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NYMF: The Big Voice: God or Merman?

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#1

NYMF: The Big Voice: God or Merman?

Posted: 8/31/04 at 5:59pm

Just wanted to point to my own musical which opens at the NYMF on Sept. 24. If you go to the website, you can read more about it. Basically, it's a two-man show about a Baptist from Arkansas and a Catholic from Brooklyn who find Eternal Salvation in the Temple of Musical Theatre.

It's also about a marriage: ours. Two nice boys from the red and blue states find each other in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle. This is our first show since The Last Session.

Steve Schalchlin
www.bonusround.com

New York Musical Theatre Festival
The Belt Theatre on 37th Street
Sept 24, 8pm; Sept 26, 8pm
Sept 28, 8pm; Sept 29, 1pm
Oct 2, 1pm; Oct 3, 4.30pm

Order tickets: 212-352-3101


The Big Voice website
#2

re: NYMF: The Big Voice: God or Merman?

Posted: 8/31/04 at 9:01pm

Just bought two tickets for the 24th Steve. Totally excited about it! :)
"... Still a little bit of your taste in my mouth. Still a little bit of you laced with my doubt. Still a little hard to say what's going on..." Damien Rice
#3

re: NYMF: The Big Voice: God or Merman?

Posted: 8/31/04 at 9:15pm

Be sure to find me in the lobby afterwards. I want to meet and hug EVERYONE who comes to see the show. I included a link below to some high res photos of the show. We're not the prettiest guys on the planet, but we have big hearts. And let me say this, Jim Brochu is the funniest person on the planet. Be prepared to laugh a lot. And bring tissues cuz we have a high "cry" factor, too.
Links to hi res pics.
#4

re: NYMF: The Big Voice: God or Merman?

Posted: 8/31/04 at 9:51pm

hey steve! i dont know if you remember me but i'm ken mcpherson's friend from california, and i helped you out with your staged reading last year in NY. i am so excited to see the show again, hopefully i will be able to get out from the island to see it!
"Contentment it seems merely happens, It appears Accompanied by no bravos and no tears" "The world is good you said Enjoy it's highs you said The summer flies you said So make a parade Of every moment Now throw away your hate And focus on what's great instead" ~William Finn
#5

re: NYMF: The Big Voice: God or Merman?

Posted: 8/31/04 at 10:01pm

Oh Steve, you're so sweet. I will most definitely seek you out for that hug. I'm much with the hugging!

And this is hysterical!

Jim: "I'd love to believe in re-incarnation but it would mean I'd have to go through high school again."

"... Still a little bit of your taste in my mouth. Still a little bit of you laced with my doubt. Still a little hard to say what's going on..." Damien Rice
#7

re: NYMF: The Big Voice: God or Merman?

Posted: 8/31/04 at 10:48pm

hey steve! i dont know if you remember me but i'm ken mcpherson's friend from california, and i helped you out with your staged reading last year in NY. i am so excited to see the show again, hopefully i will be able to get out from the island to see it!

Yes, of course. Hello and thank you so much for helping us out. We've been a "do-it-yourself" show from the beginning and we liked it that way. In Los Angeles, we had no budget and no rich producing entity. We just opened the doors and waited to see if people showed up. And they did! Little did we ever dream that we'd actually get nominated for awards, much less win them. Honestly, it's been like a little dream.

The Belt Theatre is, BTW, the most unusual stage-audience set-up I've ever seen.

Updated On: 8/31/04 at 10:48 PM

#8

re: NYMF: The Big Voice: God or Merman?

Posted: 8/31/04 at 10:57pm

SHILL!!!!!! BURN HIM!!!!!!
BSoBW2: I punched Sondheim in the face after I saw Wicked and said, "Why couldn't you write like that!?"
#10

re: NYMF: The Big Voice: God or Merman?

Posted: 9/1/04 at 12:12am

Steve, I loved the THE LAST SESSION production at Uptown Players here in Dallas.

And I love the recording they did of it.
"One no longer loves one's insight enough once one communicates it."

The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.

Updated On: 9/1/04 at 12:12 AM

#11

re: NYMF: The Big Voice: God or Merman?

Posted: 9/1/04 at 12:27am

Steve, I loved the THE LAST SESSION production at Uptown Players here in Dallas.

I was invited to see that production. Jeff Kinman, who played Buddy, and I are still in contact. He has the most brilliant southern tenor voice. Did you know we played Big Voice there in Dallas last year? Did you see us there? It was only for a week in conjunction with the MCC Worldwide Jubilee.

Steve Schalchlin
THE BIG VOICE: God or Merman?
#12

re: NYMF: The Big Voice: God or Merman?

Posted: 9/1/04 at 12:28am

No. And I am extremely sad that I missed it.
"One no longer loves one's insight enough once one communicates it."

The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
#14

re: NYMF: The Big Voice: God or Merman?

Posted: 9/1/04 at 9:31am

This was in LA and I missed it? Drat!

Will the show be coming back this way anytime soon?
Everybody goes down well with beer.
#15

re: NYMF: The Big Voice: God or Merman?

Posted: 9/1/04 at 9:50am

This was in LA and I missed it? Drat!

Will the show be coming back this way anytime soon?

I have no doubt that we'll be doing Big Voice in some form or another out here in Los Angeles. Yes, sorry you missed it first time around. Since it was fresh out of the typewriter, we kept it low key. The only people who came were those who heard about it through word of mouth or through my posts on the net.

Would San Luis Obispo be close enough for you? I'm talking to a venue there for something around Dec. 1st.
NYMF presents The Big Voice: God or Merman?
#16

re: NYMF: The Big Voice: God or Merman?

Posted: 9/1/04 at 10:20am

Steve, I just want to say how much I enjoy and respect your work. i'm old friends with dramafreak13 who got me hooked on The Last Session a few years back. I absolutely love the music. every song is so unique and effective it makes me wish there were more scores of that caliber on Broadway. I hope to actually catch a production of it one day. tell me, was there a Last Session staging at Laguna Playhouse? I was there in January to catch L5Y and noticed they were selling your CD in the lobby. Just curious what your involvement was with them.

Anyway, kudos on your success and I look forward to seeing The Big Voice at the NYMF!

"The last train out of any station will not be full of nice guys." - Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

"I wash my face, then drink beer, then I weep. Say a prayer and induce insincere self-abuse, till I'm fast asleep"- In Trousers

#18

re: NYMF: The Big Voice: God or Merman?

Posted: 9/1/04 at 11:55am

Broadway Matt said:

Steve, ... i'm old friends with dramafreak13 who got me hooked on The Last Session a few years back... I hope to actually catch a production of it one day.

I just got a "handshake" agreement with an artistic director with a theatre near Manhattan. I have offered to work with him to create a Broadway-level cast that could possibly transfer, but it's only talk (so far). Already, I have a commitment from one Broadway star. There's also a young actor over in London named Ramin Karimloo who is playing the lead in Phantom. He is desperate to put a TLS happening together there with Bob Stillman, who also is in London with Dirty Blond. Keep yer fingers crossed. The story of TLS is not over yet.

tell me, was there a Last Session staging at Laguna Playhouse? I was there in January to catch L5Y and noticed they were selling your CD in the lobby. Just curious what your involvement was with them.

Laguna Playhouse was looking for a musical that had "an edge," some gay content but could play well for their largely conservative Orange County audience. In TLS, because it's so "real" in terms of its storytelling, they felt they had the perfect vehicle. They brought three cast members from New York, Bob Stillman, Amy Coleman and Stephen Bienskie and paired them up with Michele Mais and Joel Traywick. It was their first full Equity production as a LORT theatre and it garnered them a bevy of awards that they are very proud of.

The Big Voice began as a one night concert FOR THEM in honor of their production of The Last Session. See how it all comes around? The entire Laguna production is documented on my diary.

Index to diary of Steve Schalchlin

Updated On: 9/1/04 at 11:55 AM

#20

re: NYMF: The Big Voice: God or Merman?

Posted: 9/1/04 at 12:04pm

The Big Voice in Laguna was a special occasion too. I remember it was only going to be ONE performance for your family and friends and was so incredibly popular that you decided to try it in another venue--and haven't looked back yet. Watching it travel around the country and snowball, just like The Last Session did, has been so much fun. I'm glad that I was in on the ground floor of this production and look forward to seeing its debut in NY!
#21

re: NYMF: The Big Voice: God or Merman?

Posted: 9/1/04 at 12:09pm

"They brought three cast members from New York, Bob Stillman, Amy Coleman and Stephen Bienskie and paired them up with Michele Mais and Joel Traywick. It was their first full Equity production as a LORT theatre and it garnered them a bevy of awards that they are very proud of."

Thanks for the info! I really wish I had seen that Laguna production. Well hopefully the Broadway-level NY production works out. It sounds like a great idea.

I also didn't realize Stephen Bienskie was in the 2 productions. I bet he was fantastic, as he was in "The Fix" when Signature Arlington did it. Gotta love the small world of musical theatre!

"The last train out of any station will not be full of nice guys." - Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

"I wash my face, then drink beer, then I weep. Say a prayer and induce insincere self-abuse, till I'm fast asleep"- In Trousers

#22

re: NYMF: The Big Voice: God or Merman?

Posted: 9/1/04 at 12:38pm

Laguna Playhouse was looking for a musical that had "an edge," some gay content but could play well for their largely conservative Orange County audience. In TLS, because it's so "real" in terms of its storytelling, they felt they had the perfect vehicle. They brought three cast members from New York, Bob Stillman, Amy Coleman and Stephen Bienskie and paired them up with Michele Mais and Joel Traywick. It was their first full Equity production as a LORT theatre and it garnered them a bevy of awards that they are very proud of.

Whoa!!!

No, Steve -- Stephen was not in the Laguna cast. I should know, Laguna was when I got obsessed with TLS. Oh wait, didn't I say I wasn't obsessed? Anyway. Laguna cast. Bob Stillman, Amy Coleman, Joel Traywick, Michelle Mais, and PM. Wow, I forgot PM's last name. Wasn't that his name? PM - the guy who played Crabby Old Jim in the Booth?

So yeah, Stephen was not in the Laguna production, unless you played a special show with two Buddies. But I'm pretty sure you didn't because during your three-week run I must have seen half the performances. Just sayin'.

Stephen was in tick, tick...BOOM! earlier this year, and we had dinner after the show and talked a lot about the old TLS days. We filled him in on L.A. and he filled us in on NY. Ah, good times.

~Karen
(...having a good time reminiscing! - Steve, remember the "groupie seats" on house left, right next to Gideon's keybaord? Haha! I remember one time I showed up and I didn't have a seat so I sat on the stairs. You saw me right before the lights went down and gave me your seat and then you sat on the stairs. That was SIX YEARS AGO.)

EDIT:
PM Howard! That was his name!
"The applause of all but very good men is no more than the precise measure of their possible hostility."

Updated On: 9/1/04 at 12:38 PM

#23

re: NYMF: The Big Voice: God or Merman?

Posted: 9/1/04 at 1:18pm

P.M. Howard, right?
JOHN LITHGOW I just realized, your last name is Butz! Both "Norbert" AND "Butz" are in your name! You must have gotten picked on a lot as a child!
#25

re: NYMF: The Big Voice: God or Merman?

Posted: 9/1/04 at 2:20pm

Karen, right. I didn't mean to mention Stephen Bienskie. He did come out later, though, for a one night only event in North Hollywood with the others in the LA cast -- at the El Portal Theatre. That was one magnificent night.

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