A brand-new musical with lyrics by Danielle Koenig and music by Justin D. Cook and featuring Bradley Greenwald as the Postman (a man who moves through his route with an easy, unassuming charm: carrying parcels, fixing loose latches, and checking in on anyone who might need a hand) and Katherine Fried as the Daughter (convinced she was in control of her life - until the baby came. Now, she’s trapped in a cycle of spit-up and existential dread, staring at the ceiling at 3 a.m., wondering if sleep was just a myth she once believed in).
New Plays
Musicals
Composer
Justin D. Cook is a Minneapolis-based composer, music director, and sound designer with an MFA in Musical Theater Writing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. His original work has been seen at Lincoln Center, Circle in the Square Theater School, UCLA, Syracuse University, Musical Theater West (Long Beach, CA), York Theater Company, Rattlestick Playwright’s Theater, Macalester College, Nautilus Music-Theater, and others. He was a participant in the long-running Composer/Librettist Studio (Nautilus Music-Theater) and a two-time NMTC semifinalist. As a music director, he has often worked with Children’s Theater Company, ILLUSION THEATER, Nautilus Music-Theater, UCLA, University of Northwestern – St. Paul, among many other theaters and universities.
Lyricist
Danielle Koenig is a queer writer, actor, and comedian based in New York and Los Angeles. Their full-length work has been developed at Second Stage, Musical Theater Factory, Circle In The Square Theater School, Prospect Musicals, and more. They have been commissioned by FUSE Theatre and multiple times by the Brooklyn Children’s Theater and are a proud graduate of NYU’s Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program and a member of UNTITLED Musical Writers Group. Their standalone songs have been seen at theatrical venues across New York City and beyond including Joe’s Pub, Rattlestick Playwright's Theater, 54 Below, Lincoln Center, Imagination Stage in Washington DC, and more.
IG: @danielle_koenig | DanielleKoenig.com
Director (A Pickle, The Postmans’s Daughter, Scarecrow on Fire), Executive Producing Director
Michael founded ILLUSION THEATER in 1974. Over the past 50 years, he has guided nearly 500 plays to production. Most recently Michael directed T. Mychael Rambo's PRESENT, Judy, Joan & Joni (conceived by Michael and Roberta Carlson), the premiere of Michael Egan's stage adaptation Five Minutes of Heaven, and In This Moment...Now. Favorite projects he has directed include Allison Moore’s Ivey award winning My Antonia, Bill W. & Dr. Bob by Samuel Shem and Janet Surrey, James Still’s Miranda, Kate Guentzel in The Pink Unicorn, and Jeffrey Hatcher and Chan Poling’s A Night in Olympus. With Roberta Carlson, Michael created the musical Only One Sophie. Michael is part of the team that created ILLUSION’s Education/Prevention program in 1977 starting with the award-winning play Touch. Michael received the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Ivey Award.
Postman - The Postman’s Daughter
Bradley Greenwald is a singer, actor, writer and director. For over thirty years he has performed with almost every theater, dance company and music ensemble in the Twin Cities. He adapted Madeleine L’Engle’s novel A Wrinkle in Time into a libretto for Libby Larsen’s opera; wrote the book and lyrics for C. (adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac), and Johnny Skeeky, or The Remedy for Everything, (adaptation of the Puccini comedy with Steven Epp), both produced by Theater Latté Da. Bradley has curated and written narratives for innovative spoken word/music concerts for Open Eye Theater, Schubert Club Mix, Music Saint Croix, St. Cloud Symphony, Oratorio Society of Minnesota and Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh. He is the recipient of a Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship in music, the McKnight Fellowship for Theater Artists, and the Ivey Award. Bradley is Co-coordinator of MacPhail's Prelude: Singer-Actor Lab for high school students.
*Appearing through an Agreement between this theater and Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States
[photo credit: Lauren B Photography]
Stage Manager - A Pickle, The Postman’s Daughter
Joelle Coutu is excited to be back with ILLUSION THEATER. Joelle has been a stage manager in the Twin Cities for over 20 years for various large and small companies. She has worked for such places as the Theater Latte Da, Lyric Opera of the North, Skylark Opera, History Theater, Guthrie Theater, Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company, Park Square Theater, Triple Espresso, among others.
*Appearing through an Agreement between this theater and Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States