Ohioville native, a Tony-nominee, returns to Pittsburgh for world premiere rom-com musical

PITTSBURGH ― Greg Anthony Rassen gets to predict what pop music will sound like 50 years from now.

"I was just working on a synth part and wrote down 'computer boop bubble sounds like Rosie from "The Jetsons,'" Rassen, a Tony Award-nominated Ohioville native, said in a phone chat from Pittsburgh where he's hunkered down for several weeks helping to launch a world premiere musical.

Rassen directs the music for "The Perfect Mate," a rom-com set in the year 2063, opening Feb. 2 at the newly renovated Greer Cabaret Theater in the Pittsburgh Cultural District.

Running through March 17, "The Perfect Mate" centers on a character named Joan, a romantic at heart, who unlike her peers yearns for one true love, even as she tries her luck with an emotionally savvy humanoid partner.

"Turns out perfection isn’t all it’s cracked up to be," says the tagline for a show starring Jimmy Nicholas (Chief Evan Hawkins on NBC's "Chicago Fire") and Autumn Hurlbert (Broadway/national tours of "Little Women" "Legally Blonde" and "Something Rotten!"). Tickets are $35 and $40 at trustarts.org or PITTSBURGHCLO.ORG.

Rassen said the score "is really good pop music with great hooks and really, really catchy lyrics. The actors, when on a break, are always singing the songs because these are such great earworms."

To capture the futuristic vibe, Rassen is using an electronic drum kit.

"That's giving us some different sounds," he said.

He imagines the music of 2063 "to be a little more manufactured but the songs are still close to the heart and the lyrics are really funny."

Beyond just the music, Rassen is collaborating with the show's writers − David Rossmer (the six-time Drama Desk-award nominated "The Other Josh Cohen") and Dan Lipton (associate conductor of Broadway's "The Band's Visit" and conductor for Sting's "The Last Ship") − on fine-tuning the dialogue and pacing of the one-act performance.

Especially with this being a world premiere, there's a lot of suggestions for storyline tweaks when the creative team gathers around a table for a reading.

"Best idea in the room wins," Rassen said. "We'll be reading through it and raising our hands saying, 'What if this person did this?' to make the storyline as succinct and touching as it can be."

It's been a gratifying challenge for Rassen, who won the Drama Desk Award and garnered a 2017 Tony nomination as arranger and co-orchestrator for Broadway's "The Bandstand" a musical set in the days following World War II, where a group of military veterans form a one-of-a-kind band.

"The Perfect Mate" creative teams has agreed the future involves more robots, which help with chores like housecleaning, though the technology still breaks down periodically.

"So, the problems are not much different than today," Rassen said.

"The Perfect Mate" originated from the SPARK Festival, a 2018 initiative by the Pittsburgh CLO − a local producer of Broadway-quality shows − to cultivate new and innovative work from emerging musical theater artists. Writing teams joined SPARK for festival residencies, gaining valuable rehearsal time and writing support that were part of the early steps toward show development.

“Pittsburgh CLO is committed to ensuring a successful future for the American musical art form; by taking a leadership role in the development of new works, we are ensuring that local audiences can enjoy the very best of musical theatre for generations to come," Mark Fleischer, executive producer for the Pittsburgh CLO, said in a press release.

Rossmer and Lipton first showcased "The Perfect Mate" during SPARK's Works-in-Progress Night at the CLO Cabaret. They also collaborated on the score for "Monopoly," the Broadway-bound musical produced by Hasbro.

Having worked as a music director on a Pittsburgh "Lion King" performance 20 years ago, Rassen jumped at the chance to return to western Pennsylvania to work again with Rossmer and Lipton, with whom he's collaborated on projects before, including "The Griswolds Broadway Vacation," which he hopes will debut soon on Broadway.

Rassen returned to Beaver County in 2018 to serve as keynote speaker at the Henry Mancini Musical Theatre Awards at the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center in Midland.

Dwelling in both Connecticut and New York City with his entrepreneur husband and their 13-year-old twins Gabriel and Sylvia, Rassen's current three-and-a-half week stay in Pittsburgh won't be complete until he visits one of his favorite local haunts, the Brighton Hot Dog Shoppe in East Liverpool, Ohio.

.Rassen also has served as associate music director for Broadway's "The Little Mermaid" and "An American in Paris," though in recent years has concentrated on original works. That's more exciting from a creative standpoint.

"And so much harder to do than a musical based on a book or a movie because you'd already have a blueprint to follow," he said. "For an original show, there are infinite choices, though infinite can be debilitating."

It's rare for Pittsburgh theatergoers to get a world premiere, so Rassen hopes audiences will fill the new-look Greer Cabaret Theater, on Penn Avenue.

"It's a great space. It's hip," Rassen said. "Like a party space because the bar is out front. It's a fun atmosphere."

Theatergoers can partake in dining experiences two hours before showtime, with advanced reservations highly recommended. In-theater dining requires a ticket to a performance; once you are seated, you can order quietly and conveniently from your phone without missing a scene.

Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Ohioville native & Tony-nominee helps launch Pittsburgh CLO musical