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Linda Rimel: Songs and Dramatic Works
Linda Rimel: Songs and Dramatic Works
Welcome to my home page!
I write plays, "book" (libretto/script) and lyrics for musical theater, song lyrics, and scenarios for ballet and dance theater. With the exception of those still in progress, the following works are available for production. For permissions, scores, scripts, or more information, please contact me at rhymeswithprimal@juno.com (link below).
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NEWS: I am very pleased to report that composer Nancy Bloomer Deussen, who created the music for VICTORIA WHO?, has won the Holyoke Civic Symphony Orchestra composition competition for her orchestral work, Trinity Alps. In addition to receiving a cash award, Ms. Bloomer Deussen will have her winning piece included in the Fall 2009 schedule of the Holyoke (Massachusetts) Civic Symphony Orchestra.
Information about Victoria Who? appears below.
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Contents:
* MUSICALS
* PLAYS
* BALLETS/DANCE THEATER WORKS
* SONGS
* PERFORMANCE VENUES
* BROADCASTS
* RECORDINGS
* RECENT PERFORMANCE(S)
* COMING ATTRACTIONS
* ABOUT LINDA RIMEL
* PUBLICITY AND EDITING
* CONTACT
M♫U♫S♫I♫C♫A♫L♫S:
In THE MS. SEATTLE SKYLINE CONTEST (music by Donald Dilworth), two women friends make a bet, the loser of which will have to enter a beauty pageant “so corny and sexist that no self-respecting adult would be caught dead in it.” The journalist bets that she can find a man who meets the lawyer’s exacting specifications. The lawyer bets that she can manipulate the media and make national news even from the middle of the southern Oregon woods. She tries and is taken captive by a band of weekend survivalists. Because the show is something of a send-up of Gilbert and Sullivan's sexual stereotyping, the Sweet Young Thing is male.
Two acts.
Cast requirements: 6 leads (3 women, 3 men) and chorus (ages 20-55+).
Score by Don Dilworth is fully orchestrated. For more information: dilworth@gwi.net.
♫Musical Note♫: Donald Dilworth, composer of THE MS. SEATTLE SKYLINE CONTEST, has written string quartets, songs, concerti, the ballet THE BROTHERS OF JUDAR, the operas ROSTAM and RASPUTIN, and “Annabel Lee,” which was recorded by Joan Baez, re-orchestrated, and performed in New York by members of the orchestra and chorus of the Metropolitan Opera. As a classical guitarist, he won first prize in the Boston Guitar Circle competition. He has also written algorithmic composing programs. Elected a member of the Society of Contemporary Composers in St. Petersburg, Russia, he has been President of the Maine Composers’ Forum since 1999.
ANYBODY BUT LIZA (music by Seth Evans). Liza Mouromsky is cute, smart, rich, and at least a bit spoiled. Unfortunately, she is also the only young lady in the community who is unable to check out Alexei Berestoff, her handsome (“Oooo!”), melancholy (“Oooo!”), and Byronic (“Oooo!”) neighbor who has just returned home from the university. The feud between her father and his prevents this. So she makes Alexei’s acquaintance while disguised as a peasant. When he falls for her, she counts it as a triumph of her prank. When she falls for him . . . that’s a development she hadn’t foreseen.
The show is adapted from a short story ("Mistress Into Maid") by Alexander Pushkin, but the characters speak modern, American English.
Two acts.
Cast requirements: an intelligent ingénue plus 5 additional leads (2 additional women, 3 men) and chorus (ages 12-55+).
Composer Seth Evans has included balalaika music in his score.
♫Musical Note♫: ANYBODY BUT LIZA's composer, Seth Evans, has written pop/jazz, theatrical, and chamber music. His “New York (Circa 1950) Suite for Piano” received WOMR FM's 2002 Burton Award for Contemporary Art Music. He is a member of Chamber Music America and the Society of Composers. Most recently he completed the score for the musical Roscoe, A Slapstick Tragedy. For more information, Mr. Evans invites you to peruse his Web page: http://faultlineproductions.com/cgi-bin/music.pl.
VICTORIA WHO? (music by Nancy Bloomer Deussen) concerns one of the most colorful characters ever to be left out of the history books. Victoria Woodhull (1838-1927) ran for President, was the first woman to address a Congressional committee, and became--with her sister--one of the first two women stockbrokers. In an era in which ladies’ names appeared in print only when they were born, married, and buried, she defied public opinion by publishing a newspaper and lecturing in support of Spiritualism and free love. She exposed the biggest scandal of the 19th century, went to jail, and eventually sued and blackmailed her way to comfort and respectability.
Thomas Nast caricatured Victoria Woodhull in an editorial cartoon, Henry James satirized her in a novel, and Harriet Beecher Stowe regularly lampooned her in a newspaper column. So why was she left out of the history books?
VICTORIA WHO? is a musical theater work rather than a traditional musical. Lyrics range from hymns to a light-verse litany of Horatio Alger titles to a love song sung, shockingly, to more than one man in the same scene.
Cast: Large, with opportunities for double-casting. Nine solo roles.
♫Musical Note♫: Nancy Bloomer Deussen is a prominent San Francisco Bay area composer whose work is frequently performed, commissioned, and recognized. The CD containing her "Peninsula Suite" won a first prize in the Just Plain Folks competition in 2006. She also took first and second prizes in the orchestral category and first prize in choral music in the 2006 competition of the National League of American Pen Women. Her most recent win is the Holyoke (MA) Civic Symphony Orchestra composition competition for her orchestral work, Trinity Alps. Please see http://www.nancybloomerdeussen.com and
http://www.bloomerdeussenearthtones.com.
PLAYS:
WAITING FOR A CHINOOK, a farce set in Great Falls, Montana, in the present. A woman gets stuck at home for the duration of a blizzard with her new boyfriend--and her ex-husband and his irritating girlfriend. No Exit meets The Man Who Came to Dinner. A preliminary draft of this script was named a semifinalist in the Summer Play Festival competition.
Three short acts.
Cast requirements: 10. Four or 5 women and 5 or 6 men. Leads are 48-53 years old.
FAQ: What is a chinook? A warm wind that can cause winter temperatures to rise 70 degrees or more in minutes. The title is taken from a Charlie Russell painting.
A LASTING IMPRESSION. An impressionist serving a life sentence finds that she can "do" her captors--a talent which has enduring consequences. One act, two simple sets, three characters (two women, one man).
BALLETS/DANCE THEATER WORKS:
THUMBELINA. Adapted from the story by Hans Christian Andersen, the show incorporates humor and explores how humans respond to beauty. Score by Dr. David H. Goldstein. Two acts. World premiere at the Eugene (Oregon) Hult Center for the Performing Arts, May 2003.
♫Musical Note♫: Dr. David H. Goldstein, THUMBELINA’s composer, has had 15 ballets produced. One of them—Zal and Rudabeh—was performed with full orchestra in the 2,000-seat performing arts center in Sarasota, Florida, with Her Majesty Shahbanou Farah Pahlavi, the widow of the Shah of Iran, in attendance.
His other works include Snow Shaker Past (Bay Ballet Theatre), Afterglow (Dance Alive!), Echo and Narcissus (Sarasota Ballet), and Gaugy Concerto (Boca Ballet Theatre), as well as Dracula and Three Musketeers (both produced by Southern Ballet Theatre). He is a member of the Tampa Bay Composers’ Forum. Raised in Manitoba, Dr. Goldstein pursues dual careers in music and medicine. He studied at the Royal Conservatory of Toronto School of Music and the University of Manitoba Faculty of Medicine in Winnipeg, Canada.
THE TRIAL. Franz Kafka's masterwork adapted for ballet. Music under construction by Danielle Baas.
♫Musical Note♫: Belgian composer Danielle Baas studied at l'Academie de Musique de Jette and the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles. Her music has been performed in China, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Bosnia, Spain, Germany, Tunisia, and the U.S. The director of one choir, she also founded and serves as artistic director of another, l'Ensemble Yolande Uyttenhove. She organizes concerts devoted to performing contemporary Belgian music exclusively. Since 1996, Ms. Baas's biography has been listed in Who's Who (Cambridge).
SONGS:
Songs Set to Music by Danielle Baas:
“Roses and Sweet Peas,” for soprano and piano. A sophisticated lullaby. 00:04:16.
“Alarm Clock,” light verse for soprano and string quartet or piano (four hands) or four guitars. 00:01:14.
“How Did We Catch Her?” for soprano and piano (four hands), on the theme of parenthood. 00:01:16.
“This January Morning” for soprano and piano. 00:01:35.
“A Mixed Metaphor of Love,” serious verse, for mezzo soprano and piano or two guitars. 00:05:25.
“The More I Think About You,” a thinking woman’s love song. 00:04:15.
“You Say It's Over,” a love song with attitude. 00:03:10.
“Alleluia! Word Made Flesh to Word Returns!” Anthem on the theme of the Ascension, for chorus and orchestra or organ.
“We Know What We Want (And What We Want Is Peace on Earth)." For S/M, A, T, B voices, two violins, two violas, cello, and contrabass/cello. 00:03:30.
“Silent Fall the Silos.” For unison voices and piano. 00:03:50.
“Those Who Believe in Spring." Written for an exhibition of sculptures by Axelle Thiry. For voices, clarinet, and piano. 00:01:45.
"www.dancewithme.com" Light verse, pop music. 00:03:20.
Songs Set to Music by Floyd Carleton Barnes:
“When I Become a Ms.,” a song full of career possibilities for children, for mezzo soprano and piano. 00:02:30.
“When I Become a Mister,” another song of career possibilities for children.
“Simple Simon Says.” In this parody of the familiar nursery rhyme, Simon engages the pieman in a battle of wits—and loses. For mezzo soprano and piano. 00:02:40.
♫Musical Note♫: “Simple Simon Says” was sung by mezzo-soprano Arnetta Sherrod at the Richmond, Virginia concert of the National Association of Composers, USA on February 22, 2003. So was a longer composition, "Hagar in the Wilderness,”also by NACUSA member Floyd Carleton Barnes.
Choral Work with Music by Donald Dilworth:
"There Is Peace,” for two choruses and piano. Written in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, the lyrics offer anything but soothing platitudes about peace. Instead, they examine the difficult question posed by the 9/11 tragedies: How can a pluralistic society achieve peace with persons who want to annihilate tolerance? 00:12:14.
For more information, please see the musical note following THE MS. SEATTLE SKYLINE CONTEST (above).
Songs Set to Music by Mary and Gordon Richards:
“Sharing Joy and Sorrow Together,”a centennial hymn for congregation and organ or piano.
“Sharing Joy and Sorrow Together,”an anthem for SATB voices, soprano descant, brass quintet, and organ.
Song Set to Music by Mary Richards:
“Sing a New Song,”a congregational hymn with organ or piano accompaniment.
♫Musical Note♫: Mary Richards, a member of the American Guild of Organists, plays organ and piano at First Presbyterian Church in Great Falls, MT, where the late Gordon Richards formerly directed the choir. "Sharing Joy and Sorrow Together" was sung at a joint meeting of the Yellowstone and Glacier Presbyteries of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., with PCUSA moderator (and former hostage) the Reverend Benjamin Weir presiding.
Song lyrics for music by Linda Stassen:
“Sing Hallelujah,” on the theme of the Transfiguration.
PERFORMANCE VENUES include the 2003 concert of the National Association of Composers, USA in Richmond, VA; the historic Rainbow Hotel in Great Falls, MT (dinner theater); churches in Montana, Alberta (Canada), and Seattle; a joint meeting, in Great Falls, MT, of the Glacier and Yellowstone Presbyteries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), at which (former hostage) the Reverend Benjamin Weir spoke; the Hult Center for the Performing Arts in Eugene, OR; and Musée d’Art Spontané, Salle Maene, the Abbaye de Dieleghem, Ancienne Eglise, and Foyer Culturel Jettois (all in Brussels, Belgium).
BROADCASTS: Listen for Seth Evans's “New York (Circa 1950) Suite for Piano,” and "Alarm Clock" (recorded in concert) and other songs by Danielle Baas, on WOMR FM in Provincetown, MA.
RECORDINGS: The Scherzo from Floyd Carleton Barnes's symphony--chosen for a place on Disc 5 of a 12-disc series of "Masterworks of the New Era" by modern composers, conducted by Robert Winstin, and recorded by the Kiev Philharmonic (Ukraine)--is available on Amazon.com.
RECENT EVENTS: Songs from the new musical, VICTORIA WHO?, were performed in the Friday, March 6, 2009 concert of the San Francisco Bay Chapter of the National Association of Composers USA (NACUSA), at the Palo Alto Art Center in Palo Alto, CA.
"Roses and Sweet Peas" (my text set by composer Danielle Baas) was broadcast on August 18, 2009 on Canary Burton's show on WOMR.
COMING ATTRACTIONS: T.B.A.
ABOUT LINDA RIMEL:
Linda Rimel grew up in the Seattle area; Wibaux, Montana; and Eugene, Oregon (USA). She earned her B.A. in general humanities from the University of Oregon and studied law at Willamette University--and still collects rhyming legal terms. Dorothy Velasco was her playwriting instructor.
In addition to the dramatic works and song lyrics listed on this Web page, Rimel has written QUICKER QUILTS, a book published in New York and sold through bookstores and Better Homes and Gardens Book Club.
She has also sold reviews, humor pieces, and features to such nationally and regionally circulated periodicals as Graduate Woman, Northwest Magazine, Sew News, the Great Falls Tribune, the Eugene Register-Guard, Montana Magazine, and Dramatists Guild Quarterly. She has been listed in Books in Print and Who's Who in America.
Rimel has built costumes for operas, ballets, and a feature film; written program notes for musical theater; and performed in community theater musicals. More importantly, she can sing Ira Gershwin's list of 52 Russian composers to the tune of "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General."
PUBLICITY AND EDITING: Rimel also writes collateral marketing materials for books and has edited books, graduate theses, and a United States Supreme Court brief.
CONTACT: rhymeswithprimal@juno.com.
Send E-Mail to: rhymeswithprimal@juno.com
Copyright © 2009 Linda Rimel. All Rights Reserved