About The Show
"TL;DR: Thelma Louise; Dyke Remix" is a parody sequel, queer rock musical that asks the question "why do strong female characters always gotta die?" and turns the death as freedom narrative for women in film on its head. It starts mid-air in a Thunderbird convertible suspended over the Grand Canyon and features two women of color as T and L backed by a band of badass rockstars. Loud and proud, TL;DR resists the idea that queer/lesbian narratives have to live in subtext and defies the "bury your gays" trope by giving our heroines the ending they deserve. TL;DR takes on the patriarchy, the gaytriarchy, and anything else standing in the way of T and L's love. After sold out performances last summer in the Tank's PrideFest, TL;DR is back in a revamped concert reading thanks to a generous grant from the Anna Sosenko Trust.
About The Artists
BRANDON JAMES GWINN (music and lyrics) is an entertainer, composer-lyricist and producer. He is the composer and co-lyricist of Cotton Candy & Cocaine (Theatre C), Queer. People. Time. (Dramatist Guild Fellowship), and Underwear A Space Musical (2008 New York International Fringe Festival, 2012 American College Theatre Festival)
His music and lyrics for Matchmaker Matchmaker I'm Willing to Settle premiered at the American Repertory Theatre in Boston and the 2011 New York Musical Theatre Festival. Brandon is also the composer and co-lyricist of the New York Theatre Barn Commission Small Town Story which received the National Alliance of Musical Theatre Writer's Residency Grant, was a finalist for the Richard Rodgers award, was featured in the Village Theatre New Musicals Festival in Seattle, and was subsequently produced in workshop at the University of Hartford. Brandon recently produced and performed on Two Birds, the debut album of Trixie Mattel (RuPaul's Drag Race), which debuted at #1 on the iTunes Top Albums chart and #16 on the Billboard Folk Charts. Brandon also directs and produces music for Alexis Michelle (Drag Race Season 9). He has performed with and done arrangements for Tony award winner Daisy Eagan, Two-time Emmy Nominee Tituss Burgess, Tony Nominee Judy Kuhn and 12-time MAC Award winner Karen Mason. He composed the music for George Takei's comedy webseries It Takeis Two. A critically lauded singer-songwriter and music director, he has arranged and played shows in Beijing, LA, San Francisco, Miami, and in New York at Feinstein's, Birdland, Joe's Pub, 54 Below and on Fire Island. As a writer he has been an artist in residence at Ars Nova and is a 2015-2016 Dramatists Guild Fellow. MFA from NYU.
ELLAROSE CHARY (book and lyrics) is an award-winning New York based writer. She is currently working on COTTON CANDY AND COCAINE (Ars Nova Uncharted), QUEER. PEOPLE. TIME. (Dramatists Guild Fellowship), PATRIETTES (The Tank’s TV Writing Program, the #Fword Finalist), Untitled Anarchist Play (The Civilians’ R & D Group) and THE LAKE AND THE MILL (Drama League Rough Draft Residency). Her work was recently featured at 54 Below in THE SONGS OF BRANDON JAMES GWINN AND ELLAROSE CHARY. Other projects include the Malaysian musical MARRYING ME (BOH Cameronian Arts Award Winner), SIDNEY D. CROSIER: AN UNFINISHED PORTRAIT (Hayswood Theater), THE DAGUERREOTYPE (Prospect Theater, Musical Theater Factory), and CROSSROADS, a commission for Indiana’s Bicentennial.
She has contributed material to a variety of feminist and politically engaged projects, including BE THE DEATH OF ME and OCCUPY YOUR MIND (The Civilians), WE ARE THEATRE! (Cherry Lane Theatre), BY THE NUMBERS (Prospect Theater), RULE OF 7X7: The Lady Edition! (The Tank) and THE BIRDS AND THE BEES: UNABRIDGED and RECON(FIGURE)D (Honest Accomplice Theater). She recently co-curated The Civillians' LET ME ASCERTAIN YOU: ANARCHY! Cabaret at Joe's Pub. She also has a variety of experience working with youth, and is currently working on several children's show commissions.
EllaRose is an alum of Ars Nova’s Uncharted Residency, The Dramatists Guild Fellowship and The Civilians’ R & D Group. She is a founding member of Bastard Playground in residence at the Drama League. She is a NYFA Fellowship Playwriting/Screenwriting Finalist, a winner of the Weston Award for musical theater, and a proud member of ASCAP and the Dramatists Guild. BA: Brown University; MFA: NYU Tisch
SASH BISCHOFF (Director) is a freelance director based in New York who specializes in the development of new plays, musicals, and plays with music. Sash creates theater that is heightened and theatrical, while also rooted in specificity and emotional truth. Sash strives to create work that engages and calls upon an audience's imagination. Her work typically has an actor-driven, minimalist aesthetic, stripped down to what is essential in the telling of the story.
Credits include James Presson's FUCK MARRY KILL (New Ohio); James Presson’s LONG DIVISION (Portland Center Stage); Stephanie Del Rosso’s FLEE (NY Stage & Film, Colt Coeur); Susan Soon-He Stanton’s HOTEL (The Civilians); Nick Gandiello’s CANDYLAND, Sofia Alvarez’ LIFE, and Erica Saleh’s TABOO (as an evening at Ars Nova); Michael Mitnick’s BABS THE DODO (Williamstown); Nick Gandiello’s SWEPT (Williamstown); Meghan Kennedy’s NAPOLI, BROOKLYN (Williamstown); Michael Mitnick’s SEVEN CATEGORIES (Williamstown); Mat Smart’s COLD (Williamstown); Bekah Brunstetter’s MINE (Chautauqua); Nick Gandiello’s HOW THE MOON WOULD TALK (Keen Company); Amina Henry’s THE WHITE PARTY (Clubbed Thumb, National Black Theatre); James Presson’s MARY IN THE CLUB (Judson); Amina Henry’s THE JOHNSONS (Judson); Claire Keichel’s NORWAY (The __ Space); Sarah DeLappe’s TRUMP (The Flea); and Amy Witting’s ELEVEN SHADES OF BLUE (Pipeline).
She has served as an associate to John Doyle, Richard Nelson, John Rando, Jack O’Brien, Jo Bonney, Christopher Ashley, Anne Kauffman, Davis McCallum, Rob Ashford, and others. Alum of The Civilians R&D Group, The Lincoln Center Directors Lab, and the 2011 SDC Traube Fellow. Princeton University.
KIMBERLY CHATTERJEE is thrilled to be working on this fantastic piece! NEW YORK: Kate Hamill's Pride and Prejudice (Primary Stages); The Tempest (Classical Theatre of Harlem); The Christians (Playwrights Horizons). REGIONAL: Kate Hamill's Pride And Prejudice [World Premiere], Macbeth, Measure for Measure (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival); As You Like It (Folger Theatre). TELEVISION: HBO's High Maintenance. Proud graduate of NYU Tisch's New Studio on Broadway.
MEGHAN ROSE is a songwriter, performer, and producer based in Brooklyn, recently from Madison, Wisconsin. She has written music for two NYC Fringe Festival productions (Love, Death, Brains: A Zombie Musical, and Held: A Musical Fantasy) and won awards for songwriting, bass performance, and vocal performance when she was part of the Madison scene. She currently plays piano, bass, and guitar for hire, and writes and performs rock with her band The Loud Soft Loud.
KELECHI EZIE is an actress, singer, and writer from Buffalo NY. Credits include: Book of Mormon First National Tour (Mrs. Brown), Nollywood Dreams (Fayola) at Cherry Lane, Restoration Comedy & These Seven Sicknesses at The Flea Theater, Rio (King Momo) at NYMF, and The Color Purple (Celie) at White Plains Performing Arts Center. Kelechi is writer and star of short film The Truth About Beauty and Blogs, an official selection of Roger Ebert's Ebertfest and Martha's Vineyard African American Film Festival, among others. She is represented by Red Letter Entertainment.
JULIANNE MERRILL Originally from Indianapolis, Julianne currently works in NYC as a professional Music Director and Pianist for Musical Theater. She is thrilled to be working on TL;DR and with all the other awesome creatives involved. Recent projects include: Junie B. Jones: Essential Survival Guide to School Off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel and currently on the Equity National Tour with TheatreworksUSA; The Imaginary developmental workshop at Nazareth College directed by Jeff Whiting; Skippy Jon Jones: Snow What? Equity National Tour with TheatreworksUSA; LezCab Sings the '90s at Joe's Pub; Lightning Man developmental reading at Turtle Bay Music School; The Queen Bees at Queens Theater in the Park; ; Allegro (NYIT: Outstanding Production of a Musical Award) at A.P.A.C; Cloned! (Winner: Best of Fest) at NYMF 2014; A Man of No Importance and Parade at The Gallery Players; Wunderkind NYC tour at 54 Below, The Triad, Laurie Beechman and Joe's Pub; Bookseller in the Rain: a concert with Maury Yeston at The Metropolitan Room. In addition to these select projects, Julianne also accompanies numerous other one night cabarets and small, independent readings.
In addition to working as a Music Director and Pianist, Julianne also works with Music Technology and its application to live performance. This includes orchestrating, engineering and music supervising tracks for Maya: Princess of Light in conjunction with Teach for India; arranging, orchestrating and creating tracks and sheet music for The Queen Bees (published Sept 2017); sound cue creation and design, keyboard programming and cueing, transcribing, notation, and recording arts for various projects. www.juliannemerrill.com
VIVA DECONCINI Viva plays guitar like a flaming sword, a screaming train, a ringing bell, and a scratching chicken. She sings like if Freddy Mercury had been a woman. She's played everywhere from Monterey Jazz Fest to Bonnaroo and with artists as diverse as downtown avant-garde percussionist Cyro Baptista to queer theater genius Taylor Mac. She's produced music and burlesque shows at The Slipper Room and Joe's Pub and is one of the few females to have been featured in Guitar Player magazine. Viva has written over 100 songs and her 4th original music studio album Living Well is the Best Revenge comes out this spring. It asks the question: “What's worse, romantic disillusion or political?” and answers: “Neither, we must not allow ourselves to become disillusioned”. She is releasing this as a 10 segment podcast telling a made up tragic love story. Www.vivadeconcini.com