Seth Christenfeld.
Lyricist. Librettist. Dramaturg. Other Nouns.
THE OXFORD EPIDEMIC
Book and Lyrics by Seth Christenfeld and James K. Ballard
Music by James K. Ballard
Suggested by the novel Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm
It is 1911. Oxford University is a stable and orderly--and all-male--world. When the world-famous beauty and illusionist Zuleika Dobson comes to Oxford to visit her professor grandfather, every young man on campus falls desperately in love with her--particularly the trendsetting Duke of Dorset. Zuleika rebuffs the Duke's confession of love, leading him to threaten suicide if she will not love him: a decision which sets off a chain reaction that threatens to destroy Oxford and, perhaps, all of England. But will he go through with it? And will she care? And who's that older man who's telling us the story?
The Oxford Epidemic is a dark musical farce that--in addition to providing plenty of laughter (we hope)--examines issues of obsession, male stupidity, and war. The score is influenced by all sorts of British music, from Elgar and Gilbert and Sullivan to the Beatles and Adele. (We keep trying to get a James Bond theme in there, but we keep cutting it.)
The Oxford Epidemic was conceived and developed at NYU's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program as James' and my thesis project. Our first draft received a reading there on April 22nd, 2014. The director was Nick Corley, the music director was Milton Granger, and the cast was as follows:
The Writer: Michael Winther
The Duke of Dorset: Brian Charles Rooney
Zuleika Dobson: Mary Kate Morrissey
Katie/Woman: Katie Emerson
Man 1: Daniel Everidge
Noaks/Man 2: Jed Resnick
Warden/Man 3: Curt Olds
A reading of a revised draft was held at NYU as part of the CDP (Collaborative Development and Production) program on March 20th, 2015. Robert Heller directed, the music director was Max Mamon, Brandon Anderson was the stage manager/dramaturg, and the cast was as follows:
The Writer: Bryan Austermann
The Duke of Dorset: Trevor Bunce
Zuleika Dobson: Corynne Peters
Katie: Gwynne Richmond
Noaks: Joshua Israel
Ensemble: Ziye Hu, Kaitlyn Reda, Matt Stoke, and Taylor Ybarra
CDP continued with a fully-staged workshop at the Frederick Loewe Theatre at NYU/Tisch on July 25th, 26th, and 27th, 2015. Robert Heller directed, Mark Evans was the music director, Brandon Anderson was the stage manager and dramaturg, Mia Sommese was the assistant director and choreographer, Zac Fadler was the assistant music director, Aaron Bowersox designed the lights, and the cast was as follows:
The Writer: Bryan Austermann
The Duke of Dorset: Colin Parrinello
Zuleika Dobson: Gabrielle Mariella
Katie/Ensemble: Emily Seal
Noaks/Alvarez/Mr. Trent-Garby/Ensemble: Zac Fadler
Mélisande/Ensemble: Kaitlyn Reda
Warden/The MacQuern/Ensemble: Emilio Madrid-Kuser
Homme Français/Lord Sayes/Ensemble: Spencer Perdeck
Uomo Italiano/Sir John Marraby/Ensemble: Hector Fortun
Below, you can watch videos of two songs from the show; click on Media>Audio above for demos.
The Wonder That Is Me
Sung by Brian Charles Rooney
Good-Looking Corpse
Sung by Brian Charles Rooney
with Forest Van Dyke, James K. Ballard, Devin Ilaw, and Jonny Pearson