TV Exclusive: CUTTING-EDGE COMPOSERS CORNER- Ben Fankhauser and Michael McCorry Rose Sing Alexander Sage Oyen's 'Gods Among Men'

This week's features composer is Alexander Sage Oyen. Newsies' Ben Fankhauser and Wicked's Michael McCorry Rose performed this song from his new musical "Outlaws" at our concert at 54 Below.

""Gods Among Men," is a song from my show (written with playwright James Presson) Outlaws. The show itself is about the notorious bank robbers Jesse James and his gang which included his older brother Frank who could usually be seen in the back of all of the photos. One of the things that drew me to writing this musical is that by the end of his life, Jesse believed that he, himself,was God. He believed himself to be infallible- so in this early(ish) song in the show, we're building up to that with some semi-theological lyrics. The other cool thing that made me want to write this piece is that Jesse and Frank are so staunchly different, yet they went down the same path and were both very successful bank robbers. This song is that fateful moment where they both make their decision to become some of the most notorious outlaws in the wild west."

Alexander Sage Oyen's musicals include Outlaws (book by James Presson, dir. Noah Himmelstein, Presented at the 2014 ASCAP Workshop), A Night Like This (book, music and lyrics), Money$hot! (book by James Presson, 2014 Orlando Fringe Festival production), andMoment by Moment (directed by Brandon Ivie- 54 Below. Add. production at Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand). He and collaborator James Presson were awarded the 2013-2014 Dramatist Guild Fellowship and their musical,Outlaws was a 2014 NAMT Finalist. He was named one of Playbill's "Contemporary Musical Theatre Songwriters You Should Know," and he was selected for the 2014 Johnny Mercer Songwriter's Project. His song cycle, Moment by Moment is being recorded by the original cast and should be out in the late summer/fall (2014). He has three albums available for purchase on iTunes, "If I Knew Better," and both volumes of "Drafts." He is the proud owner of a dog named after a scandalous politician. He loves a lot of people's work but only steals from a few. Listen closely, you'll hear.

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