Not Your Mom's Musical Theater

What People Are Saying About Something Wonderful I Missed: Holiday Edition

“Congratulations on a fabulous show. A lot of work and everyone shined…how wonderful the girls are with their 3 part harmony. Hard Candy Christmas was fabulous.” – Robin Boyd

“Love the audience choice song!” “The show was wonderful.” “Talented performers, diverse music, good narration/context.” “Very well put together.” “Wonderful talent – don’t miss the next one!” “I very much enjoyed ‘I Hear Bells‘. Lovely.” – audience feedback from 12/7/14 at the Littleton Opera House

What People Are Saying About Something Wonderful I Missed

“If you want theatre that’s predictable, safe, familiar, and comfortable, then by all means, stay away from NOT YOUR MOM’S MUSICAL THEATRE. If, however, you like your theatre served up with a big ol’ heapin’ helpin’ of innovation, passion, quirkiness and quality, then get yourself to wherever they happen to be and treat yourself to a feast for the eyes, the ears, the heart and most importantly, the soul.” – Michael J. Curtiss, reviewer for Caught in the Act

“Whether you’re a musical theater lover, or just enjoy an evening of lively performances of terrific tunes, you’ll have a great time at a NYMMT performance! It’s a good thing to support the arts in NH, but its even better when your money is well-spent supporting excellent performances and innovative presentations.” – Judy Pancoast, songwriter and performer

“NYMMT” consistently provides cutting-edge, lesser-known — and FUN! — theatrical performances. Go.” – Kathleen Palmer, Features Editor, Nashua Telegraph

“Choosing a program for a concert is a challenge. Each song must complement the others, forming a cohesive whole while still standing out as individual numbers.

This becomes even more difficult when you aren’t exactly sure what a song sounds like, and won’t know for certain until after you’ve ordered the music.

Fortunately for Jamie Feinberg, artistic director of Not Your Mom’s Musical Theater, she has yet to hit a wrong note while planning the “Something Wonderful I Missed” concert series. The series spotlights songs from lesser known musicals from the years 1963, 1973, 1983, 1993 and 2003.” – Teresa Santoski, Nashua’s Encore, 2/21/13 (read more here)

“There are few things more terrible than missing something great. Which is why it’s awesome that Not Your Mom’s Musical Theatre is offering viewers a chance to catch up on a concert series about the musicals of the 20th and 21st centuries. ” – Kelly Sennott, Hippo, 2/21/13 pg. 32 (read more here)

What People Are Saying About Weird Romance

“WEIRD ROMANCE by Not Your Mom’s Musical Theater = surprising. Not surprising that it’s good, which it is, but surprising that a musical with the camp, funny and cheesy qualities of a pulp science fiction novel also has the capacity to plumb the depths of sincere emotion, and pull you in with its poignancy. Nice job, NYMMT. You got me.” – theater critic Michael Curtiss

“Two performances stood out to me. Marc Murai’s Kevin Drayton was appropriately intense/fragile and his interaction with the hologram Nola in “You Remember” was thoroughly hypnotic. He completely lost himself in the role; the emotional roller coaster ride his character took was reflected through his eyes. I was moved to tears by his expression of loss. The highlight of the performance for me by far was Jocelyn Duford’s Nola. Her transformation from young girl to elderly woman was subtle, nuanced and totally convincing. When she sang however, she just gutted me. I expected to cry during the performance at least twice (I always do when I listen to the soundtrack), but I was totally unprepared for the wracking sobs she elicited from me.” – from a review by Andrew Pinard

“Southern NH theater company transmogrifies the weird onstage into musicals…

The best voice in the show belongs to Becky Rush, who as bag lady P. Burke brings an honest humility and humanity to the role. Her solo of “Stop and See Me” is the play’s best song. As Delphi, the Petri dish-created beautiful blonde star, Jennifer Sue Mallard also wows the audience, while Brett Billings as Paul, the corporation CEO’s son with a heart, and Daniel Holmes as Joe, the lab technician with a conscience, also turn in good performances. The second act, “Her Pilgrim Soul,” is by far the stronger story and was derived from an episode of “The Twilight Zone” when the series was re-imagined in the mid-1980s….As the researcher Kevin, actor Marc Murai must do the emotional heavy lifting….As Kevin’s assistant, Daniel, Mario Arruda is convincing as the researcher whose curiosity leads him to investigate a phenomenon he is quicker to accept than his partner. But as with the first act, the strongest are the female roles. Jocelyn Duford turns in an excellent performance as Nola, the woman who died more than a half century ago and now relives her life from within a computer-generated image. Lauren Dillon as Kevin’s wife, Carol, nearly steals the play with the song “A Man,” which she sings as a duet with Mallard playing the role of her friend, Rebecca.”- headline from a review in the Nashua Telegraph’s Encore

“Go see Not Your Mom’s Musical Theater’s production of ‘Weird Romance’ at the Derry Opera House. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, it’ll be WAY better than Cats. DO. IT.” – Shawna Chiampa

From the Londonderry Patch: “The NH Premiere of a really unique and compelling sci-fi musical with music by Disney’s Alan Menken, entitled Weird Romance, opens at the Derry Opera House on Friday. Shows run Fri-Sun for the next two weekends. The show is produced by Not Your Mom’s Musical Theater and the Greater Derry Arts Council….”

Other audience quotes:

“Waiting for NYMMT’s production of Weird Romance to open… Three more shows to come next week. Don’t miss the NH premiere of this remarkable set of one act musicals with music by Alan Menken at the Derry Opera House.” – Andrew Pinard

“you should plan to see this incredibly talented Dartmouth grad [Jocelyn Duford] in Not Your Mom’s Musical Theatre’s production of Weird Romance at the Derry Opera House next weekend. I saw it Saturday night and it was GREAT but the audience was small. Please go out and support this great theatre troupe…You WILL be entertained!” – Judy Pancoast

“Just saw Weird Romance by Not Your Mom’s Musical Theatre. Two great stories, well directed and performed. If you are a musical theatre fan, you really should go see this. Runs through next weekend.” – Dave Agans

“If you are looking for something to do next weekend and you like musical theater, consider Weird Romance, put on by Not Your Mom’s Musical Theater. It was great – funny and poignant and some great voices. Second act actually had both Doug and me choked up (Marc Murai killed it as Kevin) and we thought Mario Arruda did an awesome job, especially on “Need to Know”. Jennifer Sue Mallard, Jocelyn Duford, and Becky Rush have clear, strong and beautiful voices – period.” – Caroline Boyd Tricarico

“What a wonderful two evenings of great performances! Had the pleasure of seeing Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 and Weird Romance -two very entertaining shows! Great job to all involved!” – Sophie Linkroum

“Excellent…you put the music back in musical theater….The show sounds amazing…” – overheard at the theater by a patron

What People Are Saying About See What I Wanna See:

“Thanks Jamie for bringing this show to NH! Really enjoyed the stories, music and cast!” – Jackie O’Dowd

“I predict that you will enjoy this show.” – The Medium

“A wonderful show! Don’t miss it.” – Michael Redmond

In the Hippo’s Best of 2012 listing:

Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson was named the “best live theatrical event” in the Best of Nashua category in the Hippo’s annual Best of issue! This means of the thousands who voted, we made the top four! The other three events were from very established professional companies – the Palace Theatre and Capitol Center for the Arts. Congratulations to all of the winners, but thank you all SO MUCH for your support and for spreading the word about what we do here at NYMMT! We also made the front page of the arts section this week. See page 15 and page 28 here.

What people are saying about our concert series:

“If you want theatre that’s predictable, safe, familiar, and comfortable, then by all means, stay away from NOT YOUR MOM’S MUSICAL THEATRE. If, however, you like your theatre served up with a big ol’ heapin’ helpin’ of innovation, passion, quirkiness and quality, then get yourself to wherever they happen to be and treat yourself to a feast for the eyes, the ears, the heart and most importantly, the soul.” – Michael J. Curtiss, reviewer for Caught in the Act

“Whether you’re a musical theater lover, or just enjoy an evening of lively performances of terrific tunes, you’ll have a great time at a NYMMT performance! It’s a good thing to support the arts in NH, but its even better when your money is well-spent supporting excellent performances and innovative presentations.” – Judy Pancoast, songwriter and performer

“NYMMT” consistently provides cutting-edge, lesser-known — and FUN! — theatrical performances. Go.” – Kathleen Palmer, Features Editor, Nashua Telegraph

“For every successful musical like “Fiddler on the Roof” or “Chicago,” there’s a flop like “Dude” or “Via Galactica” that barely saw the spotlight of day.

Not Your Mom’s Musical Theater is bringing highlights from these Broadway disasters back to the stage with “A Series of Unfortunate Entertainment.””

Click here to read the full article.                                        (from the Nashua Telegraph on 7/6/12)

Broadway bygones                                  (From the Nashua Telegraph on 3/19/12, pg. 3)

Can you name the biggest musicals of 1962? How about the ones that weren’t so big? Delve into the lesser-known aspects of musical theater history – and have plenty of laughs along the way – at “An Evening of Unfortunate Entertainment: 1962” at 7 p.m. at St. Peter’s Church, 3 Peabody Row in Londonderry.

Emceed by Deb Shaw and directed by Jamie Feinberg, this concert will feature lesser-known musical theater selections from the year 1962, set within their historical context. The cast includes Sheree Owens, Anja Parish Ward, Glen Grimard, Joey T., Sarah Murai, Elliot Owens, Lauren Friedman, Dave Ostrowski and Jocelyn Duford.

This is the first concert in a family-friendly five-part series, with the remaining four concerts spotlighting the years 1972, 1982, 1992 and 2002.

Admission is by donation, with a suggested donation of $10 for adults, $5 for students. For more information, visit http://www.notyourmomsmusicaltheater.com or email notyourmoms@gmail.com.

Teresa Santoski (who writes The Week in Preview) hopes “An Evening of Unfortunate Entertainment: 1962” will include the oft-overlooked gem “Boom-Boom” from Neil Simon’s “Little Me.”

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/954016-196/the-week-in-preview-for-march-19.html

A Facebook wall posting:

“This company is awesome. And you spell it “theatER.” Thankyouthankyouthankyou, and yay NYMMT!!” -Vicky Sandin

On Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson:

We were featured on “Word of Mouth” on NHPR. http://www.nhpr.org/post/andrew-jackson%E2%80%A6-musical

http://www.e-pages.dk/thehippo/170/  We’re pg. 38-39

And the Encore (in the Telegraph) in Nashua ran a cover story on us! Click here.

What our audiences are saying about it:

“Just saw Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson. It is an amazing, funny, clever, and very well written, directed,and acted musical. It is a must see for anyone who likes new and very cutting edge musicals.” – Tom Anastasi

“Just saw Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson at the Amato Center in Milford. Not Your Mom’s Musical Theatre put it on, and it was fantastic. Energetic, intense, hilarious!, and actually educational in a totally didn’t-detract-from-the-fun way.” – Dave Agans

Just found this blurb at Encore Buzz.

Other:

The Hippo ran a nice article publicizing Not Your Mom’s Halloween Party on October 30th at 7 p.m.: (full link here)

“Just because Halloween is full of death– monsters, zombies, and vampires — doesn’t mean it has to be a depressing time. In fact, Not Your Mom’s Musical Theater will be hosting a party that’ll make life worth living (sorry, zombies)….It will be an eclectic show featuring musical theater, two bands, contests, food and lots of blood and gore.” – Adam Coughlin, arts editor

Here is what people are saying about our production of [title of show]:

“This logo rocks.” -the original [title of show] cast on their facebook page, about one of our beautiful posters by Robin Boyd, shown here:

Not Your Mom’s Musical Theater will perform the New Hampshire premiere of the Tony Award-nominated Broadway musical [title of show] at 7 and 9 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 22, and at 8 p.m., Friday, Jan. 28, in the Lyceum at Derryfield School, 2108 River Road…..(read the full article at Good Good Manchester here.)

“Insert title here: Not Your Mom’s Musical Theater will perform the New Hampshire premiere of the Broadway musical [title of show] on Friday, Jan. 28 at 8 p.m…..The musical is about, get ready for it, writing a show about writing a show and includes only a cast of four and a keyboard. The production features Jennifer Mallard of Manchester, Joey T. of Londonderry, Heidi Welch of Hillsboro and Michael Gallagan of Manchester. Anja Parish of Hudson is dance captain and female understudy…” -The Hippo 1-27-2011    (with an accompanying vampire-killing photo of the cast)

“Had a lovely evening seeing [title of show]…Jamie Feinberg and Jennifer Sue Mallard you were both simply amazing tonight!!!!!!! GO SEE THE SHOW if you have time!” -Jennifer Holbrook, musical director

“It’s freezing outside, but it was HOT at TOS! Thanks to the cast and crew for entertaining me! Kudos to Jennifer Sue Mallard, Joey Tomacchio, Jamie Feinberg, Nat Ward, Anja Parish, and everyone else for a great job… One more chance next Friday-check it out!!! -Deb Shaw, local actor/producer/director

“Well… that show was truly amazing. Thank you for bringing it to NH. I wish I could have been a part of it. It has inspired me to write a vehicle for me and Joey tentatively titled “Shy Bears”. -Dave Ostrowski, local actor and NYMMT producer

Here is what people were saying about our recent production of The Musical of Musicals: The Musical!, as well as links to full length articles about the show.

“These actors are fearless in how they embrace the physical humor, and very much in their element in bringing the comedy to an intimate yet enthusiastic and appreciative audience. Couple this with the fact that they’re all gifted singers and dancers, and you have a cast that gives one hundred percent in terms of the impact they have. As the four morph from persona to persona, they have to not only keep the farce fresh, but the energy levels consistent so that the show doesn’t flag. Which they do; it’s impossible to stop laughing once these four get you started.  TMOMTM rockets from start to finish, fueled largely in part by the non-stop guffaws powering it, thanks to this quintessentially clever quartet of comedians… In all, THE MUSICAL OF MUSICALS: THE MUSICAL!  is overdone, overblown, over-the-top, and, though it clocks in at a little over two hours, over too soon.” -Michael Curtiss, Caught in the Act

To read the buzz about the show that ran in the Nashua Telegraph the week prior, click here.

And what our audiences were saying:

“ATTENTION NH Musical Theater Geeks: Go see “Musical of Musicals” at Boyntons Taproom in Manch-Vegas. It is by far the most solid/talented cast I have yet to see since moving here to NH in 2007. It runs tonight at 8p and tomorrow at 2p & 7p. If you love musical theater, you will love the poking-fun humor of this show.” -Marc Murai, local director/actor

‘I wholeheartedly recommend seeing this show! I had a wonderful two hour escape into musical theatre-land in such a creative way with an extremely talented cast.” -Deb Shaw, local director/producer/actor

“Saw today’s matinee of The Musical of Musicals: The Musical! – awesome!! What’s next?” -Caroline Boyd