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. 

Don't miss the last Thanksgiving post -  Part IV: READY FOR THE NYC PREMIERE

ROOFSGIVING PT 2: The Original Productions

The Saga continues ...  

In 1998, after our well-received, well-reviewed  musical “A Song of Greenwood,” was staged at Greenwood Cultural Center,  we were given the opportunity to pitch a project to the movers and shakers at the Tulsa City-County Health Department. (who distributed grants for arts projects  that dealt with community issues.) They had been impressed by our artistic output and our on-going work with At-Risk youth in North Tulsa.   We pitched an idea for a show that followed a group of Hip-hop culture teenagers who sought refuge on the top of a highrise building.  The climax of the story featured a catastrophic flood the buried the downtown of the city and stranded them on the rooftop, forcing the antagonist adults to seek refuge in the sanctuary of these kids.  Our research led us to New Orleans as the setting. 

Our vision was much bigger than the type of project TCCH Dept was looking for at the time. And, believe it or not, the idea of a flood of such Biblical proportions was a little hard to swallow.    ….Katrina hit New Orleans 7 years later.

Many of the concepts of that original idea remain in the show till today, including the dark, stormy atmosphere of the world of Roofless.  The only tangible thing that remains from that pitch is this first concept logo sketch:

ROOFLESS WORLD PREMIERE, AUG 24 – 27, 2002 

A Big ROOFSGIVING Shoutout to the brave souls who, in 2001, took a chance on the idea of a musical theatre project that would combine Rap, R&B. Musical Theatre Song, Salsa, Ragtime, Slavery-Era Spirituals, Ring Shout, Pattin’ Juba (Body Percussion), House,  etc. … and it will explore the rising rate of suicide among African-American teenagers.      Remember, this is 2001…when Musicals were still very much out-of-vogue.  As usual, we had LOTS of people telling us this was a bad idea. Lol.  But a big thank you to those who supported us & jumped in the water with us!

A lil history:

1999 - Childhood friend Chris Freihofer, who had now become one the top theatrical directors and casting agents in the region was the next one to hear the pitch of “Roofless.”  Chris had been very instrumental in our “A Song of Greenwood” period, both as a dramaturge and Directorial advisor and “politically” in introducing us to Kay Armstrong at the Oklahoma Community Theatre Association (who taught us how to write successful grant proposals)  To be completely honest, I don’t remember much about that meeting and what was said on either side of the table, lol.  As with many works at their inception I think it seemed like an idea with some potential. He suggested we go for it.   Chris’s influence extended further once the show was on its feet.  He not only made a trip to Tulsa to help us pitch “Roofless” to TPACT* (see below), he also recommended our “Jump in the Water” preview performance to Terry Wright at The WaterTower Theatre in Dallas for the launch of their “Out of the Loop” festival. (The preview got a rave review in the Dallas Morning News and we were invited to bring the full show to Dallas to headline the 2003 Festival.)

BIG shoutout to the *TULSA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER TRUST who took a chance on 2 young, fairly unknown playwrights and their hair-brained idea for a musical.  When they offered us a facility grant, it enabled us to stage our world-premiere of “Roofless” at Tulsa’s most elite theatrical venue. Other nods of approval from the NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS through the OKLAHOMA ARTS COUNCIL, The OKLAHOMA COMMUNITY THEATRE ASSOCIATION, The ARTS AND HUMANITIES COUNCIL of TULSA soon followed.  Additional support came from :

WALMART  FOUNDATION

GREENWOOD CHRISTIAN CENTER

YOUTH SERVICES of TULSA

Z PRODUCTIONS

The TECHNICAL INSTITUTE of COSMETOLOGY ARTS & SCIENCES of Tulsa

JEFF & SHEILA BRADFORD

JOHN & JACQUELINE STARKS

MONA LONG

BRIAN & HOLLY HARPSTER

KAY ARMSTRONG

CHRIS FREIHOFER

THE BIGGEST ROOFSHOUT GOES TO THE

ROOFLESS 2002 PREMIERE CAST:

Adam “Teknus” Acosta

Kyle Hankins

Carmela Hill

David Holmes

Jerome Johnson

Christon Mason

Zeeky Minnis

Erin Miracle

Andreasia Mosely

Tiffanie Porter

James Sims

Tyffny (Ware) Johnson

Crystal Williams

Also featuring:

Johnny Polygon

C.J. “E.On” Perry

AhKamaye’ Perry

B-boy Elliot “E-dub” Kauley

Richard Booker as “Window Man”

Huge thanks to Darin Applegate, Stage Manager; T.I.C.U.S. for Hair, Make-up and Wardrobe; Quinton Davis & Walter B. Williams II, Sound Design/Tech; Bryan Sims, Videography; Lisa & Bruce Wilcox, Ann & Chris Miracle, Anna Hankins, Bud Smothers, our cast members, their friends & families who helped us pull the set together on a shoestring budget. 


Rehearsal Space donated by The Tulsa City-County Library System, The Harmon Foundation, Greenwood Cultural Center, Greenwood Christian Center, Theatre Arts Inc, Sandusky Avenue Christian Church, Tulsa Central High School, Carver Middle School.

THE MOMENTUM CONTINUES...
Tulsa theatrical legend Tyrone Wilkerson, a long-time supporter and cheerleader for our work, played a BIG role in the next step on our journey.   The premiere of Roofless was booked for only 4 performances.  The Tulsa World normally doesn’t review one-weekend shows but after Tyrone saw the opening night performance he got on the phone and convinced The Tulsa World that this was a phenomenal show that deserved a full review.  They sent Entertainment writer Michael Smith and his review was glowing. 

When it came time for Tyrone to select the show he wanted to direct in his yearly directorial slot with American Theatre Company, again, he went to bat and fought for our unusual show.  ATC agreed and our second staging took place in early 2003, an 8-performance run that garnered more rave reviews.   A few weeks after the ATC run we took the show to Dallas to headline the WaterTower Theatre’s Out of the Loop Festival for 3 performances. Another hit!  We had yet to perform amy version of  “Roofless” without receiving a standing ovation.

Later in the year, The Tulsa World selected “Roofless” as one of the best stage performances of the year.

ROOFSGIVING S/O to

ROOFLESS 2002/2003 CAST

Adam “Tek” Acosta

Gina (Bradford) Jackson-Brasongre

Kyle Hankins

Carmela Hill

David Holmes

Jamin Jackson

Jerome Johnson

Zeeky Minnis

Erin Miracle

Andreasia Mosely

Carolyn Odukoya

AnnaMaria Pasley-Horn

Tiffanie Porter

James Sims

Robert Tyler

Tyffny (Ware) Johnson

Chirs “Boogi” Walker

Also featuring:

Johnny Polygon

Karl Krause as “Window Man”

Huge thanks to Tyrone Wilkerson, Director; Lisa Confer Bell, Assistant Director: Darin Applegate & Anna Hankins, Prop Masters, Assistant Stage Managers; Sheila Bradford, Green Room Catering; T.I.C.U.S. for Hair, Make-up and Wardrobe; Quinton Davis & Walter B. Williams II, Sound Design/Tech; Bryan Sims, Videography; The ATC Staff; Greg VanDoren; Lisa & Bruce Wilcox, Ann & Chris Miracle, Anna Hankins, Jeff and Sheila Bradford, Bud Smothers, our cast members, their friends & families who helped us pull the set together on a shoestring budget.


Rehearsal Space donated by The Tulsa City-County Library System, The Harmon Foundation, Greenwood Cultural Center, Greenwood Christian Center, Theatre Arts Inc, Sandusky Avenue Christian Church, Tulsa Central High School, Carver Middle School.

THXY ROOFSGIVING PT 1: The Precursors

So I'm not sure what's crazier, the phrase "Thxy Roofsgiving" or undertaking the overly-self-important task of tracing "Roofless" back to its roots. Hahaha. But hey, its done in an effort to thank everyone involved in the growth of this project.  (If you were involved and we inadvertently omitted you, Please hit us up and we’ll getchur shine right!).  

So here we go:

PRE-CURSORS:

XSEED, 1997-1999

1997. After working for 4 years as part of  Greenwood Cultural Center and Higher Dimensions teaching/Fine Arts staff, we started work on our first full book musical, “A Song of Greenwood,”  and at the same time started a Hip-hop group called XSEED. We wrote and performed original material; live rap and vocals with full choreography.  2 of the numbers we wrote for XSEED had a life beyond the group.

 THX to the Members of XSEEDJay Wilder, (Emcee, Lyrics) Starr Fisher (Lead Vocals) , Stacy (Melton) VanHoose, Danniel (Wormuth) McKnight, Rachel Okotie, Nicole Smith, Jerome Johnson (Choreography, Lyrics) Tim Long (Artistic Director/Producer)  Quinton Davis (Live Sound Engineer), Jennifer (Smothers) Montgomery (Administration.)

The songs “Misfortunate” and “Wade” were first written for XSEED and demoed, but never performed.  Original versions were produced by Tim Long & David Holmes. Lyrics by Jerome, David Holmes and Jeremy Griffin.

JUMP IN THE WATER, 1999 - 2002

2 years later in 1999, our initial  public introduction of “Roofless” was a CD project & 30 min stage performance we called “Jump in the Water” based on the lyrics of “WADE” one of the overarching concepts of the project  (realizing that strength is found in facing your fears… the waters are troubled, but there’s purpose in the water...so jump in and get yours.) You can also hear us trying to develop our own unique musical language: part rap, part chant, part vocals... strong on rhythmic counterpoint & melodies somewhere between early African-American spiritual and work song and current R&B trends of late 90's. Body Percussion was added in the live version of Wade...and the "Roofless" musical voice really began to gel.

The project brought together some great Tulsa talent, many of whom joined the initial “Roofless” cast 2 years later.

Take a listen to our original version of “WADE”

THX to the “JUMP IN THE WATER” Recording Cast:

AnnaMaria Pasley-Horn, (Vocals), Byron Davis (Vocals), Resistance (emcees): David “ShoTyme”Holmes, Adrian “Reverse” Friday, William “ Reborn” Hagens, Jr. Jeremy “Quest” Griffin, Jerome Johnson (emcee), Charles “E.ON” Perry, Jr. (spoken word), Tryone Wilkerson (Storyteller), Tim Long, Keyboard solo.

Additional Vocals : Janet (Smith) McCarty, Tyffny (Johnson) Ware, Adrian Friday, Tim & Jerome,

Produced by Tim Long, Jerome Johnson & David Holmes, Mastered by Adrian Friday. Engineering assistance from Quinton Davis and Tim Kennard, Forrest Productions.

THX to the “JUMP IN THE WATER” Live Performing Cast: Tyffny (Ware) Johnson, Janet (Smith) McCarty, AnnaMaria Pasley-Horn, Tiffanie Porter, David Holmes, Adrian Friday, Robert Tyler, Jerome Johnson.

Music arrangement & Direction by Tim Long, Choreography by Jerome Johnson, Body Percussion Choreography by David Holmes.

Major supporters to the project: The National Endowment for the Arts through the Oklahoma Arts Council, Kim Johnson at the African-American Resource Center at Rudisill Regional Library, Bishop Gary McIntosh and the Greenwood Christian Center.

Big thanks to Chris Freihofer & Terry Martin at Dallas WaterTower Theatre for a major booking that led to the Dallas “Roofless” booking the following year.


The "JUMP IN THE WATER" CD project included a 10-min spoken word original story we wrote for the project.  Nationally recognized Storyteller Tyrone Wilkerson lent his skills as narrator.  The piece remains a powerful example of his gifts.

R.I.P. Byron Davis and Tryone Wilkerson. You are sorely missed our brothers.




CLICK HERE TO SEE PART II: THE ORIGINAL PRODUCTIONS

Immortal Roofhead Khalid Greens Doin it Cirque Style

S/O to homie KHALID GREENS (Khalid Freeman) cast member of The Immortal World Tour gettin his lean on last night as the cast made its TV debut. Khalid is part of the choreography team for our musical ROOFLESS (Roofless LA) now in development. Roofheadz represent!  Roofshout to 2 of our favorite Street Dance mastercraftsmen also in the cast, LES TWINS, Larry and Laurent Bourgeois!

They Still Cuttin' Footloose!

Big shout to FOOTLOOSE writer/creator DEAN PITCHFORD. Dean is one of the first "Hollywood folk" to critique and advise us on "Roofless" when we unveiled it at Disney/ASCAP back in 2004.  Incredibly inspirational and well-spoken, he gave us a treasure trove of great quotes and endorsements for "Roofless"... among my favorites, he called "Roofless...a whole new way of exciting audiences." High praise from someone who's managed to excite audiences for decades with his hit "Footloose." The current film version, now in theaters, features some of today's hottest dancers - among our facebook famz who get their shine on > Terence Dickson, Charles "Lil Buck" Riley, Ron Myles, Keviorr Taylor, Christopher "LIL C" Toler. 

13 Days of Halloween on the Roof

For our facebook followers we took 13 days to highlight some of the classic horror films, cartoons and scores that have had an influence on our work.  

We also used the opportunity to take a look back on 2 numbers ("Wade" and "Misfortunate") that were in the original 2002/03 "Roofless" show in Tulsa and Dallas, but were eventually cut when we trimmed characters from our story line.  Here's a look at those 2 numbers, raised from the dead for Halloween:

(Below) In the "Misfortunate" number, James, a 14-year-old Emo/Goth kid who lives in a violent, abusive household, escapes his reality by drawing.  One fateful night the drawings come to life and turn on him ...as his step-father often has. Check out this video that shows a behind-the-scenes look at bringing the  "Misfortunate" characters to life. RoofShout to Eddie and Brenda Cleveland, Technical Institute of Cosmetology Arts and Sciences, Tulsa for bringing these costumes from the drawing board into reality.  Amazing people, amazing work.

SUMMER 2011 Updates

LATEST NEWS: 
- We're currently busy in the lab recording new demos & polishing the latest rewrites based on the Industry feedback we received at the New York Musical Theatre Festival last Oct.  
- Agent Ron Gwiazda, Abrams Artists Agency, NYC is now on board to shop "Roofless" to potential producers.
- Director Paul Stancato (Lion King) is attached to direct the next production of "Roofless."
- Body Percussion Choreographer Khalid Freeman (Stomp, Stomp the Yard, The LXD, Cirque du Soliel's Michael Jackson "Immortal" Tour) has joined the choreography development team.
- Previews, Readings and Workshops in Los Angeles and NYC are being planned. Info will posted as it becomes available.


Keep watching for the latest...look up, we're up here!!