Goblin Market the Musical trailer

Just wanted to share a little trailer I put together for the show.  Enjoy!

Tickets are on sale now- click here to purchase!

http://www.goblinmarketchicago.com

Coming to Chicago October 2015: Goblin Market the Musical!

Hi everyone, just wanted to announce my latest project: opening this October I'll be directing the musical adaptation of the poem Goblin Market, originally written by Christina Rossetti.  This adaptation was written by Peggy Harmon and Polly Pen, and Polly Pen will actually be coming to the show on Thursday October 8!    This is a short, dark fantasy musical that is already shaping up to be fantastic in rehearsals- and we shot some publicity photos earlier this summer that came out great- I've posted them below. Enjoy, and here's the link to get tickets.

Remembering "Coraline"

Lately I've been thinking of a great show I helped put together last year- the Midwest Premiere of the musical adaptation of Coraline, by Stephin Merritt and David Greenspan. Just wanted to share some of our cool production photos from the show- and the website is still up too! http://www.coralinechicago.com

The Last Unicorn, the musical?

Now that this cat is out of the bag, I feel like I ought to share that this is a real possibility. This is a long standing dream of mine, and it's incredible (and humbling) to be coming along for at least a part of the journey! Link to the playbill.com story below.

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/josh-duhamel-and-fergie-grooming-the-last-unicorn-as-broadway-musical-331023

Coming this summer- Coraline the Musical!

Hi guys, just checking in to let you know that I'm directing the Chicago (and Midwest) premiere of the musical Coraline adapted by Stephin Merritt and David Greenspan from the beloved Neil Gaiman fantasy novel. Check out our website below:

http://www.coralinechicago.com

And here's the link to get tickets:

http://coralinechicago.brownpapertickets.com

I'll be blogging a bit on the website blog if you want to find out more about the show and our process. Hope to see you at the show!

Adapting "The Innkeeper's Song" - Here we Go...

As I've said previously on this blog, in addition to being a huge fan of The Last Unicorn, I'm also a big fan of Peter S. Beagle's other works, including The Innkeeper's Song. Even though adapting The Innkeeper's Song presents some unique challenges, I'm determined to give it a shot. I've already taken stabs at a couple of scenes, and am mulling over how I'd want to stage and/or represent some of the more difficult (i.e. impossible?) to stage moments in the show. Tough issues to solve in this adaptation-

-Keeping the awesome changes in perspective without making the script nothing but first-person narration.

-Nyateneri/Soukyan. Two actors, one male and one female? One actress? A transgender performer? Change the script to such a drastic extent that the gender issue doesn't come up (I hate the idea of that last one, but that is what would be easiest...)

-Horses. This story has lots and lots of riding on horses, which is difficult to represent effectively on stage but also too important to this story to ignore/write around. I know one way to solve this but worry that I'm cribbing too much from the aesthetic of >ahem< another company. (i.e. bicycles...)

-And in general, what can be cut and what must be kept? Adapting novels to the stage is always problematic in that way- you have to willing to 'kill some babies' or else you'll be stuck with a six-hour epic that no one wants to watch.

Wish me luck!

If You Want to License The Last Unicorn...

Is your company or group interested in performing this adaptation of The Last Unicorn? It is now being licensed by Next Gen Publications. Please find a link to their page on the script below:

http://www.nextgenpublications.com/musicals-last-unicorn.htm