As some of you may know, we recently wrapped up our first Kickstarter campaign! Raising over $40,000 towards bringing RIO to the stage at NYMF 2012. We’d like to extend a special thanks to all the amazing people that played a part in making it happen!
A million thanks to…
Stay tuned for a post about our learning experience with Kickstarter, and how we feel it can be best utilized to successfully fund amazing theatre projects like this one!
Charlie Fink and his pioneering ‘New Musical Development Fund’ has initiated a new program in association with Catholic University of America that is providing an amazing opportunity for emerging, new musicals. And of course, who other than someone with the wisdom and charisma of Charlie Fink would be able to pull this off. Beyond having a brilliant mind covering so many issues from politics, economics to musical theatre, Charlie is also an incredibly warm and generous person. Throughout the week that Joey and I worked with the students and faculty of CUA, Charlie invited Joey and I to stay with him and his wonderful family in his beautiful home.
During our stay, we all had to go to NY for meetings with NYMF staff and the other writers who were selected for this prestigious festival. On our road trip to NY, Charlie treated us to a sneak preview of songs from his magnificent musical ‘Baby Case’ about the Lindburgh baby kidnapping that he will be producing at NYMF this summer as well. Wait until you hear the song ‘Dirty Dishes’. A complete scene in a song like you have never heard before. Bring lots of tissue!
And then, to add to the treat, we listened to all 18 minutes of ‘Tarkus’ by Emerson, Lake & Palmer (my favourite prog-rock band of the 70′s). Who has that on their iphone? Him, me, and maybe 3 other people in the north-east. When he pulled this out of his iphone, I knew I he had taste.
The adventure with Charlie didn’t end there. He was kind enough to attend the rehersals and really helped us see what needed work. He has razor sharp instincts really informed us.
And when this amazing week all had to end, and Charlie said goodbye to us at the airport, I knew this was not the end. It was only the beginning.
When we first spoke to Denise a few months ago, we thought it would be almost impossible. Teaching an entire new musical to students, and have them know it well enough in that short period that the writers could get a sense of what the show really is. Impossible maybe, but certainly not according to her. With such talent, Denise gravitated to such non-traditional theatre music with incredible skill and knowledge. On top of that, she treated the students with tremendous respect and was a guiding force as they navigated through a large amount of music that was constantly changing every day, sometimes twice or 3 times a day.
And then, she had the great idea of bringing in a percussionist to accompany her. It added so much. I think it was the moment we heard them all perform ‘House of Tin’ that the elements felt connected.
You can sit with a song on paper, or as an mp3 for years And love it. But in theatre, that song has to come to life beyond the recording for it to mean something in your show. She made that happen for us and for that…thanks Denise.
This is my first blog ever. And how appropriate that it would be written smack in the middle of one of the most surreal experiences of my life.
What started out as a trickle of an idea and a moment of inspired songwriting eight years ago, is now on a crazy journey to who knows where. On the way to our festival in NY where we will be presenting our show off-Broadway for the first time to fickle critics and (hopefully) adoring fans, we have landed in Washington DC, at Catholic University of America (CUA).
The amazingly talented students and faculty of CUA have invited us here to do a workshop of our musical ‘RIO’.
Producer Charlie Fink and CUA Faculty musical director, Denise Puricelli, organized this theatre workshop program as a testing ground for new and emerging musicals. What a great idea by two equally great people.
Now just do the math…a Catholic University in the USA is doing a workshop of a musical about Brazil written by two Jewish writers from Canada. But I get it. ‘Music is the international language’. The old adage proven here.
Besides Denise and Charlie, it was director Jay Brock whose insightful vision for the show really connected with all the students and completely psyched them up for the challenge. Special thanks and mentions must also go out to the tech-saavy and quite talented Kyle English, and whose glass-smashing belting voice has been great accompaniment during piano/percussion rehearsals, and Caroline and Jason, our stage managers who kept everything organized for everyone. And that was no easy feat with Joey and I bombarding the cast of 13, Denise and Jay with constant re-writes every few hours.
But above all of us are the students. Each one of them giving so generously of their time and talent. With the passion and drive that they’ve displayed so far, there is no reason why audiences will not be scrambling for tickets to see them on Broadway in the next few years. Truly, an outstanding group of great people!
So with all of this that we’ve been blessed with, Joey and I have left our families for a week to come here and be involved in the presentation of the very first incarnation of our vision to the students, faculty and the invited guests who include our director Scott Faris, our creative consultant and dramaturg Jack DePalma, our general manager Eve Rybnick, our casting director Jason Najjoum and of course, the soul who has made this all possible, our producer Pinny Gniwisch.
This week, ’RIO’ comes to life in front of our team and the students and faculty of Catholic University of America.
April 25, A performance of our opening song ‘My Carnaval’ to the Patrons and Donors of the NYMF Festival at their special annual event.
April 27 – casting in NY.
And this is all just the introduction to events that are about to unfold that may be even more dramatic, intense, surprising and bizarre than anything in our show.
We will keep you posted soon with this and more, including the amazing minds of all those in our inner creative circle including Scott Faris, Jack DePalma, Eve, Jason and the rest of the team.
