Hey, remember the Writer’s Co-op?

You thought I forgot all about it, didn’t you?  Of course not!  The two-week session ended on June 18th and I was lucky enough to get the scoop on each team’s project.

- Joe Kinosian and Kellen Blair finished revisions on Murder For Two (which they worked on in January) just in time for its upcoming debut at the Adirondack Theatre Festival in July.  They also started working on a brand new piece that went in a number of different directions over the course of the two weeks, ultimately centering on a “romantic entanglement” in a library - oooh.

- Alex Gemignani and Brad Bauner made a lot of progress since January on their musical adaptation of The Truman Show and finished a complete rough draft in the first week!  I’ll definitely be following the progress of this piece - I loved the movie and would love to see a stage version get produced.

- Bill Nelson and Anna Jacobs also put more time into the piece they developed in January, Harmony Kansas.  They were able to complete an entire first draft and even had a table read scheduled for the weekend after the Co-op.

- Randy Blair and Tim Drucker used their time to work on a few different projects, the main one being a straight play called Haute Mess.  It uses just two actors to portray the many characters at a fashion week runway show, which means they got to read lots of magazines and call it “research” - I’m jealous!  I know the end result will be hilarious.

- Tony Asaro and Dan Moyer were in the midst of developing a contemporary adaptation of the Thomas Hardy novel The Return of the Native.  The two-week co-op was a perfect setting (quiet hallways!) for them to research and read history books about late-19th-century England.

- Bill Daugherty and Scott Evan Davis collaborated on a musical titled Young Lady of Hope about the first woman to arrive on Ellis Island.  Hilariously, they at first thought the co-op only lasted a week and worked so hard the first few days that they ended up with nine complete songs by the end!  Next step: table read.

- Maggie Kate Coleman and Sean Mahoney started in a different direction than most by creating songs and then figuring out a story.  As they worked on tying it all together, Maggie remarked that it seemed like “half the songs are for jilted lovers and half are for Muppets.”  Maybe they have the next Avenue Q!  Still, they loved the chance to collaborate in a quiet atmosphere and hang out with other writers and composers.

I’m so glad we were able to host a second Co-op this year!  I love meeting people who are buzzing with creative words and songs and seeing their new works progress.  Can’t wait for the next one!