VIII. Music Theater

Volume VIII.

Music Theater

KEY to voice types: C: coloratura or high soprano; S: soprano; M: mezzo-soprano;
A: alto; CT: countertenor; T: tenor; b: baritone; Bb: bass-baritone B: bass; N: narrator.
I have listed the "first thought" voice types for the various character. Fachs and genders may be changed as makes sense.

I. Music Theater for Children:

Alice: Two Musicals based on the writings of Lewis Carroll: Selections have been performed by Ben Sears, b, as The Griffin & The Mad Hatter and Brad Conner, pianist. Recorded with William Cavness, narrator; Sid Tarlowe as Alice, Shinobu Takagi, M, as The Mouse; & Robert Towne, T, as The White Rabbit , with the composer, B, as The Mad Hatter & piano Selections heard on WHRB Radio, with M, Angeliki Theoharis, as The Duchess; & the composer, piano. Photo of Lewis Carroll to the right. Dedicated to the performers

Lewis Carroll: author

Alice in Wonderland

Through the Looking-Glass

1a. Alice in Wonderland: 90 minutes for C S A T b b B with seven additional spoken voices & piano; Alice enjoys Wonder-land with her cat by her side. The 1862 illustration of "The Mad
Tea Party" by John Tenniel is to the left.

1b. Through the Looking-Glass: 60 minutes, 10#s, for C S A T b and 5 additional spoken voices & piano. Alice goes through the Looking-Glass to be a pawn in a strange game of chess,
where she eventually becomes a queen. The 1972
illustration of "Queen Alice" by John Tenniel, is to the left.

Shinobu Takagi, Mouse Angeliki Theoharis, Duchess Brad Conner, pianist & Ben Sears, Mad Hatter

2. Island Curse: a 40 minute musical, 11#s, for S A T B; & two narrators (the film crew)
& piano. Mockumentary of a strange island, where everyone sings, & strangers are forbidden to fall in love with islanders, otherwise a curse will be activated. Guess what happens when the S (Sarah) and the T (Bob) meet? Selections recorded by Shinobu Takagi, M, Robert Town, T; Angeliki Theoharris, M; and the composer, B and pianist.
"I'm in Heaven" performed by the composer, pianist, at the opening of the Chirkoff Theater Company of Cambridge, MA; & at Boston Metro Opera by M, Susan Craft
Larson, to the left, below in the clip; with T, Christopher Aaron Smith, picture to
the right, below; & pianist, Yelena Beriyeva on 1/27/12. Dedicated to all of the
performers. Please click on the button below to hear this performance:

DavidEdgarWalther · Heaven: Craft Larson/Smith

Susan Craft Larson Christopher Aaron Smith

3. Peter Crocodile: a 60 minute musical, 22#s, based on "Peter Pan" by J. M. Barrie.
for S M cT B; opt. choruses, N & piano. Deducated to, & selections recorded by
Drew Hubbard, Bb, Peter; Angeliki Theoharis, M, as Tiger 'Lil; the composer, B, as Hook & piano; Heard on WMRB, Cambridge, MA.. Dedicated to the performers. Dedicated to the performers. A withheld version of "Peter Pan" (along with a musical based on "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens): dedicated to, commissioned & performed by "Prime Time for Kids" at Massasoit College, Brockton, MA. Below is the 1911 Illustration of "Neverland" by D, F, Bedford.

J. M. Barrie: author Illustration by F. D. Bedford, 1911

4. Pinocchio: 60 minute ballet musical after Carlo Collodi (photo to the right): 22#s for one high and one low voice (or three high & three low voices); dancers, narrator, flute & guitar. Some numbers available with piano. Narrations by Florence Whipple & Kristin Webb. Commissioned by, dedicated to, and premiered by The North Shore Civic Ballet and The Putnam Court Players: Mary Saunders, S, as Pinocchio, The Blue Fairy & The Cat; Kristin Webb, flute, and Russell Southcott, guitar, with the composer, B, as Geppetto,
The Fox & The Coachman. Choreographed by Florence Whipple, Jimmy Ray, as Pinocchio; narrations by Florence Whipple and Kristin Webb. Cablecast on The Boston Neighborhood Network (BNN-TV). Narrations, withheld. Please see IV/V/1. Below is the 1883 illustration of Pinocchio by Enrico Mazzanti.

Pinocchio by Enrico Mazzanti. Mary Saunders, soprano Florence Whipple, choreographer Carlo Collodi, author

5. Reigning Cats and Dogs: an hour musical, 10#. for two narrators (cats); & 8 singers:
S S M M T b B B (dogs) and piano. Queen Lilly has lost her ball, Detective Lucky is asked to help discover who has taken it. Without it, Queen Lilly's reign over the dog park will be in jeopardy. Based on real life cats and dogs. Selections recorded by: Nancy King, S, as Carmen; Catherine Radmer, M, as Amy; Drew Hubbard, Bb, as Lucky & the composer, Bb as Sumi & piano. Otherwise unperformed.

Whinnie-The-Pooh

6. Whinnie-The-Pooh: a 90 minute musical; 22#s,
7 scenes based on A. A. Milne (photo to the right)
for S M T T B & N & piano. Commissioned by, & dedicated to, Florence Whipple & The North Shore Civic Ballet. Please see IV/V/3. 1928 illustration
by E. H. Shepherd to the left (of the bear "Growler").

A. A. Milne, author

II. Music Theater for Adults:

1. Big Eddy: one hour gangster musical for: 2 narrators; 12#s; S T b B & piano; one song lyric is by Keats. A drug kingpin and his ex-junkie boyfriend have problems with the company lawyer and Big Eddy's ex-wife. Based on "Edward II" by Christopher Marlowe; please see VII/1/2. Dedicated to the performers: Shinobu Takagi, M, as Isie; & Drew Hubbard, Bb, as Pete; & the composer, B, as Big Eddie. Unperformed.

Cinderella

2. Cindyfella: A drag burlesque; book (in iambic pentameter) written with my husband, Drew Hubbard (to the right); 13#s; one hour; Based on the version by the Brothers Grimm. A very large Cindyfella (lyric T or Ct), is tormented by two evil step sisters (character bt); "she" is helped to go to the leather ball by her fairy gd.mother (character t) where she meets the prince of leather (Bb). "She" has to leave at midnight, but leaves her (hefty) thong... The prince goes through the land to reunite with "her." The prince & Cindyfella live happily ever after (with the 2 step sisters as their slaves!) "Cinderella in the kitchen" is by Charles Robinson, 1900 (to the left). To see the score and book to this piece, please click on the picture of Drew Hubbard to the right:

Drew Hubbard, author

3. Egg or Gd., The Musical: a philosophic muscial; 10#s; under an hour in duration; for
7 singing actors & piano. A star ship encounters an enormous object in its monitors. The crew try to figure out what it is. (It is a veiled simile for 7 view points on the nature of Gd. and that everyone agrees that Gd. exists and is everywhere.

4. Gaynocchio: 40 minute ballet musical: parody of "Pinocchio" VIII/I/4, in which Gaypetto creates a gay puppet, narrated by a very queer cricket. The video uses
a slightly shortened version of the original video, with voice overs by the composer. Please see IV/V/2: Click on one of the donkeys to watch "Gaynocchio"

Lampwick & Gaynocchio

5 . George Scrobe: a pocket musical for: 5#s, (lyric) T & 1-2 b gravelly rock singer(s); &
N (a stand-up dvl.), synthesizer & rock band. A gay man is depressed, to the point of trying to commit suicide, and finds finds love in the process. Unperformed.

Hansel and Gretel

6. Hansel and Gretel: a 45 minute musical, 13#s for
S S b Bb B & N: M & piano. 2 juvenile delinquents torment a kindly male witch. Selections recorded by
Mary Saunders, S, as Gretel; Brett Johnson, b, as
Hansel; Drew Hubbard, Bb. as Echo & Sandman,
& the composer, pianist. Otherwise unperformed. Dedicated to the performers. Based on the fairy tale by the Brothers Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm (right); Illustration by Alexander Zick (left). May be performed as a second half of a program, following "Masque of The Witches" VIII/III/3 below.

Jacob & Wilhem Grimm

7. Off-nights at The Sometimes Café: a cabaret in 17#s, 10 scenes; just over an hour;
for S M T b; 2 dancers, & N/pianist; To be performed March 19-22, 2026 by The Thompson Street Opera of Chicago. Selections were heard on WMBR Radio with M, Angeliki Theoharis & the composer, piano. A mystery of "who likes whom?" A shorter 20 minute version was shown on BNN-TV with Amelia Broome, S as Sara Spangle; Philip Jenkins, T; Ben Sears, b; the composer, B & N;& Brad Conner, piano; with the dancers: Dana Danzel & James Spellman (choreographer); TJ Norris, actor; Chris Gentes & Candy Hologram, cinematographers. Dedicated to all of the performers. Special thanks to Amelia Broome for the use of her wonderful restaurant. Please see IV/V/4. This work was originally composed entirely with lyrics by Emily Dickinson, please see "Emily Dickinson" under "Pieces" above. There are two versions of the book: one is for more mature audience. Please click on a photo, below, Amelia, Jim, or Dana to see the video; or further below to hear songs from the musical:

Amemila Broom, soprano Jim Spellman, dancer/choreopgrapher Dana Danzell, dancer

1. Always Sometimes

DavidEdgarWalther · Sometimes Café 1. Always Sometimes: Broome/Jensen/Conner

2. Alone

DavidEdgarWalther · Sometimes Café 2. Alone: Walther

3. Touch

DavidEdgarWalther · 3. Touch

4. Loneliness

DavidEdgarWalther · 4. Loneliness

5. Honey Lambkin

DavidEdgarWalther · Sometimes Café 5. Honey Lambkin: Broome/Conner

6. Always Again

DavidEdgarWalther · 6. Always Again!

7. Forever Sometimes

DavidEdgarWalther · 7. Forever Sometimes

Angelique Theoharis, mezzo-soprano Brad Conner, pianist & Ben Sears, baritone Chris Gentes, cinematographer

III. Jazz Based Cantatas & Song Cycles:

1. Canon Law: 40 minute musical or song cycle musical: for 1-6 singers: Bb (N) or: C, S, M, T, B and piano; 9#s with texts by Charles Kingsley and Mother Goose. A Catholic Priest relates the stories of parishioners who challenged his faith. The narrations are withheld. Sections recorded by Robin, S; as The Lover, Drew Hubbard. Bb, as The Priest; and the composer, B, and pianist, as the Divorced Man. Otherwise unperformed.

2. The Inquisition: 11 minute video musical: 5#s for cT, T, b, B & piano, From a dream, in response to censorship of "The Mystery Caller" (see #4 below); chronicles a trial, with charges similar to "offenses" found in "The Mystery Caller." The dialogue parodies the movie "The Wizard of Oz." Cablecast as a one man show by the composer. May be done with a cast of four men or women. Please watch THE INQUISITION by clicking on
the defendant (right) or listen to the songs, below:

The Defendant

1. The Judge:

2. The Prosecutor:

3. The Defendant

4. The Fairy Defense Attorney:

5. The Verdict

3. Masque of The Witches: opera/musical with 20#; 5 scenes, 40+ minutes; 5-6 soloists S S M T B) & N; S A T B chorus, quartet or solo; opt. dancers; staged or un-staged occult thriller. Uses anonymous poets; & Jean Bodel, Rutebeuf, & Giordano Bruno. Selections recorded by Shinobu Takagi, M & the composer, piano. Otherwise unperformed. Also included in "Choral Music" VI/III/5 and "Opera" VII/IV/1. See shorter version: V/IVa/4 "When the Heart is full of Love" for soprano with piano. See also VI/II/2c-f. May be performed as the first half of a program, followed by "Hansel and Gretel" VIII/II/6 above.
3a. Mask of The Witches: with medium orchestra 2+/2+/2+/2+ 2/2/2/1 2 perc. hrp, & str.
3b. Mask of the Witches: with piano.

Giordoano Bruno, poet/philosopher Rutebeuf, playwright Bodel, playwright

4. The Mystery Caller: 16-19 minutes video musical; 4-5#s N, B, & piano. Originally called "Phone Sex." A gay man (the composer, mime) receives erotic musical phone calls from a mystery caller (Leonard Diggins, mime). The video is narrated by Fuzzy's lover (John Kristensen); animation by Zed. Cablecast on BNN-TV under the name "Phone Sex" & censured (moved from 6 p.m. to 1.30 a.m.) and, as a result, it was shown at Mobius in a show of censured works. Below please listen to the narrations (performed by John Kristensen, right) with the four original
songs as recorded by the composer, B, synthesizer & piano.

John Kristensen, narrator

1. Urban Serenade:

2. High Noon:

3. Endless Twilight:

4. Goodnight, my mystery love!

To see this video of you must be over 18 years of age:
Please click the appropriate button under "Fuzzy" to watch "The Mystery Caller" a.k.a. "Phone Sex"

I am under 18

I am over 18

5a. The Search for Mr. Big: a 20 minute song cycle musical; 10# for B & piano.
A gay man falls for 2 large men. Contains 1 more song than the video below;
omits 2 instrumental numbers.
5b. The Search for Mr. Big: 10#s: a 20 minute video musical for B & synthesizer with 3 actors. The work chronicles two of the large men loved by a gay man, played by Brian Mark. Both of his boyfriends, Harold & Paul are played by Tony Stegal. Jimmie York plays Harold's mother & Paul's land-lady. Narrations, by the composer, were replaced by Mr. Mark; they were then deleted all together from the video. Dedicated to the performers. Cablecast on BNN-TV & shown informally at The Boston under the original name: "Confessions of a Fat Slut". Please see the video, or listen to the music below:

To the right (top) please click on Harold's mother
to watch the story of Tommy & Harold;

To the right (bottom) please click on Paul
or Tommy to see the story of their love: