NEW TRUMAN CAPOTE-BASED MUSICAL IN THE WORKS BY RSO

March 1, 2023

From the article written by Ruthie Fierberg

Award-winning composer-lyricist Ryan Scott Oliver is working on a new musical framed around a notorious event involving Truman Capote. Titled “Party of the Century,” the musical is sourced from the book of the same name by Deborah Davis. 

“It’s based on Truman Capote’s infamous Black and White Ball at the Plaza in 1966 and full of queerness and betrayal and murder — it was kind of crazy,” Oliver told Broadway News at the ceremony celebrating him as the winner of the 2023 Kleban Prize for Most Promising Musical Theatre Lyricist. Oliver has just started writing “Party of the Century” with book writer Kirsten Guenther. The two previously collaborated on the musical “Mrs. Sharp.”

Oliver and Guenther are developing the piece with the support of FourthWall Theatrical, which acquired the rights to Davis’ book. According to Oliver, the musical “has a Broadway trajectory.” Fourth Wall, consisting of partners Jana Bezdek and Jen Hoguet, was a part of the producing team for Broadway’s “Jagged Little Pill.”

Though Oliver’s work has not yet been produced on Broadway, his name is well-known in musical-theater circles. In addition to the Kleban Prize, he previously earned a Jonathan Larson Grant, Richard Rodgers Award and multiple honors from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Oliver’s select works include “35mm,” “Jasper in Deadland” and “We Foxes.”

The combination of the Kleban Prize, “Party of the Century” and a few other commissions has been reinvigorating, said Oliver. “I was very lucky to have a lot of success really early, and then it was sort of existing for a few years, and I really did feel that,” he said. “I told Richard Maltby [Jr.]: I feel like I’m back on the freeway.”

https://broadwaynews.com/2023/02/07/truman-capote-based-musical-in-development-from-ryan-scott-oliver/

RSO AT WORK ON NEW GOTHIC HORROR MUSICAL, ‘TOMORROW, THE ISLAND DIES’

March 1, 2023

Following his southern Gothic thriller We Foxes, RSO’s at work on another dark-sided project: Tomorrow, the Island Dies, for which he wrote book, music and lyrics. The show is a commission by Samford University.

In the vein of Shirley Jackson and Stephen King, the original musical tells the story of Widow Clack, 18 and pregnant, who lives an exiled life running a lighthouse with her brother on a storm-crushed island set to be uninhabited in two days. When a young man is found dead on the beach, the remaining collection of young adults (left to make final preparations for the abandonment) combust into dangerous accusations leading to devastating division and ultimately, death. When a final, unexpected storm impacts the island, can Widow save the villagers from themselves?

The show is set for a developmental production in the spring of 2024, and an EP of msuic from the show, Haverness Songs, will be released later this year. a commission by Samford University called

’35MM: IN FOCUS’ NOW STREAMING

March 18, 2021

John Johnson and Very Intensive Productions are pleased to announce the release of 35MM: A Musical Exhibition in Focus, an album of commentary, original cast interviews, and track-by-track song breakdowns. The album is available now (March 9) via Spotify, Apple Music, and all streaming platforms.

  • Did you know that the song “Crazytown” is structured around the 20 most common nightmares of college students?
  • Or that “The Ballad of Sara Berry” was written in 2 days before its world premiere?
  • Hear how the guitar riff of “Good Lady” was pulled straight out of “Giants in the Sky,”
  • The first line of “Party Goes with You” was recorded with the wrong lyric … and no one caught it,
  • And learn the tragically true story that inspired “Cut You a Piece.”
  • Plus so much more.

35MM: A Musical Exhibition is a cult-hit musical written by Ryan Scott Oliver that has been performed hundreds of times all over the world, including Japan, Australia, Scotland, England, Canada and across the US. With a cast recording (by Ghostlight Records) that has been experienced more than 20 million times, the show is song cycle based on photographs by world-renowned Broadway photographer Matthew Murphy (Murphymade.com).

The podcast-style album is narrated by Ryan Scott Oliver and features interviews with original cast members Alex Brightman, Ben Crawford, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Lindsay Mendez and Betsy Wolfe, with additional commentary by Murphy. Every song (including transitions) receives a track-by-track breakdown, analyzing music and lyrics and digging deep into their origins and inspirations.

A comprehensive deep dive perfect for actors, directors, writers, and creatives of any kind, 35MM: A Musical Exhibition in Focus also includes Oliver and Murphy reflecting on the decade-old songs and photographs respectively (“Matt and Ryan Grade 35MM”), a discussion with the original cast about the show’s legacy (“Parting Shots”), and a TedTalk-style tutorial guiding young creatives on how to develop and produce their own work by the writer himself (“RSO’s Thoughts on Making Stuff Happen”).

‘HUGO’ MUSICAL WORKSHOPPED IN LONDON

March 10, 2020

On February 27 and 28th, 2020, the first workshop of The Invention of Hugo Cabret (based on the novel by Brian Selznick and film, Hugo, by Martin Scorsese) was held at the Dominion Theatre in London as part of the show’s ongoing development. See the images attached for the cast and crew, and stay tuned for more news about the show.

RSO RELEASES ‘ROPE: FIBERS’ WITH FANKHAUSER, IWATA AND MORE

January 19, 2020

Very Intensive Productions is pleased to announce the release of Rope: Fibers, a new E.P. featuring songs from RSO’s musical, ROPE. The new recording is available now via Spotify, Apple Music, and all streaming platforms.

Rope: Fibers features Ethan Carlson, Ben Fankhauser, Troy Iwata, Cory Jeacoma, Max Kumangai, John-Michael Lyles, Mary Claire Miskell, David Park, and Daniel Yearwood, with Devon Chandler, Caitlin Doak, Ian Fairlee, and Byron Martin Turk.

The band features Joshua Zecher-Ross on keyboards and additional instruments, Virginia Luke on violins, Tom Jorgensen on percussion, and Andrew Zinsmeister on guitar, mandolin, and banjo. Joshua-Zecher Ross served as music director and co-producer, and orchestrations are by RSO and Solomon Hoffman.

The track list is as follows:

1: “My Lass, She Tied Her Lace to Me” — Cory Jeacoma, David Park, John-Michael Lyles and Daniel Yearwood

2: “The Stranger” — Ethan Carlson and Cory Jeacoma

3: “All Men are Tied Together” — Max Kumangai

4: “What You Call Freedom” — Mary Claire Miskell

5: “I Have Seen the After” — John-Michael Lyles

6: “I Go on with You” — Ben Fankhauser and Troy Iwata

Check out the liner notes below.