Gerald Jay Markoe and Michael Colby’s comic Christmas tale, Ludlow Ladd in Concert, part of the Winter Rhythms series at Urban Stages, plays on Wednesday, December 8th at 7PM and Saturday, December 11 at 2PM. The show is a phantasmagoric fusion of Oliver Twist and Fractured Fairy Tales, starring Shawna Hamic as Hester Grimble, Nick Lunetta as Tin Soldier, Isabel Robin as Daisy, Luke Naphat, Adam B. Shapiro as Nestor Grimble, Megan Styrna as Prudence Grimble, Maureen Taylor as Muriel/Missus Pinecones, and as Ludlow, Joshua Turchin. Directed is by by Sara Louise Lazarus and Musical Direction is by Michael Lavine.
A prequel to Charlotte Sweet, Ludlow Ladd in Concert is a family operetta that evolves through mock-Christmas carols. It centers on Ludlow Ladd, a poor young orphan in Victorian Liverpool. It’s Christmas night and his birthday and Ludlow wanders the streets, searching for a home. The eccentric Grimbles take him to their house, already crammed with animals, plants, and Prudence—the Grimbles’ bratty daughter. After annoying the Grimbles, Ludlow is left alone with their Christmas tree. He is suddenly whisked to the Land of Yuletide Cheer where dreams can come true—resulting in a perversely sweet holiday miracle.
The late Gerald Jay Markoe was a classically trained musician with a wide variety of experience in music for theater, popular music, world music and music for yoga and meditation. His scores for off-off and off-Broadway theater include Charlotte Sweet (Michael Colby, librettist); Ludlow Ladd (Michael Colby, librettist); Happy Haunting (Michael Colby, librettist); and Delphi or Bust. Markoe also wrote background music for productions of Faust; Indulgences in the Louisville Harem; and He who Gets Slapped.
Michael Colby is the librettist-lyric writer of such musicals as Charlotte Sweet (Drama Desk Award nomination), North Atlantic (Show Business Award) and Tales of Tinseltown (all-star recording on JAY Records). His songs have been recorded and/or performed by such artists as Michael Feinstein, Tony Yazbeck, Alix Korey, Alison Fraser, Kristin Chenoweth and Julie Wilson. He has recently written lyrics for Boynton Beach Club (with Andrea McArdle) and special material for Richard Skipper, Andrea Axelrod and Renee Katz, among others. Upcoming projects include two regional productions of They Chose Me!, a cabaret show of his songs performed by Maureen Taylor, and the Broadway-bound Dangerous. He is the author of the popular book, The Algonquin Kid, which has also received in a stage version.
All tickets are $30 and can be reserved at: tinyurl.com/6m7cmjdy
Urban Stages is located at: 259 West 30th Street (off of 8th Ave., NYC
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