Opera
Woyzeck in Baltimore
A mini-opera; 2 characters (1 f, 1 m)
Libretto by Natália Gleason-Nagy and Matthew Brown; Music by Matthew Brown
Based upon the play by Georg Büchner, Woyzeck in Baltimore presents a snapshot of two lovers, Woyzeck and Marie, and the demeaning work they must do to survive. In creating the opera, Natália and I sought to explore the potency of Büchner’s themes of intimacy against a backdrop of exploitation. Woyzeck in Baltimore was developed at The Catholic University of America as part of a workshop in adaptation for opera.
Music for Plays
Music for Hamlet
In Spring 2021, I had the opportunity to write music for a production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet at The Catholic University of America, directed by Natália Gleason-Nagy. This playlist encapsulates the different sound worlds I employed in depicting characters and story: a cappella vocal music for Horatio the storyteller, folk influences for Hamlet, etherial electronic sounds for Ophelia, and cold festival music for the illegitimate king.
Music for Daphne’s Dive
My role in Pomona College’s production of Quiara Alegría Hudes’s Daphne’s Dive was twofold: I created musical settings for sections of Hudes’ text and curated existing solo piano selections for the scene transitions, all to be played by a pianist character in the play. For the scene transitions, I chose to highlight music by late nineteenth and early twentieth-century classical composers from Cuba and Puerto Rico, reflecting the identities and stories portrayed onstage. Two of my original contributions are included here. I am grateful to director Anaïs Gonzalez Nyberg for bringing me on to this project.
Musical Theater
Camp Rising Star
Music and Lyrics by Matthew Brown
Book by Owen Halstad.
2 Acts, 120 mins.
12 Characters (8 f, 4 m)
After the inexplicable disappearance of the last camp director, Savannah Garlis is thrust back into the world of her childhood summers: Camp Rising Star. With the help of some old friends, Savannah faces kooky campers, a mysterious benefactor, an even more mysterious ghost, and lots of spookiness for all. With the fate of the camp at stake and financial ruin all but certain, can the show go on?
The Beginner’s Guide to Falling in Love
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Matthew Brown
2 Acts, 120 mins.
11 Characters (5 f, 6 m)
Take a trip back to high school in this hilarious and heartfelt musical about the highs and lows of first love. When multi-talented transfer student Sean Gray arrives at Johnson Academy, Mark Evans’ world is turned upside down. Contending with disapproving friends and a frosty college counselor along the way, Mark must confront his insecurities and emotions he didn’t know he had, quickly finding out that “life is so vexin’ when you’re a gay Texan.”
My Name is Lila
A Play with Music by Matthew Brown
1 Act, 70 min.
5 Characters (3 f, 2 m)
Lila is twelve years old. She is kind-hearted but withdrawn. And she has an obsession with Disney Channel Original Movies. When a teacher recommends Lila seek out counseling, her father Greg must come to terms with what Lila has and what she doesn’t. As the developmental psychologist begins to learn more about this family, the question is raised: how do we cope with what we can’t control?
An early developmental production of My Name is Lila, premiered at the 2019 24-Hour Play Festival.
Space Dumbo
“Space Dumbo” was created as part of the devised theater piece How to Adult, created by a group of Pomona students in collaboration with faculty mentor Jessie Mills. The play, as well as the song’s lyrics by baritone Roei Cohen (who also performed the song) speak to the confusion and uncertainty of young adulthood. The show premiered at the 2019 Hollywood Fringe Festival, and “Space Dumbo” was heralded as “a real gem” and “a perfectly unexpected cap on a perfectly unexpected piece of theatre.”