POPart: The Musical
WE'RE off to see the wizard when 18-year old impressionable and slightly batty Kitty Katz enrolls in art school in this high-octane, irreverent, and campy original musical. Kitty's suburbia-to-ghetto-to-SHoHo story gives us giant canvas glimpses of insanity, inspiration, acceptance...and plenty of that stuff called art. read full synopsis at official site
Production Stills:
{workshop, Coastal Carolina University, October/November 2008}
Video Highlight Reel:
{workshop, Coastal Carolina University, October/November 2008}
Character Breakdown:
{4 principle women, 4 principle men, mixed ensemble of 4 to 15—depending on cast doubling}
* Dr. Bore, f, 40s or 50s, art history professor and our narrator
* Kitty Katz, f, 18, our heroine, blossoming American pie
* Mother/Homeless Woman, f, 40ish
* Father/Homeless Man, m, 40ish
* Toni-O, m, 18-20, ambiguous in ethnicity, smart-ass with a heart of gold
* Edward, m, 18-20, sensitive with a quiet and possibly-disturbed confidence
* Ms. Hamm, f, 40ish, warm, bumbling drawing teacher
* Mr. Manne, m, 30ish to 40ish, pompous and perverted painting teacher
* Miss St. Helen, f, late 20s, shy and nervous design teacher, until she talks about art
* Ensemble, various roles, chorus, 4 to 15 (Veronica, Father, Mr. Sorensen, Hugo the nude model, Lucille the critic, Benedict the critic, various students and faculty)
Songs:
Act Two
Meltdown (Homeless Man & Woman)
Watch the Birdy (Edward)
Crit This! (All)
Committed (Kitty & Mother)
Blow-by-Blow (Kitty & Ensemble)
Without Us (Kitty, Toni-O, & Edward)
Pop (All)
Act One
I Blend In (Kitty, Ensemble)
Smells Like Art (Toni-O, Kitty, Ensemble)
Shine, Kitty, Shine (Kitty)
Without Me (Ensemble)
Be Free (Ms. Hamm, Ensemble)
Ah, Oui (Mr. Manne, Ensemble)
Art Is Your Rock (Miss St. Helen, Ensemble)
Paint by the Numbers (Kitty)
Vocalists: Kitty: Natalie Newman, Mother/Dr. Bore/ Ms. Hamm: Amanda Conlon, Toni-O: Tommy Labanaris, Edward: Taylor Buice, Mr. Manne: Jared Bradshaw, Miss St. Helen: Aaron McAllister, Ensemble: Amanda Conlon, Jackie Dulong, Crista Johnson, Michael Morch, Gregory Van Acker, Jamaal Wilson. Piano: Aaron McAllister. Recorded at Lo-Fish Studios, NYC. Engineer: John Hopkins.
Development History:
Next Link Project Selection in the 2010 New York Musical Theatre Festival
Read the article on Playbill.com
York Theatre Company (staged reading), New York City, March, 2009
POPart: The Musical was selected to participate in the York's Off-Broadway Developmental Reading Series. Directed by Chad Larabee.
Coastal Carolina University Department of Theatre, Workshop, Myrtle Beach, SC, October/November, 2008
The workshop was fully-staged and included orchestrations. Directed by Monica Bell.
Creative Team:
Chad Larabee, Director