Photo Flash: Theater-Making Band The Lobbyists Announce Their New Collective At Fall Gala

Theater-making band The Lobbyists announce their new collective at fall gala with appearances by DAVE THOMAS BROWN (Book of Mormon, Heathers), KIM BLANCK (Octet), CHRISTOPHER SEARS (Only Yesterday), BANDITS ON THE RUN, and others!

After seven years playing together as a band, The Lobbyists announced at their First Annual Gala on October 7th the creation of a brand new The Lobbyists theater collective. The band is welcoming a host of music and theater artists into their ranks and raised money to support their first full season as a collective.

The Lobbyists create plays and concerts that explore the American Mythos, driven by a rockin' folk-americana beat. Their debut theatrical collaboration, SEAWIFE, written with playwright Seth Moore and director Liz Carlson, was nominated for two Drama Desk Awards in 2016, including one for Outstanding Music in a Musical for The Lobbyists' enchanting score.

The evening featured performances by The Lobbyists and some of their best friends in music and theater, including Dave Thomas Brown, Kim Blanck, Christopher Sears, Bandits on the Run, Macabre Americana, Common Jack, Emily Jeanne Brown and Kate Victor. The gala also featured keynote speeches by Liz Carlson (Artistic Producer, New York Stage & Film), Kathy Evans (Founding Executive Director, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat), and Allison Bressi ( Vice President of Theater, Lively McCabe Entertainment). The event was hosted at Town Stages in Tribeca.

The Lobbyists are currently at work on a long list of projects in development. SEAWIFE will return this month as part of the National Alliance of Musical Theater's (NAMT) 31st Annual Festival of New Musicals. The collective is also creating a new musical about Maria Mitchell, America's first professional female astronomer, with playwright Kristin Slaney. THE GOLDEN SPIKE, a two-and-a-half years' deep collaboration with playwright Don Nguyen and director Seonjae Kim, will receive a public workshop performance February 2020 in residency with BRIC and BRIClab in downtown Brooklyn.

The group of multi-hyphenate theater artists (core members Tommy Crawford, Eloise Eonnet, Alex Grubbs, Will Turner, Tony Aidan Vo, and Douglas Waterbury-Tieman) formed in 2012 and take their name from the lobby of The Flea Theater, where they first started playing and writing music together. They began as pre-show entertainment for THESE SEVEN SICKNESSES, welcoming audiences into the night from the lobby, and soon were playing all around New York City and beyond with their "marvelous" songwriting and "impressive" musicianship ( The New York Times) . As a theater collective, The Lobbyists will still perform as a band, and are now opening up their ranks to develop work with many collaborators on a host of theatrical projects.

The Lobbyists just released a new single and music video, "Nothing But Human," as part of THE GOLDEN SPIKE project. Check out their website, www.wearethelobbyists.com, for their studio albums, live recordings, and more projects they have in the pipeline!

Photo Credit: Colin Smith