A Quick Trip to Neverland

I recently was cast in a reading of a new musical called “Lost Boy” here in New York City. It was such an interesting and eye-opening experience to be a part of this stage in the process of creating a new musical. It only lasted a little over a week, but here is a peek at my quick trip to Neverland.

I found out about an audition for “Lost Boy” late on Saturday night, and quickly submitted my headshot and resume via email. Shortly afterward, I received an email back, with an appointment for an audition the following evening. Early Sunday night I headed down to Pearl Studios for my audition, which I felt went well, then headed home. In less than an hour, I received a call offering me an ensemble lost boy role with rehearsals starting the next night. We were to put the show together in a week, and have performances for the industry one week later.

The next night, I joined the other lost boys and Peter, to learn the first two songs for the show. At that time, the concept of the story was explained to us. This story actually takes place after the traditional “Peter Pan” tale, and follows Slightly on his adventures to Neverland. I instantly fell in love with some of the music, and was intrigued by the plot twists. Tight harmonies, stirring call-to-action refrains and beautiful lyrical lines were challenging, yet rewarding. 

In addition, I found out that one of the other guys got a different gig and wasn’t going to do the performance. I was promoted to a named character: Kamp. 

Tuesday through Thursday the lost boys didn’t have rehearsal, though we did get the script, and I got to read the full story. This was a rather dark story, but so intriguing. More music was sent to be learned, which I did around auditions and dance classes. Wednesday night I got a much needed break, and headed to 54 Below for a concert by Marilyn Maye, then “Unsung Menken”. Talk about inspiration… that was it!

The weekend was busy, tweaking the show and preparing for the performances, in between which I managed a couple more auditions, classes and a lesson. Interestingly, in confirmation of the fact that it is a small world, there were two Indiana University Jacobs School of Music grads involved in the Lost Boy production, who both had studied at one time with my former teacher, mentor, and friend, Dr. Brian Horne. 

The work concluded with 2 presentations of the show on Monday. Both performances went splendidly, and before I knew it the experience was over! I am so glad to have been a part of this process, and hope the show goes on to be a huge success!

For more info on Lost Boy, check out the website at http://lostboythemusical.com, or the Lost Boy Facebook page