PAST PROJECTS
Here are some of my past projects, some of which were produced and some of which were never fully developed, but a variety of flavors.
I’M NOT GAY | MARS ONE | ANYONE BUT GIO | THE EARTH
SIRENS | VARSITY SHOW
I’M NOT GAY
A Movie Musical for which I wrote 10 original songs!
Misha is an MMA fighter dealing with a ton of suppressed trauma from being a victim of sexual abuse as a kid. I know, dark, but stay with me. That manifests itself in a ton of unhealthy ways, including crippling OCD and self harm. (THE MESS INSIDE)
After nearly killing himself, his doctor refuses to keep enabling Misha unless he goes to see a psychologist friend of his on Fire Island. When there, Misha sees a house that completely enchants him and is desperate to buy it. The owner refuses to sell to anyone but a gay man because of the house’s history. (HERE IN THIS HOUSE) Misha claims he is gay, despite not considering himself so, and the owner is skeptical, but intrigued. He agrees to give Misha the summer to see if the neighbors warm to him.
Misha tells his friends at the gym he’s quitting, that it’s not good for him anymore. But his trainer, and his enabler, who profits off Misha’s fights tries to convince him to stay. (THE FIGHTING LIFE)
The Fire Island neighbors are thrilled when they realize Misha isn’t just a “reformed” MMA fighter, but a skilled dancer. They try to enlist him to join their dance crew for the end of summer competition. (BEAUTIFUL GAYS)
When Misha’s ex-wife gets a job out of the city, Misha must take care of his teenage daughter Brooklyn for the summer. He’s forced to come clean about his “pretending to be gay",” which she finds utterly appalling as well as entertaining. She realizes he has no clue what he’s doing and decides to help educate him before he makes a fool of himself. (KEEP YOUR STORY STRAIGHT)
Misha is having trouble in therapy and still too closed off to make much progress. His psychologist, a drag queen herself, urges him to try and dig deeper. (BREAKDOWN)
Misha starts to fall for one of the guys in the dance group and panics. He leaves the island and goes back to the gym, where he starts a fight to try and re-assert his masculinity, but ends up getting beaten unconscious. (TAKE THE LIGHT AWAY)
Brooklyn confronts her dad about his behavior and he lashes out. She runs off to be alone. (A DIFFERENT DAD)
Misha tries hard to accept himself and returns to Fire Island to be a part of the dance competition. (BEAUTIFUL GAYS REPRISE) They win! Misha gets to stay in the house? Is he gay after all? The movie doesn’t make a decision! But writing the songs was fun!
Here’s a video of some clips from the film:
MARS ONE
A New Short Musical by Benjamin Velez and Kathryn Hathaway
Katie and I wrote this piece as part of the 2015 iteration of 4@15: Four Fifteen Minute Musicals, where four writing teams each have two weeks to write a short musical for a cast of 8 students from NYU Steinhardt.
THE STORY:
While we were brainstorming ideas for the kinds of stories we could tell in 15 minutes, everything from Secret Society Inductions to the tribulations of Underground Hacker Communities, I remembered a New York Times article I'd read about a private company trying to send the first humans to Mars.
The article had stuck with me because the opportunity was specifically meant as a one-way trip to Mars, meaning the people chosen would spend the rest of their lives there in order to start a colony. The fascinating part was that the majority of experts in the scientific community found the prospect ludicrous, claiming that the technology to get humans to Mars was still primitive let alone the technology needed for people to live there and survive was virtually non-existent.
Despite most scientists laughing this company off as a joke, hundreds of thousands around the world were already applying for one of the four spots (two men, two women). And not only that, they were applying to be a part of a process that included 10 years of training before the big voyage even begins. Who are these people willing to give away their lives when the experts were calling foul?
This show could have easily been written as a mockery of the deluded applicants, but instead we wanted to give both sides a voice. Over the course of history, true pioneers have always been doubted and mocked before ultimately proving everyone wrong. Here's hoping MARS ONE proves to be one of those pioneers.
WHO:
Written by Benjamin Velez and Kathryn Hathaway
Directed by Brian Blythe
Music Directed by Ben Baker
Starring: Jordan Aanrud, Hayley Biegel, Molly Gallagher, Alexander McDaniel, Gabrielle Navetta, Myers Rhoad, Victoria Rodriguez, Daniel Youngelman
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A Short Original Musical inspired by the 2016 Republican Primary, but set in a fictional Community College Cafeteria where students are vying for the role of Food Commissioner and the power to determine the cafeteria menu....
Music and Lyrics by Benjamin Velez
Book by Tim Duncheon
Directed by Brian Blythe
STARRING:
Tivoli Evans, Gio Munguia, Kelsey Olson, Erica Schaeffer, Laurence Turner & Rachel Williams
Presented by 4@15 and the University of California, Irvine - featured in Broadway World.
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I’M NOT GAY | MARS ONE | ANYONE BUT GIO | THE EARTH
SIRENS | VARSITY SHOW
"The Earth" | New York Musical Theater Festival 2010
This was a piece written over the course of three days, then rehearsed and performed in front of an audience at NYMF that same week.
8 Minute Musicals was a production of Artist's Without Limits (AWOL) where composers and playwrights who had never met were paired off, given 3 performers, and had 2 days to write an original 8 minute piece of theater for them. I had a day to notate the score before handing it off to a director and the actors, who then had three days to rehearse before premiering the piece at the festival.
I was lucky to work with the playwright Jerome A. Parker and the wonderful David Alpert as my director. The cast included the talented Sally Wilfert, Leah Horowitz and Caesar Samayoa with John Bell music directing.
"The Earth"
Music and Lyrics by Benjamin Velez | Book by Jerome A. Parker (Lyrics for "None of it Matters")
Set in an underground chamber where three people spend their entire existence working a machine they have been told keeps the sun in the sky. As far as they know, to stop would mean the end of the world. Loosely based on Plato's The Cave, "The Earth" explores the individual's quest for the truth and the struggle to reconcile one's own view of reality with reality itself.
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SIRENS
Music by Benjamin Velez | Book and Lyrics by Deborah Zoe Laufer
STORY: When Sam Abrams first fell in love with Rose he wrote her a song— a song that has been covered by every recording artist and translated to every language. It is heard in every elevator and on every cell phone ringtone. For twenty-five years, Sam has been trying to write the next song – to no avail.
Sam and Rose are now celebrating their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary with a cruise in the Mediterranean. Sam hears the most beautiful music ever heard, jumps overboard, and winds up on the Siren’s island. There he must struggle with the seductions of the Siren, the terrors of middle age, and the tortures of creative failure. And he must find a way to get home and win his wife back.
"Already Over" | Sam sings to Rose about his feeling that he's reached the point where he no longer has anything to look forward to. (Demo performed by myself)
"Incredible Vanishing Woman" | As Sam and Rose walk down the street together, Sam is either staring at other women or singing to himself, oblivious to the conversation Rose is trying to have. (Demo performed by Beverly Ward)
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The longest performing arts tradition at Columbia University, the Varsity Show is an original musical written, directed, produced and performed by a group of Columbia students every year.
The 2008 show, Morningside Hates, marks the first collaboration between me and my best friend and now long time writing partner Kathryn Hathaway. Together we wrote music and lyrics for the original score and taught ourselves to do orchestrations along the way.