This page contains current press materials for Young Zombies in Love.
With any questions please contact our publicist:
Dennis Crowley
dcpr@verizon.net
212-967-9939
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Press Releases :: Production Photos
Song MP3s and Lyrics :: Plot Synopsis and Song Guide
Cast and Artistic Staff :: Creator Bios :: Company Bio
Press releases:
Emerald Rain Productions presents Young Zombies in Love
MS Word version | PDF versionListings Release
MS Word version | PDF versionPhotos of New York International Fringe Festival production:
Click each for full size.
Erica Ash as Lu, Daniel Zaitchik as Nick.
The Players Theatre, New York, 2004. Photo by Anisha Narasimhan
Illustration by Tony Moore, with overlaid logo:
Photos of San Francisco productions:
Click each for full size.
Ryan Hayes as Nick, Eleanor Mason as Lu. The Next Stage, San Francisco, 2001. Photo by Ethan Tuttle.
(L to R) Mark Whittaker as Jimmy Fodder, Bernadette Quattrone as Lu, Brendan Simon as Jamie Fodder. Venue 9, San Francisco, 2002. Photo by Nancy Orsini.
(L to R) Daniel Krechmer as Jimmy Fodder, Sean McArdle as zombie, Sarah Wescott as zombie, Euclides Pereyra as Jamie Fodder. The Next Stage, San Francisco, 2001. Photo by Ethan Tuttle.
Songs from the soundtrack CD (MP3 format):
Flee! (A Brief History Of Zombieism In Western Thought)
(Lyrics)Synopsis and CD Guide
Our heroes Nick and Lu overlook graveyard point. Soon to graduate from Tombtown High, the pair faces an open future (“Life Ahead of Us,” track 2). If only all those kids hadn't gone missing recently, Nick might gather the courage to make time with his headstrong girlfriend. Alas, a zombie attack interrupts.
Nick and Lu escape to seek help, but cannot convince the law that a menace exists. Of all the town's authority figures, only mad Professor Itsucolt believes them, but he’s already heading out (“Flee,” track 4). Lu compels their return to the scene of the attack (“Never Dangerous,” track 5), where Nick is unceremoniously murdered. Fellow victims Jimmy & Jamie Fodder drag him away.
It is a week later and Lu is doubting her sanity. This zombie influence not only raises the dead, it clouds the thoughts of the living; kids continue to disappear while Tombtown’s adults cling spookily to routine. A desperate Lu wanders the graveyards and finds Nick. In a show of the apathy endemic to zombie youth, Nick refuses to help. Later, he worries to the Fodder twins that his long-fought cowardice hounds him even in the afterlife. They mockingly crown him Zombie King (track 7) in tribute to his transcendence of life and its heart-ties.
Fed up and skipping town ("Letter to Tombtown," track 9), Nick and Lu cross paths at the bus station. And just in time! The zombie population is nearing critical mass, when it will explode into a full-blown disaster. Upon discovering Nick’s heart intact, Lu rallies to take one last stab at heroism.
It is critical mass! The usually disaffected zombies have grown passionate about one thing: eating brains. However, love and sacrifice (“Don’t Say Goodbye,” track 10) are freely available to save the day. And a certain pair of young lovers will die happily ever after.
Cast and Artistic Staff
role actor Lu Erica Ash Dancer Khiara M. Bridges Dancer Michelline Coonrod Dancer Jarrod Crockett Very Old Zombie/Chorus Megan Demarest Jimmy Fodder Jeffrey Doornbos Sheriff Nazington Lawrence Feeney Slashy/Chorus Robyn Ganeles SWAT King Justin R. G. Holcomb Zombie/Chorus Jess Klein Dancer Scott Lewis Mom Cynthia Pierce Dancer Robbie Roby Dancer Tanja Schwedt Dancer Alison Solomon Jamie Fodder Graham Stevens Dancer Alexis Thebolt Prof. Itsucolt/Chorus Kevin Townley Nick Daniel Zaitchik position name Playwright Damian Hess Composer/Music Dir. Gaby Alter Director Jackson Gay Choreographer Joshua Carlson Fight Choreographer Sarah Elliott Set Designer Erik Flatmo Costume Designer Jenny Mannis Lighting Designer Thomas Dunn Stage Manager Terri Ciofalo Dramaturg Linda Bartholomai Asst. Stage Manager Jon Vaughn Asst. Director Jeff Stanley Asst. Choreographer Jillian Smalley Creator Bios
Bio for Gaby Alter, Composer and Musical Director, Young Zombies In Love
Gaby ("Gah-bee") Alter, Emerald Rain’s co-founder and resident composer, has scored five musicals with ERP, including Vapor Tales, which won him the 1998 San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics’ Circle Award for Best Original Score. He was co-founder and keyboardist of Wonderland, a Stevie Wonder tribute band. His songs were recently featured at the AtrainPlays in New York; his keyboard playing appears on Communique’s EP A Crescent Honeymoon (Lookout! Records, 2003.) He is currently enrolled at NYU Tisch’s Musical Theatre Writing graduate program..
Bio for Damian Hess, Playwright, Young Zombies In Love
Damian Hess is a writer, graphic illustrator and musician brand new to Brooklyn. His acting, singing, and playwriting have been showcased by Emerald Rain Productions in and around the San Francisco Bay Area since 1993. He has pioneered the sub-subgenre-cum-underground-phenomenon of Nerdcore Hip-hop through his online persona, MC Frontalot, and his songs appear in Roxor Games’ In The Groove and under Thurston Moore’s Protest Records label. His work has garnered mention on NPR and in The Guardian UK. Young Zombies is the second play he has written for ERP.
Bio for Jackson Gay, Director, Young Zombies in Love
Upcoming east coast premier of The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow, by Rolin Jones, at the Yale Repertory Theater opening in late October. Bertolt Brecht’s Man is Man for NYC Prospect Theater Company. A View from the Bridge for Dartmouth’s Hopkins Center. Brecht’s Fear and Misery of the Third Reich for Denver Center’s NTC. Tom Stoppard’s Rough Crossing for Banyan Theater Company. Spring Awakening for NYC Prospect Theater Company (2003 OOBR Award for Best Production). After the Show for the New York Drama League. Tough, by George Walker, and Maria Irene Fornes’ Molly’s Dream for the Williamstown Theater Festival. Warren Leight’s Glimmer, Glimmer and Shine at the Mark Taper Forum / Manhattan Theatre Club, both directed by Evan Yionoulis (assistant director). Associate Director for Jonathan Tolins’ The Last Sunday in June at the Century Center for the Performing Arts directed by Trip Cullman. Paul Rudnick’s Valhalla, directed by Christopher Ashley, for New York Theatre Workshop (assistant director). Caryl Churchill’s The Skriker. Co-directed, with Will Frears, Sean Cunningham’s Sherlock Holmes and The Secret of Making Whoopee II: The Houdini Incident ( winner TIME OUT NEW YORK “Best Sequel” NYC Fringe) Yale School of Drama/ Yale Cabaret – Three Sisters, Measure for Measure, Interlude, Pralaya and After the Show. Kroetz’s Farmyard and Ghosttrain. Buchner’s Woyzeck, The Task by Heiner Muller. Upcoming short film adapted from the play The Interior by Maeterlinck for Yellow Dog Films. Recipient of the Jonathan Alper Directing Fellowship at Manhattan Theatre Club, the Williamstown Theater Festival Directing Fellowship and the Drama League’s New Directors/New Works Fellowship. BFA Acting University of the Arts. MFA Directing Yale School of Drama.
Bio for Joshua Carlson, Choreographer, Young Zombies in Love
Artistic Director for SEROS, contemporary ballet and circus company. Upcoming performance of original works House of Glass, Finnished, Her Freudian Slip, Domestic Violins, and Nostalgico at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival by SEROS. Repertory pieces for SEROS include A Cappella Ballet, The Singing Bone, and The GRIMM Series of dances. House of Glass performed by Louisville ballet as well as Wichita Ballet Theater. A Cappella Ballet performed at Wichita Ballet Theater. Choreographer for the charity fashion show Art Aid 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, and the opening of the Downing Gorilla Exhibit at Sedgwick County Zoo. Performed with Pilobolus, American Repertory Ballet, Louisville Ballet, Wichita Ballet Theater and Cirque Sublime. BFA Ballet Performance Friends University.
