![]() I grew up on Mel Brookes movies and things like "Airplane," and I have always loved referential humour. That kind of work is something that I have really loved. Question: The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes - How did that come about?ĭimond: We have drawn on a lot of sources for inspiration. It's also a great way to kind of connect you to the people who are interested in your work and are interested in supporting you. Obviously we are incredibly grateful for the support that we got from the community. ![]() It really allowed us to do the album the way that we wanted to do it. Question: So you're proponents of Kickstarter?ĭimond: Yeah. It wasn't produced by a label, it was just us. We had some time available and we had some money, which we raised on Kickstarter. It was intense but we also left the O'Neill with a lot of respect.ĭimond: It was a great experience and came away from that summer with better connections and a better understanding of how things work. It was crazy and it was fun to be in the process to see how these professionals were working, how the process evolved the piece. Question: Was the O'Neill this amazing back then as well? Consequently, Michael carved out the role of the music assistant. They ended up figuring out that we could come here on a four-week residency. They introduced us to Martin Ketteling who was the O'Neil's literary manager. We ended up winning the musical theatre award for Dani Girl and then got to go the festival. Question: Was this around the time when you guys got the fellowship to come to the O'Neill?ĭimond: We were here in 2008, because of Dani Girl, which we wrote for my thesis project, and was as a result eligible for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, where they recognize theatre students across the country. I said yes and she had a couple of thoughts and we worked the song around what she thought and she just turned the song into what it became. Basically the story is that I finished and she goes, "It's supposed to be funny, right?" Even in college Patina had a lot of respect and she was this amazing performer and I was singing for her. So we were just like, "Hey Patina, we have this song we'd like you to sing." Chris wasn't available so I had to sing this song for Patina, on my own. She was at Carnegie Mellon but I didn't know her because I was mainly in the music school. Question: Did you know her because she was also at Carnegie Melon? Kooman: It's a pretty interesting story though, because Chris had some interviews with people at CMU to get some ideas for the song, and then we wanted Patina Miller to sing it. Kooman: Chris had the concept of the song.Ĭhristopher Dimond: It was one of the first songs that we wrote together, it was something we thought would be funny to take this character that is always placed in the background and playing the token minority in an ensemble and give her a moment in the sun and allow her to air her grievances with the theatre industry. Question: What about the song, "Random Black Girl"? How did that happen? Then he asked me to write his thesis show, which ended up being Dani Girl. ![]() That project became Home Made Fusion, which was just a little song cycle for us in 2006. I asked him if he wanted to work together on a project. I took a lyric writing class with Chris, and there was about eight of us in it, and Chris was by the best lyricist in the class. I felt that musical theatre was something that was really captivating me and I forced my way into the drama school. I was writing orchestral pieces in choral and chamber music. Question: How did you guys end up collaborating and why do you both like working together? Michael Kooman: I was at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), an undergrad in composition and he was a graduate student. Kooman and Dimond sat down with to discuss their work, the movies that inspire them and the perils of chugging too many iced teas before a show. Howard Barnes is a story of a man who wakes up to discover his life has become a musical, and his quest to escape is the crux of the story. ![]() Throughout the week, the public readings have been sold out. The two are at the top of their game with their musical The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes.Ĭurrently in development at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Music Theatre Conference, the show's cast is made up of Hunter Foster, Kate Wetherhead, James Judy, Sara Gettelfinger, Price Waldman, Natalie Charle Ellis, Harris Doran, Sarah Stiles, Sergi Robles, Veronica J. Kooman and Dimond are purveyors of pop culture, and the classy duo is capable of producing some very funny work. ![]()
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