“ALL MEN ARE TIED TOGETHER” from ROPE
From Rope in Concert at 54 Below (3 of 8)
Performed by MAURICE MURPHY with IAN FAIRLEE, MARY CLAIRE MISKELL, DAVID PARK and DANIEL YEARWOOD
Along the journey, Daniel, the man who practically raised Shy, offers Shy and Clay a final sermon that despite their differences, in this life all men must bond together, for only then, may true brotherhood be found.
“THE ROAD EVERLASTING” from WE FOXES
From We Foxes in Concert at 54 Below (Video 1 of 8)
Performed by F. MICHAEL HAYNIE, KERSTIN ANDERSON, KATIE THOMPSON
And WILL ERAT, CORY JEACOMA, JOHN-MICHAL LYLES, ANDI ALHADEFF, VICTORIA HUSTON-ELM
Sheriff Quimby and his beloved wife Vesta are dead. The town learns that their adopted daughter, Willa, is responsible. One tramp, Mr. Sallow, is asked to tell what he knows about the orphan girl Willa. Four years earlier, Willa, a young teenager, lives the tramp life on the road with her brother, George. But George is hauled away to war, leaving Willa without a soul in this world to guide her. Vesta Quimby adopts Willa, indoctrinating her into a glamorous world of privilege and class. Yet that isn’t Willa; Willa comes from road people, and once her brother returns from the war, she’ll have her real family again.
On Tuesday, October 27th 2015, RSO performed the premiere of a new song at Lincoln Center Originals: Songwriters. Check out the full video over on Broadway World and read the lyrics below:
“NEW PICTURES”
Matthew always dreamed of dancing with ABT…
That is, of course, American Ballet Theatre.
(Which I thought it was a college because I’m dumb.)
He’d studied since a kid, and worked his ass off,
And then it happened. It ALL happened.
He had this picture in his head
Of dancing at the Met.
And by seventeen he’d joined that scene
In tights and T-shirt stained with sweat.
Building stacks of broken shoes,
Every day a brand new bruise,
A life’s goal attained so fast!
But what’s a dream to do
When it’s finished coming true?
The picture of his life didn’t — couldn’t last.
Cuz the picture in your head
Never ends like you expect.
And four years in, room starts to spin,
He stayed home sick, his body wrecked.
Sure, he thought, a minor bug,
But after weeks, and still a slug,
The docs called it Epstein-Barre.
Goodbye the dreams of ballet star…
Goodbye … goodbye …
He was lost. Everything he worked for,
Gone!
All the pieces smashed asunder,
Left eighteen months to wonder
What would he do now?
What would he do now?
With his picture just a shred,
He was jobless, with no hope.
But that wasn’t him, and so on a whim
He bought a camera, just to cope.
Slow at first, but then some speed —
He knew the passion it took to feed
A skill, whether dance or art —
He knew how much time, how much heart —
He was found. Suddenly the work came
Fast!
Putting pieces in position,
Reigniting old ambition,
He was an artist once again and how!
And now —
We have a picture by our bed
Of him dancing at the Met.
Now he shoots the shows, and Broadway knows
He’s the go-to-guy, good as they get.
He taught me life may change your art,
But it can never change your heart.
The real test, he came to see:
The picture of a dream can fade…
But the point is, new pictures get made.
He made new art
With his new life with me.
“THERE’S A TRAIN A-COMIN” from WE FOXES
From We Foxes in Concert at 54 Below (Video 5 of 8)
Performed by F. MICHAEL HAYNIE, KERSTIN ANDERSON, KATIE THOMPSON
And WILL ERAT, CORY JEACOMA, JOHN-MICHAL LYLES, ANDI ALHADEFF, VICTORIA HUSTON-ELM
Sheriff Quimby and his beloved wife Vesta are dead. The town learns that their adopted daughter, Willa, is responsible. One tramp, Mr. Sallow, is asked to tell what he knows about the orphan girl Willa. Four years earlier, Willa, a young teenager, lives the tramp life on the road with her brother, George. But George is hauled away to war, leaving Willa without a soul in this world to guide her. Vesta Quimby adopts Willa, indoctrinating her into a glamorous world of privilege and class. Yet that isn’t Willa; Willa comes from road people, and once her brother returns from the war, she’ll have her real family again.
“DARKNESS” from ROPE
From Rope in Concert at 54 Below (8 of 8)
Performed by CLAYBOURNE ELDER
The conclusion of the story sees one of the boys sacrificing his own life for the other. The surviving boy must take the broken, frayed rope, and understand how to move on, alone. He takes the rope in hand and ties it around himself, the two souls becoming one in an eternal embrace.
“ALWAYS LOVE” from ROPE
From Rope in Concert at 54 Below (7 of 8)
Performed by ALEX WYSE & ALEX BONIELLO
At the climax of their journey, loyalties are tested and sacrifices must be made. In a cold world where brother must fight brother, Clay and Shy dream of a future together, lifelong companions and brothers forever.
“SORROW DONE” from WE FOXES
From We Foxes in Concert at 54 Below (Video 2 of 8)
Performed by KERSTIN ANDERSON
Sheriff Quimby and his beloved wife Vesta are dead. The town learns that their adopted daughter, Willa, is responsible. One tramp, Mr. Sallow, is asked to tell what he knows about the orphan girl Willa. Four years earlier, Willa, a young teenager, lives the tramp life on the road with her brother, George. But George is hauled away to war, leaving Willa without a soul in this world to guide her. Vesta Quimby adopts Willa, indoctrinating her into a glamorous world of privilege and class. Yet that isn’t Willa; Willa comes from road people, and once her brother returns from the war, she’ll have her real family again.
“I HAVE SEEN THE AFTER” from ROPE
From Rope in Concert at 54 Below (2 of 8)
Performed by ETHAN CARLSON, CORY JEACOMA with IAN FAIRLEE, MARY CLAIRE MISKELL, DAVID PARK and DANIEL YEARWOOD
America, during the Civil War, 1864. They are an unlikely pair: Clay, a gang-thief determined to find life’s fortune alone; and Szajda (“Shy”), a ghostly Jew with an Irish accent, blind but possessing a remarkable power. Yet they become tied at the waist with a length of rope, stuck together on a desperate quest through a Civil war-torn America. As their journey begins, each boy struggles to understand the stranger beside him.
“I GO ON WITH YOU” from ROPE
From Rope in Concert at 54 Below (5 of 8)
Performed by CHARLIE FRANKLIN and MATTHEW MCFARLAND
Clay vows to get Shy home to Virginia, escaping the vicious gangs of New York and pushing a path into the heart of the Civil War. Yet with all the danger ahead of them, Clay and Shy vow to journey together come what may.
“THEM BEASTS” from WE FOXES
From We Foxes in Concert at 54 Below (Video 3 of 8)
Performed by KATIE THOMPSON
Sheriff Quimby and his beloved wife Vesta are dead. The town learns that their adopted daughter, Willa, is responsible. One tramp, Mr. Sallow, is asked to tell what he knows about the orphan girl Willa. Four years earlier, Willa, a young teenager, lives the tramp life on the road with her brother, George. But George is hauled away to war, leaving Willa without a soul in this world to guide her. Vesta Quimby adopts Willa, indoctrinating her into a glamorous world of privilege and class. Yet that isn’t Willa; Willa comes from road people, and once her brother returns from the war, she’ll have her real family again.
“MY LASS, SHE TIED HER LACE TO ME” from ROPE
From Rope in Concert at 54 Below (4 of 8)
Performed by CORY JEACOMA, IAN FAIRLEE, DAVID PARK and DANIEL YEARWOOD
The pivotal moment when Clay chooses to tie to Shy, giving his friend sight. The onstage band of storytellers, The Daybreak Boys, blesses their union with a song.
“CITY OF ANGELS” from WE FOXES
From We Foxes in Concert at 54 Below (Video 6 of 8)
Performed by NIC ROULEAU
Sheriff Quimby and his beloved wife Vesta are dead. The town learns that their adopted daughter, Willa, is responsible. One tramp, Mr. Sallow, is asked to tell what he knows about the orphan girl Willa. Four years earlier, Willa, a young teenager, lives the tramp life on the road with her brother, George. But George is hauled away to war, leaving Willa without a soul in this world to guide her. Vesta Quimby adopts Willa, indoctrinating her into a glamorous world of privilege and class. Yet that isn’t Willa; Willa comes from road people, and once her brother returns from the war, she’ll have her real family again.
“MAP OF SCARS” from WE FOXES
From We Foxes in Concert at 54 Below (Video 4 of 8)
Performed by KERSTIN ANDERSON
Sheriff Quimby and his beloved wife Vesta are dead. The town learns that their adopted daughter, Willa, is responsible. One tramp, Mr. Sallow, is asked to tell what he knows about the orphan girl Willa. Four years earlier, Willa, a young teenager, lives the tramp life on the road with her brother, George. But George is hauled away to war, leaving Willa without a soul in this world to guide her. Vesta Quimby adopts Willa, indoctrinating her into a glamorous world of privilege and class. Yet that isn’t Willa; Willa comes from road people, and once her brother returns from the war, she’ll have her real family again.
“THE MAD DOG” from WE FOXES
From We Foxes in Concert at 54 Below (Video 7 of 8)
Performed by KERSTIN ANDERSON
Sheriff Quimby and his beloved wife Vesta are dead. The town learns that their adopted daughter, Willa, is responsible. One tramp, Mr. Sallow, is asked to tell what he knows about the orphan girl Willa. Four years earlier, Willa, a young teenager, lives the tramp life on the road with her brother, George. But George is hauled away to war, leaving Willa without a soul in this world to guide her. Vesta Quimby adopts Willa, indoctrinating her into a glamorous world of privilege and class. Yet that isn’t Willa; Willa comes from road people, and once her brother returns from the war, she’ll have her real family again.
“WE FOXES” from WE FOXES
From We Foxes in Concert at 54 Below (Video 8 of 8)
Performed by KERSTIN ANDERSON and NIC ROULEAU
Sheriff Quimby and his beloved wife Vesta are dead. The town learns that their adopted daughter, Willa, is responsible. One tramp, Mr. Sallow, is asked to tell what he knows about the orphan girl Willa. Four years earlier, Willa, a young teenager, lives the tramp life on the road with her brother, George. But George is hauled away to war, leaving Willa without a soul in this world to guide her. Vesta Quimby adopts Willa, indoctrinating her into a glamorous world of privilege and class. Yet that isn’t Willa; Willa comes from road people, and once her brother returns from the war, she’ll have her real family again.
“WHAT YA CALL FREEDOM” from ROPE
From Rope in Concert at 54 Below (6 of 8)
Performed by MARY CLAIRE MISKELL
Later in the story, Shy meets his long lost sister, Stefa, who has an affinity for dressing up in boys clothes. Stefa’s best friend is the slave Reggie, and she dreams of a world where her mother will free Reggie and all the slaves, and maybe even Stefa can find her own sort of freedom.
“THE STRANGER” from ROPE
From Rope in Concert at 54 Below (1 of 8)
Performed by ETHAN CARLSON, CORY JEACOMA with IAN FAIRLEE, MARY CLAIRE MISKELL, DAVID PARK and DANIEL YEARWOOD
America, during the Civil War, 1864. They are an unlikely pair: Clay, a gang-thief determined to find life’s fortune alone; and Szajda (“Shy”), a ghostly Jew with an Irish accent, blind but possessing a remarkable power. Yet they become tied at the waist with a length of rope, stuck together on a desperate quest through a Civil war-torn America. As their journey begins, each boy struggles to understand the stranger beside him.
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.
RSO and Very Intensive Productions are pleased to announce the release of Future Demons, an album of songs based on tales by acclaimed 1950s psychological horror author Shirley Jackson, composed by Ryan Scott Oliver with words by Jackson and Oliver. The new recording is available now (October 9) via Spotify, Apple Music, and all streaming platforms.
Among the stories included in the spooky collection:
In “My Life with R. H. Macy,” a young woman gets a job working at a dystopian department store where everyone’s called Miss Cooper and sales associates go missing all the time.
In “What a Thought,” a man is enjoying an evening at home with his husband, when he gets the thought, “I should kill him.”
In “The Story We Used to Tell,” two women become trapped in a photograph and must fight for their lives to escape.
REVIEWS
“An object of enduring fascination, RSO reacts to her world with protean glee, producing a kind of endlessly evolving music that is breathtakingly exciting, making its listeners almost part of the process of its invention. Yet, though he gallantly preserves much of her texts in each of his masterfully modernised, transformed and crafted lyrics, it all sounds – as ever – like totally him, and no-one else.” — BritishTheatre.com
“‘What a Thought’ by Ryan Scott Oliver and Shirley Jackson plays with the merry murderousness of couples stuck together for way too long during quarantine. The increasingly hilarious daydreams of violent retribution tap right into the increasingly dark humor we’re all using to deal with these days.” — Broadway World Album Review
“Ryan Scott Oliver and Shirley Jackson’s ‘What A Thought,’ performed by Oliver and by Jay Armstrong Johnson, is a riotously funny account of the effects of isolation, when a loving couple are driven to consider murdering each other.” — Reviews Hub
Jackson’s work was the basis of the hit Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House and the classic Robert Wise-directed film The Haunting. She is also the author of the iconic short story “The Lottery,” and was the subject of the recent film Shirley, executive produced by Martin Scorsese and starring Elisabeth Moss.
Future Demons will feature an impressive line-up of theater stars including (in alphabetical order) Kerstin Anderson, Britney Coleman, Jessie Hooker-Bailey, Victoria Huston-Elem, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Gerianne Perez, Catherine Ricafort, and Heathcliff Saunders — with Allie Boyle, Nicole DeLuca, Caitlin Doak, Samantha Ferrara, Alina Fontanilla, Adam Magnacca, Liam Joshua Munn, Kim Onah, Chloe Savit, Andreas Schmidt, Byron Turk, and Nicole Zelka.
The Band features Joshua Zecher-Ross on synths, keyboards and auxiliary instrruments, Felix Herbst on violins, Allison Seidner and David Tangney on cello, Andrew Zinsmeister on guitars, banjo and mandolin, Joseph Wallace on bass, and Joshua Samuels and Gary Seligson on drums/percussion. The album is produced by Zecher-Ross and Oliver (JZRSO Studios), and orchestrations by RSO.
The track list is as follows:
1: “My Life with R. H. Macy” — Kerstin Anderson and ensemble
2: “James Harris” — Heath Saunders and women
3: “The Story We Used to Telll” — Britney Coleman & Victoria Huston-Elem
Shirley Jackson, the author of “The Road Through the Wall”, is seen in this April 16, 1951 photo. (AP Photo)
SHIRLEY JACKSON was born in 1916 in San Franciscco and later moved to Burlingame. At university in Syracuse, she met her husband, the future literary critic Stanley Edgar Hyman, with whom she had four children. In 1948 she published her iconic short story “The Lottery” in The New Yorker, sparking furious letters from readers to the magazine. Her novels —— most of which involve elements of horror and the occult —— include The Road Through the Wall, Hangsaman, The Bird’s Nest, The Sundial, We Have Always Lived in the Castle and The Haunting of Hill House. Her short story collections include The Lottery and Other Stories, Come Along with Me, Just an Ordinary Day and Let Me Tell You. Shirley Jackson died in her sleep in 1965 at the age of 48.
