MUSICALS

CAN GILBERT & SULLIVAN SAVE THIS MARRIAGE?

(formerly ROMANCE FROM BROADWAY TO LINCOLN CENTER)

Opera Expert Nelson Eddington and Broadway Expert Jeanette McAvoy share marriage and a love of music but not much else at the moment. It's the summer of 1966, and the couple are set to present an evening of romantic songs as a tribute to the soon-to-open Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center. But, try as they may to rehearse the presentation with the performers, it's clear Jeanette and Nelson aren't going to be able to stay on topic. Or are they?

"The Bells are Ringing..."

From Vaudeville to Operetta, Broadway music to "serious" Opera songs, the music leads you down Lovers' Lane, and the plight of the married music experts and their hapless Producer will have you laughing all the way.  FIND OUT MORE...

Premiered: 2010, produced by Loudoun Lyric Opera Company at Franklin Park Arts Center, Purcellville, VA

Cast: 9
Length: 1.5 hours
View JIM POSTON PHOTOS

View the YouTube TEASER
Performance Rights: Meredith Bean McMath

THE DRINKING GOURD:

Songs and Stories of the Undergound Railroad

Written to be performed by 4th through 6th grade Elementary School students, this 40-minute play is narrated by "Peg Leg Joe," an itenerant carpenter who travelled throughout the south teaching slaves the words and meaning to the song "Follow the Drinking Gourd" (the "road map" song of the Underground Railroad). Peg Leg Joe's gentle humor keeps the audience spell-bound as he leads them through a "time-traveling" overview of the Underground Railroad. In short order, Joe introduces us to well-known heroes of the Underground Railroad - Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth and Dr. Alexander Milton Ross - and lesser known heroes - runaway slave who tell their own stories of courage and hardship.

Ideal for large group participation, everyone has a chance to sing and act (various scenes are played out behind the characters, such as a field of workers watched by plantation overseers). The six songs woven into the piece are "Follow the Drinking Gourd," "Wade in the Water," "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," "Ezekiel Saw the Wheel," "The Little Black Train," and "Good News." The play provides room for choreographed dance during the songs, and the music for all six is readily available online.

Premiered: 2004 in celebration of Black History Month, produced by Loudoun County Public Schools at Hillsboro and Lincoln Elementary Schools, Loudoun County, Virginia.
Cast: 20-24
Length: 40 min.
Performance Rights: Meredith Bean McMath

PORCHES: An American Musical

Original Concept, Music and Lyrics by Tom Sweitzer; Book by Meredith Bean McMath

A character-driven dramatic musical set in the railroad town of Altoona, PA during World War II - when the Pennsylvania Railroad was King.

The year is 1942. Four homes lay alongside the railroad tracks. Widower Daniel Dunio, a Railroad Foreman struggling to raise two sons, lives in 901. In 902: Sharon Heinz, a woman with foster children whose husband is away at war. Divorcée Helen Tramonte lives with her daughter in 903; she's trying to discover whether she has the strength to raise her only child by herself. Last but by no means least, 904 holds two spinster sisters who used to work for the Railroad's front office. Miss Ethel is the self-appointed busy-body of the neighborhood, but the other sister is a gentle soul named Miss Violet. Violet appears to be in her dotage, but her odd ruminations and honest assessments can change her neighbors' lives. Through Violet's death they begin discover how much she'd taught them about life.

The picnic scene from the 2005 Altoona, Pennsylvania production at The Mishler.

L to R: Joe Banno as Daniel Dunio, Marie Gatti as Helen Tramonte, Archibald Reynolds as Truman Dunio, Emily Dennis as Jessica Tramonte, Lisa Reagan as Sharon McKenzie, Marian Sweet as Ethel Beck and Maxine Bean as Violet Beck

PORCHES explores the choice we make between living life as a walking death or as a study in hope. The songs leads the story forward and deepen the strength of each character.

The play was presented in 1999 to sold-out houses at Hill Playhouse in Middleburg, Virginia and at the Mishler Theatre in Altoona, where each of its fifteen performances received a standing ovation.  The play returned to Altoona in 2005 in celebration of the town's Sesquicentennial.

Set: Four front porches

Cast: 14 (6 women, 3 girls, 2 men, 3 boys)

Length: 2.5 hours

Performance Rights: Meredith Bean McMath or Tom Sweitzer