Meet the Writers
Want to learn how new musicals are created? Come meet a few of our musical theatre writers-in-residence this summer at our "Meet the Writers" events, presented on 4 weekend evenings between June 28 through August 24. They are FREE and open to the public. You'll enjoy food & drinks, and the writers will share a few songs from the new musical they are writing at Rhinebeck Writers Retreat.
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They include Oscar-nominated playwright Peter Hedges, Emmy-winning creative team the Q Brothers Collective, and Jonathan Larson Grant recipient Andy Roninson.
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Musicals first seen at our "Meet the Writers" went on to have productions at La Jolla Playhouse (CA), Barrington Stage (MA), Philadelphia Theatre Company (PA), The Public Theater (NY), Alley Theater (TX), and Olney Theater Center (MD). The team who wrote and performed in the musical OPERATION MINCEMEAT presented a few selections at Oblong Books in 2019 in Rhinebeck and won the 2024 Olivier Award for Best New Musical!
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Email RSVP@rhinebeckwriters.org and let us know when you can join us.
The Q Collective:
Jackson Doran, Gregory Qaiyum, Jeffrey Qaiyum & Postell Pringle
Friday, June 28 from 5 to 7pm
Oblong Books
6422 Montgomery Street, Rhinebeck, NY 12572
RAMI AND JALIYAH
SYNOPSIS
Verona is an underserved neighborhood in a large American city. It's a neighborhood we all know or you've read about. The Motiwallas run the corner store. The Carters run the barber shop. The families hate each other vehemently but when their kids Rami Motiwalla and Jaliyah Carter meet, they fall immediately deeply in love. Their passion for each other triggers a chain reaction that will change their neighborhood and families forever. But can it change the world?
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The Q Brothers are an Emmy-winning creative team best known for hip hop adaptations of the classics. They have performed all around the world, including New York City & Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
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Sydney Shepherd, Peter Hedges,
Regina Strayhorn, Adrian Blake Enscoe
& Christopher Sears,
Saturday, July 13 from 5pm-7pm
Great Song Farm
475 Milan Hill Road, Red Hook, NY 12571
WHAT'S EATING GILBERT GRAPE​
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SYNOPSIS
Just about everything in Endora, Iowa (pop. 1,009) is eating Gilbert Grape, a twenty-four-year-old grocery clerk who dreams only of leaving. His mother, once the town sweetheart, has been eating nonstop ever since her husband's suicide. Along with loyal older sister Amy and angst-ridden little sister Ellen, Gilbert prepares for the eighteenth birthday of his neurodivergent little brother, Arnie, who is a living miracle just for having survived so long. When a mysterious beauty glides through town on a bicycle and rides circles around Gilbert, he begins to see a new vision of his family and himself.
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Peter Hedges is the Oscar-nominated screenwriter and author of the book "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" of which the 1993 film starring Leonardo DeCaprio & Johnny Depp was based.
Adrian Blake Enscoe is best known for portraying Austin in DICKINSON on Apple TV+ and joins his fellow members of indie group Bandits on the Run in developing this musical adaptation.
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Andy Roninson & Sean McVerry,
Saturday, Aug 10 from 5pm-7pm
Clinton Community Library
1215 Centre Road, Rhinebeck, NY 12572
THE REAL KYLE MCCARREN
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SYNOPSIS
At 21, musician Andy Roninson received a phone call that Kyle McCarren died. Kyle was the guitarist in his rock band, his best friend, and an asshole. Andy himself sits at the piano to grapple with the legacy of a complicated dude– who then materializes, guitar in hand. In this 90-minute musical/concert/séance, Andy encounters Kyle’s family and loved ones at the funeral, hearing stories that redefine his own chaotic friendship with the deceased. It sounds like a bummer, I promise it’s not.
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Andy Roninson is the 2019 Recipient of the Jonathan Larson Grant. Sean McVerry is a singer-songwriter whose solo music has amassed over 5 million streams across the internet.
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CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE WRITERS
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Ken Savage, Jessia Hoffman & Kyle Ewalt,
Saturday, August 24, from 5pm-7pm
Stissing Center
2950 Church Street, Pine Plains, NY 12567
SOMEONE OVER THE RAINBOW
SYNOPSIS
On a fundamental level, all humans want to find love – and because romance, sex, and partnership are paramount in our lives, we’re naturally obsessed with watching people date. SOMEONE OVER THE RAINBOW is a new super queer reality dating show musical (yes, you read that right!). Set to the discography of dance/pop band Kyven and inspired by Sondheim’s Company, this new musical invites audiences to choose whether or not there really is some ONE or MANY over the rainbow.
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This show's impressive team includes professional producers, songwriters, and actors, whose work has spanned from the West coast of the US to the UK!
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CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE WRITERS