wife, Vesta Quimby.  When Willa discovers the dark secrets beneath the floorboards, a war cuts them apart and Willa must fight to survive.  After all, Vesta Quimby is the most beloved and powerful woman in town … Yet she’s less humanitarian socialite than she is Machiavellian sociopath…  Can Willa discover her own salvation, deliver herself into courage, and sacrifice everything to escape Vesta?  It is a story of intense human struggle, deliverance, and the great salvation found only through oneself.

The epic period musical is mostly sung-through, combining bluegrass, country, big band and concert music of the 1940s, infused with the contemporary folk-rock of today. We Foxes is a commission from Broadway Across America, and has been in residence at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s Writer’s Retreat, CAP 21, and the Weston Playhouse.

The band features Allison Seidner on cello, Charlie Rosen on bass, Jeremy Yaddaw on percussion and Coco Taguchi on violin. Other members of the creative team include stage manager Ashley Rodbro and assistant stage manager Nessie Nankivell.

The presentation is on September 12 at the York Theatre at 3:00pm.  There are a limited number of seats open to the public. Visit www.YorkTheatre.org for more info and to reserve seats.

Ryan Scott Oliver has written eight musicals including Jasper in Deadland which completed a sold out off-Broadway run earlier this year, and is a 2011 Lucille Lortel Award nominee, a 2009 Jonathan Larson grant recipient and the 2008 Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theatre recipient. His work has been featured at the Kennedy Center, Off-Broadway and on television.

 NEO (an acronym for “New, Emerging, Outstanding”) celebrates songwriters primed to pen the next generation of musicals. The York Theatre Company recently embarked on a new year-long mentoring program that brings together established writers and upcoming producing partners to help encourage the growth of new works.

The York Theatre Company is under the producing artistic direction of James Morgan and executive direction of Andrew Levine. The York Theatre Company in Saint Peter’s is located at East 54th Street (just east of Lexington Avenue). The reading is free and open to the public with a reservation. For more information and reservations, visit www.YorkTheatre.org.

‘WE FOXES’ READING IN SAN DIEGO

May 4, 2014

RSO residency with the San Diego State University MFA Musical Theatre Program April 28-May 7.

The residency will culminate in a reading of RSO’s new show We Foxes on May 5th at 7:30pm at San Diego State University’s Experimental Theatre. The reading is directed by Paula Klaustian with music direction by Robert Meffe, and features performances by students and alumni of the MFA Musical Theatre program.

Set in 1945 Missouri, the Southern Gothic musical We Foxes tells the story of Willa, a tough, unmannered orphan adopted by the wife of the Sheriff and the bloody domestic war that ensues between them when Willa uncovers the secrets lurking beneath the floorboards. It is the story of intense human struggle, deliverance, and salvation that can only be found from within.

Admission is free, but seats are limited, and reservations are recommended. To reserve, call (619) 594-8262 or email [email protected].