The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's notability guideline for music. (June 2022) |
The Regulars is a folk musical with music, lyrics, and book by Will Shishmanian. It follows the story of Mark Howard, a trans man who has just moved away from his childhood home to a rural, upstate town, where he befriends Dani Thompson, a Black queer woman who's opening her own gay bar. The production is developed and directed by Miss Hazel Jade.
| The Regulars | |
|---|---|
 Initial key art by Rebecca Pitt | |
| Music | Will Shishmanian |
| Lyrics | Will Shishmanian |
| Book | Will Shishmanian Miss Hazel Jade (developed by) |
| Productions | 2022 Manchester Concert |
Development
editWhile Shishmanian began developing the original version of the musical sometime in 2017–2018, it wasn't until October 2020 during the height of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic when he asked his friend and once-collaborator, Miss Hazel Jade, to take a look at the material that the two began to rework it as a commercial musical. She immediately joined, and some of the material from the new version of the musical, developed and directed by Miss Hazel, was presented live in concert at Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester, England, during their annual Turn On Fest.[1]
Ahead of the Manchester concert, and along with a digital single, a music video was released through WhatsOnStage and Playbill, featuring Broadway & film/TV Actor, Laura Benanti, and the musical's composer, Will Shish.[2]
Musical numbers
edit- Full Show
|
|
- 2022 Manchester Concert
- "Amberland Prelude" – The Band
- "Who Am I?" – Mark & Company
- "Spinning the Plates" – Derrick & Stockroom Guys
- "Do My Own Job" – Dani & Betsy
- "Is She Picking Something Up?" – Mark
- "Picture This" – Dani
- "Trying" † – Mark & Dani
- "All I Wanted" † – Mark
- "Right On Track" – Brandon & Ensemble
- "The Intruders" – The Band
- "Here Together" † – Jax & Dani
- "You Got Me" – Betsy, Dani & Ensemble
- "Golden Glow 1" – Ensemble Trio
- "Finally Ready" – Dani
- "Golden Glow 2" – Full Company
† Removed from the final concert
Recordings
editOn 14 January 2022, a single was released digitally, featuring Laura Benanti and Will Shish, of a song from the show: "Songs from Amberland: Edie's Reckoning".[3]
Cast and characters
edit| Private Reading (2021)[4] |
Manchester Concert (2022)[5] | |
|---|---|---|
| Mark Howard | Jeff A. Miller | Will Shish |
| Dani | Kathryn Allison | Aiesha Pease |
| Betsy | Emily Hudson | Natalie Paris |
| Brandon Isaac | Darron Hayes | Marcus Collins |
| Jax | Kat Griffin | Teddy Hinde |
| Alex | Annika Chavez | — |
| Callie | Michelle Cosentino | — |
| Derrick | TJ Nelson | Matthew Facchino |
| Hunter | Rew Garner | Mark Lockhart |
| Tom | Chris Citera | — |
| Ensemble | — | Amy Fleur James Markham Jordan Walker |
References
edit- ^ Wild, Stephi (26 November 2021). "THE REGULARS is The Highlight Of Hope Mill Theatre's Third Annual LGBTQIA+ Arts Festival". Broadway World. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
- ^ Wood, Alex (14 January 2022). "Watch Laura Benanti and Will Shishmanian perform "Edie's Reckoning" from new musical The Regulars". WhatsOnStage. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
- ^ Meyer, Dan (14 January 2022). "Watch Laura Benanti Sing 'Edie's Reckoning' from Will Shishmanian's New Musical The Regulars". Playbill. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
- ^ "Previous Casts | The Regulars: A Folk Musical". The Regulars. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
- ^ Wood, Alex (7 January 2022). "Cast for new musical The Regulars announced". WhatsOnStage. Retrieved 18 March 2022.