Oh cool! Thanks for the kind words... got tired of waiting for anybody on that "other" theater forum to post about the show. Those jerks.
I'm the MD/pianist for "DTW:TBORIMT" (rolls off the tongue don't it?) and having a great time. I think it is fun, quality entertainment, but I've been guilty of overestimating OOB projects before, so... :)
Hmmm, can I quote a message? Gotta read the damn FAQ. Anyway, some answers/clarifications:
-- yeah, not much advertising/publicity, but aside from the Playbill blurb and postcard distribution, what can ya do? It helps that there are like 35 people directly involved (including all the writers!). kmberly262 - especially glad to hear "somehow manages to tie everything together in spite of how different the shorts are." There's no intended throughline at all, but the newly-written opening number tries to encapsulate the evening/experience of RIMT...
-- pangloss, you are correct that the setup is a bit different with this "best of"... WAAAY more rehearsal time and actual production values. The only new piece is the opener, but the eight shorts were all revised for their revival, to varying degrees... some had only tiny tweaks, some had cuts and/or new musical material, and there were even some substantial revisions/additions here and there.
-- no, no real "big names" among the writers (or actors I guess!)... RIMT has worked with many cool people but the great majority wouldn't be known to even above-average theater fans like ourselves. There's a full list of "notables" somewhere on the RI website (linked above, and maybe below if I figure it out?).
For "Dreams This Way" the most "famous" composers are probably Jenny Giering and Andrew Gerle... Michael Moricz is a top TV composer/concert arranger, Curtis Moore does a lot of film work... Most of the librettists/lyricists are "unknown" playwrights, though Maryrose Wood has (with Mr. Gerle) won more than her share of awards recently, and R.N. Sandberg is a Princeton professor and oft-produced playwright. And of course "The Daily Show"'s genius head writer, DJ Javerbaum, who just got the "Cry-Baby" gig! So pleased that he's getting to do more musical theater.
-- and, hey "bwaysinger"! Hope to see you at the show... yeah, isn't it fun to have material written just for you? Where else but RIMT would we have gotten to work on that glorious tenor aria, sung by Robin, bemoaning Batman's physical and mental decay?
Raw Impressions
