Broadway stars headlining Somerset native's new girl group musical
LATROBE ― A new musical, a show giving voice to three strong, older female characters in a show with a tuneful, pop, girl group-inspired score, written by a Somerset native, will be performed in Latrobe.
Greensburg’s Stage Right! and its GhostLight Initiative will present the show, "The Crinolynns," written by Scott Logsdon with composer Aaron Gandy, with two performances, a matinee at 2 p.m. and an evening performance at 7 p.m., Sept. 30, at the Carey Performing Arts Center on the campus of Saint Vincent’s College in Latrobe.
"The Crinolynns" will feature Broadway stars headlining the concert of a new girl group musical.
Those stars include: Donna Lynne Champlin, star of “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” Broadway's "Billy Elliott," "Sweeney Todd" with Patti Lupone; a Carnegie Mellon University alum, Sally Mayes, Tony nominee for "She Loves Me," Broadway's "Urban Cowboy" and off-Broadway's "Closer Than Ever;" and Valerie Wright, a vacation standby for the title role in the 2023 Tony Award-winning Best Musical "Kimberly Akimbo," Broadway's "Annie Get Your Gun," "Elf," and seen onscreen as Meg Ryan’s sister in “Sleepless in Seattle.”
"To collaborate with the Broadway stars we’ve assembled for our cast is a dream come true," said Logsdon in an email. “It’s been a joy to write a show with three equally juicy roles for amazing singing actresses and to celebrate women of ‘a certain age.’"
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Logsdon said the inspiration for this show came from a song on "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" that had a girl group song with a cheery melody and very dark lyrics.
"I loved the juxtaposition of light and dark. I've always loved girl group music since my mom loved it when I was a kid and it was something we shared," he said. "I researched famous girl groups and discovered their lives mostly were not filled with the promised happy endings they sang about."
Logsdon said the idea wasn't a "let's write a show" moment.
"I wrote some lyrics and shared them with my very talented collaborator Aaron Gandy," he said. "He loved them and set them to music. Once we realized there were enough variations on the theme, that it wasn't just song after song about boys/men, we realized there was a show."
Logsdon said the show's premise is that a former girl group made up of sisters has reunited 40 years to the day of when their first song charted on Billboard.
"They have written a new autobiographical act ― still in their old cheery musical style ― about the failures, triumphs, joys and challenges they've faced," he said. "They have personalities in line with the three younger 'Golden Girls' ― so there are the optimistic Rose, the cynical Dorothy, and the romantically adventurous Blanche-like characters. We celebrate women of a certain age who still have a lot of life left and a lot of knowledge to share."
Somerset native becomes actor, director
Logsdon, originally of Somerset, has been performing since he was a child. He is a Broadway performer and director/writer.
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"I cut my teeth with the Somerset Summer Theatre that did a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta every summer," he said. "I was inspired by Frank Ream, who was from Berlin. He was the leading tenor of those shows and went on to have a great career with New York City Opera Company and other opera companies. I worked at the Mountain Playhouse the summer before I started college and came back to get my Actor's Equity Card from them the first year I moved to New York City."
As an actor, Logsdon was an originating cast member in the "Les Miserables" national company. He’s been seen in such roles as Thenardier, Sweeney Todd, Billy Bigelow, Che, El Gallo and King Herod. He has performed across North America as a soloist with symphonies and as a guest star in the award-winning "Sondheim Unplugged" at 54 Below in New York City.
His many directing credits include "Chess," "The Fantastics," "Driving Miss Daisy," "The Glass Menagerie" and the southeastern premiere of "Secrets Every Smart Traveler Should Know." He earned a BFA in musical theatre from Shenandoah Conservatory and is the recipient of a Distinguished Alumni Award for contributions to musical theatre.
This isn't the first play Logsdon has written. Some of his plays include:
"Sticks & Stones," using the story of David and Goliath to address teen bullying. The composer is Grammy/Emmy winner John McDaniel, who was the band leader on The Rosie O'Donnell Show.
"We did an online highlights concert of it during the pandemic, working with Lady Gaga's Born This Way,Foundation," Logsdon said. "It benefited them and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. We had an amazing cast ― six-time Tony Award-winning Broadway Legend Audra McDonald, 'Hamilton' star Javier Munoz and 135 children from around the world. Bernadette Peters introduced the show."
"12 Days Till Christmas," a loving homage to Hallmark and other television Christmas movies. It was written with Olivier Award-nominated composer Dana P. Rowe, who wrote "The Witches of Eastwick" and "Zombie Prom."
"We did a starry reading and have been in negotiations with a network for it to become a movie," he said. "Iconic Broadway director/choreographer Jerry Mitchell ("Legally Blonde," "Hairspray," "Kinky Boots") has been working with us on its development and told us it is always a long road to 'yes.' Dana and I also wrote the theme song to the web series 'Stars in the House,' which was sung by Liz Callaway, the singing voice of the animated Anastasia."
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"An American County Christmas Carol" sets the Dickens tale in the South during the great depression. The co-writers are behind some country's biggest hits like Garth Brook's "If Tomorrow Never Comes," Toby Keith's "My List" and the Country Music Association song of the year, "Holes in the Floor of Heaven." A staged reading was done in Nashville with country music stars Lari White and Mark Luna, both of whom starred in "Ring of Fire" on Broadway. Larry Tobias, who as worked at the Mountain Playhouse as a performer and director played Scrooge.
"Joyce Jackson's Guide to Dating" is a parody of an actual dating manual for teenage girls from the 1950s. It was written with Broadway musical director/composer Steve Marzullo, who played piano for the original films "Beauty and the Beast" and "Anastasia," as well as Broadway's "Mamma Mia," "Once on this Island," "Disaster," "Ragtime," "Grease," and many others.
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For The Crinolynns, Logsdon said, "We've loved finding a new spin, using popular songs as a jumping off point – 'Goin' to the Chapel' inspired our 'Headin' to the Courthouse,' and 'Hey, Mr. Postman' gave us the idea for 'Oh, Mr. Locksmith.' The show is filled with songs that are catchy and sound like they could have been hits back in the day."
Tickets are available by calling 724-832-7464 or by visiting www.stagerightgreensburg.com/shows.
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Broadway stars headlining Somerset native's new girl group musical
