I’m music directing Fun Home this month at Barnard University! I’m so thrilled to be working with Lisa Rothe again as the director, and this talented, motivated cast, crew, and (mostly student) band.
We open March 3 and play one weekend. Attendance is limited due to the pandemic, but a few lucky audience members will get to see this beautiful piece.
Came in as an emergency replacement rehearsal pianist for this gorgeous new musical by Ellen McLaughlin and Peter Foley, produced by the New Works Initiative at Montclair State University. It was truly an honor to be part of this moving, meaningful piece about PTSD, amnesia, love, and identity. And I always love working with director Lisa Rothe and choreographer Bryan Knowlton!
I had a great time playing the piano book for ANYTHING GOES at The Hartt School at the University of Hartford last week. Multi-talented MD Kathryn Krull (find her here!) had the mostly-student 18-piece orchestra sounding lively and clean and incredibly fun.
I’ve been so excited to dive back into live theatre, as in-person events and performances become more possible.
In July, I music directed the Legally Blonde, Jr. summer camp at White Plains Performing Arts Center, followed by Aladdin, Jr. at the Rye Arts Center in Westchester County. I was so happy to work with these great groups of students, and experienced, collaborative directors.
And currently, I’m back at the Winnipesaukee Playhouse in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire, music directing Hooligans and Convicts. I was commissioned back in 2019 to write the music for this brand-new play about the suffrage movement, originally planned for August 2020 (the hundredth anniversary of the 19th Amendment). Obviously, it didn’t happen in 2020—but I’m thrilled to finally be producing it exactly one year later! It’s been an honor to work with playwright Carolyn Kirsch, and to see this incredible company bring my songs and orchestrations to life. Check it out and get your tickets here!
Lots of fun projects and news this fall as we round the corner into the holiday season!
First, Cortland Repertory Theatre racked up a ton of SALT award nominations in the regional theatre category, including one for yours truly for best music direction for MAMMA MIA! The award ceremony takes place on November 17 at Red House Arts Center in Syracuse. I won’t be able to attend, but I’ll be wishing the best for my amazing CRT colleagues and friends!
Meanwhile, I’m spending November in my home state of California, music directing the GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK CHRISTMAS MUSICAL for Sierra Repertory Theatre. The show is incredibly wacky and irreverent but has a ton of heart, and I couldn’t have lucked out more in terms of our director, Bay Area local Dyan McBride, and the rest of our artistic team and cast. Get your tickets today!
Finally, I’ll be subbing in for the fantastic Jeremy Goodman as a piano conductor for A CHORUS LINE when I get back to New York, at nonprofit KidzTheatre out of the West End Theatre, where I played UNDER THE OVERTURE with Jeremy last fall! It’ll be a busy Thanksgiving week, but I can’t wait to tackle this classic score!
We have just a handful of (sold-out!) performances before we close Mamma Mia Saturday, and we have one last review in from the Ithaca Times. My favorite bit:
“And oh boy, the songs you will hear. The band, under the leadership of Shoshana Seid-Green, is one of the tightest combos I’ve ever heard, and as a guitar player myself, I say hats of to players like [Dennis Goettel] and Stan Stewart for really nailing the particular sounds heard on singles like ‘Dancing Queen,’ ‘Super Trouper,’ ‘The Name of the Game,’ and ‘S.O.S.’
“The cast is uniformly strong, from the leads to the dance ensemble…”
I gotta shout out the rest of my band, too, though: Canaan Harris and Megan Smythe on keys (helping make some of those super-specific sounds!), Zane Carnes laying it down on bass, and Scott Bruce holding us all together on drumset. I’m grateful to have such an awesome pit for this tricky, rewarding show!
Between gigging and vacations, it was a busy spring! I’ve settled in now for July at Cortland Repertory Theatre, where I’ve been honored to return and music direct Mamma Mia!—my second Mamma Mia! with choreographer Bryan Knowlton and my second collaboration with CRT Artistic Director Kerby Thompson.
This has been an incredible cast to work with vocally, and the band is kickin’. This is the second time I’ve worked with Ethan Deppe’s beautiful keyboard programming for the show, and I learned a new skill in the process—creating, importing, and triggering click tracks through Mainstage! I’m also lucky to have an incredible sound team in Cory Kosman and Rachel Landy; they make the show sound crystal clear and gorgeous, and they’ve made my job much easier.
We’ve gotten a couple great reviews already from syracuse.com and Broadway World:
“Music Director Shoshana Seid-Green leads the seven musicians who bring the hit and familiar songs to life from behind a curtain. Songs such as ‘Dancing Queen,’ ‘Mamma Mia,’ ‘Chiquitita,’ ‘Super Trouper,’ and ‘Thank You For the Music’ are pure fun. You can't help but be excited and smile as the talented musicians play them energetically.”
Tickets are almost sold out, so get ‘em quick!
Brand-new nonprofit MAESTRA launched its website today!!
I’ve belonged to the Maestra MDs Facebook group (founded by phenomenal composer and community-builder Georgia Stitt) for a while now, and the professional community in that group has been incredibly helpful, supportive, and educational. Now, as an emerging nonprofit, this organization centered on female-identifying musicians has stepped up onto the Broadway stage for local women’s week events, and has published a website replete with organizational resources, inspiring and informative blog posts, and a directory of female musicians including yours truly.
Click through to check out and support this exciting organization!
Just wrapped yesterday on a really fun production of SHREK THE MUSICAL at Byram Hills High School in Putnam County. It was a real treat to play Key 2 under the direction of the delightful and talented Jonah Piali and with a pit full of incredible musicians.
That’ll be my last gig in NYC for a bit, as I’m heading to Florida in two weeks to music direct GHOST THE MUSICAL at Broward Stage Door Theatre near Fort Lauderdale throughout April. I’m very excited for warm beaches, for the chance to catch up with some old friends in the area—and of course for the opportunity to work with great people on a beautiful show!
This week I started rehearsals for a workshop of Kailey Marshall’s Songs for Slutty Girls at Pace University in downtown Manhattan. The show is a frank, clever, and fearless exploration of love, sex, and self-image. The songs are wordy, emotional-but-fun pop, and the phenomenal all-female cast and artistic team has been more than up to taking them on!
The workshop performs on February 2nd and 3rd in the Schaeberle Theatre. It’s going to be a lot of fun!
I’ve been moving around, keeping busy, and generally forgetting to update the site! Now that I’m settled back in Queens for a while, I’m excited to post an update.
I had a great time working on Always… Patsy Cline at Jean’s Playhouse in September with our adorably small yet fabulous two-person cast, three-piece band, and skeleton production team. The show is heartwarming and funny—way better written than I expected!—and the music is, of course, timeless. Plus, the Jean’s Playhouse community was warm, welcoming, rigorous, and creative.
In October, between visits to California and North Carolina, I had the honor of playing Key 2 for the first full workshop production of Under the Overture. Under the Overture is a new musical comedy based on the music of Rossini, and our band sounded great at the West End Theatre, under the leadership of composer/arranger/MD Jeremy Goodman.
Currently, I’m playing Key 2 on a production of West Side Story at the Actors Conservatory Theatre in Yonkers. It’s been a true pleasure to brush up on this challenging keyboard book, and to play with some great musicians for our valiant leader, MD/conductor Stephen Ferri. In the process, I’ve even run into some old friends from previous productions in the White Plains and Rockland County areas!
Finally, I’ll be music directing and putting together a band for the annual showcase production of the Singing with Molly vocal studio. It’ll be great to work with Molly Dunn and help her talented vocal students experience an NYC performance at the Laurie Beechman Theatre!
It’s been wonderful to settle back into my apartment, get baking again in the nippy fall weather, do some local gigs, and reconnect with the NYC community. It’s hard to believe it’s almost Thanksgiving—but happy autumn and happy holidays, folks!
Hi, friends!
I didn’t manage to get a post up after we opened Mamma Mia, because I was already totally occupied in both playing that show and rehearsing Ghost—but I’d like to say for the record that that it was a huge success! It broke ticket sales records for the Winnipesaukee Playhouse, and I’m very proud of the quality of the show and the work of everyone involved. It was a blast to play every night; audiences love hearing neverending ABBA tunes, and I have honestly never felt like more of a celebrity than during the Megamix every night! Once I have a little more time, I’ll be able to post some audio clips on the music page here; keep an eye out for that.
Meanwhile, we opened Ghost the Musical two nights ago. This process has been a very different experience than Mamma Mia, of course, but equally rewarding. This is the first time I’ve had a whole string section to work with (violin, viola, and cello, plus of course the rest of the band—guitar, bass, and drums), and it’s been incredible to play and conduct this lush yet quirky score. There are still two weeks of performances, so come on out!
On top of the full-length shows, the Winnipesaukee Playhouse company had the privilege of putting on a 70-minute concert for the Taylor Living Community in Laconia this morning. This is an annual event, but it's the first year I've been lucky enough to be involved. It was a lot of fun to accompany our singers on songs they chose for themselves, to hear band members Thea Mesirow and Allison Emata play a viola/cello duet, and to play and sing two songs I've written in the last couple years. The residents seemed to really enjoy the performance, and I got to chat with several of them afterward, including one woman who hails from Menlo Park, right next to my hometown of San Mateo!
Last and not at all least, I’m pleased to announce that I’ll be music directing Always Patsy Cline at Jean’s Playhouse in Lincoln, NH—only an hour away from where I’m working now in Meredith. It’s clearly the summer of the jukebox musical for me! This is my third in as many months. I’m honored to join the team at Jean’s and excited to get started on this touching and funny audience favorite. Rehearsals will overlap with the run of Ghost, and the show will open the weekend after we close at the Winni, so get your tickets and join me for two extra weeks in the Lakes Region!
The cast of Mamma Mia! Photo credit: http://www.matthewlomanno.com/
I had a few days at home after closing Saturday Night Fever at Cortland before heading up to beautiful Meredith, NH to dive into Mamma Mia rehearsals at the Winnipesaukee Playhouse. I gotta say, it is a BIG little show. To get that classic ABBA sound, we've rented Ethan Deppe's brilliant keyboard programming; to make it work with only two live keyboard players, we've prerecorded two of the four keyboard books. We've also spent some time prerecording ensemble vocals, which will be layered in with the live ensemble vocals featured in every single number in the show! Here's a shot of our incredibly talented, hardworking ensemble in the recording studio at New Hampton School, which graciously loaned us their space and equipment.
The entire cast and creative team has been a joy to work with, and I'm so happy to be back at my home-away-from-home. We head into tech tomorrow and open on Thursday; get your tickets quick before they sell out!
We got another Saturday Night Fever review! I have to post this one from the Syracuse New Times because it's wildly flattering to our production, including to me:
"New York-based music director Shoshana Seid-Green appears to be too young to have known the disco-era heyday of the BeeGees but she knows it from the inside. Leading an orchestra of eight, she digs into the vibrancy of the score without betraying its fundamental lyricism. Disco was always about dance. As with so much of the show, she treats the music as if it were brand new rather than a kind of nostalgia."
We have four more shows, including an evening show on July 4th, before I leave Cortland and say goodbye to this wonderful team. It has been a privilege and a pleasure!
We have a review in for Saturday Night Fever at Cortland Rep! Syracuse.com reviews Central New York entertainment and loved our production. The article is very complimentary to the music and vocals of our outstanding cast as well as to Kerby Thompson and Bryan Hemmerling Knowlton's seamless direction and choreography. Of course, here's my favorite quote:
"In addition, an eight-piece orchestra, conducted by Shoshana Seid-Green delivers the musical goods from a stage right location in an unobtrusive, yet commanding fashion."
Here's a link to the full review.
You still have two weeks to come see us before we close July 7! Here's the link for tickets.
Here is a little write-up of Saturday Night Fever, which we open on Wednesday at Cortland Repertory Theatre in Central New York.
I'm very excited for this one--the cast and artistic team have been great, and I had my first band rehearsal yesterday with a really fantastic group of musicians. This show is going to sound hot!
The second keyboard player and I get to sit on a platform on the left side of the pit, so I can see out over the stage right DJ booth (we're in a disco for half the show, after all). Here's a shot of the rest of the band, crammed into a tiny space but making it work with the help of our brilliant sound designer, Seth Asa Sengel.
Clockwise from top left: Simon Bjarning on drumset, Kieffer Fuller on bass, Julia Dombroski on trombone, Kelsey Beyer on reeds (flute, clarinet, alto, and tenor), Mike Salamone on trumpet, and Dennis Goettel on guitars. Not pictured: Canaan Harris on key 2.
Skagway, Alaska
After closing a fun, funny, heartwarming production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown with the Play Group Theatre in White Plains, it's time to start prepping for a fantastic lineup of summer shows, at three different theatres around the country.
Yesterday, I left NYC for Skagway, Alaska. I'll be music directing and playing piano for The Days of '98 Show with Soapy Smith, an all-fun all-the-time can-can show about Alaska's famous outlaw. I spent the summer here in 2014, and am thrilled to be returning to the ol' digs for a month. I fly from Juneau to Skagway in a tiny plane today, and dive right into rehearsals!
In June, you'll be able to find me at Cortland Repertory Company, music directing their upcoming production of Saturday Night Fever. I'm excited to play some fun BeeGees music, to work with the phenomenal Bryan Hemmerling Knowlton, and to explore the Syracuse area!
Finally, in July and August, I'll be returning to the Winnipesaukee Playhouse to music direct Ghost the Musical and another upbeat, as-yet-unannounced musical. I can't wait to reunite with this all-around wonderful staff and company.
I'll keep any news posted here. Check my Instagram for some gorgeous Alaska, Syracuse, and Winnepesaukee Lake shots--and if you can make it out to see one of these shows, be sure to let me know!
A couple weeks ago, I started rehearsals for You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown with the amazing staff and kids at the Play Group Theatre in White Plains! We're just about done teaching the show and are heading into run-throughs and dress rehearsals in a couple weeks. The show plays on April 15 and 22. I've been having such a great time working with this company; the kids are doing great work, with true "humility, nobility, and a sense of honor." Come out and see!
Well, I guess it's been a bit since I posted! Vacation and holidays can be distractingly wonderful. But I'm back at work at RWS with the brand-new cast for the ms Westerdam--plus, we've had some media trickle in from the Theatre for Good Cabaret I music directed at the end of last year! See below for a quick pic of the producers and me, and for a video of the fabulous Billy Blair singing "Big News" from PARADE, accompanied by yours truly.
Me, artistic director Lauren Gismondi, and producer Jeremy Terry
Billy Blair (singer), Shoshana Seid-Green (piano)
Theatre for Good is mounting a cabaret fundraiser tomorrow night at The West End in Manhattan. I've been music directing and accompanying this awesome group of talented volunteers, who are led by Theatre for Good's artistic director and founder Lauren Gismondi (here's an interview with her about this project!).
The cabaret will feature 2-3 numbers from each of TfG's projected upcoming shows: URINETOWN, 9 TO 5, CABARET, THE LAST FIVE YEARS, and PARADE.
You can pick up tickets here.