Musicals:
The book that rocked the 18th century. A musical to rock the 21st.
Based on the scandalous 18th century sex comedy by Henry Fielding, Bastard Jones tells the rollicking adventures of the baseborn Tom Jones, a himbo with a heart of gold. Composer Amy Engelhardt of "band without instruments" The Bobs and Marc have united the highbrow with the lowbrow in a style they like to call "the unibrow."
PRAISE FOR THE INAUGURAL NEW YORK PRODUCTION AT
“High-spirited… its nonjudgmental approach to sex and disability,
and its brash desire to entertain,
are winning”
The
New York Times
"Randy yet ingenuous…with hummable
pop music to match”
Time Out
"Acito’s resourceful
direction is the production’s strong suit…the impression is that of Nicholas Nickelby in miniature.”
Talkin' Broadway
"Incredibly clever,
zany and sexy… as funny as it is profound…With
a score that is heart-pumping, contemplative and altogether wonderful”
BroadwayWorld
"One of the most purely fun evenings I have had in the
theater in a long time”
Reviews
Off-Broadway
"Remarkable…Amy Engelhardt’s music is tastefully varied, making bold
choices…”
The Reviews Hub
“My mind was blown…[Bastard Jones] totally squashed the myth of what
disabled means”
Huffington Post
“[Evan Ruggiero] is a knockout”
Forbes
If I could fill this review
with synonyms for “brilliant” it
still wouldn’t be enough."
Stage Buddy
Acito has deftly directed
his motley cast with a distinct madcap
style, never losing sight of the underlying affirmative message of human rights.
Theater Reviews
Limited
One family, indivisible
Inspired by the true life experience of George Takei, ALLEGIANCE follows one family's extraordinary journey into this neglected American story. Over 120,000 saw the original Broadway production, the same number of Japanese-Americans interned unjustly during World War II. ALLEGIANCE will be produced by East-West Players in Los Angeles in 2018, once again starring George Takei.
A new musical about the American icon who almost wasn't. The story follows Frances Gumm on her journey from child vaudeville performer to winning the iconic role of Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz. CHASING RAINBOWS received a developmental production at Flat Rock Playhouse and had its world premiere at Goodspeed Musicals in 2016, with an expected Broadway run in 2018.
Based on the beloved romantic comedy of manners by E.M.Forster, this musical adaptation of A Room with a View teams Marc with Jeffrey Stock, composer of the effervescent Broadway musical Triumph of Love. Conceived in the lushly lyrical and gently comic tradition of A Little Night Music, its world premiere was at the Old Globe in San Diego and then returned to Seattle's 5th Avenue Musical Theater.
Plays:
WINNER of the 2012 Helen Hayes Award for BEST NEW PLAY
This comedy tells the true story of the gay penguins who tried to hatch a rock in the Central Park Zoo, the pair of hawks who threw bones and gristle out off a Fifth Avenue co-op, and the birdbrained human behavior they all inspired. Birds of a Feather was workshopped at Portland Center Stage's JAW Playwright's Festival and had its world premiere in July, 2011 at the Hub Theatre in Fairfax, Virginia, one of the counties that protested And Tango Makes Three, the children's book about the penguins that is one of the most banned books in the U.S. Birds of a Feather is available for licensing through Samuel French."Goofy, but serious…an allusive, wisecracking comedy…a smart and sometimes affecting meditation on relationships (gay and straight), conformism and the construction of public identity."
The Washington Post
This one-man monologue with songs, or "monologsical," had its world premiere run at the Hub Theatre in Fairfax, Virginia in 2012, starring Alex Brightman playing 20 roles. Check out the video preview.
