May 31, 2003
Wow! Again, a long hiatus between updates!
Well, as you may or may not know,
URBAN
COWBOY
opened on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theater on March 27 and closed on
May
17. It was an amazing experience, start to finish. The creative team,
the
producers, the cast, the crew, and the band poured endless amounts of
love
and talent and energy into this production. Even though it was not
critically
acclaimed and did not find its audience in New York, I feel comfortable
speaking
for everyone involved when I say it was an incredibly joyful ride.
For me, it was a thrill to pop into the theater and hear my songs being
sung
so wonderfully by Matt Cavenaugh, Sally Mayes, and Jenn Colella. By the
time
the show opened, three of my songs were included in the show. "Leavin'
Home"
was a little cowboy ballad that Matt sang at the top of the show
sitting
on the lip of the stage. Sally brought down the house every night with
"All
Because of You" aka "The Hair Song." And Jenn charmed the audience with
her
perfect rendition of "Another Guy."
It was interesting that both of the songs I had written for Florida did
not
make it to Broadway. One, "I'm Gonna Like It Here," was cut in
previews.
While Florida audiences really enjoyed watching Matt cavort in bed with
two
knockout sisters, the number was not winning over any New Yorkers. And
"All
Because of You" replaced an earlier song for Sally, "Corene's
Commandments."
It was great fun writing for these actors, and they were all so game to
try
out new material. I'm a lucky guy.
Speaking of lucky, the songwriters of
URBAN COWBOY
were granted
a
Tony
Award
nomination
for our work on the show. What a thrill! It's been great fun attending
the
Tony festivities. And come award night, we will have the luxury of
being
very relaxed in our seats enjoying the show, know what I mean? :-)
Gotta
love
HAIRSPRAY.
Something else I worked on this spring was a symposium for musical
directors,
CONDUCTING YOURSELF. Ted Sperling and I put together a series of four
panel
discussions which took place at the Manhattan Theatre Club rehearsal
space.
It was a wonderful opportunity for me to learn about the ins and outs
of
musical direction, something I had been taking granted for years. I am
so
grateful to those who gave their time as panelists.
As for what's next, I'm still circling a couple of projects, waiting
for
rights and/or collaborators, but I hope to be announcing something
soon.
In the meantime, I'm gearing up for a European cruise with Lonny
mid-June.
(!!)
Thanks for visiting! Have a great summer-
XOXO
Jeff