‘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 commissioned to write ‘ROPE’

November 23, 2014

Beth Williams and Grove Entertainment have commissioned RSO to pen the original musical Rope.

Unrelated to the Hitchcock film of the same title, the story of Rope is as follows:

New York, 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 war-torn America.  Clinging together with this charmed rope that allows the blind Shy to see through the eyes of Clay, the two young men must escape the vicious gangs of New York and push a path into the heart of the Civil War, where they find the greatest battle of all must be between themselves, brother and brother.

The show is wholly original and inspired by this photograph:

dogs
The inspiration of ‘ROPE’

The show is meant to be the second in a trilogy of folk operas set in a time of war.  It will be nearly sung-through and will feel similar in tone to the first of the trilogy, We Foxes.  The shows will be thematically linked and may even share a “universe.”  RSO will contribute book, music and lyrics.

Williams and Grove (which is currently producing the Broadway bound Tuck Everlasting, among others) previously commissioned We Foxes.

‘WE FOXES’ Concert Cast Announced

October 28, 2014

Truman University’s 16th Annual New Horizons Music Festival announces casting for October 25th Concert of ‘We Foxes.’

Selections from RSO’s We Foxes will be performed by Adam Hunn (Eugene), Lexi Diaz (Vesta), Katie Angeli (Willa) with Callie Crawford, David Stowers, Larry Jennings, Marissa Butler, Natalie Hansen, Rachel Davis, Rachel Hoffman, Ryan Smith and Shannon Barton. We Foxes is one of only two new musicals selected from over 130 entries for performance in the annual New Musical Theatre Concert.

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, and recently was given a developmental reading at the York Theatre.

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.

The concert performance will be held on the Truman State University Campus in the Ophelia Parrish Building at 4:00pm on Saturday, October 25th. Admission is free.

Read the full press release HERE and for more information on the festival, visit http://nhmf.truman.edu.

‘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.