HOME PAGE

BOB'S BIO

 

PLAYS
MUSICALS
REVUES

BOB'S CD'S

 

THEATER
RESOURCES
UNLIMITED

Click for synopsis
Click for cast and creative team

I saw a reading of a new musical which I think actually might have great commercial potential - the kind of small-scale show that, properly developed & produced, could have a long run off-bway & in other major cities. It's called Angel in My Heart, by Bob Ost.... The score is basically show music with pop inflections; the lyrics are very well crafted & several of the tunes I think actually have breakout potential - very rare for work in a show-music idiom these days!... The debut of a very exciting show. -Michael Feingold, critic (Theatermania, formerly with The Village Voice)

Click for more comments about the show

Monday July 7th and Saturday July 12th, 7pm
The Wild Project, 195 E. 3rd Street (betw. A & B), NYC

SYNOPSIS

A musical romance about love, loss (and shopping) in the pre-cocktail era of AIDS. A young widowed writer is bewildered to find himself relentlessly pursued by a handsome co-worker. Neither realizes that it is the writer's deceased lover who is touching both of their hearts.

A chamber musical for 4 voices, piano, cello and flute, Angel in My Heart was a selection of this year's Fresh Fruit Festival. The show was developed with the support of the Anna Sosenko Assist Trust and The Workshop Theatre (Steve Petrillo and Natalie Mosco, thanks).

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Angel in My Heart is a poetic and lyrical musical about a burgeoning relationship of love and loss. ‎While it is not entirely sungthrough, it has that feeling in it's simple grace. The character portrayals are spot on, and heartachingly rendered. See it if you can! ~Cheryl Wiesenfeld, producer (All the Way, Rocky, Vania & Sonia & Masha & Spike, Porgy & Bess, Caroline or Change, Elaine Stritch: At Liberty)

Angel In My Heart is a timely story, filled with likable characters and memorable music and lyrics. I was very impressed with your ability to musicalize  so much of the book, turning it into a modern day operetta that's filled with humor and emotion. Bravo. ~Jana Robbins, producer (Little Women, Ragtime revival, I Love You Because..., Roof of the World)

What a beautiful show Angel in My Heart was. It really is a touching and moving love story, with beautiful music. I was so impressed. Btw, my producer-intern, Kristen, loved your musical, and she's reached the point (after being with me over three years and after seeing oodles of industry readings), that she's very picky and particular of how she evaluates these readings and whether they really have "legs"! ~Vasi Laurence, producer (Passing Strange, Housewives of Mannheim)

A work of art, in music. ~Neil Danoff, investor-producer (Bridges of Madison Country, All the Way, Matilda, Spring Awakening

Your show was so wonderful – heartfelt, sweet, honest, and beautifully sung by your cast.  - Jo Walker, actress

Amazing, wonderful, tender and musically fantastic!  What more can I say.  I have spent most of my life singing and I was thrilled tonight.  You have created something special both musically and lyrically.  A tender love story with wonderful singers as well as actors - a difficult combination to achieve. ~Kathleen Kaan, writer/actress

Angel in My Heart is a love story told with humor, genuine emotion, and yes, a few moments that bring tears.  It's a musical that fulfills what a musical must be: a story whose romance, conflict and humor are heightened by the music and lyrics.  The hero knows from the first time he meets his beloved that he has found his "angel," and he will stop at nothing to bring his love home.  The songs are intrinsic to quest through real perils: AIDS, early death, and possible defeat.  Definitely a musical to see and hear, if you want to restore your belief in the healing power of true love.  -Diana Amsterdam, writer/dramaturg

Fantastic. The music was brilliant, both composition and arrangements. And, what an important story that needs to be told! ~Mimi Cohen, writer/performer

Just wanted to thank you for that amazingly fabulous show.  You managed to get the whole gamut of human emotions into a basically simple story, which will never go out of style - as long as there are humans on this planet. You have some terrific singers in the cast - they restore my faith in human voice production. ~Sheila Mart, actress

I wondered who was writing music like that these days?  Turns out it's you!  The script was engaging, clever and touching and the music just fabulous.  ~T. Cat, writer/performer

CAST
Matthew Coyle* (Bernie Lichtenberg) is thrilled to create and share the role of Bernie in Bob Ost's delightful Angel in My Heart and over-the-moon to be a part of Fresh Fruit Fest 2014. Philadelphia-born, Mr. Coyle spent his childhood in Amersham, England where he began his professional career at the age of nine. He recently appeared opposite Billy Porter in Tony winner Jeff Whitty's acclaimed The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler directed by 2014 Drama Desk winner Ed Iskandar. He originated the role of "Alex the special-ed kid" at 15 in Homeroom (Walnut Street Theatre). Feature Film Debut: Twentieth Century Fox's Someone Like You with Ashley Judd, Hugh Jackman, and Ellen Barkin. New York: Beat (created Allen Ginsberg role; Off-Off-Off Broadway); Green Eyes (Target Margin); Temptation (FLEA). Regional: world-premiere translation of The Misanthrope (Portland Stage); extended run of Gross Indecency: The Three Trials Of Oscar Wilde (Caldwell, *Carbonell Award). Television: numerous National ads, notably as the fumbling skateboarder in Fox Sports' award-winning "don't be that guy" campaign. Voiceover: MTV's Celebrity Deatmatch. Training: North Carolina School of the Arts (BFA acting), Manhattan School of Music, Tanglewood.
Christopher deProphetis* (Brian Hayes) Most recently, Christopher was seen in Camelot with the Santa Barbara Symphony under the direction of Marcia Milgrom Dodge. National Tours: South Pacific (1st National), Rent (10th Anniversary), Miss Saigon. Favorite Regional: Frankie in Forever Plaid: Plaid Tidings (Walnut Street), Joe Cable in South Pacific (Delaware Theatre Co), Emmett in Legally Blonde (Westchester B'way), Pierre in Bright Lights Big City (Prince Music Theatre), and Chris in Miss Saigon (bunch of places). Christopher is a graduate of the Guildford School of Acting in England.
Adam Kemmerer (Keith Barton): Off-Broadway: Crooner in Wonderful Wizard of Song (St. Luke’s Theatre). New York: Duke McGovern in Climb The Smallest Mountain (Manhattan Rep.), Sally and Tom as Thomas Jefferson (Castillo Theatre), Our Hit Parade (Joe's Pub), Wild Party as Black (Secret Theatre), Jack in The Day The Music Died (Playwrights Horizons). Robert Baker in Wonderful Town (Gallery Players), Silas in LOST (NY Fringe & Connelly Theater extension), John Brooke in Little Women (Secret Theatre). Regional: a featured dancer in A Christmas Carol choreographed by Rob Ashford (McCarter Theatre), Footloose as Chuck (Sharon Playhouse). Tony in West Side Story (Northern Stage, Palace Theatre, and The Zeiterion Theatre). Forever Plaid as Frankie (The Palace Theatre), Martin in A Grand Night For Singing (Allenberry Playhouse). Television: Forensic Files as Chad Mancebo. BA in Theatre and Music, Muhlenberg College. Love to my little family, Chasi and the Pip. Tweet him @AdamKemmerer.
Aaron Riesebeck* (Michael) is stoked to be playing Michael in Angel in My Heart. He's gotten to perform all over the world, from Jessup Maryland to Daegu South Korea. He's very happy to perform with such a lovely cast. Thank you to his family, friends and AEA.
CREATIVE TEAM
Katharine Pettit (director) is a NYC based Director/Choreographer. She is very grateful for the opportunity to direct Bob Ost's Angel in My Heart. This piece of theater is so important and relevant and she hopes the message of love enduring despite the odds resonates with everyone in the audience. Most recently Katharine served as Susan Stroman's SDC (Stage Directors and Choreographers) observer on Bullets Over Broadway on Broadway. Her work includes Choreographer on Thoroughly Modern Millie and Top of the Heap at The Gallery Players in Brooklyn, Director/Choreographer Gary the Invincible! at Theater Row Studios, Associate Choreographer FringeNYC Barcode, The Araca Project Hot Mess in Manhattan, Associate Dir./Choreo. NYMF: Boys Will Be Boys, Jim Rado's and The Fundamental Theater Project's Supersoldier. Much love and gratitude to her dear ones.
Ted Arthur (music director) Ted moved to New York in February and is excited to be music directing Angel in My Heart. He holds dual degrees in Music-Piano and Broadcast Journalism from the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO. From 2009 - 2013, he served as Assistant Director of Purdue Musical Organizations at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana where he taught vocal music, arranged and accompanied vocal ensembles. Ted made his debut at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. in 2010 with the National Memorial Day Choral Festival and accompanied world-renowned Irish Tenor, Anthony Kearns. In 2013, he moved to Los Angeles and worked for Hollywood composer Brian Tyler (Thor: The Dark World, Iron Man III, Hawaii Five-O) as his assistant and score coordinator for a number of projects. Since moving to New York, Ted has worked as rehearsal accompanist and orchestrator for the 2014 Easter Bonnet Competition and currently serves as an accompanist for The Growing Studio and Stage Door Connections.

Lisa Arkis (flutist) enjoys a varied career encompassing orchestral playing, chamber music, solo performances, and teaching. Orchestras she has performed with include the New Jersey Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Princeton Camerata, Greenwich Symphony, Fairfield Symphony, New Haven Symphony, Berkshire Bach Society at Tanglewood and Hudson Valley Philharmonic. She performs regularly with The Music at St. Mary's chamber music series as well as in duo concerts with her husband, cellist Peter Prosser. Broadway credits include Peter Pan, Secret Garden, Miss Saigon, Flower Drum Song and Dance of the Vampires, and she has also played with the Radio City Christmas Spectacular both in New York and on tour. She is a graduate of the Aaron Copland School of Music, a faculty member of the Chamber Music Center of New York, adjunct faculty member of the Manhattan School of Music Precollege division from 2001 – 2004, has taught at Brooklyn College and the Dalton School, and maintains private teaching studios in New York and Connecticut. This fall she will be joining the Mannes College of Music faculty as a Feldenkrias teacher.

Lawrence Zoernig ('cellist) has been principal 'cellist of many fine New York symphony and chamber orchestras including New York Chamber Orchestra, Bachanalia and Opera Manhattan. Mr. Zoernig premièred Lars-Erik Larsson's Concertino for Cello and String Orchestra at Trinity Church with the New York Scandia Symphony, for which he is also principal ’cellist. As a chamber musician, he has performed with Goliard Ensemble and the Cosmopolitan Chamber Players. He has appeared with such noted artists as Nina Beilina, Sidney Harth, Mark Peskanov and Charles Neidich and dance ensembles including Paul Taylor Dance Company and the David Parsons Dance Company. He has appeared as soloist and chamber musician at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center, Steinway Hall in New York and the Phillips Collection and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. In April 2005 he was invited to play for President Jimmy Carter at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia. As a concert artists on the international scene, Mr. Zoernig has also been presented at the Teatro Amazones in Manaus, Brazil and the World Expo in Seville, Spain and has also performed extensively on Cunard's Queen Elizabeth II, Caronia, Vistafjord, Sagafjord and Royal Viking Sun throughout the world.

Kim Marie Jones* (Stage Manager/Assistant Director) - Kim's extensive 20 year NYC theatre experience includes being an Equity Stage Manager, Producer and Producer's Assistant. Kim is an alumnae from St. John's University and The American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
*member of Actors Equity Association

Two performances only: Monday July 7th and Saturday July 12th at 7pm.

Click here to like us on Facebook!

 

<--- Back to Bob Ost's Welcome Page

Go To Listing of Plays, Musicals & Revues --->