I am SUPER excited to be one of the featured writers in Sparkification Productions’ upcoming concert, An Evening Celebrating Emerging Female Composers: A Concert to Promote Gender Parity in Musical Theatre.
It will be held Monday, July 15, at The Helen Mills Event Space and Theatre (137-139 W. 26th Street). It starts at 7:30pm and will last an hour and a half tops. Tickets are $20 (plus small service fee) and you can purchase them here. The $20 ticket price includes a post-concert reception with the artists.
The concert will feature the songs of Jennifer Lucy Cook, Shoshana Greenberg, Kathryn Hathaway, Janine McGuire, Julia Meinwald, Nicky Phillips and Sarah M. Underwood with contributions by Carmel Dean, Laura Kleinbaum, Tina Lear, Gordon Leary, Jeffery Dennis Smith, and Stephanie Smith.
For those keeping score, that’s three alumna from NYU’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program (Me, Julia, and Sarah) and three alumna from Barnard College (Me, Janine, and Kathryn). I’m so honored to be part of this amazing group of musical theater writers and women.
There is also an awesome cast of Broadway performers being assembled that includes Erin Davie, Lesli Margherita, Christiane Noll, Alice Ripley, Krysta Rodriguez and Betsy Wolfe.
The evening features Musical Direction by Mary-Mitchell Campbell.
From the press notes:
Sparkification Productions presents An Evening of Emerging Female Composers came about after noticing that in the many conversations about inequality for women in theatre, musical theatre was largely ignored. Broadway musicals are synonymous with the American theatre and it is especially important to make sure women involved in its creation are spotlighted and given support. Female composers graduate from professional programs at the same rate as their male counterparts, yet there is a significant difference in professional success– and it’s not because they are any less talented! The longer the Broadway community ignores the problem, then the longer the perception persists that female composers aren’t as talented. The goal of Sparkification Productions presents An Evening of Emerging Female Composers is to spotlight female composers and create an event that actively tries to address this imbalance.