Inspired by the historical pageantry movement of the early 1900s—known for blending mass spectacle with community engagement—this final work in deBessonet and Almond’s grand trilogy reimagines the Greek epic with Public Works’ signature blend of professional actors, community members and special guests. Man-eating Cyclops, a sorceress that turns sailors to beasts and the deadly sweet song of the Sirens explode onto the stage with spectacular numbers in this joyful, larger-than-life musical about finding your way home—no matter where fate may lead you. Conceived and directed by Public Works Director, Lear deBessonet, the premiere production of THE ODYSSEY showcased 200 New Yorkers from all five boroughs, who shared the stage with professional actors and community partners.
Category: Off-West End / Off-Broadway
The Winter’s Tale
Conceived and directed by Obie Award winner Lear deBessonet with musical adaptation by Todd Almond, Public Work’s THE WINTER’S TALE brings Shakespeare’s tale of mystery and magic to life as never before. Featuring Public Works’ signature blend of professional actors, community members, and special guests, this musical adaption will explode with authentic performances that come together to tell Shakespeare’s beloved fable of hard-won joy and the promise of renewal.
Tenderly
TENDERLY, THE ROSEMARY CLOONEY MUSICAL is not a typical “juke-box musical.” It offers a fresh, remarkably personal, and poignant picture of the woman whose unparalleled talent and unbridled personality made her a legend.
In TENDERLY, Rosemary Clooney’s journey starts with her simple Maysville, Kentucky childhood and follows her rise to Hollywood stardom. With her signature songs woven in and out, we learn both the story of her successes on film, radio, and TV, as well as her struggles in her personal life – with a career fading during the advent of rock-and-roll and her battles with addiction and depression. Audiences stand and cheer as they rejoice at her triumphant comeback and even more successful career as a jazz singer.
New one-act version of TENDERLY now available for licensing. Contact london@theatricalrights.com for more information about this alternate version.
The Tempest
Marooned and left to die on a remote island, Prospero can command spirits, create apparitions and manipulate the elements. By using his magic, he assembles his enemies to take revenge on them, and in the process awakens in Miranda, his teenage daughter, her first experience of love. Conceived and directed by Public Works Director, Lear deBessonet, the premiere production of THE TEMPEST showcased 200 New Yorkers from all five boroughs, who shared the stage with professional actors and community partners.
The Landing
Legendary theatre composer John Kander (CHICAGO, CABARET, and CURTAINS) and gifted playwright Greg Pierce’s (Slowgirl) first collaboration is a beautiful and haunting new musical, consisting of three thematically-connected tales of desire, love and loss.
Not the Messiah (He’s a Very Naughty Boy)
In 1979, Monty Python’s Life of Brian turned the Biblical epic on its head. Now, the creators of SPAMALOT, Eric Idle & John Du Prez turn classical music on its ear! Prepare for NOT THE MESSIAH (HE’S A VERY NAUGHTY BOY), the comedic masterpiece that combines all of the unforgettable humor of the Python’s most celebrated film with the overblown grandeur of operatic soloists, full symphony orchestra and chorus. Filmed live on October 23, 2009, the performance stars Eric Idle with special appearances by original Python troupe members, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, and Terry Gilliam.
Wanda’s World
Wanda Butternut is the popular host of the hit TV talk show “Wanda’s World,” where kids call in to get advice from Wanda to solve their problems. Wanda is beautiful, confident and always knows what to say…in her fantasy. In real life, Wanda is a middle school girl with a big birthmark on her face, who is terrified to deal with the first day of school in a new town. Gradually, with the help of an extraordinary teacher, she overcomes incredible odds and learns to follow her own path. WANDA’S WORLD was produced Off-Broadway where it received a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Book of a Musical. It also received a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Outstanding Musical.
Long Story Short
An adaptation of the play, An Infinite Ache, by David Schulner, LONG STORY SHORT is a two-actor show, with a four-piece band that covers a romance and 50-year marriage in 98 minutes and 17 songs. This musical romance follows what happens when Charles, a nerdy young Jewish guy, falls in love (on a blind date) with Hope, a young Asian-American woman from Los Angeles.
Game Show
Set during a “live broadcast” of a fictional, long-running TV game show, GAME SHOW places the theater audience in the role of the TV studio audience, in which members are picked as the contestants to play the trivia-based game and win actual prizes. In addition to watching and playing during the “broadcast” – where anything can and does happen – the audience also witnesses all the backstage, back-stabbing antics “behind the scenes” that go on during the “commercial breaks” of GAME SHOW.
Changing Minds
At Playa Sola High School, it’s business as usual – the jocks, geeks, popular kids, etc., all try to navigate a world of insecurities, grades, fashions and text messages. Then, during a school trip to a historic mission, the minds of two high school seniors are inexplicably switched. Suddenly, Kyle Fairbanks, a charismatic slacker/surfer is helping everyone with their calculus, and scholastic superstar Natalie Watson has become an expert on heavy metal lyrics and is calling everybody “dude.” In this screwball-comedy-for-a-new-generation, Kyle and Natalie have to find out how to get their brains back as they juggle friends, classes, rumours, scholarship competitions and, oh yeah, Kyle’s super-hot, snob-of-a-girlfriend Ashley.
Driven by a contemporary pop score that reflects influences from rock, techno, R&B, ska, and rap, CHANGING MINDS is a musical that’s delightfully bright, laugh out loud funny, and is sure to have you singing and clapping along as Kyle and Natalie, Brad and Claire, Shelly and Freddy, Garrett and Ashley, and all of their classmates as they discover that sometimes the best way to figure out who you are is by…CHANGING MINDS!