2011 – 2012 · New songs by Bay Area writers
An evening of new songs by Bay Area composers of musical theater.
Round One grew out of our open writers' workshops: a series of showcases at the Alcove Theater for new songs by San Francisco Bay Area writers and composers of musical theater, with works chosen from dozens of submissions.
Each cabaret was built around a kind of abstract story, using the songs for roughly the same dramatic purpose they serve in their parent musicals. Although the songs were heard outside their original contexts, the evening captured the drive and feel of a plotted show: part concert, part musical theater and pure fun. All three were directed by Anne Nygren Doherty.
An uplifting revue with soaring melodies, witty lyrics and penetrating insights: seven musicals in the works, represented in nineteen songs by four standout Bay Area composers.
Composers Peter Alexander · Dennis Campagna · Peter Tucker · Scott DeTurk
Performers Peter Alexander · Katherine Goldman · Cliff McCormick · Melissa O'Keefe
Music direction by Scott DeTurk
“Coping with the Ever Changing World”: driving rock 'n' roll, pleasant pop, blast-from-the-past pastiche and classic and contemporary Broadway, from ten new musicals. Among them: The Texas Chainsaw Musical, a comedy about a serial killer; .Love, in which a middle-aged couple reunites through online dating; Meet the Zeroes, a satire on the American family; Another Man's Treasure, set in a second-hand store; and The Anti-Musical, in which an office worker is swept into a real-life musical against his will. Featured on KRON-4's Jan Wahl Report.
Composers and lyricists Cory Bytoff · Owen Dockham · Richard Jennings · Randy Kasten · Sandy Kasten · Ron Lytle · Pat Morris · Tracy Held Potter · Liz White Salk · Patrick Wills
Music direction by Scott DeTurk
“Taking Charge in a Crazy World”: songs mostly in the contemporary Broadway style from eight new musicals, among them Scary, Scary Night, a camp Halloween comedy; In the Hands of the Raven, a spiritual “dramedy” about coping with loss; and Uncle Sam's Lament, a contemporary political satire.
Composers and lyricists Peter Alexander · Billie Cox · Paul James Frantz · Richard Jennings · Bill Johnson · Sandy Kasten · Allison Lovejoy · Michael Lunsford · Peter Master
Performers David Bicha · Helen Laroche · Jihan Sibar · Ernie Tovar · Rana Weber · Ted Zoldan
Music direction by Ben Prince