Here’s a link to a wonderful documentary I am featured in, OUT IN THE CITY, a gay/lesbian/bi/trans love letter to the city of New York.
http://exposureroom.com/members/wideiris.aspx/assets/88bb152266da456291c1b5a8b7a83e9f
Archive for the '1' Category
25
Mar
09
Wish Fulfillment
Wish Fulfillment
Video sent by davidsimpatico
Ten variations on a Son coming out to his Father.
Here is my stage adaptation of Truman Capote’s masterwork, IN COLD BLOOD. I was commissioned by Steve Beckler, and the Capote estate gave us permission to use the book. The rights have since reverted back to the estate, but I think this is one of my best pieces. Let me know what you think.
I am deeply honored and thrilled to be included among the many outstanding writers in this new publication of monologues for the stage. Here is my piece, AUNT PITTIPAT IN THE TOWER, that is included in the Extended Monologues section, right after Spalding Gray! Hope you enjoy.
I was commissioned a few years ago by Steve Beckler to adapt Capote’s non-fiction novel. We had the rights from the Capote estate, but the rights have since reverted back. I’m looking for a production of this somewhere that might induce the estate to give back the rights for a full production.
let me know what you think of it.
This is a work-in-progress, the opening of a larger vaudeville about the end of the world. I wrote it, recorded it on my computer, sent it over to the UK where my brilliant partner Will Todd composed the underscoring over night. Let me know what you think.
Track1 Apoc Wow Rant 1:
This is the libretto for THE SCREAMS OF KITTY GENOVESE, a sung-thru music drama with a brilliant score by Will Todd.
Robert Brustein, in the New Republic magazine, gave us this review from our initial 2001 student production of THE SCREAMS OF KITTY GENOVESE, at the Boston Conservatory of Music.
This is a recording made at the New York Music Theatre Festival in NYC, 2006, at St. Clemant’s Church. It was a fantastic experience and had an amazing cast and crew and team. These are songs and excerpts, the credits are listed below. We are still looking for a first major production of THE SCREAMS OF KITTY GENOVESE.
CREDITS:
David Simpatico: Story/Libretto
Will Todd: Music/Orchestrations
David Edwards: Director
Mary-Mitchell Campbell: Music Supervisor
Randall Eng: Music Director
KittyGProductions: Producer
Graphic: Yoko Ichikawa
Cheryl Alexander: Frannie
Brendan Byrnes: Vinny
Elizabeth DeRosa: Cathy
Shawna M. Hamic: Betty
Amy Justman: Martha
Kevin Kern: Jimmy
Arthur W. Marks: Winston
Michael McKinsey: Marty
Jody Reynard: Baby
Sheri Sanders: Kitty
Russell H. Saylor III: Mac
Melanie Vaughan: Mommy
Stephen Cabral: Newscaster
Track 1: Winston in the Night
Track 2: Just Another Night (“Who are these people”)
Track 3: Just Another Night (stack)
Track 4: Jimmy’s Lullabye
Track 5: Man in the Dark
Track 6: Blood in the Streets
Track 7: Do You Believe
Track 8: I Wanted New Shoes
Track 9: All of the Others
Track 10: Reach Out and Touch Me
Track 11: Digging Through Darkness
Track 12: Frannie’s Lament
Track 13: 38 Neighbors
Track 14: I Never Heard the Screams
03
Jun
08
high school musical, in beirut!
This is an amazing article about a production of HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL in Beirut! I’ve never been prouder to be associated with the project than I am because of the passion and collective soul of the kids who put this on. Read the article and let me know what you think.
In Beirut , the Show Goes on Amid Violence
Violent Skirmishes Couldn’t Stop Lebanon ‘s Production of ‘High School Musical’
BY LARA SETRAKIAN
May 27, 2008—
Bringing “High School Musical” to the Middle East shouldn’t have been this hard.
The DVD sensation converted into musical theater by Disney, ABC’s parent company, has been staged in dozens of cities including London ,Taiwan and Buenos Aires always with the same story of song, dance and teenage romance, often using the same English-language script.
But “High School Musical’s” Lebanon edition was different. After months of practicing and preparation, it was time for opening night just as Beirut fell into a political crisis, with violence that chilled the capital.
They could have canceled the show, but they pushed forward, soldiered on, hoping their audience would brave the roadblocks and armed checkpoints across the city. While other Lebanese their age were picking up guns, the cast of “HSM” was busy bringing East High School to life.
“I live in the West Beirut area, which has been rough over the past few days,” said Marya Abdelrahman, who played the role of East High School drama teacher Miss Darbis. “But thinking of the stage made me focused.
“I just hope my family can make it to the show from that side of town,” she added.
“I was sitting at home, crying and waiting,” said Rania Ayash, who plays one of the lead roles as Sharpay Evans. “[‘High School Musical’] is my life. I stopped everything. I stopped university, I stopped my social life, I stopped my parents, just for this play.”
While the cast waited at home for gunfire to subside, they practiced their lines by phone and through Internet chat rooms, perfecting their parts. They all watched the DVD for inspiration, though some of them had to learn American English and its high school slang.
Ayash, who spent her childhood in Houston , could just focus on getting in character.
“I practiced my lines with my 96-year-old grandmother,” said Ayash. “I had to practice being a witch with a capital “B,” which was hard because I’m not usually that mean.”
Bernard Khalil, the Lebanese incarnation of basketball jock Chad Danforth, fits the part with his big, curly brown mane.
“My hair was always been like this, even before the play,” said Khalil, who sought tutoring to shake off his native French accent for the show. The results are mixed, but charming as he banters on stage with a Lebanese Troy Bolton played by Joseph Fadel.
On opening night, the house was full, despite the lingering threat of violence. The curtain went up at 5 p.m. sharp.
At the same time, in another part of town, the Arab League spoke before a crowd of reporters on a possible peace deal for Lebanon .
By the time “High School Musical” got to its big number the song, “We’re All in this Together” it was clear Lebanon ‘s fighting factions would go to Doha for talks to end the conflict.
Weathering the political turmoil outside, the cast turned “High School Musical” into a pep rally for Lebanon .
“Why can’t they take us as an example?” said Rania Ayash , Lebanon ‘s Sharpay Evans, of the bickering politicians. “We are all different sects, religions, and backgrounds. We are Druze, Shiite, Christian, Sunni, everything & and we’re one big happy family.”
Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures
David Simpatico, Dramatist 