“Out Here” from ERNXST, or the Importance of Being performed by Zachary Noah Piser, recorded live in the office at the National Alliance for Musical Theatre.
With music by Bree Lowdermilk and lyrics by Kait Kerrigan, this song comes from ERNXST, or the Importance of Being, a musical inspired by Oscar Wilde’s classic comedy The Importance of Being Earnest.
Featuring the song
“Out Here”
From ERNXST, or the Importance of Being
Book by Justin Elizabeth Sayre
Lyrics by Kait Kerrigan
Music by Bree Lowdermilk
Based on The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
Performed by Zachary Noah Piser
A National Alliance for Musical Theatre Media Project
Produced & Directed by Frankie Dailey
Cinematography & Editing by Emily Vortherms
Audio Supervisor & Original Music by Dylan Glatthorn
Associate Producers: Skye Cone Ivey, Amanda Freedman
Production Coordinator: Brent Whiteside
Special thanks to ART/New York Studios
Bring ERNXST to your stage! Sign up to be notified by Concord Theatricals (@concordshows ) when the show is available for licensing. More at the link in bio.
While I’m on the topic of holiday presents, I dropped by The Drama Bookshop on my way to midtown the other day and what did I see prominently displayed but dear sweet ERNXST!!! They look rather fetching with their badass pink cover and they are offering up a truly Wilde and fabulous romp for any actor. The album is forthcoming but in the meantime, who wants to enjoy the wittiest, most seriously silly treatises on the absolute ridiculousness of class?
feeling honored and humbled to be chosen as a PLAYWRIGHT for the incredible + inspiring Trans History Project. my commission is with @roundhousetheatre in DC 🤩, and I’m so grateful to @bmorecenterstage for putting this together.
i came out to my parents at rosh hashanah way back when. it was a,
um…interesting holiday that year. enough so that i guess I need to write a generations-spanning-epic about trans jews. over the moon to be in the company of these amazing other writers.
wild.
I was a Tony Voter this year.
I saw all 42 shows.
Many of them twice.
My season review? In a word:
Epic.
The jaw-dropping physical spectacle of shipwrecks (Swept Away) and snowfalls (Elf) and sky (Redwood). Two chances to scream-laugh at Brooks (Smash + Mattress). Two David Cromer’s! Three Kenny Leon’s!
Patti’s epic leather jacket.
Richard Kind’s epic grin.
I definitely got sweat on me from Jonathan Groff and Audra McDonald. I definitely will tell my child about that one day.
Sure, there were the obvious treats - seeing Nicole, Jasmine, Megan, Jennifer and Audra not once but twice. Having the good fortune to be to be a voter in a season *stacked* with the best new plays of the decade.
English took my gender dysphoria, flipped it around and handed it back to me reinvented - giving me new language for the way I experience the world, as one who does not natively speak the language of binary gender. The three hours of Hills and Purpose flew by - playwrights at the top of their game sure-handedly carrying me through the kind of audacious storytelling that staircases and intergenerational dramas are made for.
Kimberly Belflower’s astonishing John Proctor gave me a rage-cry that had been building inside me for years.
I screamed at the jump scares in Stranger Things and Job. Swooned for Leigh Silverman’s Yellow Face staging. And one of my favorite ugly cries of the season came from a surprising source: Julianna Margulies, Peter Gallagher and Susan Stroman’s eviscerating work in the last 20 minutes of Left on Tenth. An unabashed tear jerker? Sure. But listen: if I am cramming my body into a poorly ventilated, deeply uncomfortable, aging midtown barn, I want y’all to fuck me up, you know? And Sanaz, Jez, Kimberly, Cole and Branden - y’all got me good.
(Cont in comments)
The Mad Ones
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Mad Ones musical has had a cult online following racking up hundreds of thousands of streams in recent years but never quite landed in theatreland. Its transfer from off-Broadway to London’s The Other Palace Studio - via Birmingham’s Old Joint Stock Theatre - offers the opportunity to build a much-deserved head of steam.
The heartfelt, relatable and often funny coming-of-age story follows best friends Samantha (Dora Gee) and Kelly (Courtney Stapleton) navigating their final year of high school. Overbearing parents, first loves, first losses, and the uncertainty of what lies ahead as life’s road opens up ahead. It’s a celebration of friendship and study of universal teenage angst.
The four-person cast are tight and all afforded opportunities to belt out big solo numbers and showcase their impressive vocal ranges. Harmonies are well matched, but there’s occasional moments of over-singing as they engage in vocal jousting.
Dora Gee (Samantha) is a standout with a phenomenal voice - her tone is goosebump worthy and if there’s any justice she will be gracing stages with much larger productions in the near future. Casting directors, do your thing!
The score - delivered to perfection by the smallest of bands - displays great variety, playfully driving the wealth of themes covered within the lyrics. Hilarious numbers about the stresses of learning to drive and the awkwardness of losing your virginity stand out.
The small space is utilised well courtesy of clever set design by Reuben Speed with the audience effortlessly transported onto open American roads and college campuses. The front portion of a car is cleverly utilised throughout and becomes a cast member in its own right, earning its own curtain call.
The narration and flashback sequences are on the confusing side at times but adds to the sense of uncertainty teenagers struggle with.
The Mad Ones is an archetypal new generation musical (think Dear Evan Hansen) and deserves the opportunity to enjoy the freedom of the open road after its uncertain teenage years.
🎭 @themadones_uk
🎟️ @chloenelkinconsulting
{Gifted | PR Invite}
#madones #musical
Trans day of visibility soooo…
belated winter vacation photo dump? Why not? Palm Springs / Joshua Tree.
Be nice to trans families, we give our kids amazing haircuts and age appropriate reading material kthxbye
#transdayofvisibility
