Musical Pawns

What is Musical Pawns?

Musical Pawns is a light-hearted musical-comedy that I wrote that uses humour, satire and music to tell the rather scary story of the struggle to save the music during the first part of the 20th century, and the ongoing struggle of Nowakowsky’s descendants to get the music recorded and performed. I knew when I produced the FRINGE(c) show that it would lose money. (Theaters are small 99-seats or less and ticket prices low, -usually $10. I spent no money on sets, -just a few basic props and some $2.50 black shirts on sale at Honest Ed’s. We didn’t even have a pianist. Two of the actors played the keyboard when not on stage. We rehearsed wherever we could. Hand-ball courts, Condo party-rooms… We had great actors who busted their guts learning the parts. Because they were short of cash, I payed for their accommodation in New York and gave them a per-diem so they could eat. On the dress rehearsal night one of the actors suffered a dislocation (due to a prior medical condition) and we had to redistribute his parts. So our winning the Audience Choice Award came as a complete surprise.

Some excerpts from the show are on this web-site. I would like your input as to your interest in remounting the show (to a higher standard), To attending -or receiving a DVD copy of the concert(s) -also to be ecorded to a higher standard, or participating in the documentary by joining us in the French and/or Ukrainian concerts and genealogical tour(s). The more people who join the tour -the lower the cost.

            If you have a charity that you suppport, I will gladly provide free-of-charge, an illustrated lecture on The Nowakowsky and Leontovych story.

All the best!

Ron Graner