We finally have a cast for this show and I’m still pinching myself over the talent involved, including Renée Elise Goldsberry as Prospero, Jo Lampert as Ariel, Theo Stockman as Caliban, Joél Perez as Stephano, and Anthony Chatmon II as Antonio. See the full announcement on Playbill!
Joel and I are thrilled to be back at Berkeley Repertory Theater as part of the Ground Floor program to work on our show LOST CITY RADIO! We’re excited to be digging into writing and dramaturgy while here, with the brilliant minds of the Ground Floor team, led by Madeleine Oldham. Joél and I first started talking about the project when we were at Berkeley Rep doing KISS MY AZTEC, so it’s extra special to be coming back to where it all started! Check out all the other fabulous artists in this year’s Ground Floor in the Broadway World Article here.
LOST CITY RADIO, a new musical I’m writing with bookwriter Joél Perez based on the novel by Daniel Alarcon, will be developed at the Rhinebeck Writer’s Retreat this summer! Joél and I are thrilled to be joining a fantastic group of writers who will be using the space and time to further develop our projects.
Thank you to Kathy Evans and everyone at Rhinebeck for the opportunity!
Check out the write up from Broadway World.
Thanks to Jennifer Jancuska and her miraculous group of BringAbout artists, Joél Perez and I were invited to workshop our new show LOST CITY RADIO for two days in a rare opportunity to hear and see work on its feet early in the development process.
Thanks to Jennifer for her leadership and choreography, to Scott Wasserman and his music team for bringing these songs to life for the first time EVER, to the incomparable Taylor Iman Jones for giving me all the chills with her epic performance, and all the performers for reminding me what real talent and artistry feels like.
We’ll have footage to share soon, but in the meantime, check out photos of the process!
I had a blast writing this song with David Kamp for La Jolla Playhouse celebrating that we can all taste the imminent return of Live Theater! It's coming y'all! Thank you to the ridiculously talented Storm Lever, Joél Perez, Raymond J. Lee, and Allison Spratt Pearce for bringing it to life!! And thank you to Eric Keen-Louie and Gabe Greene for giving us the opportunity! The song starts around 2 minutes in!
While this song was written in 2011 for my musical AFTERLAND, the unaltered lyrics feel extremely prescient right here, right now, as we approach the end of a contentious election and the prospect of millions of votes not being counted. My friend Nic Cory had the brilliant idea to make a video of “Old Country” to promote ProtectTheResults.com, and Katie and I said HELL YES! It’s a rollicking ride of a video that I hope you enjoy, and please make sure your vote gets counted!!
FEATURING Benjamin Velez, Katie Hathaway, Maria-Christina Oliveras, Joél Perez, Emma Hathaway (Fiddle), and Antwayn Hopper (Narrator) ANIMATION by Jay Marks / EDITING by Roberto Araujo PRODUCED & DIRECTED by Nic Cory
I am on cloud nine and thrilled for our entire cast, crew, band, and creative team that our first ever iteration of this show, and my FIRST ever production, has been a critical success! Check out a few great write ups below:
I couldn’t be more thrilled to have our world premiere cast in place for “Kiss My Aztec”. This crazy talented group of superstars will be doing both the Berkeley and La Jolla Productions and I’m excited we get to birth this baby together! Come see us this summer and fall if you’re on the west coast!
Check out the write up on Broadway World at this link.
Tickets are available at Berkeley Rep’s site and will hopefully go on sale for La Jolla soon!
Excited to share that our first reading of "Pain In the Aztec", produced by the Public Theater, was a success! With Book by John Leguizamo, Music by myself, Benjamin Velez, and Lyrics by John, myself, and David Kamp, this draft has been in development since 2014 and it was wonderful to hear it out loud for the first time!
Thanks to David Gardos, our incomparable Music Director, and our stellar cast: JOEL PEREZ, CARIDAD DE LA CRUZ, CHAD CARSTARPHEN, JESSE J. PEREZ, ELISEO ROMAN, MARIA ELENA RAMIREZ, SOL MARINA CRESPO, JUSTIN GREGORY LOPEZ, and our fabulous Director Tony Taccone!
Excited for what's next!