Moore (Avenue Q, Shrek, Steel Magnolias), who has been involved in developmental readings of the musical adaptation of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City by members of the band Scissor Sisters, will direct the O'Neill Conference presentation, and Calarco (The Audience, Bury the Dead) will direct Picnic at Hanging Rock. Musical directors for the conference include Stephen Oremus (Wicked, 9 to 5) and Deborah Abramson (Spring Awakening).
The O'Neill Music Theater Conference has also announced that Bright Lights, Big City and Rooms composer Paul Scott Goodman will join playwright Paul Oakley Stovall as artists in residence for the conference. Goodman will develop his father-son musical Easterhouse, and Stovall will continue work on his autobiographical piece Clear, featuring songs by Stew, Tom Kitt, Steve Goers, Irv Johnson, Ryan Link and Patrick Sarb.
Details for the Music Theater Conference follow:
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Librettist/lyricist/composer - Daniel Zaitchik
Director – Joe Calarco
Musical director – Deborah Abramson
"Picnic at Hanging Rock is a new musical adaptation of Joan Lindsay's classic Australian novel, with book, music and lyrics by Daniel Zaitchik. This delicately haunting mystery follows a group of schoolgirls from a prestigious boarding school who are released from their studies for a picnic on Valentine's Day in 1900. When three of the girls vanish into the wilderness, we are lulled into a dark reverie of sexuality, repression, nature, and the unknown." (June 27-July 3)
Tales of the City
Librettist - Jeff Whitty
Lyricist/composer - Jason Sellards
Composer – John Garden
Director – Jason Moore
Musical director Stephen Oremus
"Based on the beloved series of novels by Armistead Maupin, Tales of the City follows a community of friends, lovers, and others who reside at the mythical address of 28 Barbary Lane in 1976 San Francisco. Mary Ann Singleton, a fresh arrival from Ohio, falls into a diverse band of Bohemians and blue-bloods, as families are created and rediscovered under the watchful eye of mystical landlady Anna Madrigal." (July 4-11) The O'Neill Music Theater Conference runs June 27-July 11. Tickets for the O'Neill Music Theater and Playwrights Conference readings go on sale June 10. For tickets phone (860) 443-1238 or visit www.theoneill.org.
The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center was founded in 1964 and is based in Waterford, CT. Programs at the Center include the Puppetry Conference, Playwrights Conference, Critics Institute, Music Theater Conference and the National Theater Institute. The Monte Cristo Cottage, O'Neill's childhood home, is also owned and operated by the group.
