Monday, November 28, 2011

ROOFSGIVING: PT IV Ready for the NYC Premiere


SUBMITTING TO NYMF....
So when we decided "Roofless" was in good enough shape to submit it to the New York Musical Theatre Festival, it called for a new round of demo recordings for the new songs and rewrites.  We called on some of our favorite highly talented Roofhead alums, got to work with a coupla new folks and even reached back to our MugTown roots (Okmulgee, OK) to reunite with Jerome's classmate Tamisha who used to sing hooks for us back in tha day.

We've written lots about NYMF on the blog so feel free to jump back and read the details.  Out of 500 entries, we were one of 30 musicals selected. The talented vocalists who volunteered to work with us  on these demos helped make this possible...no joke.

THE 2009-2010 DEMO RECORDING CAST
Dionne White
Kathryn Stefanic-Holder
Tamisha Howell Alexander
Taylar Smallwood
AnnaMaria Pasley-Horn
Mike Fruga
Jode Carter
Avionce Hoyles

Adrian Friday, Engineer (Before NYMF)
Bryant Hamilton, 4th Man Music, Engineer (after NYMF)

(We are actually still in the process of recording these new demos.  We plan to post some of these demos in 2012.)

We also realized we would need to assemble our first NYC cast of Roofheads.  We figured the best way to give interested peeps a vibe of the show and the types we would be casting for would be to put together some promo videos.  The budget was tiny so again, some very talented, very generous folk threw in with us to create some Roofness.  Here's a lil taste of some of that material:

Big shout to our
2010 PROMO VIDEO CAST OF ROOFHEADZ
Jermany Brown as "Marquee"
Keval Brown as "Scope"
Bryant Hamilton as "Hogeye"
Stefan Heath as "Marquee" (in the Alley)
Jode Carter as "Marquee" (studio footage}
Julian Thomas as "Father"

ROOFHEADZ
Shayna Acosta
Tyffny Johnson
Janna Smith
Kelsey Thompson
Tierra Thompson
Adam Acosta
Keval Brown
Jermany Brown
Jamin Jackson
Jerome Johnson

James Sims, Videography/Production Assistant; Chris Johnson, Videography; Tim Long, Director/Score Production/Editor; Jerome Johnson, Choreography; Kathy Thompson, assistance

Facilities donated by:
Boogi Walker, Movement 918
Jamin Jackson
Chris Johnson
Greenwood Cultural Center
Metropolitan Tulsa Urban League

"Scope on Ledge" logo features a photograph of model Mike Press, (NYC) taken by Parisian photog Michael Cruzz (NYC/Paris), designed by TuTchT IMAGING (that's me, lol)

ROOFSHOUT to the people who worked hard with us to raise the money needed for the New York premiere:

THE NYMF FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE:
Nita Smothers
Ben and Jessica Beresh
Tasha and JJ Scott
Tangi Brewer
Tyffny Johnson

Boogi Walker, emcee of our send-off party

Many other people supported our NYMF Premiere


And of course, Thanks to
THE NYC PREMIERE CAST OF ROOFHEADZ:
Chad Carstarphen as "Scope"
Ben Mapp as "Marquee"
Anita Welch as "Sela"
Alan H. Green as "Father"
Marquis Rodriguez as "Lil Man"
Alexander Elisa as "Loomin"
Dana Iannuzzi as "R'yonne"
Geri Brown as "Dimples"
Joshua Heggie as "Nine"
Omar Evans as "Tella"
Greg LuBuono as "Raz"
Khalid Freeman as "Hogeye"
Adam Matta as the voice of "Tagz"
Crystal Joy as "The Devil"
Keva Moolenaar Brown
Krystina Alabado

Paul Stancato, Director; Rachel Routh, General Manager; Nick Dalton, Assistant Director; Shelby Taylor Love, Stage Manager; Molly Gachignard, Musical Director



HUGE THANKS TO EVERYONE!!!!! 
WE LOVE OUR ROOFHEADZ!
 (I'm sure we've missed some folks in this history...if we forgot you, please hit us up and we'll get your shine right!)











Saturday, November 26, 2011

ROOFSGIVING PT 3: The LA Development Years


Our first steps into the realm of professional Broadway Musical Theatre came in 2004 when "Roofless" was discovered by Stephen Schwartz and ASCAP's Michael Kerker.  We were invited to workshop a preview at the ASCAP/Disney Theatricals Musical Theatre Workshops in Burbank, CA.  This part of our story is pretty well-covered in the rest of our blog.
(Left: JP & Julian lift Rachel, Center: Stephen Schwartz introduces us at Disney, Right: Andrea G as "Lil Tiff")

THX TO OUR FIRST LA CAST OF ROOFHEADZ:
THE ASCAP/DISNEY WORKSHOP CAST (Los Angeles)
Mike Fruga*
Julian Thomas*
David Holmes*
Johnny Polygon*
AnnaMaria Pasley-Horn* 
Sufe Bradshaw
Pamela Holt
Rachel Genevieve
Andrea G
Jerome Johnson
* performers originally from Tulsa who joined us in LA.
Production assistance from Tyffny Johnson & Jeremy Griffin

TABLE READINGS:

What followed was several years with multiple table readings (about every 6 to 10 months) juried by Stephen Schwartz, Michael Kerker and a table full of other industry professionals. We would usually do a reading of ACT I, say goodbye to our actors and spend the next hour getting critique and advice from the panel.


To be honest, the table readings all kinda blur together, so here's a COMBINED list of all the ROOFHEADZ over that 4 to 5 year period. (Most of them did multiple readings with us)



THE LOS ANGELES TABLE READING CASTS:
Lij Kerai
Mike Fruga
Joe Holt
Sufe Bradshaw
Julian Thomas
Walter Randall
Elizabeth (Bate) Randall
Nicole Butler
Cynthia Addai-Robinson
Sydnee Stewart
Shonte Brown
Haran Jackson
Nick Huff

Production assistance from Tyff Johnson & James Sims
Big thanks to Michael Kerker & Stephen Schwartz and the dozen Industry professinals who have sat on our panels (Click here for a full list)

ASCAP also set up a week-long workshop on the "Roofless" book (story & script) for us. This was conducted by Kevin Bannerman and Stuart Ross.  Huge thanks to them as well!

SONG DEMOS featuring Tulsa's Best
In 2005 at the start of the Table Reading period, we needed to record some new demos to play during the readings.  Some of the very best vocalists in Tulsa - from R&B, Gospel, Musical Theatre & Opera - came together and volunteered endless hours learning the material so we could record in a live setting (not pieced together from multiple studio takes) to get the "cast recording" vibe. The results were pretty amazing as you can hear below.

ROOFLESS DEMO WORKSHOP CAST in TULSA, 2005:
Kathryn Stefanic-Holder
Nita Smothers
AnnaMaria Pasley-Horn
Evangeline Hope
Branjae Jackson
Andresia Moseley
Rosa Thomas
Kelley Childers Friedburg
Lawrence Rosenborough
Desmond Dansby
Gabe Royal
Jerome Johnson
Fred Custard

Tim Long, Musical Director

Michael Todd, Body Percussionist
Quinton Davis, FORREST PRODUCTIONS, Live Recording Engineer
James Sims, Videographer 
Jared Perry, Rehearsal Beatboxer

Additional assistance from:
Jessica and Ben Beresh, Nita Smothers, Tyffny Johnson, Lawrence Rosenborough

In-Kind Donations from:
FORREST PRODUCTIONS, Tim Kennard (2 full days, live recording sessions)
HIGHER DIMENSIONS FAMILY CHURCH ( Recording facility)
RUDISILL REGIONAL LIBRARY (Rehearsal facility)



ROOFLESS DEMO WORKSHOP CAST in TULSA, 2005:
Kathryn Stefanic-Holder
Nita Smothers
AnnaMaria Pasley-Horn
Evangeline Hope
Branjae Jackson
Andresia Moseley
Rosa Thomas
Kelley Childers Friedburg
Lawrence Rosenborough
Desmond Dansby
Gabe Royal
Jerome Johnson
Fred Custard



Tim Long, Musical Director
Michael Todd, Body Percussionist
Quinton Davis, FORREST PRODUCTIONS, Live Recording Engineer
James Sims, Videographer 
Jared Perry, Rehearsal Beatboxer

Additional assistance from:
Jessica and Ben Beresh, Nita Smothers, Tyffny Johnson, Lawrence Rosenborough

In-Kind Donations from:
FORREST PRODUCTIONS, Tim Kennard (2 full days, live recording sessions)
HIGHER DIMENSIONS FAMILY CHURCH ( Recording facility)
RUDISILL REGIONAL LIBRARY (Rehearsal facility)



PREPARING TO SUBMIT TO THE 
NEW YORK MUSICAL THEATRE FESTIVAL
 As a final step, we did a Tulsa table reading in 2009 as a final test of the newest updates before we submitted the show to NYMF.  
 (L to R: Stephen King, Jerome Johnson, JFresh, Michael Fruga, Branjae Jackson)
 (L to R: Taylar Smallwood, Tyff Johnson, Jessica Beresh, Janna Smith)
 (L to R: Jerome Johnson, JFresh, Michael Fruga)

TULSA TABLE READING CAST!
Mike Fruga
J Fresh (from Dallas)
Branjae Jackson
Roderick Hudson
Stephen King
Jerome Johnson
Taylar Smallwood
Tyffny Johnson
Jessica Beresh
Janna Smith

Production assistance from Dionne White & Nita Smothers.
The event was videotaped  for us by James Sims and Chris Johnson





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