BLACK WATCH THEATRE COMPANY TEAMS WITH DIRECTOR, RACHEL KLEIN, TO CONTINUE THE DEVELOPMENT OF THEIR OFF-BROADWAY HIT THE TROUBLE WITH DEAD BOYFRIENDS
Private industry reading, November 19
New York, NY: Black Watch Theatre is pleased to announce their acclaimed Off-Broadway show, Annie Pulsipher and Alex Petti’s THE TROUBLE WITH DEAD BOYFRIENDS has found a new director, Rachel Klein (The Gospel According to Heather starring Katey Sagal), and will have a private industry reading on November 19th starring Antonio Cipriano (Jagged Little Pill), Leana Rae Concepcion (Merrily We Roll Along), Cara Rose DiPietro, Alan H Green, Ashanti J'aria (The Prom), Ashley D. Kelley (Shucked), Livvy Marcus, Nichalas Parker (Aladdin), Benjamin Jackson Walker (& Juliet), and Daniel Quadrino (The Who’s Tommy).
THE TROUBLE WITH DEAD BOYFRIENDS is a monster musical comedy aimed at the helpless love-struck teen buried in all our hearts and high school diaries. It tells the story of Stella, Grace, and Madison, three BFFs who intend to conjure dreamy prom dates with a sketchy love spell, but inadvertently summon monstrous boyfriends that they must slay to save their town and friendship!
“The Trouble with Dead Boyfriends is about the power of female friendship and the importance of doing whatever it takes to leave a toxic relationship. These weighty themes don't keep the show from soaring along on its crazy fun flight, but they lend it something its titular boyfriends lack: a strong, beating heart. While that's largely due to a witty script and get-up-and-dance musical numbers, a spectacularly comedic cast helps, as do stunning vocal performances from the main trio. Off-Broadway can be hit or miss, but this one hits as hard as a stake through the heart of a vampire. The Trouble with Dead Boyfriends deserves a long life far beyond the stage of the Players Theatre, and I hope it gets it.” - Stage Buddy
“A clever, campy, and surprisingly feminist spoof of the paranormal romance genre.” - Theasy
“All the makings of the next cult hit in the vein of Heathers or Be More Chill.” – TV and City
“A wacky, darkly hilarious production offering a serious feminist message all wrapped in a bloody, campy shell.” – Front Row Center
“A deft combination of action and humor with elements of horror…A fast-paced and, at times, funny show that blends the horror of zombies, vampires, and ghosts, into a workable musical comedy.” – TheaterScene.net
“The songs are utter bops, the minimal dancing full of verve and vigor; the harmonies are beautiful, especially when our trio of women sings together. The show is fun. It’s fun.” - The Theater Times
“In a word, it’s the rarest of things: An entirely original musical that’s practically perfect in every way.” – Stage Buddy
The production features additional orchestrations by Sheela Ramesh and publicity by Katie Rosin/Kampfire PR.
THE TROUBLE WITH DEAD BOYFRIENDS invite-only industry reading is November 19th.
Running Time: 100 minutes (no intermission)
Website: https://deadboyfriendsmusical.com/ and https://www.blackwatchtheatre.com/
Media Kit with Photos from Off-Broadway
The musical was originally developed at Carnegie Mellon's Playground Festival. It won the Premiere Premieres! Festival in Chicago in 2017 and SheNYC Festival in New York in 2018 (Best Score Winner). In 2019, it was workshopped at Berklee College of Music. Most recently, the musical ran Off-Broadway at the Players Theatre for a limited run this summer. Last Spring, The Trouble With Dead Boyfriends was invited to be the sixth musical incubated at Discovering Broadway Inc.
BIOGRAPHIES
RACHEL KLEIN (Director) is a NYC-based director specializing in new musical development. Rachel most recently directed Spells of the Sea at the Kennedy Center. Off-Broadway: The Gospel According to Heather (Theatre 555; starring Katey Sagal); Red Roses, Green Gold (Minetta Lane Theatre/ft. the music of the Grateful Dead); Around the World in 80 Days (The Davenport Theatre); The Anthem (Lynn Redgrave Theatre); The Opposite of Love (Royal Performing Arts Space). Selected NYC: Tink! (NYMF); More Than All the World (Theatre for the New City); Circus of Circus (The House of Yes). Selected Regional: Esther: A New Dance Musical (starring Sharna Burgess of Dancing With the Stars); The Suffragist (starring Nancy Opel), Dead Certain (composer: Air Supply's Graham Russell); 54 the Musical (starring Michaela Jaé Rodriguez and Frankie Grande). www.rachelkleindirector.com
ALEX PETTI (Composer / Lyricist) is a Lebanese Irish-Catholic writer from Massachusetts who grew up as a pop-punk rocker. Though his dreams of headlining Warped Tour have ended, the energy of the genre still infuses his music. He writes musical theater shows in the genres of punk, folk, and rock, and is the frontman of good thoughts, his NYC-based rock band.
Alex is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon, a composer in the BMI Advanced Musical Theatre Workshop, a 2022 O’Neill Semi-Finalist (The Hometown Tour), a 2022 Participant in the Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project and a proud Dad to his cat, Sonia.
ANNIE PULSIPHER (Playwright) started writing short plays in high school that were primarily an excuse to make cheesy puns, rant about feminism, and use excessive amounts of stage blood … she is still quite fond of this. Annie received her MFA in Dramatic Writing from Carnegie Mellon School of Drama. She’s had productions and readings of her work across the country most notably with Kensington Theatre, the Kennedy Center through KCACTF, and the Tribeca Film Festival. Her screenplay, The Glowing Gene, won the Sloan Student Grand Jury Prize from the Tribeca Film Institute. She is a proud member of the BMI Librettists’ Workshop.
BLACK WATCH THEATRE is a New York City creative producing team that funds and develops burgeoning new works on their paths from living rooms to lauded commercial runs. The team made its off-Broadway debut producing The Trouble with Dead Boyfriends at the Player’s Theatre during the summer of 2023. Black Watch Theatre is named after the Scottish regiment which famously struck fear in the hearts of their enemies during WWII. One of the co-founder’s grandfathers fought the Nazis with these ‘devils in skirts’, and the producers hope to support rising artists that continue the legacy of displaying courage, defeating fascism, and daring to wear kilts. blackwatchtheatre.com
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