After being awarded the most prodigious prizes at the EuGene O'Neill Musical Theater Conference, Lauren Robert's astoundingly raw musical about a dangerous love affair between two damaged and attractive souls, was immediately work-shopped in New York where it was further honed within an inch of its life.
.22 CALIBER MOUTH is now ready for industry consumption.
Conceived, written and composed by Lauren Robert, the musical is being directed and staged by Steven Petrillo (SESSIONS) with musical direction by Mark Fifer (RENT, HEDWIG, SPELLING BEE, BARE, RAGTIME, URINETOWN, TOMMY, VIOLET). Additional music and lyrics have been contributed by Timothy Warren.
The musical will be presented in concert for an invitation only industry audience on Tuesday, June 29th at 7:00pm and Wednesday, June 30th at 3:00pm at The Actors Temple Theatre (339 West 47th Street - between 8th & 9th Avenues).
Joining Ms. Robert on stage will be Tim Warmen (TOMMY, SIDESHOW, STEEL PIER, JECKYLL & HYDE, WONDERFUL TOWN, Les MISÉRABLES), T. Oliver Reid (MARY POPPINS, THE WEDDING SINGER, La CAGE aux FOLLES, NEVER GONNA DANCE) and Rita Rehn (NINE, A CHORUS LINE, ROYAL FAMILY, TALE of the ALLERGIST'S WIFE, LAST DANCE).
THE STORY
The five actors who make up the cast are a mighty quintet prepared to navigate the minefield that the author has laid out in front of them.
The mines start exploding when Deanne Campino meets Colin Maitlin at Mifflin's Bar in Manhattan.
These are two damaged souls with nothing left to loose except the crippling secrets buried in their combustible psyches and stuck in their attractive throats.
Her past is defenseless. His is vicious.
They are natural born enemies. Within hours they are totally addicted to each other.
Their weapons-of-defense are words.
This is a show that explores the potency and impact of language. Deanne Campino and Colin Maitlin's verbal war is launched with music. As they circle each other their relationship becomes more alluring, more dangerous and more white-hot.
Early on in the play, Colin advises Deanne to "get the safety fixed on that mouth of yours."
She doesn't. She also doesn't get her attraction to him fixed either.
As the tension builds; words become lethal, lovers become assassins, trust becomes the enemy and secrets become the currency that is bartered for intimacy.
The volcano finally blows at a party thrown by Deanne, her first reach for joy in years. The outcome will be discussed for weeks after the dust settles.
ABOUT Lauren Robert
Playwright / Composer / Lyricist / Actor / Recording Artist / Producer / Entrepreneur
Lauren Robert is a professional actor, singer, songwriter and playwright. She is a former Epic Records recording artist and her original songs have been produced by Stephen Bray (The Color Purple, Madonna) and Robert Nemiroff (Raisin). Lauren spent years recording and performing on the road at clubs, festivals and on national theatrical tours. For fourteen years Lauren hailed as the lead singer of the wildly popular Louisiana Zydeco-funk band Mojo Hand. Her own musicals include .22 Caliber Mouth <http://www.22calibermouth.com/> , originally produced by The Bloomington Playwrights Project (the first musical ever produced by the company). It went on to be developed as a winner of The O'Neill Musical Theater Conference, where it was directed by Tony Award nominated David Pittu. At the conference, Lauren won the Georgia Bogardus- Holof Award, for best lyrics in a musical. Lauren was offered a deal by Maureen Oxley, artistic Director of The Toronto Film Festival to produce .22 Caliber Mouth as a film. At the same time, new theaters brilliant dula, Paulett Haupt and her company Premiers NYC, a theater company devoted to development of new musical works by American writers, commissioned .22 Caliber Mouth, as its 2006 workshop production under the direction of Tony Award winner Diane Paulus ( Broadway's Hair (2009),The Donkey Show, Eli's Comin') at the Ohio Theatre. It was also produced as a staged reading at The 45th Street Theater in New York City, with additional music and lyrics, directed by John Henry Davis (HBO's OZ). Other original works include Making It, produced by the John Waldron Arts Center in Bloomington and a new musical, called The Blacksnake. Graduate of New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts, she has played such roles as Lady Macbeth, Martha (Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf) Catherine (Ms. Reardon Drinks A Little) Rizzo (Grease) and many others. She is the voice of "Moments in Congress" on NPR Radio and has numerous jingles and voice-overs on a variety of television and radio stations throughout the country. Lauren is a member of the American Renaissance Theater Company and the Dramatist's Guild.
