Larson Legacy Concert at Adelphi - September 25th, 2021

I am THRILLED to get to work with these talented artists on my upcoming Larson Legacy concert at Adelphi University!! Over a year ago I had the honor of receiving a Jonathan Larson grant, so it’s exciting to FINALLY get to showcase my work in person and celebrate Jonathan’s Legacy.

Join me Saturday, Sep 25th @ 3pm where I’ll be featuring songs from a bunch of my musicals in development. The concert is co-produced by Ruthie Fierberg and myself, and Music Directed by David Gardos.

Featuring: Micaela Diamond, Hannah Corneau, Lincoln Clauss, Troy Iwata, Jon-Michael Reese, Marissa Rosen, Florrie Bagel, Vishal Vaidya, and myself.

With an incredible ensemble featuring: KC Dela Cruz, Joseph Fierberg, Alesha Jeter, Joey Miceli, Kianna Kelly-Futch, Bill FitzPatrick, Paul Esswein and Alexia Sanchez.

CLICK HERE to get tickets! And check out the write up on Broadway World HERE.

Lost City Radio 2-day Residency with The BringAbout!

Thanks to Jennifer Jancuska and her miraculous group of BringAbout artists, Joél Perez and I were invited to workshop our new show LOST CITY RADIO for two days in a rare opportunity to hear and see work on its feet early in the development process.

Thanks to Jennifer for her leadership and choreography, to Scott Wasserman and his music team for bringing these songs to life for the first time EVER, to the incomparable Taylor Iman Jones for giving me all the chills with her epic performance, and all the performers for reminding me what real talent and artistry feels like.

We’ll have footage to share soon, but in the meantime, check out photos of the process!

"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!

"I Miss The Spray!" - La Jolla Playhouse

I had a blast writing this song with David Kamp for La Jolla Playhouse celebrating that we can all taste the imminent return of Live Theater! It's coming y'all! Thank you to the ridiculously talented Storm Lever, Joél Perez, Raymond J. Lee, and Allison Spratt Pearce for bringing it to life!! And thank you to Eric Keen-Louie and Gabe Greene for giving us the opportunity! The song starts around 2 minutes in!

"Old Country" Video - Resurrected To Promote A Fair Election!

While this song was written in 2011 for my musical AFTERLAND, the unaltered lyrics feel extremely prescient right here, right now, as we approach the end of a contentious election and the prospect of millions of votes not being counted. My friend Nic Cory had the brilliant idea to make a video of “Old Country” to promote ProtectTheResults.com, and Katie and I said HELL YES! It’s a rollicking ride of a video that I hope you enjoy, and please make sure your vote gets counted!!

FEATURING Benjamin Velez, Katie Hathaway, Maria-Christina Oliveras, Joél Perez, Emma Hathaway (Fiddle), and Antwayn Hopper (Narrator) ANIMATION by Jay Marks / EDITING by Roberto Araujo PRODUCED & DIRECTED by Nic Cory

"Borderline" featured in the NY Theater Barn New Work Series

Aryanna and I were lucky to be able to share two songs from our musical BORDERLINE, along with our director Sarna Lapine, as part of the NY Theater Barn’s New Work series! They’ve already featured 50 new musicals in development and we were honored to get to join that line up. We chatted about the origin of the show, and what the process has been like thus far. Plus, we featured two kick ass performances from Micaela Diamond (The Cher Show) and Bryonha Marie Parham (Prince of Broadway).

You can watch the full show here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSBLoNYG5Gs

Our section begins at the 17:00 Minute mark! Thank you to the wonderful Joe Barros and Jen Sandler for having us on!!

KISS MY AZTEC to be part of VIVA Broadway! October 1st!

I’m excited to share that Kiss My Aztec will be presenting a digital version of our opening number as part of Playbill and The Broadway League’s upcoming ¡VIVA Broadway! concert!! Directed by Sergio Trujillo and hosted by Andréa Burns, the concert special is packed with star-studded performances to mark milestones and contributions by the Latinx community to Broadway and theatre at large. Some of the MEGA stars involved include Lucie Arnaz, Gloria Estefan, John Leguizamo, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Chita Rivera, Daphne Rubin-Vega, and Thalía!!

The concert will premiere on Playbill.com, Playbill’s YouTube Channel and on The Broadway League’s website (Viva.Broadway) on Thursday October 1, 2020 at 8PM ET and remain available for viewing until Monday October 5 at 8PM ET.

Thom Thomas Award Grant

I’m thrilled to be one of the three recipients of this year’s Thom Thomas award, honoring the late Playwright and Screenwriter Thom Thomas. Thank you to the Dramatist Guild Foundation for this honor, which is a lifeline of support during this time of Covid when the theater world is facing an uncertain future. Congratulations to my two fellow awardees, Erika Dickerson-Despenza and Julia Meinwald!

Check out more details on Playbill!

"Wanna Go Out?" in BroadwayWorld Living Room Concert

In this time of crisis, quarantine, and social distancing, BroadwayWorld featured a video of my song “Wanna Go Out?” from BORDERLINE in their Living Room Concert series! It feels like an apt song for these times when instead of going out, Anna and Jesse decide to stay in. Thank you to David Gardos for helping with the guitar arrangement, and to Micaela Diamond and Nathan Salstone for recording this together from their isolation. They do me proud!

Check out the feature on BroadwayWorld’s site here!

We’ve also posted the video on YouTube:

Jonathan Larson Grant 2020!!

I’m am OVER THE MOON to be a recipient of one of this year’s Jonathan Larson Grants. Everything that it represents and everything that it does to elevate new work is what gives me hope when working on challenging new shows that may not seem at first to be the usual fodder for a musical. Thank you to the American Theater Wing for this crazy ridiculous honor, alongside the talented Rona Siddiqui, Anna K. Jacobs, and The Bengsons!

Check out their website for the full announcement!

Fred Ebb Award Ceremony

I’m still reeling from Monday night when I had the privilege to accept the 2019 Fred Ebb Award and share some songs from my musical Borderline. Thank you to everyone who was there to share it with me and to my phenomenal performers Sarah Lynn Marion and Matt Dallal and my MD David Gardos for their extraordinary talents making me look good!! Nights like this don’t come often or at all when you’re an aspiring writer, so I’m feeling gobsmacked, grateful, and hella lucky that some stars aligned to make me this giddy and humbled on this snowy Monday evening :)

Thank you to Kate Baldwin for her beautiful speech about Fred and what he means to all of us, thank you to Mitch Bernard and the foundation for supporting new writers, and thank you to my co-winner Angela Sclafani for her talent!

Fred Ebb Award!!

I’m OVER THE MOON to be the 2019 winner of the Fred Ebb award, along with Angela Sclafani!!

Kate Baldwin will present the award at the Fred Ebb Foundation's ceremony December 2

Fred Ebb is an icon of the theater whose songs I’ve sung in my head, on the street, in my bedroom since I was a kid growing up in Miami. After living in New York for 12 years now, it still makes me tear up every time I hear “New York, New York” and hear the lyric “If you can make it there you’ll make it anywhere,” a mantra for aspiring artists in New York that rings so true and has been a guiding light for me during many dark moments of doubt. This is a very VERY difficult business to break into, and it takes years and years of trying and trying without results, many failures, many dead ends, and a lot of luck. And while I know things like this award are mostly luck, it’s wonderful to have that affirmation to keep going and keep writing. Thank you to the Fred Ebb Foundation for this honor!

Here is an article about the award from Playbill.

"Borderline" at the Dramatist Guild Foundation Fellows Showcase

I had a blast presenting material from Borderline at the DGF Fellows Showcase at the Signature Theater! Aryanna and I had a wonderful experience developing Borderline in the Fellows Program over the last year under the guidance of Michael Korie, Larry O’Keefe, and Allison Gold. It was a thrill to see the work presented by our other fellows, such a phenomenal showcase of talent.

Special thanks to Associate Director Signe V. Harriday, Director Candis C. Jones and Music Director Josh Kight, not to mention Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty who created the program in the first place!

You can check out more pictures from the event on Lia Chang’s site or on BroadwayWorld!

1st Row: Michael Korie, Benjamin Velez, Jay Adana, Kit Yan. 2nd Row: Michael Korie, Charles Gershman, Melissa Li, Ericka Dickerson-Despenza, Aryanna Garber, Nambi E. Kelley, Zeniba Now, Rae Binstock, Zack Zadek, Mathilde Dratwa, Laurence O’Keefe. Photo by Lia Chang

"Kiss My Aztec" is a hit at La Jolla Playhouse!

Thrilled that “Kiss My Aztec” finally opened at La Jolla Playhouse and that the critics and audience seem to be having a blast! Shout out to my peerless collaborators John Leguizamo, Tony Taccone, and David Kamp. We still run until October 13th, so be sure to check it out if you’re going to be in southern California before then!!

Some review highlights:

San Diego Union-Tribune

“A little like “In the Heights” crashing into “The Book of Mormon” somewhere along “Avenue Q.”

“The show has the vibrant musical diversity (and welcome multi-ethnic mix) of that first show; the R-rated impudence and unfettered showiness of the second; and, along with the buoyant spirit, the fuzzy puppets of the third.”

 “Don’t Tell Me What I Can’t Do” (one of scads of strong tunes by the gifted young composer Benjamin Velez)

Times of San Diego

“cheeky, salty, irreverent, playfully wicked (even a little scandalous)”

 “The most potent musical numbers bookend the piece and provide the most resonance with today”

“You have to be impressed by the palpable energy and ebullience on display”

Broadway World

“fun folklore fantasy that entertains as it touches upon issues that still resonate today.

 “This musical has a feverish energy, and biting commentary”

 “funny, high energy, bold and brash, deliberately challenging”

 “Music by Benjamin Velez, and lyrics by David Kamp, Velez, and Leguizamo have created genre-hopping song infused with salsa, jazz, hip-hop, and more. It's a fitting mix for a show about forced integration of diametrically opposed forces that the show doesn't fit any one musical style.”

Talkin Broadway

“the best part of the show is the songs. Benjamin Velez's music is a rich mix of styles. The melodies please the ear and energize the action”

Take Five Feature in the Columbia College Today Magazine

Excited to have been asked to do a Take Five feature for Columbia College Today and reminisce about those good old days in undergrad!

You can check it out here on their online version.

"Borderline" featured in The Day - at the O'Neill National Musical Theater Conference

Aryanna and I are so thrilled to be able to workshop “Borderline” at the O’Neill this summer, and had a great feature done about us and the show in the local paper! Check it out on their site HERE.

Thank you to everyone who made this show possible! Including our fabulous director Jaki Bradley, our incomparable music director David Gardos, our brilliant dramaturg Carrie Chapter, our incredible stage manager Lizzy Lee, and the O’Neill’s Alexander Gemignani and Lexy Leuszler for giving us the opportunity in the first place!

Kiss My Aztec reviews at Berkeley Rep!

I am on cloud nine and thrilled for our entire cast, crew, band, and creative team that our first ever iteration of this show, and my FIRST ever production, has been a critical success! Check out a few great write ups below:

• San Francisco Chronicle

• San Francisco Examiner

• Broadway World

Kiss My Aztec Photos!

Our Berkeley World Premiere is in Previews and Broadway World posted some kick ass photos from the production! Check them out in their article on Broadway World!

"Borderline" heading to the O'Neill Musical Theater Conference!

I am SO thrilled to share that “Borderline,” my collaboration with book writer Aryanna Garber, will be at the O’Neill National Musical Theater Conference this summer!! We’ll have presentations June 22nd, 23rd, 26th, and 28th, and you can find more information on their official site. More info to come!!

"Kiss My Aztec" Casting Announced!

I couldn’t be more thrilled to have our world premiere cast in place for “Kiss My Aztec”. This crazy talented group of superstars will be doing both the Berkeley and La Jolla Productions and I’m excited we get to birth this baby together! Come see us this summer and fall if you’re on the west coast!

Check out the write up on Broadway World at this link.

Tickets are available at Berkeley Rep’s site and will hopefully go on sale for La Jolla soon!