"Erica Save Me" featured on IN BETWEEN THE LINES Podcast
I was thrilled to be the special guest on this week’s episode of “In Between The Lines,” a phenomenal podcast that showcases new Musical Theater Writers, lead by the fantastic duo of Laura Josepher and David Sisco. They featured my song “Erica Save Me,” performed by myself and the brilliant Alysha Umphress, as part of their “Duets” episode, which you can now listen to in full on SoundCloud! My segment begins at 7:45!
Tune in for other duets from Adam Mathias Brett Ryback, Brad Alexander and David Alan Davis!
First reading of STARBLASTERS @ Dixon Place, March 13th!
I'm incredibly excited to announce that our first ever reading of Starblasters will be Tuesday, March 13th at Dixon Place @ 7pm.
We've got an amazing team together and after 3+ years of writing this piece, it'll be amazing to finally hear it out loud.
Music & Lyrics by Benjamin Velez | Book by Katie Hathaway |
TEAM: Director Danny Goldstein | Music Director David Gardos | Produced by Aaron Sanko & Vicki Abeles
CAST: Alysha Umphress, Jeanna De Waal, Dan Domenech, Jon-Michael Reese, Lauren Villegas
Starblasters 4X15 at the Musical Theater Factory!
Super excited to be presenting 15 minutes of Starblasters through the Musical Theater Factory's 4x15 Presentation, this coming Monday, January 22nd @ 440 Lafayette Street White Box Theater. Working with a phenomenal group of actors as well as Director Sarah Hartmann and Music Director Fernanda Douglas!
Tickets are on sale on the MTF website!
NAMT Cabaret 2017!
I was lucky to be a part of the recent NAMT Conference (National Alliance for Musical Theater) as part of a mid-day cabaret where Katie Hathaway and I presented 4 songs from Afterland and Starblasters alongside our infinitely talented cohorts, Ben Moss and Emily Skeggs!
Video coming soon, but enjoy this adorable picture of the four of us next to our billing in the meantime!
"Erica Save Me" @ 54 Below!
Excited that "Erica Save Me" from Starblasters was performed at 54 Below on September 7th as part of the 3rd Annual Harvard/Yale Cantata, with alums from Columbia and Princeton partnering up with Harvard/Yale respectively this year to showcase wonderful songwriting work from alums of all four schools! I'm lucky to have Harvard grads Yasmeen Audi and Ben Moss performing the song and they absolutely knocked it out of the park! Thank you to Fernanda Douglas for music directing and accompanying.
Check out the video below!
Performance at the American Popular Song Society
I had a blast performing several songs from my musical Starblasters as part of the American Popular Song Society's ongoing series. Thank you to the wonderful Yasmeen Audi for bringing my songs to life and for belting duets with me! And thank you to the other writers there, including Joe Iconis and Drew Gasparini.
BMI Showcase 2017: Prom Was A Promise
It was an honor to perform "Prom Was A Promise" from STARBLASTERS last night at the BMI Showcase, an event featuring fantastic work from the last five years of the workshop. Thank you to my incredible cast, including the show's Book writer Katie Hathaway, and my ferociously talented ensemble of Jenny Rose Baker, Joey Goldberg, Sam Balzac, Jenny Singer, Jonah Weinstein, and Devin Lloyd.
One Night Stand Concert @ Ars Nova!
It was truly an honor to get to have my first full concert last month at Ars Nova, showcasing music from 2 Original Musicals I'm writing with Katie Hathaway, Afterland & Starblasters, and accompanied by a remarkable slew of talented musicians and performers. Thank you to everyone who helped make it possible, including Music Director David Gardos, Producer Susan Griffin, Associate Producer Lilla Goettler, & Orchestrator Solomon Hoffman.
Please check out some of the videos below!
BAND:
David Gardos (Piano), Joe Nero (Drums), Ben Gallina (Bass), Hideaki Aomori (Reeds), Monica Davis (Violin), Adrian Aiello (Guitar)
PERFORMERS:
Alysha Umphress, Emily Skeggs, Arielle Jacobs, Lilli Cooper, Van Hughes, Robert Ariza, Benjamin Velez, Katie Hathaway, Joey Goldberg, Chris Silverberg, Jenny Rose Baker, Shannon Mullen, Yasmeen Audi, & Emma Hathaway
"Prom Was a Promise" performed at the BMI Smoker!
I was honored to have "Prom Was a Promise" featured at the latest BMI Smoker concert November 17th, 2016! Thanks to David Gardos, Emily Kaplan, Joey Goldberg, Molly Heller, and of course Katie Hathaway for bringing it to life!
Check out the video below and listen to the demo along with other songs from Starblasters here.
STAR BLASTERS follows 5 friends in their late twenties who are spending the summer working at the same local theme park where they spent their summers in high school. Neil has just returned to work at the park for the first time since leaving for college and is immediately confronted by his ten-year-old feud with his ex-concessions colleague and former best friend, Freddie. Neil and Freddie were inseparable growing up, but after Senior Prom, the two stopped speaking and haven’t spoken since. What was all the bad blood about? Listen as each shares their side of the story…