Local Poet Laureate Writes Musical

Announcing the development of a new musical, uPSTAIRs, with music by singer/songwriter Celesta Williams and Silverwood Studios, libretto and lyrics by Poet Laureate of Douglasville Alice Shapiro, to be performed in the Fall of 2013.

The work is based loosely on Shapiro’s experiences and is about Blue, a high school teen whose dream is to write a novel. Bullied by her best friend, Blue experiences trauma, hardship and even madness. What her so-called friend didn’t count on, however, was the absolute power of Blue’s passion and the story’s happy ending. Shapiro says, “I wanted to explore some deep subjects, open people’s minds and hearts and also make a fantastic, fun spectacle for an enjoyable night of entertainment. uPSTAIRs is a perfect vehicle for the musical theatre stage.”

The wonderfully rich and poetic libretto is a benefit for this truly American tale set in the late 1950s. Special effects are being designed by Marian Galie-Andriescu, a Romanian currently living in The Netherlands. (The Youtube trailer is attached.)

Shapiro is most widely known for her verse play, Four Voices, which won the Bill C. Davis Drama Award and was performed at the Cultural Arts Center during the Turner Cassity Literary Festival, beginning a new tradition of verse plays presented at this yearly festival.

uPSTAIRs is in two acts, with a cast of 21 characters and is scored for the 1950/1960 genres of rock & roll and blues music.

For more information please visit the uPSTAIRs website at www.upstairsamusical.org or contact Alice at as.mga.blue@gmail.com or 770-949-6475. Casting will take place late Spring 2013. Tax-deductible donations are welcome.