NEWS
THE INVENTION OF LANGUAGE performed at Millsaps College
February 27 – March 2, 2025
(see below)
MUSIC FOR SHOWS
For samples of original music produced for theater (including the Millsaps productions of Electra, Endgame, and Metamorphoses, the New Stage Theatre production of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, the Ridgeland High School production of Quazimodo!, and the Terry High School production of The Penny Dreadfuls), film, and dance, visit ReverbNation/stevengsmith.
ELECTRA: Nicole Saad
CHORUS LEADER: Rachel Evangeline Barham
CHORUS: Christine Ambrosek, Melinda Bott, Jane Buck, Lauren Garrett, Angela Hobgood, Melissa Hornsby, Ricara Kimbel, Greer Proctor, Ellen Schoolar, Rachel Thompson, Mary Kathryn Tucker, Virginia Walker, Joy Wallace, Julie White
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ORIGINAL MUSICALS
1. Real Life, the Idea (soundtrack 2000) – The Small College Musical
An MPB Mississippi Roads segment on the making of REAL LIFE, THE IDEA, produced by Ron Rodenmeyer, first aired on December 21, 2000.
WHAT IT’S ABOUT: New philosophy Ph.D. Creighton Malone thinks a small college is the place to be. Can he hang on to his job at Southeast West Virginia College after the President decides to axe him? Will senior business major Elizabeth Dalton take over the family chicken business and satisfy her ethical aspirations? Will Elizabeth and her friends manage to graduate? Does anyone know the whereabouts of real life?
CAST:
Creighton Malone, Assistant Professor of Philosophy: Steve Smith
J. Thurston Dalton, President: Wyatt Waters
Katherine Ammon, Academic Dean: Kathryn Rodenmeyer
Elizabeth Dalton, senior (business major): Nicole Saad
Ray Battle, senior (math major): Shane Atkinson
Kirk Whitlington, first-year (artist): Nehemiah Luckett
Jane Mary Colapietro, senior (basketball star): Stephanie Burke
Melba Matthews, Registrar: Beverly Branson
Nick Kopernic, Associate Professor of Physics: Lelon Thompson
Wesley Pound, Chief of Security: David Womack
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2. The Invention of Language
Staged reading/singing by Fondren Theatre Workshop at The Cedars in Jackson, MS, October 2022
FULL PRODUCTION BY FONDREN THEATRE WORKSHOP
Performances at Millsaps College February 27-March 2, 2025
WHAT IT’S ABOUT: Is language too dangerous to mess with? Is it safer when we sing it? This trilogy of short plays with short songs looks at the rewards and perils of speaking as some Very Important Words become available to early humans, to political and religious humans, and to near-future high-tech gender-various humans.
Rated PG [some profanity] and PHIL [written by a philosopher]
The 2022 reading/singing
DIRECTOR: John Howell
CAST:
The Older One/Father Amadeo/The Kid: James Anderson
Ad, Bhikkhu Vacana, The Chief: Josh Harris
Bar, Golden Rose, Gomez: Jenn Harris
Dar, Bhikkuni Gotami, Uhura: Mandy Kate Myers
Od, The Great Khan, Jones: JC Patterson
Stage Directions: John Howell
The 2025 production
DIRECTOR: John Howell
CAST:
The Older One/Father Amadeo/The Kid: Ward Emling
Ad, Bhikkhu Vacana, The Chief: Zane Hartfield
Bar, Golden Rose, Gomez: Nora Katz
Dar, Bhikkuni Gotami, Uhura: Raven McGowan
Od, The Great Khan, Jones: Harrison Palmerton
MUSIC BY THE ASSEMBLERS
LIGHTING DESIGN BY CONNOR SUTTON
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3. The New City Rag (in preparation)
WHAT IT’S ABOUT: College chums find each other again in one of America’s brand-new cities, which turns out to be a perilous port in a storm.
CHARACTERS:
The Mayor of New City, a relatively young go-getter
The Entourage, one or more people attending upon the Mayor
A Street Person, an older middle-aged man, for a while of uncertain sanity
R (Ray) Battle, a hip fortysomething filmmaker
Liz Russo, an earnest fortysomething journalist
Marion Dalton, Liz’s mother (only heard on Liz’s phone)
Maz [pronounced “mozz”] Amaze, a hippieish fortysomething musician
Jane Pound, a fortysomething straight-ahead OB/GYN doctor
Creighton Malone, a fiftyish, somewhat charming philosophy professor and author
Nick Kopernic, a sixtyish, sardonic retired physics professor
Gabriela, a fresh-faced junior employee at a bookstore
Jo Ann, the bookstore owner, an older, very urban woman
Wesley Pound, Jane’s estranged husband
Steven G. Smith 