Songs from Unmade Bed began performances May 12 and opened May 24 joining the Leonard Bernstein-centered solo, Score, which played in repertory with the Campbell work from April 26 (opening May 1).
David Schweizer (White Chocolate, Wintertime) directs Songs from Unmade Bed featuring the lyrics of Mark Campbell (Splendora) with music by 17 collaborating composers. The solo is billed as a "unique music/theatre event that propels a smart, resilient, wry, and ultimately romantic gay New Yorker through the heartaches and triumphs of love in the big city." Michael Winther (Mamma Mia!, 1776) performs with musical direction by Kimberly Grigsby.
The eclectic lineup of musical artists whose songs are featured in the work include Debra Barsha (Radiant Baby), Mark Bennett (Golda's Balcony), Peter Foley (The Hidden Sky), Jenny Giering (The Mistress Cycle), Peter Golub (Amphigorey), Jake Heggie (Dead Man Walking opera), Stephen Hoffman (Splendora), Lance Horne (The Tell-Tale Heart), Gihieh Lee (Tock Tick), Steve Marzullo (Joyce Jackson's Guide to Dating), Brendan Milburn (Striking 12), Chris Miller (The Prodigal Son), Greg Pliska (In a Lake of Fire), Duncan Sheik (Spring Awakening), Jeffrey Stock (Triumph of Love) and Joseph Thalken (Harold & Maude: The Musical).
Campbell penned the libretto for the full-length comic opera Volpone (music by John Musto) that premiered at Wolf Trap last March. Other works by the first Kleban Award-winning lyricist include The Paradise Project (composer Michael Torke at The Kitchen), Chang & Eng (Spirit of Broadway Theatre), Akin (music by Richard Peaslee, Music-Theatre Group at La Mama), Light Shall Lift Them (BAM's Next Wave Festival), Nothing Forever (NYTW workshop), The Sweet Revenge of Louisa May (Olney Theatre), Awakening (P.S. 122) and Broken Morning (HERE).
He has also garnered two Richard Rodgers Awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Rockefeller Foundation Award, a New York Foundation for the Arts Playwriting Fellowship, a Drama Desk Award nomination, and a 2004 Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation Award. Songs from an Unmade Bed's designers feature Neil Patel (scenic), David Zinn (costumes), Brian H Scott (lighting) and Michael Creason (sound). Elizabeth Miller serves as the production stage manager.
Tickets to Songs from an Unmade Bed at New York Theatre Workshop, 79 East 4th Street, (between Second Avenue and Bowery), can be purchased by calling (212) 239-6200. For more information, visit www.nytw.org.
