Category: shows
Last Smoker in America to Play Pre-New York Engagement in Ohio
By Andrew Gans
29 Mar 2010
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| Natalie Venetia Belcon and Felicia Finley in the NYMF run of The Last Smoker in America | |
| photo by Robert J. Saferstein |
| Natalie Venetia Belcon and Felicia Finley in the NYMF run of The Last Smoker in America | |
| photo by Robert J. Saferstein |
CATCO and Andy Sandberg (Hair) will present a pre-New York engagement of the new musical The Last Smoker in America Sept. 29-Oct. 24 in Columbus, OH.
Cast and creative team will be announced at a later date.
In a statement producer Sandberg said, “We are very excited to be presenting the world premiere of The Last Smoker in America in Ohio. We look forward to being a part of CATCO’s 2010-2011 Season and sharing this new musical comedy with Columbus.”
The Last Smoker in America features book and lyrics by Tony nominee Bill Russell (Side Show) and music by Drama Desk nominee Peter Melnick (Adrift in Macao).
The Last Smoker in America, according to press notes, “is an original, four-character musical comedy about a dysfunctional family struggling to survive in a world where smoking has recently been outlawed. Pam, an English lit professor at a small college, is having an impossible time trying to quit smoking. Her husband Ernie dreams of being a rock star and relentlessly practices his electric guitar in the basement. Their teenage son Jimmy listens to so much rap music he’s convinced he’s black. Their nosy, anti-smoking zealot neighbor Phyllis lurks around trying to catch transgressors mid-puff. Will Pam kick the habit or fight for the right to light up as The Last Smoker in America?”
The musical received a developmental workshop production at the New York Musical Theatre Festival in the fall of 2009 where it extended and played to sold-out audiences.
For more information visit www.lastsmokerinamerica.com or www.catco.org.
theater
CATCO to open season with musical
Sunday, March 28, 2010 2:54 AM
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
The world premiere of a New York-bound musical will launch the 2010-11 season of Contemporary American Theatre Company – its first under a merger with the Phoenix Theatre for Children.
“Change comes hard for people, but the staff is excited and energized by our choices,” said Steven Anderson, the Phoenix founder and leader who will take over in the summer from Geoffrey Nelson as artistic director.
“The merger doesn’t really happen until July 1, but we’re moving forward together and finding out what it means to work together.”
The 27th CATCO season will begin in September with The Last Smoker in America.
Broadway director Sheryl Kaller ( Next Fall) will stage the satirical musical about the dysfunctional family surrounding Pam, who is struggling to quit cigarettes in a future
when smoking is outlawed
in the United States.
“It’s an irreverent comedy that’s really not about smoking so much as the ways that we want to impose on each other,” Anderson said.
He praised the musical for its clever dialogue and witty lyrics and compared it to Urinetown, a similarly satirical, futuristic musical that reached Broadway.
The book and lyrics are by Bill Russell, a two-time Tony award nominee for the 1998 musical Side Show.
The eclectic rock-rap-gospel score was composed by Peter Melnick, a 2007 Drama Desk Award nominee for Adrift in Macao, an off-Broadway musical.
Based on audience reactions in Columbus, the producers plan to polish the show before its off-Broadway debut next year, Anderson said.
Click here: CATCO to open season with musical | The Columbus Dispatch
Categories
a song for one more day
as another poem on this site says, we’ve pretty much opted out of christmas … but the holiday is unavoidable and a new year does lead to reflection …
so, in the spirit of the season, i’m posting a buddhist inspired lyric … this is from “up in the air” — a musical adaptation of a japanese fable about a tree-climbing frog i wrote with composer henry krieger … the show was conceived by amon miyamoto and premiered at the kennedy center in d.c. last year …
this is the lyric to the closing song … boonah, the tree-climbing frog, has returned after a harrowing experience where he nearly died … having visited thailand earlier this year, i’ve only grown more interested in buddhism — a religion which seems to celebrate life rather than being obsessed with death …
i have been
on top of the world
been as low as i could go
i have seen
the clouds as they swirled
part and show the sun aglow
i have felt
the rhythm of life
heard the silence of decay
i hope to find
the music inside
a song for one more day
who can know
what tomorrow might be bringing?
nobody can say
joy or woe
i will keep on singing
a song for one more day
i have felt
the angel of death
pass me by as i lay low
i’ve been spared
while holding my breath
from the wrath of my worst foe
i have known
great loss and great grief
when my loved ones could not stay
yet i’ve found
the gift of relief
a song for one more day
if you fear
that your ending might be nearing
don’t cry in dismay
shed a tear
then rejoice in hearing
a song for one more day
life is within and around
comprised of all
who’ve gone before
we may not win or astound
but we’re all part
of evermore
who can know
what tomorrow might be bringing?
nobody can say
joy or woe
i will keep on singing
a song for one more day
sing a song for one more day