Meet the Composers of MURDEROUS MUSICAL MONDAYS- Spotlight on Sam Carner & Derek Gregor

By: May. 29, 2014
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The cast and creative team of the hit Off-Broadway musical Murder for Two are teaming up with some of New York's brightest up and coming composers and BroadwayWorld.com every Monday night for their spring concert series, Murderous Musical Mondays. Composers Sam Carner & Derek Gregor continue the series on Monday, June 2, 2014, immediately following the 7pm performance of Murder for Two at New World Stages (Stage 5 - 340 West 50th Street).

Below, the duo shares some details on the upcoming concert!

What can you share about your Murderous Musical Mondays concert?

We'll be showcasing a few of the super-talented young performers we've been working with recently. The songs will be a mix of numbers from different projects. Some of them have been out in the world for a while, and some are brand new.

Who/what were some of your early musical influences?

Derek: Mozart, Richard Rodgers
Sam: Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Gilbert & Sullivan

When did you realize that writing was for you?

Derek: I thought writing was for me when I saw the movie AMADEUS as a little kid.
Sam: I always enjoyed making up little songs as a kid. When I was 13, the Children's Theatre of Maine (in Portland, where I grew up) had a Young Playwrights Contest, and my dad suggested that I turn a long children's story I had written into a musical. That show, THE RISE OF FTR (Frank the Rabbit), won, and we had a 12-performance run. I really caught the bug from that experience; I loved the collaboration with the director and the cast, I loved making audiences laugh, and I loved sharing the tunes that were running around in my head.

Are there any other theatre composers whose work you admire/have impacted your writing style?

Derek: Jonathan Larson, Stephen Sondheim, U2
Sam: Yip Harburg, P.G. Wodehouse, Stephen Sondheim, and non-theatrical writers like John Donne and John Keats

Who in the theatrical/music community would you kill to work with?

We're actually really happy with the group of people we've been working with. We're always excited to meet new artists, but we're also fulfilled by the community we have right now.

Do you have any new projects in the works?

We have a number of projects in the works that we're really excited about. We're doing an electro-pop musical based on the novella TOAST; it's set in the underground club scene of pre-Katrina New Orleans. We're contributing songs to a musical adaptation of SHEILA LEVINE IS DEAD AND LIVING IN NEW YORK with book by Todd Graff. We're contributing one song to Unsung Musicals' PASSING SHOW, which is having a workshop in late June. And other projects for which the rights are still being worked out; hope to be able to share more about those soon!

What are you most looking forward to in being a part of this concert series?

Derek: We love MURDER FOR TWO! I saw one of the first ever readings and have probably seen the show in different iterations about 10 times. I'm proud to be a part of it.



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