In September and October 2020, we had the opportunity to workshop the whole of Act 1 of You'll Be Okay, a new musical about the Beat Poetry movement, with book and lyrics by Rosa Alexander and music by me, Abigail Glasser.
We were blessed with a dream team: fabulous direction and choreography from Anna Hale, arrangements and musical direction from the wonder that is Connagh Tonkinson, and an outrageously talented and very sexy cast, not to mention the whole show being held together through endless twists and turns by our genius producer Ellie Blight!
We rehearsed Act 1 (socially distanced!) throughout September, and although our performances were sadly cancelled due to regulations being in constant flux, we were able to film a performance on an outside stage, and we couldn't be prouder of what we achieved! Our actors faced rain, wind and the sounds of railway tracks but they pulled it off in style and we gained so much from the experience. Honestly, it a privilege to be in a rehearsal room at all in 2020, and with such a genuinely wonderful group of people - none of us took for granted the gift that this truly was!
Next up for this show, Rosa and I are continuing work on Act 2 and fingers crossed we will be seeing it up on a stage sooner than we think! Long live live theatre! ❤️
Cast:
Edie Parker - Emma Marsh
Joan Vollmer - Florence Lace-Evans
Jack Kerouac - Alex Conder
Allen Ginsberg - Austin Garrett
Lucien Carr - Daniel N’Guessan-López
William S. Burroughs / David Kammerer - Corey Mitchell
Photos by Ellie Blight.
