SOUND BITES 4.0

took place on

Monday, May 29, 2017
(Memorial Day)

at 7:00 pm

Irene Diamond Stage
The Pershing Square Signature Center
480 West 42nd Street
New York, NY, 10036

Hosted by

The Cast of

PREMIERE: The Improvised Musical 

THE HOSTS

Premiere: The Improvised Musical

All photos credit: Kate Campbell/What Matilda Saw

The musicals, listed in alphabetical order, featured at Sound Bites 4.0  are…

CONNECTED (book, music & lyrics by Alanya Bridge) is a poignant through-composed musical that deals with love and loss, heartache and heartbreak.

 

 

 

 

 

Express (book, music & lyrics by Janine McGuire and Arri Lawton Simon) is a musical in three parts, each of which takes place on an NYC subway car in a different time period (1946, 1964, and 1992). The show tells the story of one woman’s life in New York, with each segment depicting a chance encounter that transforms her. For Sound Bites 4.0, the first segment (1946) will be performed in which our protagonist, Kitty, meets her future husband, Joe.

photo credit: Kate Campbell/What Matilda Saw 

 

 

 

The Facebook Fighter (book, music & lyrics by Chris Kerrigan) is a darkly funny one-act musical about a bitter 30-year-old misanthrope who makes continuous attempts at human connection the only way he knows how: by antagonizing people on Facebook. After he alienates his "friends" one by one with incendiary political rants, snobbish pop culture opinions, and flat-out viciousness, he realizes too late that his brash and frank online persona has pushed everybody away and left him all alone in a void of existential loneliness and social media silence.

 photo credit: Kate Campbell/What Matilda Saw

Franklin Pierce: Dragon Slayer (The Untold Story of America’s Debatably Least Effective President) (book & lyrics by Rebekah M. Allen, music by Will Buck) When eighth-grader Jennifer is assigned Franklin Pierce for her class's President's Day project, she's bummed to have gotten one of the history's most forgettable presidents. However, late that night Franklin himself visits Jennifer to tell her the truth behind his presidency: he wasn't boring, he was actually fighting dragons the entire time and had to keep it a secret. In the end, Franklin's story teaches Jennifer a valuable lesson about self-acceptance, whether he actually meant to or not.

 photo credit: Kate Campbell/What Matilda Saw

 

 

Happenstance(book by Caitlin Gallo, choreography by Jimmy Burgio) is based on missed connections from Craigslist. Romantic, funny, sad and exhilarating this dance play uses contemporary modern dance set to popular music to tell a story that will enchant and captivate old and young audiences alike.

 photo credit: Kate Campbell/What Matilda Saw

 

 

The Medium...The Music...and Me (book, music & lyrics by DonnaD Lipari, creative direction by John DiGiorgio) is an autobiographical musical about learning to love and accept oneself and the extraordinary gift of mediumship. It is about the many struggles and "voice" lessons one must face to find the courage to free one’s voice...the inner and the outer. Hopefully, it will inspire others to do the same!

 photo credit: Kate Campbell/What Matilda Saw

 

A Most Average Musical (stage adaptation & lyrics by Jonathan Keebler, music by Bob Kelly, based on a screenplay by Talia Berger) follows freshman Jenny as she spends her first Friday night at college alone. Unlike her three roommates, Jenny does not have extraordinary plans for the evening. But when upstairs neighbor Charlie knocks on the door, asking for a spare toothbrush, Jenny learns that an average night is just what she needs to fit in.

 photo credit: Kate Campbell/What Matilda Saw

 

 

 

 

The Pound: A Musical for the Dogs (book, music & lyrics by Phil Darg & Julie Ana Rayne) is the journey of a collection of colorful animal shelter dogs in their quest to find a home.

 photo credit: Kate Campbell/What Matilda Saw

 

 

 

 

 

Superhots! (book & music by Joel Esher, book & lyrics by Blair Bodine) takes place in a fictional town in Texas where the sun is hot, but the salsa's hotter. This comedic 10-minute musical looks at the politics of competitive hot pepper growing in a small town. The organic farmer, Taylor, wants to win the heart of the local restaurant owner, (and hot tamale) Carlotta, but the villainous Pepper Pete has other plans.

 photo credit: Kate Campbell/What Matilda Saw

 

 

The Wild & Wonderful Whites of West Virginia (book & lyrics by Justin Anthony Long, music by Garrit Guadan) Shoot-outs, robberies, gas-huffing, drug dealing, pill popping, murders, and tap dancing - what do these all have in common? These are just a few of the parts of being a member of the Wild and Wonderful White Family. The legendary family is as known for their wild, excessive criminal ways as they are for their famous mountain dancing members, including Jesco White, the star of the cult classic documentary, "Dancing Outlaw". Exploring both the comic and tragic sides of life on the other side of the law, this stylish, fast-paced family portrait exposes the powerful forces of corruption, poverty, and West Virginia's environmentally and culturally devastating coal mining culture that helped shape the White family, a dying breed of outlaws preserving a dying form of dance.

 photo credit: Kate Campbell/What Matilda Saw

photo credit: Kate Campbell/What Matilda Saw

SOUND BITES 4.0 Curtain Call with the Casts of All Ten Shows