New Musical ONWARD & UPWARD Will Receive Developmental Lab Readings This Month

Amas Musical Theatre and the Amas Musical Theatre Lab, will present developmental lab readings of Onward & Upward, a new musical based on the play “Up (The Man in the Flying Chair)”, with music by Charlie Romano, lyrics by Will Wegner, book by Will Wegner and Charlie Romano at Ripley-Grier Studios (305 West 38th Street-NYC). There will be three (3) performances: Friday, November 17th @6:00pm and Saturday, November 18th @12:00pm and 4:00pm. Seating is limited. For further information, visit www.amasmusical.org.

In 1982, Walter Griffin made national headlines after flying 16,000 feet in the sky with a lawnchair and a cluster of weather balloons. 17 years later, his wife and son have kept him tethered to the practicalities of daily life—until a surreal visit from his idol, wirewalker Philippe Petit, blurs the line between reality and fantasy. An intimate chamber musical with a sweeping score, Onward & Upward explores the desperate lengths to which one man will go to realize his dream.

“Onward & Upward was the recipient of the 2022 Eric H. Wienberger Award for Emerging Librettist, administered by Amas Musical Theatre,” says Donna Trinkoff, artistic producer of Amas Musical Theatre. “We are honored and grateful to continue to commemorate Eric’s memory and are looking forward to the futher development of this piece. The authors are recent college graduates who show such insight into the characters and they have created a truly musically sophisticated and beautifully written musical. We are delighted to be able to present if for the first time here in New York City.”

Directed by Michael Barnard (¡Americano!), the cast features Alex Joseph Grayson(Parade, Into the Woods), Liz McCartney (Funny Girl, Sunday in the Park with George), Mamie Parris (School of Rock, Cats), Sam Primack (Dear Evan Hansen), Jim Stanek (Into the Woods, Fun Home), and Samantha Williams (Caroline, Or Change, Dear Evan Hansen). The Music Director is Griffin Strout. The stage manager is Benjamin A. Vigil. Castng by Michael Cassara Casting CSA.

Biographies

Will Wegner (Lyrics & Book) is a lyricist-librettist-linguist from Appleton, Wisconsin. He recently graduated with a double major in Theater and Linguistics from Yale and just began his first year as a lyricist in the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. Beyond Onward & Upward, he has written the lyrics for Word Nerd (2023 O’Neill Semifinalist, 2023 Normal Ave NAPSeries Finalist), a larger-than-life comedy about a crossword game show host and his convoluted quest for professional redemption; Unscheduled Maintenance (2021 Marvin Hamlisch International Music Awards Nominee), the story of an unexpected delay along a woman’s morning commute; Video Rental Store (MTI 10-Minute Musicals Anthology), a short exploration of human connection in the face of an unexpected disaster; So, Betsy!, a metatheatrical portrait of seamstress Betsy Ross; and AlakaZoom!_, a satirical take on Yale’s response to the pandemic. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild and works as the Research Associate at the Broadway League. Learn more at wegner.world.

Charlie Romano (Music & Book) is a Latin American Composer from the Chicago area. As a member of a large family, he is used to sharing everything and spending time with many different kinds of people. As a result, Charlie is passionate about telling untold stories. As a composer/lyricist, his recent work includes Call Me from the Grave, a new musical about the life and legend of Robert Johnson (2021 O’Neill Finalist, 2021 NAMT Semifinalist, 2021 NMI New Voices Selection). His work with Will Wegner includes Onward & Upward, Word Nerd, AlakaZoom!, Video Rental Store, and Puppet Pioneers. He is also currently working on TITA, a new musical about his Panamanian-immigrant grandmother (a hyper-energetic polyglot whose life touched countless others across the world). Charlie is in the middle of a writing residency at New York SongSpace, and just recently completed the 2023 ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop with Stephen Schwartz. While in LA, Charlie was also selected to write an original song for the ASCAP/Netflix presentation on Music for Children's TV. He is also a proud member of the Dramatists Guild, the advanced BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, and the Latiné Musical Theatre Lab.

Bridget Carpenter (author, The Man in the Flying Chair) Ms. Carpenter’s television writing includes all five seasons of the Peabody Award-winning "Friday Night Lights", where she was co-executive producer. She has received four nominations from the Writers Guild of America for ‘Best Dramatic Series’ for "Friday Night Lights." In its final season, FNL was Emmy-nominated for Best Drama, and won Emmys for Best Teleplay and Best Actor. Ms. Carpenter created the 2016 miniseries "11.22.63" for Hulu and "Bad Robot" from Stephen King’s bestselling novel. "11.22.63" premiered at the Sundance Festival, has been nominated for a WGA Award for Long Form Drama, and in 2016 was the most-watched original series created for Hulu. It is also the winner of the 2016 Cameraimage International Festival for Cinematography and a Saturn Award. Ms. Carpenter wrote the musical Freaky Friday for Disney, which received its world premiere at Washington DC’s Signature Theatre and subsequently toured the United States. Her plays have been seen at Steppenwolf, The Public Theater, Berkeley Repertory Company, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Trinity Rep, Theatre de la Jeune Leune, Shakespeare & Company, Arena Stage, The Actors Theatre of Louisville, Woolly Mammoth, the Mark Taper Forum, the Alley Theater, and numerous other theaters across the country. Ms. Carpenter has received the Guggenheim Fellowship, the Princess Grace Award, the Princess Grace Statue, the Kesselring Prize, and the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Residencies include: two NEA Playwriting Fellowships, two Jerome Fellowships, a Ford Foundation Grant, a McKnight Fellowhip, and a writing residency with London’s National Theatre. Her plays Fall, The Faculty Room, and Up are published by Samuel French. Alumnae of New Dramatists. She holds an M.F.A. from Brown University, and has taught writing in elementary school, high school, college, and prison.

MICHAEL BARNARD

(Producing Artistic Director) is entering his 25th season as The Phoenix Theatre Company’s Producing Artistic Director, concentrating his efforts on continued growth of the theatre in service to the community. He recently directed Phoenix Theatre Company’s production of The Prom and is proud to have opened ¡Americano! Off-Broadway in 2022 as both co-writer and director. Michael has also directed and choreographed numerous hits, including Camelot, West Side Story, Godspell, Chicago, and Newsies here at The Phoenix Theatre Company.

Michael received his Master’s in Theatre with an emphasis in directing at Northwestern University. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Arizona State University. Native born, Michael grew up in Glendale and returned to Phoenix after receiving his degree.

Michael’s history with the theatre dates back to the early ‘80s when he was the organization’s first production manager from 1979 to 1982. He continued as a resident director/choreographer until 1985. Prior to arriving back in the Valley in 1999, Michael was a senior show director for the Disney Corporation in Anaheim, directing more than 400 corporate events and highly noted stage shows over nine years. In addition, he directed multiple studio film openings, countless industries, and the California Governor’s Arts Awards.

For the past sixteen years, he has freelanced with Universal Studios in Osaka, Japan and directed their REBORN parade, celebrating their fifteenth year. He was the director of the remount of their parade Parade de Carnival and created a variety of shows there, including Snapshots Show and The Laugh Makers. Formerly the Director of Theatre for the City of Phoenix and Associate Producer of Musical Theatre of Arizona, Michael has directed over 560 productions from New York to Los Angeles, working for prestigious companies including The Walt Disney Company, Universal Studios Japan, Ashland Cabaret, Utah Shakespeare, Florida Stages, Santa Barbara CLO, Webster University, Forestburgh Playhouse NY, The Barrows Group NYC, St. Louis Playhouse, and PCPA. In Arizona, Michael has directed and/or choreographed for Actor’s Theatre of Arizona, Arizona Jewish Theatre, The Phoenix Symphony, Black Theatre Troupe, Herberger Theatre Center, Valley Youth Theatre, and Childsplay. Michael is devoted to a variety of social causes and has directed over 1,000 special events. He conceived The Phoenix Theatre Company outreach program Partners

That Heal, now in its 13th year of training actors to use improvisational theatre to

bring laughter and comfort to children and their families in hospitals across Arizona. He has received countless awards for his work including the 2011 National Arts and Letters Award, the 2012 Leadership in Arts Award from the YWCA, the 2015 Arts Leader Award from Phoenix Boys Choir, and the prestigious 2018 Ellis Island Medal of Honor. Michael, along with Vincent VanVleet, received the Champion of Compassion Award from CASA. Michael is co-author of Unstoppable Me, a children’s musical based on the Wayne Dyer book, and has written a children’s book entitled The Red Ornament. In addition, Michael wrote and directed a statewide tour called The Empower Pack, an anti-tobacco, nutrition, and fitness musical targeted at eight to twelve-year-olds.

Michael owes much of his success at The Phoenix Theatre Company to the dedicated staff, board, artists, and to his husband Vincent, for his constant devotion, support, and nurturing of Michael and the theatre.

Griffin Strout (Music Director) is a music director, pianist, conductor, orchestrator and copyist based in New York City. Recent credits include: Out of Myself: Songs of Peter Foley (Symphony Space, associate MD and addt'l orchestrations), A Christmas Story (Arts Center of Coastal Carolina, Assoc. MD), Woman of the Year (J2 Spotlight, Assoc. MD), You're Gonna Love Tomorrow (Theater 2020). Additionally, he has worked on projects at Theatre Aspen, The Times Center, Feinstein’s/54 Below, Ghostlight Theater Camp. Griffin is a graduate of Yale University, where he served as an accompanist for the Yale School of Drama (YSD) and the Shen Curriculum for Musical Theater, and acted as the music director for numerous student productions. He is currently a staff pianist for Young People's Chorus of New York, NYU Steinhardt and New York Film Academy.

Amas Musical Theatre (Donna Trinkoff, Artistic Producer) is a non-profit, multi-ethnic theatrical organization founded in 1968 by Ms. Rosetta LeNoire. Amas (“you love” in Latin) is devoted to the creation, development and professional production of new American musicals, the celebration of cultural equity and minority perspectives, the emergence of new artistic talent, and the training and encouragement of inner-city young people. Amas celebrates its impact in pioneering multi-ethnic casting in the American Theatre and reiterates its commitment to this reflection of our diverse society. In recent years, Amas has emerged as a leading not-for-profit laboratory for new musicals, most recently The Gospel According to Heather, Hip Hop Cinderella, Romeo & Bernadette: A Musical Tale of Verona and Brooklyn, ¡Americano!, Broadway and the Bard, starring Len Cariou and Red Eye of Love, which was awarded the Joseph A. Callaway Award for Outstanding Choreography. Its production of The Other Josh Cohen received six 2013 Drama Desk nominations including Outstanding Musical, a 2013 Lucille Lortel nomination for Outstanding Musical, and a 2013 Off-Broadway Alliance nomination for Best New Musical. Other shows that Amas has developed include Distant Thunder, Triassic Parq, Wanda’s World, Shout! The Mod Musical, Lone Star Love, From My Hometown, Zanna, Don’t!, 4 Guys Named Jose and Stormy Weather: Reimagining Lena Horne. Amas education programs include the Rosetta LeNoire Musical Theatre Academy, Lens on Live Theatre and in-school theatre arts residencies designed in partnership with elementary, middle, and high schools.

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