“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.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“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.
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.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“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.
After a workshop in August, RSO’s new folk musical thriller was workshopped with students from Marymount Manhattan College at Pearl Studios, directed by Jason Gotay, on Nov. 2-5, 2023. Check out the cast and creative team here, and photos from the workshop below. (Credit: Matthew Murphy)
ON THIS ROCK — Shelby Acosta, Miranda Luze, Nathan David Smith, Tristan Caldwell, Caitlin Doak, Kimberly Onah and cast
MS. KELLY’S TAPES — Victoria Huston-Elem
ONLY HUMAN — Jisel Soleil Ayon
I KNOW YOU — Jack B. Murphy, Caitlin Doak and cast
THE BEGINNING OF THE END — Tristan Caldwell, Shelby Acosta, Miranda Luze and cast
THE PRICE OF LIVING — Charlie Fusari
The concept album is produced by RSO, Joshua Zecher-Ross, Very Intense Productions, and AT New Works, and is a commission from Samford University.
The musical tells the story of “Widow Clack, 18 and pregnant, who lives an exiled life running a lighthouse with her brother on a storm-crushed island set to be uninhabited in two days. When a young man is found dead on the beach, the remaining collection of young adults (left to make final preparations for the abandonment) combust into dangerous accusations leading to devastating division and ultimately, death. When a final, unexpected storm impacts the island, can Widow save the villagers from themselves?”
Joshua Zecher-Ross music directs a cast featuring Jason Gotay, Victoria Huston-Elem (The Addams Family), Jisel Soleil Ayon (Waitress, Hamilton), Shelby Acosta (1776), Kim Onah (& Juliet), Charlie Fusari (Pretty Woman), Miranda Luze (Come from Away), Ethan Carlson (Waitress), Nathan David Smith (Come from Away), Tristan Caldwell, Caitlin Doak, Nicole Deluca, Jack Murphy, and Grace Ellis Solomon.
Award-winning composer-lyricist Ryan Scott Oliver is working on a new musical framed around a notorious event involving Truman Capote. Titled “Party of the Century,” the musical is sourced from the book of the same name by Deborah Davis.
“It’s based on Truman Capote’s infamous Black and White Ball at the Plaza in 1966 and full of queerness and betrayal and murder — it was kind of crazy,” Oliver told Broadway News at the ceremony celebrating him as the winner of the 2023 Kleban Prize for Most Promising Musical Theatre Lyricist. Oliver has just started writing “Party of the Century” with book writer Kirsten Guenther. The two previously collaborated on the musical “Mrs. Sharp.”
Oliver and Guenther are developing the piece with the support of FourthWall Theatrical, which acquired the rights to Davis’ book. According to Oliver, the musical “has a Broadway trajectory.” Fourth Wall, consisting of partners Jana Bezdek and Jen Hoguet, was a part of the producing team for Broadway’s “Jagged Little Pill.”
Though Oliver’s work has not yet been produced on Broadway, his name is well-known in musical-theater circles. In addition to the Kleban Prize, he previously earned a Jonathan Larson Grant, Richard Rodgers Award and multiple honors from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Oliver’s select works include “35mm,” “Jasper in Deadland” and “We Foxes.”
The combination of the Kleban Prize, “Party of the Century” and a few other commissions has been reinvigorating, said Oliver. “I was very lucky to have a lot of success really early, and then it was sort of existing for a few years, and I really did feel that,” he said. “I told Richard Maltby [Jr.]: I feel like I’m back on the freeway.”
Ryan Scott Oliver and librettist Ethan Lipton have been named as winners of the 33rd Annual Kleban Prize for Musical Theatre by The Kleban Foundation. Each winner receives $100, 000.
Past winners have included Jason Robert Brown (Parade, The Last Five Years), John Bucchino (A Catered Affair, It’s Only Life), Jeff Marx and Robert Lopez (Avenue Q), Michael John LaChiusa (Giant, See What I Wanna See, The Wild Party), and John Weidman (Pacific Overtures, Road Show, Assassins).
Following his southern Gothic thriller We Foxes, RSO’s at work on another dark-sided project: Tomorrow, the Island Dies, for which he wrote book, music and lyrics. The show is a commission by Samford University.
In the vein of Shirley Jackson and Stephen King, the original musical tells the story of Widow Clack, 18 and pregnant, who lives an exiled life running a lighthouse with her brother on a storm-crushed island set to be uninhabited in two days. When a young man is found dead on the beach, the remaining collection of young adults (left to make final preparations for the abandonment) combust into dangerous accusations leading to devastating division and ultimately, death. When a final, unexpected storm impacts the island, can Widow save the villagers from themselves?
The show is set for a developmental production in the spring of 2024, and an EP of msuic from the show, Haverness Songs, will be released later this year. a commission by Samford University called