Whoopi Backs White Noise

One of my favorite reporters at the NY Times, Patrick Healy, has an interesting feature today about celebrities presenting Broadway shows.

He gives a nice little mention to my musical White Noise:

Other well-known artists have played roles not only as presenters but also as producers in recent years. Whoopi Goldberg was a producer on the 2002 musical “Thoroughly Modern Millie” as well as the 2003 revival of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” in which she starred. She tried to produce a revival of “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf” in 2008, but the recession had begun, and some investors balked, in part because she was not investing substantially in the show.

She is working as a presenter and creative adviser on two musicals aiming for Broadway: “Sister Act,” now running in London and based on her 1992 movie, and “White Noise,” about young white separatists and set for next season or later.

I'm very excited Whoopi has come on board! She is a big fan of the show, saying at a reading in December, "You will never see anything like this. There is nothing like this." I think she may be right, but than again I'm a little biased.

Street Lights Podcasts!

Joe & I recently sat down for interviews on two theater podcast to discuss our upcoming production of Street Lights at NYMF.

• An Interview with NYTheatre.Com's Martin Denton. (MP3)
  
  
• An Interview with Michael Gilboe's Broadway Bullet, we start 40 minutes in.
  

Photo by Cassie Corrigan.

Summer of Theatre '09

July has been a very busy month for me! I've been lax on blogging, but I'm always updating my Twitter feed.

Over the weekend of July 17th, I had a great run at the 10th Annual Midtown International Theater Festival with my friend writer/actor Michael Hirstreet's short-solo play My Broken Brain. He got a great audience response and is looking into other venues to continue developing the script.

The show I created in 2006, White Noise, received it's first regional production in New Orleans this month. It was a huge production, with a $2.2 million dollar budget, and was well-received by the local critics. Their main paper, The Times-Picayune, called it "Powerful." The production closed yesterday and they'd still like to open it on Broadway.

Most of the drama in New Orleans was off-stage. As reported by Michael Riedel in the New York Post, White Noise's "co-director" and producer has issues.

Mitchell Maxwell, another flop king, is causing such strife that he's been banned from his own show, the Broadway-bound musical "White Noise." The volatile producer verbally abused his creative team, frightened his actors and threw such a temper tantrum in the lobby of the Omni Hotel that terrified guests called the police, several production sources told The Post. "I have never experienced anything this crazy in my life," one member of the creative team says. "He is not a stable man."

Don't miss any of the details, it's crazy. The stuff they couldn't print will probably make it into a screenplay of mine someday.

I've been in rehearsals for the musical comedy Vote! at FringeNYC. It's going REALLY well. As I've mentioned before, we have an incredible cast.

I took this picture yesterday on my iPhone at a music brush-up.

Tickets just went on-sale. They are just $15. That's the best deal in New York. Buy yours now, we open on August 14th and they are selling fast.

We're in pre-production for Street Lights, which was invited to the New York Musical Theatre Festival this year. White Noise got it's start at NYMF and we're excited to return to the festival. We open on October 14th, more details soon.

I'll try to keep up with the blog more. Hope to see you all at Vote!

Upcoming Street Lights Reading!

From Broadway World:

Street Lights, a new hip-hop/R&B musical by Joe Drymala, will receive an industry-only reading on May 15th at 6PM and May 16th at 12PM, at Manhattan Theatre Club Studios. Ryan J. Davis directs and Martin Giannini & Brett Levenson produce. More info on the reading, please e-mail streetlightsmusical@gmail.com.

Street Lights is a story about inner city teenagers who dare to fight City Hall. With their high school music program hanging in the balance, they fight social injustice, bureaucratic apathy and the scourge of drugs and violence in their neighborhood. A new generation finds it's voice, learning how powerful they can be when coming together in common purpose. With a truly contemporary pop and hip-hop score, Street Lights is a new kind of musical about hope, ambition, anger, injustice, love, and the promise of a new generation.

The cast includes Broadway vets Wilson Mendieta (Bombay Dreams, Man of La Mancha), Heath Calvert (Good Vibrations), Todd Pettiford (RENT, The Lion King), Joy Lynn Matthews (The Music Man), who join Lacretta Ross, James Alexander, Desiree Rodriquez, Chad Carstarphen, Kevin Curtis, and Krystal Brown.

The public is invited to Street Light's launch party on Saturday, May 16th, 6PM at Hurley's Restaurant (232 W. 48th St). Live entertainment and a raffle that includes tickets to The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, The York Theater's Musicals in Mufti Series, and more to be announced at the event.

Street Lights is the second major collaboration for Davis & Drymala. Their first, White Noise, was recently announced by Sibling Entertainment to open on Broadway in Fall 2009. White Noise, which Davis conceived & directed and Drymala wrote, premiered three years ago in a sold-out run at The New York Musical Theatre Festival, received strong reviews and was featured on Good Morning America & ABC Primetime Live.

Creative credits: Book, Music, & Lyrics by Joe Drymala, Directed by Ryan J. Davis, Produced by Martin Giannini and Brett Levenson, Music Director Sonny Paladino, & Casting by Daryl Eisenberg.

White Noise Casting

Back in September 2006, I conceived and directed White Noise, a musical at The New York Musical Theatre Festival. It was an exciting production and I got to work with many of my friends, including Joe Drymala who wrote the book and bulk of the score.

The run at the festival was a success, sold-out shows and quotable reviews. It was enough to get the show optioned for Broadway. Before Broadway, the producers are trying the show out in New Orleans and they're casting! All the info is below if you'd like to submit.

For more details on the show, watch this bit below from Good Morning America.

Casting Details

WHITE NOISE - Theatre
V/T: LE PETIT THEATRE - AEA NOLA CONTRACT
$600/week + 10%, + health, pension, per diem, airfare, all transportation and housing
NEW ORLEANS, LA

Producer: Le Petit Theatre in association with White Noise Productions, LLC, Sibling Theatricals, Inc. and Holly Way and Co.
Co-Directors: Mitchell Maxwell & Donald Byrd
Choreographer: Donald Byrd
Book: Matte O'Brien
Based on a story and characters by Joe Drymala and an original concept by Ryan J. Davis
Additional Material by Rob Bartlett
Music & Lyrics: Joe Drymala, Robert Morris, Steven Morris and Joe Shane.
Additional Music By: Glen Kelly, Laurence O'Keefe, Benj Pasek/Justin Paul, Eric Svejcar
Casting Director: Michael Cassara
Auditions (in NYC): 4/6/09, 4/7/09 and 4/8/09
Rehearsal (in New York): 6/1/09-6/13/09;(in New Orleans): 6/15/09 7/6/09
Performances: 7/7/09 7/26/2009 with possible extension through 8/12/09

SUBMIT HARDCOPY MICHAEL CASSARA CASTING
212 W. 35TH STREET - 11TH FLOOR
NEW YORK, NY 10001
ATTN: WHITE NOISE

NOTE: All actors participating in this New Orleans production will have the first right of refusal for the next production. The producers hope to bring this production to New York in the future.

[EVA] 19 from small town Oregon. Blonde/Aryan-looking. Beautiful, eloquent and approachable on surface, but driven, manipulative and wise beyond her years. She has a superlative ability to identify a persons weak point and use it to her advantage. When necessary, sexy beyond belief. A Neo-Nazi. Incredible singer, Alto/mezzo belt. Pop/rock vocals. CAST - DO NOT SUBMIT.

[KADY] 22 from small town Oregon, Evas sister. Blonde/Aryan-looking. Beautiful, good-natured, looking for a way out of Oregon. When necessary, sexy beyond belief. While she may not have the same deep rooted hate displayed by her sister, she is misguided and naïve in her willingness to go along with Eva in order to satisfy her own agenda. Incredible singer, Alto/mezzo belt. Pop/rock vocals. CAST - DO NOT SUBMIT.

SEEKING:

[ RICK ]
Late 40s. Caucasian. Talent manager. Charismatic, passionate, confident to a fault, and Machiavellian. He believes he is all-knowing and indestructible when it comes to the music industry and the manufacturing of talent for good reason, as he has had success of Clive Davis proportions. Non-singing, but carrying a tune is a plus. SEEKING STAR NAMES.

[ DUKE ]
25, a skinhead. Caucasian. From small town Oregon. Tall, handsome, aggressive and intimidating. A raw nerve and accustomed to opposition, he has grown to be unafraid of anyone or anything. Baritone/tenor. Pop/rock sound.

[ KURT ]
25, Caucasian, A New Yorker and brilliant singer/songwriter. True intellectual, genuine and a voice of reason - he represents the audience at large. Tenor. Thrilling pop/rock vocals.

[ LAUREL ]
Mid-Late 30s, Aryan-looking. Eva and Kadys mother, from small town Oregon. A struggling, single mom, who lost her husband to suicide - she is beautiful, yet worn. Alto/ mezzo-soprano.

[ TYLER ]
Early 20s, African-American. A rap musician, top college graduate who has been packaged as a gangsta rapper. One half of a lucrative gangsta rap duo. Tyler is laid back, smart and level-headed. Authentic rapper and strong singer.

[ DION ]
Mid 20s. African-American. Tylers brother and other half of successful gangsta rap duo. Also a top college graduate and talented musician. Aggressive, temperamental when pushed. The more alpha of the brothers. Authentic rapper and strong singer.

[ PETE MARTIN ]
Early 40s. A well respected news journalist and reporter a la Anderson Cooper. As concerned with honest reporting as he is with his ego and ability to deliver good television. Non-singing, but must be able to carry a tune.

[ BOB ]
Mid-Late 30s. Caucasian. Father to Eva and Kady, husband to Laurel. Former mill worker who lost his job and dignity to illegal immigrants. Becomes an abusive alcoholic. Commits suicide when daughters are small children and serves as the inspiration for Eva and Dukes white supremacist crusade. Non-singing, but must be able to carry a tune.

[ MALE DANCERS ]
18-40, versatile and strong dancers, all styles, all ethnicities. Must be able to carry a tune. Ensemble will additionally fill various smaller roles. Casting 2 total.

[ FEMALE DANCERS ]
18-40, versatile and strong dancers, all styles, all ethnicities. Must be able to carry a tune. Ensemble will additionally fill various smaller roles. Casting 2 total.

Blueyed Son

One of my best friends in the world, Joe Drymala, has started a band, Blueyed Sun, and is putting out his first rock album. He's blogging the entire process, including releasing new tracks as he finishes them. He's recording the entire album, BEXAR COUNTY, in his apartment.

The first two songs, Long Way Off and Cocaine Cocaine, are very different and very cool. One is Bruce Springsteen, the other Johnny Cash.

For some background: Joe and I met on the Howard Dean's 2004 Presidential Campaign. He was a speechwriter. We worked together on our first show, White Noise, which was a big hit at the 2006 New York Musical Theater Festival. Joe has written the book, music, and lyrics to Street Lights - a new musical we're aiming to put up in the fall. He produced an amazing demo for that, you can listen to here.

I'll keep you updated on the album and any live performances. Until then, check out Joe's blog.