Directed by Andrew Keates and presented by Arion Productions Ltd in association with Neil McPherson for the Finborough Theatre, Rooms is subtitled A Rock Romance and features a book co-written by Goodman with Miriam Gordon.
Set in the late 70s in Glasgow, where its composer was born and raised before relocating to New York in 1984 after five years of performing in London and a year in LA, it revolves around Monica, an ambitious Jewish singer-songwriter who meets Ian, a reclusive rocker. As the pair become quickly entangled – both creatively and romantically – their music together hurtles them from the dingy clubs of Scotland to the glitz of London and ultimately to New York City.
According to press materials, the show offers an unconventional love story about two young artists, whose love for each other deepens whilst their desires tear them apart. The show was originally produced at the New York Musical Theatre Festival in 2005.
Goodman was the first recipient of the Songwriters Hall of Fame Best New Songwriter Award, winner of the Backstage Bistro Award for Domestica (book, music and lyrics), first solo recipient of the Jonathan Larson Foundation Award, and winner of the Gilman Gonzalez-Falla Theater Foundation Commendation Award. He wrote the book, music and lyrics for Bright Lights, Big City, which was presented at the New York Theater Workshop, The Guggenheim Museum, the Prince Music Theater, Philadelphia, and recently licensed worldwide by The Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization. His other musicals include Him and Her (Prince Music Theater, Philadelphia, and New York International Fringe Festival where it won the Best Performance Award), Alive in the World (New York Musical Theatre Festival and an all-star benefit concert at The Zipper Factory), God Save the New Wave (Bottom Line, West Bank Theater), Metropolitan Music (Marymount Manhattan College) and Just East of Broadway (The Duplex). He has also performed as an opening act for John Cougar Mellencamp, Joan Armatrading, David Essex and The Average White Band.
Gordon's other collaborations with Goodman include Him and Her, God Save the New Wave and Domestica. She directed the short musical I've Got To See You Again, by two-time Grammy Award winner Jesse Harris, whose title song was recorded on Norah Jones' Grammy Award-winning album. She is writer and lyricist with Wendy Federman for a new musical Not For Better and is the writer and director of a new musical The Kid Who Ran For President, which received the Allan S. Gordon Foundation Performing Arts Program Award. Other directing credits When Heaven and Earth (Circle Rep East, New York) and In Audela (Cherry Lane Theater, New York). Musical direction will be by Mark Warman, choreography by Sam Spencer-Lane, design by Philip Lindley and costumes by Philippa Batt. Casting is still to be announced.
To book tickets, contact the box office on 0844 847 1652 or visit www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk for more details.
