Author Spotlight: THE PROM’s Chad Beguelin & Matthew Sklar

Bay Wellington · 2019-08-13

It’s been a good couple of years for Chad Beguelin & Matthew Sklar. Their last two collaborative efforts with Tony®-winning writer Bob Martin have come to fruition. First, it was the East Coast premiere of HALF TIME at the acclaimed Paper Mill Playhouse. The new musical about professional basketball’s first-ever aged 60-and-older dance team opened last June with Tony®-winning director & choreographer Jerry Mitchell at the helm. Then in November, THE PROM opened on Broadway, marking their third musical collaboration to hit the Great White Way. The musical racked up rave reviews, seven Tony® nominations and five Drama Desk nominations, taking home the Drama Desk for Best Musical. While its run at the Longacre Theater ended August 11th, THE PROM is living on with a YA novel adaptation, a Netflix movie…

The Addams Goes Dutch

Bay Wellington · 2019-05-15

One of the most acclaimed international productions closes on March 31st. Produced by TEC Entertainment and directed by Paul Eenens, the Dutch premiere of THE ADDAMS FAMILY has been taking the Netherlands by storm for the past five months. The production started picking up leads of five star reviews from severally leading publications including De Volkskrant, heralded as the paper of record in the Netherlands. The show was described as love letter to all things Addams Family and the Dutch theatrical community offered gifts of their love, including 11 Dutch Musical nominations (the country’s equivalent of the Tonys® or Oliviers®). Six of the nominations were for the performances alone with 5 additional nominations for design, translation, direction, and Best Musical.

Three Teenage Bohemians with the one in the center with a guitar

WE WILL ROCK YOU Gives Students and School Rock Star Chance

Bay Wellington · 2019-05-10

It’s been a long road for Hammond Academy of the Performing Arts in Hammond, Indiana. The Academy was established in 2010 as part of Morton High School. In the 1980s, Greg Easton, the current principal of Morton, teamed with various neighboring teachers and administrators to start a performing arts school in Hammond. Among the schools in the town, Morton was chosen because it had the best facility to house such an arts program but that didn’t mean the plan would be without pitfalls. Morton High School is a Title-1 school, meaning many of the students receive free or reduced lunch and services and face socio-economic challenges.
While teacher salaries are paid for by the district, the program itself must be self-sufficient. “Everything we spend, we make,” explains Easton.

Drawing My Own Conclusion with Andrew Lippa’s New Musical

Bay · 2019-05-10

As the Marketing Associate, one of my first assignments was to write for this very blog. I was asked to write about one of our newest musicals: THE MAN IN THE CEILING. The fear of failure paralyzed me. Doubt started creeping into my head: “Can I do this?” “Where do I begin?”

I felt anxious and scared about producing something worthy of placement on our blog. “What if I failed?” The answer to that became clearer as I got closer to the story and the music.

I began researching THE MAN IN THE CEILING’s creators: Andrew Lippa (Music & Lyrics) and Jules Feiffer (Book). I needed to know who they were and what motivated them. An article I cam across written by Lippa, titled “7 Pieces of Advice for Writers,” addressed overcoming fear and trusting your art. “Let the piece become what it wants to be…be ready to tell this story in a new way.”