FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Steve Josephson, Executive Artistic Director
Gallimaufry Performing Arts
steve@gallimaufry.info
(949) 499-5060
WORLD PREMIERE
Ray Bradbury's Merry Christmas 2116
A New Musical
LAGUNA BEACH – Gallimaufry Performing Arts will be presenting the world premiere of a brand new musical by Ray Bradbury. Ray Bradbury’s Merry Christmas 2116 will be presented at the Festival of Arts Forum Theatre, 650 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach. Performances are scheduled Thursday through Sunday beginning Thursday, November 5 and continuing through Sunday, November 15. Performances are at 8:00 PM on Thursday, Friday and Saturday with Sunday matinees at 5:00 PM. Tickets are $10-$15 for students, $15-$20 for seniors and $20-$25 for general reserved. Tickets can be purchased online at www.gallimaufry.org/buytickets.html or by calling (949) 499-5060.
When the name Ray Bradbury is mentioned many things come to mind, but Musical Theatre is probably not the first. With his work on most schools’ required reading list, you’ll be hard pressed to find someone who hasn’t read Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Dandelion Wine or The Illustrated Man. What most of these readers won’t know is that the 89-year-old Master of Speculative Fiction is alive and well, still writing and publishing and has penned both the book and lyrics to the brand new musical Merry Christmas 2116.
Ray Bradbury’s Merry Christmas 2116 has been developed and created by Gallimaufry’s artistic director, Steve Josephson (who will direct and choreograph) and has a brilliant score by composer John Hoke.
Ray Bradbury’s Merry Christmas 2116 follows Mr. & Mrs. Wycherly as they celebrate their fortieth wedding anniversary. It seems they are both disillusioned with their reflections in the mirror and wish they could do something to help their spouses as they age. Enter Mr. Marionette, who arrives just in time to help the aging Wycherlys find the perfect Christmas gift for each other. What follows is pure Bradbury charm, wit and mystique. Told entirely through song and dance, this new musical is perfect for both Halloween and Christmas.
Origin of the Species: Ray Bradbury’s Merry Christmas 2116 has had a most unlikely road to Laguna Beach. Back in the 1950’s the Hollywood actor, Charles Laughton (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), came to his friend Ray Bradbury and asked if Bradbury could perhaps write a musical for him and his wife, actress Elsa Lanchester (The Bride of Frankenstein). Bradbury told them that he would be delighted and had been toying with an idea of a husband and wife story. At this point Laughton brought in the eccentric director James Whale (who was portrayed by Sir Ian McKellan in the movie Gods and Monsters). Whale designed the sets and began working on developing the project with Bradbury and a composer. Before it could be completed director James Whale was found dead and the project suffered the same untimely end.
Flash forward to the spring of 2009. Ray Bradbury still had the desire to make his “miniscule musicale”. It was at this point that the story idea was brought to Gallimaufry’s artistic director, Steve Josephson. With the story idea and some book & lyrics, Josephson began on the quest to find the perfect composer to help him create this project. The person needed to be familiar with Bradbury’s work, with an affinity to his optimistic and romantic approach. A perfect partner was found in composer John Hoke. The two men fleshed out the material under the guidance of Mr. Bradbury. With the book and lyrics written entirely by Mr. Bradbury, Merry Christmas 2116 is an exciting, new musical theatre “rock operetta”.
Creator, Steve Josephson is no stranger to developing new musicals. His musical Some Summer Night was a winner of the 1992 New American Musical Writers Festival in New York and his musical Tea & Crumpets won ‘Best New Musical’ from the SF Bay Area Theatre Critics in 1998. Some Summer Night was produced Off-Broadway and Tea & Crumpets was presented at the 1999 Edinburgh Festival.
This is, however, the first theatrical endeavor for composer, John Hoke. Hoke who has an illustrious career as a session guitarist and singer, has performed on movie soundtracks, commercials and albums in Los Angeles, Nashville, New York and London. Three songs he wrote with MCA recording artist Bob McGilpin have made the Billboard charts. John produced and played on the John Stewart album Bullets in the Hour Glass, featuring Rosanne Cash, for Shanachie records and has toured extensively in North America and Europe with the John Stewart Band. He also produced the new John Stewart album Darwin’s Army, featuring one of his own songs, on Appleseed records.
His best preparation for musical theatre, however, is probably his extensive work for television. He arranged and produced four albums for award winning Disney/Muppets songwriter Dave Kinnoin, as well as playing and singing on numerous Disney projects including singing the title track on ten Winnie the Pooh videos. John has written and produced jingles and source music for Toyota, Lexus, Honda, Acura, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, the Cartoon Network and the television shows Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. His own brand of rock, pop & roll can be heard on his self-produced album Fortunato, on Homecoming Records.
With a very limited two week run of only eight performances, audiences won’t want to miss this rare opportunity. Ray Bradbury will also be appearing at the Thursday, November 5 opening and will give an introduction. More information can be found at www.gallimaufry.org or calling 949.499.5060.
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