30 Days Of NYMF: Day 3 GAY BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN

By: Sep. 17, 2009
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It's a Beautiful Night to Un-Die!
from
Gay Bride of Frankenstein
By Dane E. Leeman, book and Billy Butler, music and lyrics

The Gay Bride of Frankenstein was conceived on a hot summer night in a hazy fog of friend-fueled laughter, brainstorming and all-around silliness. Many months later (was it nine?), my writing partner, Dane Leeman, and I said we can (and should) do this, focused our collective talents and pushed our baby out. Our "Bride" was born - now what?

An invitation to participate in the New York Musical Theatre Festival answered our "now what?" question. One year after an amazing workshop run that helped to develop Gay Bride from ideas on a page to a production quality show, my wife and I packed up and moved from New Hampshire to the big city. The success of the workshop had created the momentum and support we needed to further our development of Gay Bride and New York City was the place to make it happen.

Dane and I wrote the show with visions of video, web technology, imaging, texting, and rock-n-roll dancing in our heads. These new tools need to be integrated into theatre and some have already made their way onto stages all over the world. We wanted to incorporate some, if not all, of these elements into Gay Bride of Frankenstein.

Along with writing the script and score, we gave ourselves the extra challenge of writing a graphic novel with the help of some very talented artists at Severed Head Comics in New Hampshire. We first approached them at a local comic-con and they thought we were nuts. Rightly so, but still we were able to convince them that between Dane and I, we had a vision and almost 50 years of theatre experience between us, so they jumped on board and never looked back.

Now, as we gear up for the New York City premiere of Gay Bride of Frankenstein, we are just about ready to roll. Our creative staff is in place, schedules are set, two site visits are behind us, and we even made it through auditions! We're thrilled to be working with an incredible cast, including Emma Hunton as our angst-ridden-little-gay-goth chick. Will the girl get the girl? Come to TBG Theatre starting September 28 and see for yourself!

Get sneak peek of Gay Bride of Frankenstein ... check out "The Prelude".

 



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