[title of show] is a self-reflexive Broadway musical about two guys who write a Broadway musical about two guys writing a Broadway musical.
Music and lyrics are by Jeff Bowen. The book is by Hunter Bell. Both men portray themselves in the show. Two actresses, Susan Blackwell and Heidi Blickenstaff, also play themselves.
The musical is one act. It runs 90 minutes with no intermission.
Tony Award-winning producer Kevin McCollum (Rent and Avenue Q) saw a festival performance and optioned the play for a professional production. The show was expanded and revised, with additional performances at the Eugene O'Neill Center in Connecticut and Ars Nova in New York City.
On February 26, 2006, [title of show] opened off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre. It ran through April, then was extended for an additional run from July 14 through October 1.
A planned production in San Francisco was canceled in favor of moving the show directly to Broadway.
[title of show] opened on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre on July 17, 2008.
Two Broadway musical fans named Hunter and Jeff decide to write a completely original musical starring themselves and their friends Susan and Heidi. Their musical, called [title of show], gets accepted into the New York Musical Theatre Festival and becomes a hit. It gets an off-Broadway production at the Vinyard Theatre and wins thre Obie Awards. Then the show moves to Broadway for a happy ending.
Hunter Bell (himself)
Susan Blackwell (herself)
Heidi Blickenstaff (herself)
Courtney Balan (standby for Susan and Heidi)
Benjamin Howes (standby for Jeff and Hunter)
The cast includes recorded voice performances (on phone messages) by Broadway stars Idina Menzel, Marin Mazzie, Sutton Foster, Emily Skinner, and Christine Ebersole.
Hunter Bell, Book
Michael Berresse, Director / Choreographer
Neil Patel, Scenic Design
Chase Tyler, Costume Design
Ken Billington, Co-Lighting Design
Jason Kantrowitz, Co-Lighting Design
ACME Sound Partners, Sound Design
Larry Pressgrove, Musical Direction / Arrangements
Telsey + Company, Casting
Brian Lynch / Theatretech, Inc., Production Supervisor
Martha Donaldson, Production Stage Manager
Tom Reynolds, Stage Manager
The Charlotte Wilcox Company, General Manager
Kevin McCollum, Producer
Jeffrey Seller, Producer
Laura Camien, Producer
Roy Miller, Producer
Kris Stewart, Producer
Vinyard Theatre, Producer
Rachel Helson, Associate Producer
Sara Katz, Associate Producer
Lams Productions, Associate Producer
Jaimie Mayer, Associate Producer
Heather Provost, Associate Producer
Tom Smedes, Associate Producer
Untitled Opening Number (Company)
Two Nobodies in New York (Jeff and Hunter)
An Original Musical (Hunter and Jeff)
Monkeys and Playbills (Company)
Part of It All (Hunter and Jeff)
I Am Playing Me (Heidi)
What Kind of Girl is She? (Heidi and Susan)
Die, Vampire, Die! (Susan and Company)
Filling Out the Form (Company)
Montage Part 1: September Song (Company)
Montage Part 2: Secondary Characters (Susan and Heidi)
Montage Part 3: Development Medley (Company)
Change It, Don't Change It / Awkward Photo Shoot (Company)
A Way Back to Then (Heidi)
Nine People's Favorite Thing (Company)
Finale (Company)
Music and lyrics are by Jeff Bowen. The book is by Hunter Bell. Both men portray themselves in the show. Two actresses, Susan Blackwell and Heidi Blickenstaff, also play themselves.
The musical is one act. It runs 90 minutes with no intermission.
Production History
In 2004, Hunter and Bell wrote the play in three and a half weeks to meet the entrance deadline for the New York Music Theatre Festival. The show was accepted into the festival, and debuted at the Manhattan Theatre Source, where it ran for three performances. Laura Camien produced the show. It then ran for six performances at the Belt Theatre, beginning September 22, 200.Tony Award-winning producer Kevin McCollum (Rent and Avenue Q) saw a festival performance and optioned the play for a professional production. The show was expanded and revised, with additional performances at the Eugene O'Neill Center in Connecticut and Ars Nova in New York City.
On February 26, 2006, [title of show] opened off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre. It ran through April, then was extended for an additional run from July 14 through October 1.
A planned production in San Francisco was canceled in favor of moving the show directly to Broadway.
[title of show] opened on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre on July 17, 2008.
Synopsis
The development of the show is also the story of the show.Two Broadway musical fans named Hunter and Jeff decide to write a completely original musical starring themselves and their friends Susan and Heidi. Their musical, called [title of show], gets accepted into the New York Musical Theatre Festival and becomes a hit. It gets an off-Broadway production at the Vinyard Theatre and wins thre Obie Awards. Then the show moves to Broadway for a happy ending.
Broadway Cast
Jeff Bowen (himself)Hunter Bell (himself)
Susan Blackwell (herself)
Heidi Blickenstaff (herself)
Courtney Balan (standby for Susan and Heidi)
Benjamin Howes (standby for Jeff and Hunter)
The cast includes recorded voice performances (on phone messages) by Broadway stars Idina Menzel, Marin Mazzie, Sutton Foster, Emily Skinner, and Christine Ebersole.
Broadway Production Team
Jeff Bowen, Music and LyricsHunter Bell, Book
Michael Berresse, Director / Choreographer
Neil Patel, Scenic Design
Chase Tyler, Costume Design
Ken Billington, Co-Lighting Design
Jason Kantrowitz, Co-Lighting Design
ACME Sound Partners, Sound Design
Larry Pressgrove, Musical Direction / Arrangements
Telsey + Company, Casting
Brian Lynch / Theatretech, Inc., Production Supervisor
Martha Donaldson, Production Stage Manager
Tom Reynolds, Stage Manager
The Charlotte Wilcox Company, General Manager
Kevin McCollum, Producer
Jeffrey Seller, Producer
Laura Camien, Producer
Roy Miller, Producer
Kris Stewart, Producer
Vinyard Theatre, Producer
Rachel Helson, Associate Producer
Sara Katz, Associate Producer
Lams Productions, Associate Producer
Jaimie Mayer, Associate Producer
Heather Provost, Associate Producer
Tom Smedes, Associate Producer
Awards
The show received Obie Award Special Citations for Hunter Bell, Michael Berresse, and Jeff Bowen.Songs
Montage Part 1: September SongUntitled Opening Number (Company)
Two Nobodies in New York (Jeff and Hunter)
An Original Musical (Hunter and Jeff)
Monkeys and Playbills (Company)
Part of It All (Hunter and Jeff)
I Am Playing Me (Heidi)
What Kind of Girl is She? (Heidi and Susan)
Die, Vampire, Die! (Susan and Company)
Filling Out the Form (Company)
Montage Part 1: September Song (Company)
Montage Part 2: Secondary Characters (Susan and Heidi)
Montage Part 3: Development Medley (Company)
Change It, Don't Change It / Awkward Photo Shoot (Company)
A Way Back to Then (Heidi)
Nine People's Favorite Thing (Company)
Finale (Company)
The Off-Broadway cast recording was released in 2006.
[title of show] received both raves and pans from the major critics.
Raves
New York Times: "...it is genial, unpretentious and far funnier than many of the more expensively manufactured musicals that make it to Broadway these days."
New York Sun: "...lovingly demolishes Broadway's most durable art form. In its place is a sweet, raunchy, and just about irresistible portrait of how and why we tell stories."
NY Daily News: "It's a joyously entertaining tribute to the pain and elation of the artistic process and of being a part of a world you adore."
Pans
Wall Street Journal: "An hour, alas, is too long to sit and wait for a musical to get good."
Newsday: "I wish I didn't feel that I was being manipulated by long-struggling talented people on a guilt trip."
Variety: "But stripped of satirical edge for its heavy Broadway date, the backstage show ... is revealed in all its narcissism, flaunting its shallow aesthetic values and taking unseemly pride in its inflated ambitions.
[title of show] — Internet Broadway Database
[title of show] — review roundup at the Broadway Musical blog
[title of show] received both raves and pans from the major critics.
Raves
New York Times: "...it is genial, unpretentious and far funnier than many of the more expensively manufactured musicals that make it to Broadway these days."
New York Sun: "...lovingly demolishes Broadway's most durable art form. In its place is a sweet, raunchy, and just about irresistible portrait of how and why we tell stories."
NY Daily News: "It's a joyously entertaining tribute to the pain and elation of the artistic process and of being a part of a world you adore."
Pans
Wall Street Journal: "An hour, alas, is too long to sit and wait for a musical to get good."
Newsday: "I wish I didn't feel that I was being manipulated by long-struggling talented people on a guilt trip."
Variety: "But stripped of satirical edge for its heavy Broadway date, the backstage show ... is revealed in all its narcissism, flaunting its shallow aesthetic values and taking unseemly pride in its inflated ambitions.
Links
[title of show] — official website[title of show] — Internet Broadway Database
[title of show] — review roundup at the Broadway Musical blog
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