with special guest
RUBY RAKOS
from the Broadway bound musical
CHASING RAINBOWS: The Road to Oz
FRANKIE!
book, music and lyrics by
ELISE MARRA
LIVE PERFORMANCES BY
AUTUMN HURLBERT (Legally blonde, something rotten!)
ELISE MARRA
Inspired by true events, Frankie!, written by 16-year-old prodigy Elise Marra, is the story of a teen lesbian struggling with her own coming-of-age while she is forced to stand in for her mentally checked-out mother. When a mysterious illness strikes Frankie, it impels the revival of her dreams. Marra will present two songs from the show performed remotely by herself and Autumn Hurlbert. A concept album produced by Broadway Records is forthcoming.
Elise Marra is a 16-year-old writer/composer from Michigan who plays six instruments. Elise (aka J.E. Bean) published two fictional novels by age 12 and completed her first musical at age 13. Since she has completed four original musicals and four original plays, including some live productions in Michigan. Elise has been working on Frankie! for a little over a year. When not writing, she can be found performing regional theater in Michigan, New York, and South Carolina.
The Culper Spy Ring famously helped George Washington win the American Revolution, but there’s one secret they never revealed; the identity of their single female member, Agent 355. Now, an all-female/TGNC punk-rock band will reveal the truth about the unknown woman that helped America’s first spy ring “outwit them all.” Challenging a history written by men, Agent 355 explores the loyalty, heritage, and courage of six real Revolutionary women whose stories, sacrifices, and secrets shaped the nation. The writers, Preston Max Allen (We Are the Tigers) and Jessica Kahkoska (Letters to the President), will present two songs from the show remotely, to be performed by Kahkoska and Monet Sabel.
Agent 355 was originally developed through the generous support of the Marion International Fellowship. The show received a Developmental Residency at Musical Theatre Factory at Playwrights Horizons Downtown, a Space Jam Residency at Roundabout Theatre Company in partnership with Bucks County Playhouse, and a New Play Workshop at Chautauqua Theater Company (funded by the Roe Green Foundation).
Preston Max Allen (Music, Lyrics, Book) is a playwright, composer, and lyricist based in New York City. His work has been featured at the New Amsterdam Theatre, Lincoln Center, New York Musical Festival, Signature Theatre, Musical Theatre Factory, Feinstein's/54 Below, Joe's Pub, Laurie Beechman Theatre, York Theatre ("Tune In Time" winner), Gallery Players, Lululemon (it’s a long story), and Second City Chicago. Preston conceived and wrote book, music, and lyrics for We Are The Tigers (Theatre 80, Hudson Backstage Theatre, L.A. Stage Alliance Ovation winner for Best Lyrics/Composition, nominee for Best Production), Never Better (NYMF Developmental Reading Series), and The Rage: Carrie 2, An Unauthorized Musical Parody (Jeff Nominee, Best Musical/Underscore Theatre). Additional projects include book/lyrics for Franklin Pierce: Dragon Slayer (composer Will Buck, Sound Bites 4.0 Selection), music/lyrics for Bradical and the Pink Socks, and music/lyrics for The Hunted: Encore (LA Webfest Outstanding Score). Preston is a member of the Ars Nova Play Group (2019/20), graduate of the Second City Chicago Comedy Studies Program, and an alum of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop. Above all, he is the proud father to his cat, Hero. @prestonmaxallen
Jessica Kahkoska (Book, Dramaturgy) is a writer, dramaturg/researcher, and performer. Her projects includeIn Her Bones (2020 Colorado New Play Summit, Denver Center for the Performing Arts), The Death of Desert Rose (with Elliah Heifetz, 2019-2020 Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellowship), NIA (dir. Sarah Wansley, upcoming New Light Theatre Project Darkroom Series), Wild Home: An American Odyssey (dir. Ashley Teague, Notch Theatre Company), and Letters to the President (dir. Michael Bello, upcoming: Berkshire Theatre Group). Her writing has been developed and presented at Ars Nova ANT Fest, Joe’s Pub at the Public Theatre, (le) Poisson Rouge, Musical Theatre Factory, Village Theatre, The Cooper Union, the Drama League, Phoenix Theatre Company, and the North Fork Valley Creative Coalition. She is a 2019-2020 Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellow, and has previously received an American Antiquarian Society Fellowship for Creative Artists and Writers, 2019 Writer-in-Residence at Southern Colorado Repertory Theatre, and held creative residencies at Denver University (Arts & Humanities Marsico Visiting Scholar), the American Music Theatre Project (AMTP) at Northwestern University, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (Powered by Off-Center), the Chautauqua Institution, and UCROSS Foundation. Graduate: Northwestern University. www.jessicakahkoska.com