It’s kind of a crazy thing that every now and then I get to put on a dress and do a concert in a foreign country, but two weeks ago Australia got to see me do exactly that. In beautiful Brisbane (which they call Bris-Vegas for no obvious reason), I co-hosted an evening with my fantastically talented fellow songwriter JOHN BUCCHINO, featuring the song stylings of singers MARIKA AUBREY, ANDREW CONAGHAN, MADELINE CAIN, ANGELA HARDING, LUKE KENNEDY and TOD STRIKE. And then, less than a week (and a few master classes) later, I had a solo concert in Melbourne, adding the vocal talents of SOPHIE CARTER, AVIGAIL HERMAN, and CHRISTINA O’NEILL. My husband Jason was also on tour in Australia, and so our kids were able to come with us. Kangaroos were seen; it was a great time! Thanks to everyone who made that trip possible, especially JEREMY YOUETT of Your Management International and MEL ROBERTSON, stage manager extraordinaire.
The past few months have been jam-packed, keeping me the best kind of busy. In January HELLO! MY BABY was presented at the Goodspeed Festival of New Voices in Connecticut, and the show was a big success. We had some incredible actors from the senior classes of the Hartt School of Music (Hartford) and the Boston Conservatory, and they brought real joy and fun to the presentation. This past weekend we did a backer’s audition in Santa Barbara, CA (see photo), and we’re considering a number of possibilities for the world premiere of the show, hopefully next season. I’ll certainly keep you posted here if there are announcements to be made, but if you’d like to see pictures of the show and read about its progress, find our “HELLO! MY BABY” fan page on Facebook!
In February, writing partner JOHN JILER flew out to LA and we began a major rewrite on our show BIG RED SUN. For those of you who don’t live in this particular hell, writing a musical means writing a first draft and then rewriting it over and over again. The more opportunities you get to work on a show, the more you learn about it. And after the NAMT Festival last fall, we learned quite a bit. So BIG RED SUN is getting a bit of a facelift and will hopefully be ready to show off her (his? her?) fancy new smile again by the end of the summer.
And FINALLY, right around President’s Day, I had an original piece of music featured on NPR. Take a look.
UPCOMING:
On April 11th, JASON ROBERT BROWN and GEORGIA STITT (that’s me!) will be honored in a gala concert for CAP21 at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College in NYC. Special guests will include (this is good stuff, y’all): DAVIS GAINES, AISHA DE HAAS, CHRISTOPHER JACKSON, BRIAN d’ARCY JAMES, LAUREN KENNEDY, JESSICA MOLASKEY, KELLI O’HARA, a 30-voice choir and a nine-piece band. OH YES.
Details here:
http://www.cap21.org/gala.html
and here:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=203567582992942
Jason and I don’t perform together often. This is going to be a good one. Hope to see you there!
I’m off this weekend to be the guest speaker at Disneyworld for a Celebration of SOCIAL MEDIA MOMS. I’m singing original songs (with SUSAN EGAN) and talking about Twitter. Help me look more impressive by joining Twitter just to follow me!
Thanks for reading, you guys. I remain so grateful that you are listening.
BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH!