Musical Theatre Radio presents "Be Our Guest"

We are joined by 3 members of the Thailand musical theatre world to talk about: What is Thai musical theatre? What's it like? How does it compare to the rest of the world and many other questions.

We are joined by Raksak Kongseng, Tidtaya Sinutoke, Chutimta Puttikulangkura for another Musical Theatre Round Table.

House of Fallen Women

Music, Lyrics & Book by Natalie Rebecca Lovejoy

House of Fallen Women is an original new musical that explores women’s sexual liberation through the stories of historical women whose ambition, defiance, or desires cast them as cautionary tales or erased them from history entirely. It asks: what really makes the “fallen woman” so threatening?

Dubbo Championship Wrestling

Book & Lyrics by Daniel Cullen

Music by Daniel & James Cullen

There’s not a spare seat in the Dubbo Dome. Ozzy the Aussie Battler flicks his cape and steps into the ring, and the crowd go troppo.

This is Dubbo Championship Wrestling, the hilarious new Aussie rock musical that will change everything you thought you knew about professional wrestling, regional Australia, and musical theatre itself.

Rose, a young woman from Dub-Vegas with wrestling in her blood, has long ago turned her back on the family business and Dubbo’s stifling small-town ways. When circumstance brings her back to her hometown on the eve of Dubbomania, the biggest wrestling tournament of the year, Rose is drawn into a monumental battle over family and identity, featuring capes, choreography, and some of the most colourful characters you’ll ever meet.

The violence, the joy, the costumes, the thumbtacks. Will there be blood? We bloody hope so.

Taro Angels & Love

Music, Book & Lyrics by Dawa Tenzin

Harold married Carnation when they were young and living on the Earthly Plane.  Now a hundred years on they live on the Astral Plane, Carnation is a fully fledged angel but Harold is a lowly spirit guide still trying to earn his wings.

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Harold is tasked with bringing a young couple, Erin and Adam together and Carnation has to reunite Erin with her estranged father.

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Erin believes in destiny and consults with a tarot card reader who with the help of Harold forecasts certain happenings.

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Things don't always go to plan, can Harold and Carnation succeed in their heavenly tasks or does random fate determine otherwise?

The Fitzgeralds of St. Paul

Book, Music and Lyrics by Christie Baugher

The Fitzgeralds of St. Paul is a two-person, one act full-length chamber musical about F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, celebrated literary figures of the Jazz Age. Part memory play, part gin-soaked vaudeville, The Fitzgeralds of St. Paul is a fictionalized, hyper-theatrical imagining of an infamous marriage – an evening in which two tragic, larger-than-life icons of a bygone era finally get to tell their story.

fuzzy a New Musical

Jeff Talbott - Book & Lyrics

Will Van Dyke - Music & Lyricsfuzzy is the story of a furry little monster (named Fuzzy) who has come home to take care of their currently-ailing mother (named Muzzy). fuzzy is also the story of a storyteller we’ll call The Human, who has come to a theatre to tell the story of a furry little monster who . . .you get the gist. A teeny tiny musical (with puppets! lots and lots of puppets!) about great big things, fuzzy is mostly a story about stories themselves – why we tell them, how we tell them and what happens to a group of people listening when we do.

tick, tick...BOOM!

Fri Nov 7th - Sat 15th (EST)

Alumnae Theatre

70 Berkeley St, Toronto, ON M5A 2W6, Canada  

Before RENT, there was tick, tick...BOOM! This autobiographical musical by Jonathan Larson, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning composer of RENT, is the story of a composer and the sacrifices that he made to achieve his big break in theatre. His girlfriend wants to get married and move out of the city, his best friend is making big bucks on Madison Avenue and, yet, Jon is still waiting on tables and trying to write the great American musical. Set in 1990, this compelling story of personal discovery takes you on the playwright/composer's journey that led to a Broadway blockbuster.

SHOW INFO

Matinees @ 3PM

Evenings @ 8PM

Previews: Nov 7th (8PM), Nov 8th (3PM)

Opening: Nov 8th (8PM)

Approximately 90 mins with no intermission.

General Admission seating.

Content Warnings: adult themes, HIV/AIDS, mental health, drug and alcohol use.

Accessibility: Alumnae Theatre is fully wheelchair accessible. Please email us at [email protected] to reserve a wheelchair seat.

Perfect World

Richard Winzeler - Composer & Co-Lyricist

Alan Edmunds - Librettist & Co-Lyricist

Perfect World began innocently as a research project to document and analyze the incredible writings of Barbara Follett. As a professional psychologist, Alan had been curious about precocious child writers for more than a decade. Children who write like adults are incredibly rare and Barbara’s prolific work certainly fit the bill. Being an avid musical theatre fan and performer, he instinctively envisioned Barbara’s compelling life story as a musical and the archives at Columbia University were a treasure trove of detail.

The initial book and lyrics evolved over a few years and two table readings were held. Richard joined the project as composer/co-lyricist, the score was created, and the journey to hone and refine this original musical theater piece began. The third table reading included demo recordings of all songs. The participants’ positive and inspiring feedback has led to more refinement and an upcoming staged reading.

They say you never write a musical, you simply rewrite it until it works.

The creative process continues.

Selections from The Path to Catherine

Music - Jan Roper

Lyrics and Book - Patricia Zehentmayr

The Path to Catherine is the true backstory of Sophie, the teenage girl who will become Catherine the Great, and the two women whose lives would ignite her extraordinary destiny.

Featuring music by Jan Roper and book and lyrics by Patricia Zehentmayr, the album features Tony Award nominee Caitlin Kinnunen (The Prom), Krystina Alabado (Mean Girls), Sharon Wilkins (Seussical), Sophia Oda (The Suite Life of Zack & Cody), Zakiya Young (Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin) and Maiya Sykes (La La Land).

Tom founded Theatre Now in 2013 and has been the Producing Artistic Director since its inception, working on the development of new musicals through writers' groups, productions, readings, workshops and other developmental programs. Through Theatre Now, Tom produces the annual SOUND BITES Festival of New 10-minute Musicals now entering its twelfth year with over 40 titles available for licensing through Theatre Now’s partnership with Music Theatre International (MTI). With Theatre Now Tom has worked with over 200 theatre writers on the development of new musicals. 
 
Prior to Theatre Now Tom was the Artistic Director of ReVision Theatre, a regional theatre in Asbury Park, NJ where he produced The Who’s Tommy, and the NJ premiere of Spring Awakening to critical and audience acclaim at sold-out capacity. He helped develop and produced the musical premieres Kingdom by Aaron Jafferis and Ian Willams, a hip-hop rock musical based on the Latin Kings (Winner Best Musical 2008, New Jersey Star Ledger), The Break-up Notebook, The Lesbian Musical by Lori Scarlett, David Manning and Patricia Cotter staring Beth Malone (Winner Best Musical 2010, New Jersey Star. Ledger) and The Bikinis, a jukebox musical featuring hits from the 60’s with an original book by Jim Hindman, Ray Roderick and Joseph Baker, featuring Annie Golden, Cheryl Freeman, Karen Quakenbush and Kathy Morath. Following the Revision Theatre’s production, The Bikinis was produced at The Goodspeed Opera House and many of the shows Tom has developed have been produced commercially and presented throughout the U.S. at regional theatres. Also with Revision Theatre he produced and directed Hello, Dolly! Starring Richard Skipper as Carol Channing and The Rocky Horror Show (Winner Year End Best Theatre Awards 2011, New Jersey Star Ledger and Tri-City News). 
 
In 1995 Tom founded The Genesius Theatre Guild a non-profit organization dedicated to new works. Notable writers included Andrew Lippa, Adam Gwon, Joe Iconis along with Kerrigan and Lowdermilk who created work through Genesius’ new musicals Upstairs At Red cabaret program. Tom worked with playwright Itamar Moses and produced the premiere production of Jonathan Tolin’s The Last Sunday In June which became the highlight of Rattlestick Productions 2003 off Broadway season and went on to its commercial New York run at the Century Center Theatre. 
 
Tom was a member of Circle Repertory Company as a LAB member and directed at other prominent NYC companies that included Naked Angels and Ensemble Studio Theatre in addition to directing many plays and musicals at regional theatres across the U.S. Tom attended New York University as an acting major and studied acting with Stella Adler and directing with Suzanne Shepherd and Larry Arrick. ​He has worked in all areas of professional theatre: regional, summer, dinner theatre, off and on Broadway. Tom has taught acting, musical theatre  classes and workshops at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA), Wagner College, New York University, The Creative Acting Company, NYC. A member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC) and Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), his website can be found at www.ThomasMorrissey.com