Vocalists Karen Mason, Becca Suskauer and Sydney Torin Shepherd will lead a concert of select songs from More Than All the Sky by Lori Ada Jaroslow and Morgan Hollingsworth on Monday, March 11 at 9:30 PM at The Green Room 42, Music direction is by Nissa Kahle.
More Than All the Sky is a new musical that navigates the complexities of addiction while offering hope for sobriety. It’s the journey of a young woman’s internal battle toward recovery and how an entire family is impacted by drugs and alcohol. With an ambient and cinematic indie rock score, this musical offers the hope that to live a life of recovery is realized. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Path To Peace, a non-profit organization that provides innovative services and resources to empower women to walk the path towards emotional, mental, physical and sexual integrity, defined by them, and to help heal their past.
The concert includes 14 songs tied together with narration. More Than All the Sky also features Cailen Fu (Mean Girls), Fernell Hogan (Kimberly Akimbo), Andrea Prestinario (Fun Home) and Maria Cristina Posada Slye (Evita).Direction, book, and lyrics are by Lori Ada Jaroslow. Music, additional lyrics and guitar are by Morgan Hollingsworth.
Jaroslow shares: “Addiction and recovery have been a big part of my life. Interestingly, not because of the family I grew up in. I was born in a trunk and got the show biz gene on both sides, not the addiction gene. Regardless, I did start drinking and using at a young age. It took my life becoming unmanageable for me to realize that I had the disease of addiction. I have now been sober for 30 years! When I see people close to me struggling or hear of another overdose, I become more galvanized to move this show forward to raise awareness of the alcohol use disorder and opioid crisis in this nation. And most importantly to shine a light on the fact that we can get help and recover. We are resilient.”
Hollingsworth adds: “My mom works as a patient safety advocate, and every day I hear horrible news of another overdose or someone being over-prescribed opioids for pain. It’s deeply frustrating to see people struggling, see potential solutions, and not see change happen. It’s hard for those who are struggling to find a way out of addiction. More Than All the Sky is meant to humanize those struggling and to show that they can live meaningful lives through recovery. This concert is the musical’s first public presentation, and we want to use this opportunity to introduce others to the project, build an audience, and raise awareness so we can continue to share its message of hope. My biggest influence musically for More Than All the Sky was the British indie-folk/rock band Daughter. Their ambient textures and use of effects transformed my approach to music. It was a sound I had never heard in a musical before, and I thought it would suit More Than All the Sky perfectly. While More Than All the Sky may have some folk elements, it lives in a more ambient, sometimes electronic, and sometimes cinematic place. Of all my projects thus far, this one has the most urgency in terms of what it’s trying to say and do.”
Tickets are $21.75 – $71.75 (plus handling fee). The performance will also be livestreamed. All tickets can be purchased via https://bit.ly/morethanallthesky.
The Green Room 42 is located at 570 Tenth Avenue, New York, NY
