RSO’s next major project will be an adaptation of the 2011 Martin Scorsese film, Hugo, which itself was an adaptation of Brian Selznick’s award-winning novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret. The film won five Oscars and was nominated for Best Picture.
Tony Award-winner Christopher Wheeldon directs and Selznick has written the book and co-lyrics with RSO, who is contributing music and co-lyrics.
Following the release of Three Points of Contact: A Conceptual Album, RSO has released an EP of five songs from his beloved southern Gothic thriller, We Foxes: Tracks.
Set in 1945 Missouri, 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.
The release includes fan-favorite Vesta, Katie Thompson, and Emily Rogers, as the Machiavellian sheriff’s wife and the hardscrabble tramp girl respectively. Also featured is Charlie Franklin singing the role of Eugene.
Later this month, selections from Darling: Live in Concert will be released on Spotify featuring Kerstin Anderson, Nicholas Christopher, and many more. The highlights album was recorded in 2016 in association with WalkRunFly and The Score (Michael Kimmel, John DeLore and Allison Bressi).
You can hear the COMPLETE recording of Darling via The Score Podcast everywhere, including Apple Music and Stitcher.
RSO and Hunter Foster’s musical Jasper in Deadland, which opened Off-Broadway in 2014 and moved to Seattle’s acclaimed 5th Avenue Theatre in 2015, opened on January 21 in Hildesheim, Germany.
Elisabeth Köstner and Nicolo SollerAmanda Whitford
In the spring, the musical, which features RSO tunes and lyrics, set sail on Norwegian Cruise Lines brand new ship, the Bliss, and has since opened on a second ship — the Jade. ¡HAVANA! also includes songs by Cuban pop sensation and Grammy Award winner Albita. Find out more
PLAYBILL GAVE ¡HAVANA! SOME LOVE WITH AN INTERVIEW AND PHOTO FLASH
RSO INTRODUCED THE WORLD TO THREE POINTS OF CONTACT
RSO’s latest show, THREE POINTS OF CONTACT, was presented at 54 Below in April. The cast included Britney Coleman (Sunset Blvd.), Ben Fankhauser (Newsies), Katie Rose Clarke (Miss Saigon), Eric William Morris (King Kong) and more. Find out more
CRAZYTOWN CAME TO LONDON
In March, RSO returned to London with an evening of songs, directed by Adam Lenson and music directed by Joe Bunker (the three previously collaborated on an acclaimed run of 35mm: A Musical Exhibition at The Other Palace). Find out more
crazytown scores
…and then in December, Britishtheatre.com critic Julian Eaves called it one of London’s theatrical highlights for 2018. Read the article
PLUS NEW SHEET MUSIC RELEASED
Music and Lyrics by RSO: Volume 4 was released (also featuring tons of gender-bending keys for old favorites), as well as the complete vocal score to Otherbody, a brief musical allegory. Find out more
AND HERE’S A LOOK AT WHAT’S COMING IN 2019 …
Keep your eyes peeled:
Gavin Creel, Lindsay Mendez, Jenn Colella, and so many more have recorded a conceptual album of RSO’s Three Points of Contact, from the producers of 35mm: A Musical Exhibition.
Universal Theatrical Group has commissioned RSO and his Mrs. Sharp collaborator, bookwriter Kirsten Guenther, to adapt a musical version of a popular 1990s film …
Pulitzer-prize winning opera librettist Royce Vavrek will team up with RSO for a musical adaptation of an Oscar-nominated film …
Playwright Chelsea Marcantel and RSO are musicalizing a brand new play set in Cajun country, Louisiana …
¡Havana! will open on a third ship …
Plus —
The audio release (finally!) of Darling, live in concert, starring Nicholas Christopher (Hamilton, Miss Saigon) and Kerstin Anderson (LCT’s My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music) …
“In March, ‘Crazytown: The World of Ryan Scott Oliver‘, at The Other Palace Studio, directed by Adam Lenson, with musical direction by Joe Bunker and RSO himself on hand to sing and play with the band was lush and wonderful. Incredibly, this was only given for a single evening, and it is undoubtedly one of the best musical events to have appeared in this country all year. Why, when so many inferior works get bigger and longer productions – when they plainly do not merit them – does a writer of such genius languish in a nearly forgotten corner? There is no sense in this world. Nonetheless, the supply of dross kept on coming, and I had to waste evening after evening sitting through shows that should never (and I mean, really… never!) have been shown the light and sound of a full production. Why do people continue to throw good money after bad in this way? It beggars belief. Meanwhile, quality remains neglected. There is something wrong here. I’m actually forced to wonder whether Theresa May has something to do with the funding of new shows.”
