Broadway Bound: Joe Iconis and Krysta Rodriguez

Joe Iconis attended NYU's graduate program in Musical Theater Writing. He received a Jonathan Larson Award in 2006 and an Ed Kleban Award in 2007. He is the author of The Black Suits (The Public Theater), ReWrite (Urban Stages), The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks (Lucille Lortel Theater), and Things to Ruin: The Songs of Joe Iconis (Zipper Factory). The Joe Iconis Rock and Roll Jamboree has entertained sold out crowds at Joe's Pub, The Laurie Beechman Theater, and Ars Nova. Most recently, he penned Bloodsong of Love: The Rock'N'Roll Spaghetti Western, a small production that premiered at Ars Nova in April 2010.


Krysta Rodriguez is already making a name for herself on the New York stage. She made her Broadway debut in 2005, as an understudy and swing in Good Vibrations. She has since appeared in the 2006 revival of A Chorus Line and the original Broadway productions of Spring Awakening and In the Heights. She is currently appearing alongside Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth in The Addams Family.

Below, Krysta performs Joe Iconis's Blue Hair.

Broadway Bound: Kait Kerrigan, Brian Lowdermilk, and Matt Doyle

Kerrigan & Lowdermilk received a Jonathan Larson Grant and a Jonathan Larson Fellowship at the Dramatists Guild. Their collaborations include The Woman Upstairs, Wrong Number, Tales From the Bad Years, and The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown. Their adaptation of Henry & Mudge opened Off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre on December 17, 2006 and recently concluded its fourth national tour. Their most recent project, "The Freshman Experiment" (Fresh X), followed the lives of two bloggers as they navigated their freshman years of college. Kerrigan and Lowdermilk used the posts as inspiration to develop a living, online musical. "Last Week's Alcohol" (below) is a product of Fresh X.

Matt Doyle is an exceptionally talented performer. Before moving to New York, he studied classical theatre at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He is most well known for singing the role of Peter on the studio recording of Bare: A Pop Opera, as well as for the numerous tracks he covered as a swing in Spring Awakening. Doyle recently appeared as Hugo Peabody in the Roundabout Theatre Company's revival of Bye Bye Birdie. He will be performing at Scott Alan's Birdland concert on April 12th.

Scroll down to see Doyle's captivating performance of "Last Week's Alcohol" and an unlikely collaboration between Kerrigan & Lowdermilk and the folk-rock, New York-based trio, The Spring Standards.

Review: Orestes, A Tragic Romp

Orestes, A Tragic Romp opened at the Folger Elizabethan Theatre in Washington, D.C. on January 27. Thanks to a Boston University field trip, I had the opportunity to attend the second performance of the show. The production is a modern adaptation of Euripides' timeless drama, grounded in Anna Washburn's accessible translation and Aaron Posner's brilliant direction.

The Trojan War is over. Upon returning from Troy, Agamemnon is brutally murdered by his wife, Clytemnestra. At the advice of the god Apollo, their son, Orestes, kills his mother to avenge his father's death. As the play begins, Orestes and his sister, Electra, who aided in her mother's murder, await the judgment of the citizens and the gods.

Holly Twyford had me at her opening soliloquy. Every flinch, every nervous glance, every clench of her fist expresses Electra's grief, desperation, and impassioned anger. And the 100-minute production never loses its momentum. Jay Sullivan's Orestes is dramatic and deliberate. Chris Genebach takes on four distinct characters with charm and astute comedic timing. But the re-imagined Greek chorus is reason enough to buy your ticket. Obie Award-winning composer James Sugg delivers an "intricate a cappella braid of chant, hand beat rhythms, and raw lyricism" that fully engulfs the theatre.

Orestes concludes its run at the Folger Shakespeare Library on March 7, after which the production continues at the Two River Theater Company in Red Bank, New Jersey.

Broadway Bound: Scott Alan and Natalie Weiss

I am excited to announce Broadway Bound, a new series honoring original material. On the first day of every month, I will feature an up-and-coming performer, along with an emerging writer, composer, or creative team. Inspired by Scott Alan's Monday Nights, New Voices series in New York City, it is only fitting to begin with him and a new voice he helped discover.

Scott Alan is a brilliant songwriter. He studied music, voice, and theater at Emerson College and Berkeley College of Music. At the age of 25, Alan moved from Hollywood, California to New York City to work on an original musical. Although it has yet to premiere, selected songs from Piece are available on Dreaming Wide Awake and Keys, collections of his original songs performed by some of Broadway's biggest stars. Since 2005, Alan has produced Monday Nights, New Voices, a weekly series that honors new talent in New York City. He has performed in front of sold out crowds in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and London, and is currently working on his third full length album.

Natalie Weiss was drawn to music from an early age. She attended a performing arts summer camp and a half-day performing arts high school. She received her BFA from Penn State in 2007. Weiss got her first big break when she stepped in for Edin Espinosa during Scott Alan's concert at Birdland in January 2008. Since then, she has collaborated with several talented writers, including Andrew Lippa, Jason Robert Brown and Jeremy Schonfeld. She recently returned from the second national tour of Wicked, where she performed in the ensemble and understudied the role of Elphaba. Below, she sings I'm A Star.

Review: Time Stands Still

I first encountered Brian d'Arcy James in the off-Broadway premiere of Next to Normal in February 2008. He portrayed Dan Goodman with the perfect combination of emotion, conviction, and desperation. Later that year, he starred opposite Jim Norton and John Gallagher, Jr. in the Atlantic Theater Company's revival of Port Authority, a play by Conor McPherson. Then came Shrek. We move on.

In November 2009, d'Arcy hung up his ogre costume and decisively embraced a role in a new play by Donald Margulies (Dinner With Friends, Collected Stories). After three weeks of previews, Time Stands Still officially opened last night at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.Time Stands Still centers on Sarah and James, a photographer and a journalist who spend their lives documenting human suffering. When an unexpected injury confines the couple to a conventional life at home, the lens shifts and they reluctantly become the subjects of their own stories. While occasionally cliche, Donald Margulies's writing is intelligent and provocative. The scenes rely on honest dialogue, effortlessly delivered by the talented ensemble cast. The production is directed by Daniel Sullivan and stars Brian d'Arcy James, Laura Linney, Eric Bogosian, and Alicia Silverstone. Do not pass up the chance to see this show before its limited run concludes on March 21.

But don't take my word for it. In a stunning NYT review, Charles Isherwood regards Time Stands Still as a "flawless Manhattan Theater Club production" and asserts Brian d'Arcy James "has never been better than he is here."

Stage to Screen

The producers of Glee have announced several guest stars for the second half of the first season. Jonathan Groff (of Spring Awakening and Hair) will play the male lead in Vocal Adrenaline, a rival glee club coached by the one and only Idina Menzel! Olivia Newton-John will appear singing a duet of "Physical" with Sue Sylvester, played by Jane Lynch. Neil Patrick Harris is in talks to appear on the May sweeps episode directed by Joss Whedon, of Buffy and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. These seasoned stage actors join Matthew Morrison, Lea Michele, and Jenna Ushkowitz, three cast members who began their careers in the theater.

Best of all, the stage to screen trend does not stop with Glee ... Aaron Tveit and Matt Doyle are frequent guest stars on Gossip Girl. This past September, Lin Manuel-Miranda appeared opposite Hugh Laurie on an episode of House. Cheyenne Jackson recently appeared on Ugly Betty and has secured a recurring role on 30 Rock. Finally, Norbert Leo Butz stars as Rowdy Kaiser on ABC's new legal dramedy, The Deep End.