The Powerhouse Theatre, in association with Interstate 5, will premiere a new musical, Making Beautiful, with music and lyrics by Ryan Scott Oliver, Friday, November 18.
It will run for four weeks through Saturday, December 10 at the Powerhouse Theatre in Santa Monica.
With a score influenced by Jason Robert Brown, William Finn, and Stephen Sondheim, Making Beautiful tells the stories of five 20-somethings: a struggling artist, a woman who falls for gay men, a quirky Catholic, an adulterous playboy, and a hypochondriac.
This is Oliver’s fourth musical. He’s also composed an opera, a film score, Hollywood Calls, a song cycle and incidental music for a number of plays, and written a play and the books for three revues.
He has been music director on a number of productions, including Hedwig and the Angry Inch at Celebration Theatre (2004 – Ovation Award Best Musical Intimate Theatre).
For two years, he was Director of Music for Pasadena’s Opera of the Foothills, and currently runs The G.A.T.E. Summer Musical Theatre Workshop (www.pasadenamusicaltheatre.com).
Oliver took his B.A. in Music Composition from UCLA and will soon complete his M.A. in Musical Theatre Composition at NYU’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. Finn is one of his professors.
He has been awarded both the UCLA Regents Scholarship and the John Denver Scholarship for Composition.
Musical Director of Making Beautiful is Brett Ryback, and Andrew Shafer is directing.
A founding member of Interstate 5, Shafer currently attends UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and Television with a double major in playwriting and directing. He has also studied at the Lee Strasburg Institute, The Groundlings’ School, Class Act, and Theater of NOTE writing workshops.
Interstate 5 is an officially registered UCLA student theatre company.
The set design is by Chris Murillo. The lighting design is by Libby Jensen. The costume design is by Hilary Parkens.Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. at the Powerhouse Theatre 3116 Second Street in Santa Monica. Ticket prices are $20 for all performances, $10 for students with ID’s (Groups of 10+ receive an additional 10% discount For tickets, please call the Powerhouse Theatre at (310) 396-3680 x3 or visit www.powerhousetheatre.com.
