Works by Julia Meinwald:
PREGNANCY PACT (Music by Julia Meinwald, lyrics by Gordon Leary)
THE LONELIEST GIRL IN THE WORLD (Music by Julia Meinwald, lyrics by Gordon Leary)
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (Music by Julia Meinwald, lyrics by Gordon Leary)
SOMETHING BLUE (Music by Julia Meinwald, lyrics by Gordon Leary)
REB+VODKA+ME (Music by Julia Meinwald, lyrics by Gordon Leary)
ELEVATOR HEART (Music by Julia Meinwald and Amy Burgess, lyrics by Sara Cooper)
Synopses:
Pregnancy Pact – 15-year old Maddie is devoted to her three best friends and they are to her. When Brynn gets pregnant, the friends all plan to get pregnant and raise their children together in their dream of a perfect life. As other girls find out, the pact – and the dream – grows. The bubble bursts when their secret is revealed, leaving each of the girls to face the hard realities of love, responsibility, and growing up.
The Loneliest Girl in the World – Anita Bryant always knew that she was destined for greatness. She just had to figure out what God wanted her to do. She tried becoming Miss America, a pop star, a professional homemaker, a national treasure – all to no avail. After becoming a cultural crusader, she finally knew she was living God’s plan. But was it God’s plan to spur the gay rights movement with a single pie to the face?
The Magnificent Seven – Amanda Borden, Amy Chow, Dominique Dawes, Shannon Miller, Dominique Moceanu, Jaycie Phelps, and Kerri Strug made up the first U.S. women’s gymnastics team to win Olympic team gold at the 1996 Atlanta games. The Magnificent Seven imagines their inner lives on the two days of team competition, as they reach for their young dreams and their faces on the Wheaties box, all leading up to a star-making vault heard ’round the world.
Something Blue – At the last minute, Geoff drives halfway across the country overnight to attend (or maybe crash?) his ex-boyfriend Casey’s wedding to childhood friend Joelle. But when he gets there, it’s all a bit more complicated than he expected.
REB+VoDKa+ME – September 11, 2014 would have been Columbine High School shooter Dylan Klebold’s 33rd birthday and the Tumblr community of his fans, known as Columbiners, spent the day thinking of him. The mourning was interrupted when Chardon High School shooter T.J. Lane escaped from prison that evening, throwing the true crime community into a frenzy. REB + VoDKa + ME follows a girl through the events of that day, her own eighteenth birthday, exploring the quest for community and understanding of the misunderstood.
Elevator Heart – A feminist musical theatre piece that will punch you in the face while kissing you on the lips.
Bio:
Julia Meinwald is a Brooklyn based composer who writes for musical theatre (and the occasional film and computer game score). Her musicals include PREGNANCY PACT, REB + VoDKa + ME, THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, THE LONELIEST GIRL IN THE WORLD, SOMETHING BLUE and ELEVATOR HEART. She and her collaborator, Gordon Leary, write aggressively empathetic shows that help them understand completely foreign points of view, like Anita Bryant’s save-our-children crusade, online fan communities that formed around high school shooters, and groups of teenage girls who decide to get pregnant together. Julia’s work has been produced at the Weston Playhouse, Diversionary Theatre, Flint Rep, and NYC’s Theatre Row, and developed through groups including Ars Nova, the Civilians, the Dramatists Guild, Fresh Ground Pepper, Page 73 and exciting acronyms like 92Y, MTF, NAMT, NYMF, and YIMT.
Website: www.juliameinwald.com