Throw Back Thursday - Jonathan Pryce

This photo was taken backstage during My Fair Lady in Concert at the Kennedy Center.  Chris Sizemore, Chris Mueller, and myself knew that we were about to do Miss Saigon, so all of us squeezed in for a picture with Jonathan Pryce. As we took the picture, he softly sang, "What's that I smell in the air?...The American Dream..."
I will truly never forget it!

Johnny and Me - music video

Here is a music video of "Johnny and Me" from NightoftheLivingDead the musical featuring Karissa Swanigan. Music by Matt Conner, Lyrics by Stephen Gregory Smith and Matt Conner.

The reading of our show is Monday, October 18th at 8pm. It is free and open to the public. Visit www.katonline.org for details.

The final fund raising total was $9,520.00!!!! Thanks to all who helped fund this project. Your donations will help to give it life after the 18th!

Till tomorrow, (which is now today), goodnight.

xoxoxo

sgs

Surfacing...

Wow. This has been an incredibly hectic Summer! Singing in 4 different cabarets, Performing in a Fringe Festival show, teaching camp for 12 weeks, bar tending at Signature, and writing a show! Wow!
No wonder the blog posts just sort of evaporated on here. Now that most of that is done, things are returning to somewhat normalcy. I have many pictures to share with you, and we have much to talk about. For now, my next performance will be at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage, singing a few songs from The Boy Detective Fails on Labor Day. After that, the next thing definitely on the books is a reading of me and Matt Conner's new musical, Night of the Living Dead on Monday, October 18th at Kensington Arts Theatre. I start rehearsals for Sunset Boulevard on November 8th at Signature Theatre, and am incredibly excited to be a part of all of these amazing projects.

Everything else is fine, Buddha is as funny as ever, and is doing well. (As you can see from the picture above).

So more posts will be put up here this week. Summer is almost over, and the blog is back!

xoxoxo

sgs

PARADE - the workshop

Here are some great photos taken by Mark Ramont of the workshop of Parade at Ford's Theatre that I did a few weeks ago. Enjoy!

Parade

I had the pleasure of spending my past week participating in a workshop of Jason Robert Brown's Parade at Ford's Theatre. Ford's is looking to produce the show, and wanted to rehearse a group of actors on the piece for a week and present it to some of the theatre's donors to get feedback on the possibility of producing the piece, which had a limited run on Broadway and a brief tour afterwards. This piece has always been a favorite of mine, and the chance to work on this amazing score was impossible to resist. The cast was made up of what we like to call most of the "Usual Suspects" i.e. - Eleasha Gamble, Tom Simpson, Chris Bloch, Amy McWilliams, Lauren Williams, Bligh Voth, Chris Sizemore, among others.

Leo was portrayed by Steve Rosen, and Lucille was played by Jill Paice - both of who are NYC based.

I had the pleasure of playing Britt Craig, the news reporter who starts the sensationalism of the trial via his columns in The Atlanta Georgian.

Parade is based on the true story of the murder of Mary Phagan, and the subsequent trial and lynching of Leo Frank in Atlanta, circa 1915.

The story is very grim material for a musical, some might argue, but I think that it is an important story to be told, and the musical does it so very well. It is truly an American Opera.

The reading went great, and time will tell if the piece gets the go ahead or not, but there seems to be a great deal of excitement around it.

xoxo

sgs

King of Pizza Workshop

Last night and this morning we had the first open reading of Matt Conner, Ryan Dean, and A.K. Brink's children's musical, Martin, The King of Pizza. We had a couple of days of rehearsal to get it on it's feet.





The cast featured yours truly as Martin the King of Pizza, Kara Tameika Watkins as Patti, Priscilla Cuellar as Mozz A. Rella, Kurt Boehm as Crostini, and Lani Howe as Rosemary.










Music Direction was done by Derek Bowley.







The reading was held at The Center for Spiritual Enlightenment in Falls Church, VA. The reading was sponsored by Creative Cauldron and the Pizza was provided by Papa John's Pizza. The readings were well attended and filled with a very responsive audience. There was fantastic positive feedback from all, and I think that the readings were very helpful to the creative team. So look for more news about Martin, The King of Pizza here, and if you have not heard any music from it, you can listen to some over HERE at Matt Conner's website.
Enjoy!

TONIGHT at Church Street Theatre...

Tonight Matt and I will be participating in a reading of a new play as part of Ganymede Theatre's Fall Festival. Wendy Rieger, an anchor for Channel 4 News, stars in this reading, and I am here to tell you....she is VERY good! Hysterical, I will even venture to say. She would work all the time in theatre if that was what she did for a living. So come out and see us if you are in the Dupont area tonight. We will be done before the debate really kicks in, so no worries there!


Dysfunction Spelled Backwards...is family
Thursday, October 2nd
7:30PM
Pay What You Can Admission - $10 dollar donation requested
Church Street Theater, 1742 Church St. NW
Dysfunction Spelled Backwards...is family
by Carl Menninger, Director of Theatre, Music Theatre and Dance, AU
Directed by Michael Baron, Signature Theatre
Featuring Wendy Rieger, News Channel 4 Anchor
and students of American University
For more information, visit...
http://www.ganymedearts.org/

Catching up....again....

Sorry it's been so long since I posted here, I have just been a very busy boy! I want to share with you all of the things that I am working on and that if you are so inclined that you can come and see me in.
First up we have a reading of a new musical at Round House Theatre that happens tomorrow night at 7pm. Here is their press release:
‘Till The Clouds Roll By
a new P.G. Wodehouse-Jerome Kern musical
at Round House Theatre Silver Spring
Friday, September 26th at 7:00pm

Old songs from musicals by composer Jerome Kern and lyricist P.G. Wodehouse
New libretto: Ernie Joselovitz
Musical arrangements: George Fulginiti-Shakar
Dramaturg & Director: Nick Olcott

With: Florrie Bagel, Ilona Dulaski, Cristina Flagg, James Gardiner, Stephen Gregory Smith, Stephen Schmidt, and Peggy Yates

It's "boy meets girl" times three as a wealthy playboy, a would-be anarchist, and a philosophical elevator operator find true love with a trio of shop girls in a New York department store, circa 1914. Washington playwright Ernie Joselovitz channels the antic spirit of P.G. Wodehouse (best known for creating Bertie Wooster and his butler Jeeves) in this charming musical built around twelve tunes by Jerome Kern (best known for Showboat) culled from the musicals Kern and Wodehouse co-authored in the 1910's and early 1920's.

The Round House Silver Spring Black Box is at 8641 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD (right next to the AFI Silver Theatre)
For information on parking and directions please go to the www.roundhousetheatre.org




Then on Sunday, I will be in NYC singing my partner, Matt Conner's music. He was selected to represent DC as a composer in:
Dreamlight Theatre Co. proudly presents the first installment of it's Bright Lights Concert season!
"The Out-Of-Towners"
Featuring the brightest musical theatre composers from Chicago, Washington DC and Philadelphia.

When: Sunday Sept. 28th at 7pm
Where: The TRIAD 158 W 72nd St. NYC
Directed by Billy Bustamante
Music Directed by Jasper Grant

For tickets visit:

http://www.DreamlightTheatre.org


Here is a promo video for the event, but don't get too excited....no one here from DC is in the video.


Then on Thursday, October second, Matt and I will be participating in a reading of a new play as part of Ganymede Theatre's Fall Festival...


Dysfunction Spelled Backwards...is family
Thursday, October 2nd
7:30PM
Pay What You Can Admission - $10 dollar donation requested
All performances at the Church Street Theater, 1742 Church St. NW
Dysfunction Spelled Backwards...is family
by Carl Menninger, Director of Theatre, Music Theatre and Dance, AU
Directed by Michael Baron, Signature Theatre
Featuring Wendy Rieger, News Channel 4 Anchor
and students of American University
For more information, visit...
http://www.ganymedearts.org/


Then on Monday, October 6th, I will be appearing in...


ONE NIGHT ONLY!
Sondheim: Signature's Signature
ANYONE CAN WHISTLE
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by Arthur Laurents
Directed by Eric Schaeffer

Wacky, intelligent, and highly unconventional, Anyone Can Whistle has become a legendary cult classic. An absurdist fantasy-cum-political satire, the musical tells the story of a corrupt mayoress who fakes a miracle to revitalize her bankrupt town, the rational nurse who’s determined to expose the fraud, and the easy going doctor who intends to sit back and enjoy the chaos. With its poignant message about the role of the individual in conformist society, and its still-relevant barbs aimed at government, religion, and science, Anyone Can Whistle is a command performance for any Sondheimaniac.
October 6, 2008

Performed at Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center
For ticket information, visit:
http://www.sig-online.org/special_events.htm




Then next up is a workshop of my partner's new children's show, where I will be playing (much to my honor) the title role in The King of Pizza.
Friday October 10th at 7:30pm and Saturday October 11th at 10:30am.
Adults - $12.00
Children/Senior - $10.00
For ticket info go www.creativecauldron.org

So....all work and no play makes Stephen Gregory a dull boy. I will hopefully be able to keep you abreast on all of these projects and also guide you through my Halloween decorating process coming up soon!
Talk soon!