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SUPPORTING NEW MUSICALS IN PHILADELPHIA!

New Musicals Showcase Program June 26, 2023

MusiCoLab Executive Director - Charlie Gilbert

Programming Directors - Michael Bihovsky and Katie Rose Horner

Music Director and Accompanist - Steven Gross

Stage Manager - MJ Gifford

Co-founder and President - Barbara Bellman

Co-Founder and Treasurer - Seth Rozin

Secretary - Marjorie Bicknell

Welcome to our ninth showcase of new musicals! We're delighted you're here, and appreciate your support. If you have comments or questions about any of the work you've seen tonight, or wish to contact any of our writers, click on the Feedback button below and fill out the form - we'll make sure your comments reach the appropriate party!

If you love new musicals and want to see musical theater thrive in Philly, click here or on the "Donate" button in the top navigation menu and make a donation to support MusiCoLab!

New Musicals Showcase - June 26

Cool At Camp

book by Dani Tapper, Steven Blutig, Robin Stern Raskin and Emily Stumer

music and lyrics by Dani Tapper

Cool at Camp is a coming of age story of four 14-year-old kids learning what it really means to be "cool" at camp. Alex, Tess and Shayna are returning to Camp Huron Lake for their final summer. All three friends have always been the "cool" kids at camp, but this year, their "coolness" is being tested. Alex, who has always been a star at camp, both on the field and socially, is realizing that his

"coolness" may not extend past camp. He starts to panic when he learns that Will, a very cool boy from his school, will be joining him at camp this summer. Alex is worried Will may expose him for the "not so cool" kid he is at home. Shayna and Tess are twins who have been going to camp for the last seven years. This year Tess has blossomed physically which leaves Shayna wondering how she will fit in at camp this year; it's a place she always felt cool and comfortable, but now must live in the shadow of her sister. Tess loves her new found attention but will being the "cool kid: make her turn on her sister? And Will, a non-jewish, very cool kid from Alex's school, will be attending camp for his first time. Will he expose Alex for the home nerd that he is? Can Will learn to appreciate what camp really has to offer and eventually learn what it really means to be Cool at Camp?

Dani Tapper (Music/Lyrics/Book) is a composer/lyricist whose most recent work, Brilliant, was presented at several MusiCoLab concerts and was most recently performed at the Broadway Bound Theatre Festival in October 2021. Dani began her career as a children's performing artist recording three original CDs and performing hundreds of concerts for young families. She is now the director of the Lower School theatre program at Shipley. Cool at Camp is her third original musical.

New Musicals Showcase - June 26

Leonardo DiCaprio Was Supposed To Be In My Broadway Musical (The Musical)

book, lyrics and music by Giacomo Fizzano

Leonardo DiCaprio Was Supposed to be in my Broadway Musical: The Musical is a musical set at the opening night of fictional musical entitled “Family Business.” Two best friends, Mackenzie and Giacomo, have teamed up to write a musical, with the goal of winning Leonardo DiCaprio a Tony Award (and, for Mackenzie, there’s the added bonus that she’s written herself a big kiss with Leo at the end of the show). Unfortunately, Leo has not shown up to any rehearsals, nor is he here for opening night, so the company, about whom we learn a little too much through the course of the evening, resorts to zany Play That Goes Wrong-style hijinks to keep the show afloat. “Family Business” is a love letter to Broadway’s Golden Age, replete with Cops, Mobsters, Chorus Gals, and GIs. As “Mack” tries to break off her engagement with “Guillermo” to marry “Theo”, she cooks up a plot with her best friend Izzy to gift her the wedding Guillermo’s already paid for, if only Izzy can convince her fiance Roy to convince Theo to profess his love for Mack… still following? I’m not. Will it all turn out okay? Will Leo ever show up?

Giacomo Fizzano is a writer and performer proudly native to Philadelphia. Since acquiring his BFA in Musical Theatre Performance from The University of the Arts, he's made his living both performing and writing musicals, as well as travelling the world as a piano bar entertainer aboard the Holland-America Cruise Line. His first full-length musical, Norton I, debuted this April through the Polyphone Festival of New Works.

New Musicals Showcase - June 26

Unmasked

book and lyrics by Barbara Bellman

music by David Kurkowski

Unmasked is a full-length musical inspired by the real-life events Boston socialite and sculptress - Anna Coleman Ladd - who, in 1917, left the comfort of her privileged life to go to France and establish a studio to make prosthetic masks for the disfigured soldiers of World War I. While her physician husband pursues his work at a Paris children’s hospital, Anna obtains a grant from the Red Cross to fund her studio. Although the war winds down, the damage done to the lives of the soldiers and the people who loved them will never end. As much as Anna tries to help, she and Maynard are tested and must confront their own masks imposed by their social status.

Barbara Bellman (Lyrics/Book) is an author, librettist, lyricist, producer and playwright – and a founding member of The Producers’ Fund – a Philadelphia-based coalition of producers supporting women created and/or directed theatre. She co-produced the Philadelphia Main Street Musicals Festival for three years. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild and the League of Professional Women in Theatre. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Stony Brook University (2012) and a Bachelor of Science in Business from Arizona State University (1973). After a successful career in Advertising (Advertising Person of the Year – 2002), Barbara returned to her first love – writing full time, and was accepted to the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop (2015) and the Tisch Graduate Musical Theatre Writing program at NYU (Class of 2018). She has written several plays which have been performed publicly, including The Wine Cellar, The Word Police, and Words Fail Me. Her most recent musical is Bordello, for which she wrote the book and lyrics. She is a resident of both Philadelphia/Princeton and New York City.

David Kurkowski (Music) is the award-winning writer/composer of Finding Madame Curie, which had six performances at Theatre Row as part of CreateTheater’s 2022 New Works Festival. Finding Madame Curie won first place in the 2020 Jackie White Memorial National Playwriting Contest. David is the composer for Sewing the Dream (Judith Estrine, book and lyrics), which was also presented as part of CreateTheater’s New Works Festival. Other works include Collodi, the Man Behind Pinocchio (Nino Praticco, book and lyrics) and Oh Dear, Camille (Rhonda LaGeyre, book and lyrics). David has written over 150 songs. In 2013, he completed It’s Midnight, a CD of 9 original songs, now available on YouTube.

New Musicals Showcase - June 26

Titillation

book and lyrics by Arden Kass

music and lyrics by Linda Dowdell

Tracey is a prominent feminist academic and activist whose purpose in life is to make the world better for women, including her own daughter. Tracey’s irrepresible father, to her endless mortification, made his name and fortune as the creator of the push-up bra and America’s leading purveyor of sexy lingerie, Louis of Beverly Hills. Now, in 2000, Papa has just died. Tracey, an only child, reluctantly returns home after a thirty-year estrangement to help organize the funeral — only to discover that Papa has bequeathed his entire empire to her — literally, her worst nightmare. Throughout Act I she struggles to string together a few relatively tasteful, not-too toxic remarks about her father’s accomplishments to share with the hundreds of adoring fans and nosy journalists at his farewell service tomorrow and to educate the Rent-a-Rabbi who will officiate. She tries answering the Rabbi’s questions with the most anodyne anecdotes she can recall – but somehow Mr. Lou’s huge personality, and Tracey’s unusual childhood, come shining through. In ACT II, coached by the Rabbi and Lou’s longtime sales director, Tracey finds herself re-evaluating her memories, her relationships, and maybe, the hidden costs of an overly rigid, dogmatic ideology...if your real goal is a positive pathway to change.

Arden Kass (book and lyrics) is a Philly-based playwright, librettist, and co-lyricist of Titillation, an original new musical adapted from her play, Daddy’s Girl. A two-time PCA fellow, PlayPenn playwright and semi-finalist at the O’Neill, finalist at Humana and Red Bull, Arden remains hopeful! Her plays have been read and produced in Philly & New York, among them School Play, commissioned by PCCY, and the all-women vaudeville Behold Her, 5,000 Years of Jewish Women & Beauty co-created with Michaela Shuchman for the 2018 Philly Fringe. A member of BMI Musical Theatre Librettists workshop and screenwriter, her scripts are frequently selected by film festivals.

With roots in both jazz and classical music, composer/lyricist Linda Dowdell toured the world from 1988-98 as musical director of Mikhail Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project and the Mark Morris Dance Group. She is the award-winning composer/lyricist/co-librettist of Spirit of the Yule, which ran for four consecutive holiday seasons at Key City Public Theatre in Washington state, where she lives. Additional awards include Meet the Composer, ArtsWA, the James Irvine Foundation, and BMI’s Harrington Award. Her choral compositions have received premieres by distinguished ensembles including Schola Cantorum of Edinburgh and the Gregg Smith Singers.

New Musicals Showcase - June 26

Sweetwater

book and lyrics by Patricia Noonan

music by Liz Filios and Sean Mahoney

Sweetwater was born from a desire to expand the stories we see about women on our stages and to amplify the story of an incredible group of female pioneers too often lost to the margins of history.

Synopsis: As World War II shakes the nation, sisters Beth and Frankie journey to Sweetwater, Texas, where they join with women from across the country to fly for the US Army Air Forces. Though they master 77 types of planes and become among the first to test the new B-29 bomber, these women know all too well they risk their lives every day without the benefit of military status. When one of their own loses her life, Frankie, Beth, and the others must decide how to serve a country that needs their skills but refuses to fully acknowledge their sacrifice – and how to fight for the sisters they have found in the process. From the fringes of the history books, Sweetwater brings the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) and their fight for recognition center stage in a story of duty, love, and the joys and costs that come with being female pioneers.

History: Sweetwater was originally developed at the Writers’ Grove at the Goodspeed Opera House and later presented featuring a cast of students from the Hartt School and Boston Conservatory at Goodspeed’s Festival of New Musicals. Selections have been presented in concert at 54 Below, at the International Conference of Female Pilots (the 99s), the National Alliance for Musical Theatre Festival, the Philadelphia Women's Theater Festival, and at the National WASP Museum in Sweetwater, Texas itself for the 75th Annual WASP Homecoming. As we continue to hone the script and score, our goal is to join with collaborators to strengthen Sweetwater into a commercial and educational musical that will inspire audiences of all ages to new heights. We aim to create an enduring piece that can run commercially and ultimately be licensed to high schools and colleges so that young performers and their audiences can learn from these incredible women firsthand.

Sweetwater Teaser For more information, please contact: sweetwatermusical@gmail.com

Patricia Noonan (book and lyrics) is an actor, teaching artist, lyricist, librettist, and playwright. She has appeared at the Roundabout, Lincoln Center, City Center, and theaters across the country and created roles in Maury Yeston's Death Takes a Holiday (Sophia), Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (Elizabeth Bennet), The Brontes (Charlotte), Signs of Life (Lorelei), Baby Case (Betty Gow), and

Neurosis (Abby). As a writer, her work includes book and lyrics for the musicals Sweetwater (developed/presented at Goodspeed and NAMT), Learning How to Drown (developed/presented a

Goodspeed, Finger Lakes Musical Theater Festival, Boston College), and The Adventures of Ara (developed for Bridge Arts Ensemble).

Liz Filios (composer) is a Philadelphia-based actor, musician and teaching artist. Composition/Sound Design credits include: The Little Princess (Quintessence Theatre Group), The Tempest (Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Round House Theatre), The Winter's Tale (Folger Shakespeare Theatre), D-Pad (Theatre Exile), An Iliad (Lantern Theater), The Ice Princess, Hamlet, Shakespeare In Love (Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival), The Merchant Of Venice (DelShakes) and The Matchmaker (People’s Light & Theatre). Liz served as the composer in residence at AbingtonFriends School, and as Choir Director for Play On Philly, a non-profit dedicated to music education. She is also recently completed Twelfth Night O Lo Que Quieras, a bilingual musical adaptation for Delaware Shakespeare's Community Tour. She holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Michigan.

New Musicals Showcase - June 26

Moon Over The Brewery

book by Bruce Graham

lyrics by Michael Hollinger

music by Robert Maggio

Synopsis: Single mom Miriam and near-genius daughter Amanda live in a small town in Pennsylvania. Miriam, painter by night, waitress by day, is offered her big break: a gallery showing by the local university. She also has just spent the night with her long-time platonic friend, Warren. This new romance is complicated by Amanda who, as a child, created an imaginary friend, Randolph, who appears to help Amanda chase away any possible suitors. Mother and daughter are also at odds about Miriam’s best painting, Moon Over the Brewery. Amanda wants to sell it; Miriam has promised it to Warren. As the gallery show approaches Miriam feels the pressure of both that, and Warren, who proposes. Behind Miriam’s back, Amanda gets Warren’s permission to sell his painting. Amanda begins to soften towards Warren but Randolph keeps the pressure up: we don’t want him around. Caught between Randolph and Warren, Amanda unintentionally insults both Warren and an art critic before running off in embarrassment. Amanda realizes how much she has hurt her mother and that part of growing up is thinking about other people. She sends Randolph away – for good this time – allowing her mother to finally have a relationship.

Bruce Graham (author) - PLAYS: Moon Over the Brewery, Minor Demons, Belmont Avenue Social Club, According to Goldman, Desperate Affection, Stella and Lou, Coyote on a Fence, North of the Boulevard. Graham has won consecutive Barrymore Awards for Best New Play (Something Intangible, Any Given Monday), the Joseph Jefferson Award (The Outgoing Tide) and a Jeff nomination for White Guy on the Bus. White Guy on the Bus was also nominated for the “Offie” – London’s version of the Obie Award. FILM: Anastasia, Dunston Checks In, The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

Michael Hollinger (lyrics) is a playwright, lyricist and composer. His plays -- including Opus, Red Herring, Ghost-Writer, Incorruptible and Cyrano (translated and co-adapted with Aaron Posner) -- have been staged throughout the U.S., in NYC, and abroad. Musicals include TouchTones (co-authored with Robert Maggio), A Wonderful Noise (co-authored with Vance Lehmkuhl), and Moon Over the Brewery (co-authored with Bruce Graham and Robert Maggio). Awards include an ATCA/Steinberg New Play Citation, two Edgerton Foundation New Play Awards, an L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award and four Barrymore Awards. Michael is Professor of Theatre atVillanova University and Artistic Director of Villanova Theatre.

Robert Maggio (Composer) Musicals: TouchTones (Arden Theatre Co.), Far From the Tree (Public Theatre – reading), Moon Over the Brewery. Songs and Incidental Music: All’s Well That Ends Well (Shakespeare on the Sound); Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, The Outgoing Tide, M. Butterfly, Third, Orson’s Shadow, Intimate Apparel, Take Me Out, Nickel and Dimed, Dinner With Friends, The Laramie Project (Philadelphia Theatre Co.); Arthur’s Stone/Merlin’s Fire, The Merchant of Venice (People’s Light); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Yale Rep); Pericles (Shakespeare Santa Cruz); Of Mice and Men, Holiday Memories (Philadelphia Drama Guild); The Hidden Ones (Philadelphia Festival Theatre for New

Plays).

Our Performers

Michael Bihovsky

Michael Bihovsky is a musical theater composer and performer, and chronic illness advocate. He is best known for his viral Les Misérables YouTube food allergy parody “One Grain More,” and for “Paperweight,” an internationally award-winning short musical film about love and disability during COVID-19.

Michael graduated magna cum laude from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, with a concentration in Musical Theater Performance and Composition, Astrophysics and Mythology. Favorite roles include Tick, Tick… Boom! (Jon), RENT (Mark Cohen), and 42nd Street (Billy Lawlor). Michael also

teaches voice and acting in his private studio. www.michaelbihovsky.com Facebook @MichaelBihovskyOfficial Instagram @MichaelBihovsky

Ronnie Keller

Michael Bihovsky

Regional: Spelling Bee (Arden Theatre); Rent, Next to Normal, Sister Act, Mamma Mia!, Newsies, Saturday Night Fever, West Side Story, Beauty & The Beast, Side Show (Media Theatre); Dogfight (Eagle Theatre); The Producers (Bucks County CPA); Fiddler on the Roof, Spamalot (Surflight Theatre); Mary Poppins, Fiddler on the Roof (OCTC). BA from Temple University.

Jackie Macri

Michael Bihovsky

Fionnaula Meister

Jackie Macri is excited to be joining MusiCoLab in helping bring new works to life! Jackie is a board-certified Music Therapist by day, and singer-songwriter/occasional film composer/dance machine whenever she gets the chance. As a Music Therapist, Jackie works with adolescents to explore the uses of music for mental health and well-being, and was featured on the Harry Connick, Jr. talk show for her work in pediatric music therapy. Jackie also recently released her debut album, “Tireswing,” available on all streaming platforms. jackiemacrimusic.com

Fionnaula Meister

Fionnaula (Finn-ella) Meister is a Philadelphia based performer who has spent the last four years earning her BFA in Musical Theatre at Penn State (BFA MT 2023). She is an animal lover, crafter, painter, and a piano/guitar playing jazz enthusiast. When she is not playing music or performing you will find her spending time with her dog, cats, and two pet rats. fionnaulameister.com

Jessica Money

Fionnaula Meister

Kara Rantovich

Jessica Money is a Philadelphia based actor and a graduate of Temple University’s musical theatre and acting programs. Most recent credits include: Olive Ostrovsky (Spelling Bee, Arden Theatre Co.), Nettie (The Color Purple, Theatre Horizon), Mercy (School Girls, Arden Theatre Co.), Sarah (Ragtime, Duluth Playhouse), Woman 1 (Songs for a New World, New Light Theatre), Miranda (The Tempest, Delaware Shakespeare Company), Helena (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Arden Theatre Co. [2020 virtual production]), Cordelia (King Lear, Shakespeare in Clark Park), Urchin Swing (Little Shop of Horrors, The Arts Center of Coastal Carolina

Kara Rantovich

Fionnaula Meister

Kara Rantovich

Kara Rantovich is a recent graduate of the University of the Arts. Initially drawn to the standards of the musical theatre canon, she quickly developed an insatiable passion and love for creating original characters through a brief 29-hour reading of Giacomo Fizzano’s epic musical, Norton I. Now, as she experiences the various ups and downs that come with adulting, the magic of theatre and sense of play it brings never fails to prove to her that life is a very, very beautiful and precious thing that needs to be celebrated in every way, shape and form. Much love to my family, friends, and my dear Logan for making this journey and life a wonderful one.

If birds fly over the rainbow, why then, oh why, can’t I?

Nancie Sanderson

Carl Nathaniel Smith

With 11th Hour: Five Points - Rona, Urinetown - Pennywise, See What I Wanna See - Medium/Aunt, Great American Trailer Park Musical - Jeanne Garsteki. WIth Prince Music Theater: Anyone Can Whistle, Candide. National Tour: My Way. Best productions to date: Nancie’s two teenage sons: Ethan and Cole. Thanks so much to CG for inviting me!

Carl Nathaniel Smith

Carl is a thrilled to be back with MusiCoLab’s Showcase. A Texas native, he has been in the Philly area for 15 years with such companies as the Arden, People's Light, Montgomery, Storybook, Bristol Riverside, Hedgerow, Media, Nightcap Cabaret, and Family Stages. Regional favorites include Scarecrow in Wizard Of Oz and Frankie in Plaid Tidings and Forever Plaid. Love to God, Sarah, Mom, Dad, Hus, Lee, Anastasia, and Oliver.

SUPPORTING NEW MUSICALS IN PHILADELPHIA!

New Musicals Showcase Program June 26, 2023

New Musicals Showcase - June 26

Cool At Camp

New Musicals Showcase - June 26

Leonardo DiCaprio Was Supposed To Be In My Broadway Musical (The Musical)

New Musicals Showcase - June 26

Unmasked

New Musicals Showcase - June 26

Titillation

New Musicals Showcase - June 26

Sweetwater

New Musicals Showcase - June 26

Ribbons of War

New Musicals Showcase - June 26

Moon Over The Brewery

Our Performers

Michael Bihovsky

Michael Bihovsky

Michael Bihovsky

Ronnie Keller

Michael Bihovsky

Michael Bihovsky

Jackie Macri

Michael Bihovsky

Fionnaula Meister

Fionnaula Meister

Fionnaula Meister

Fionnaula Meister

Jessica Money

Fionnaula Meister

Kara Rantovich

Kara Rantovich

Fionnaula Meister

Kara Rantovich

Nancie Sanderson

Carl Nathaniel Smith

Carl Nathaniel Smith

Carl Nathaniel Smith

Carl Nathaniel Smith

Carl Nathaniel Smith

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