Lyricist/Librettist/Composer
FULL-LENGTH MUSICALS
Funny, You Don't Look Like A Grandmother
Co-Book and Co-Lyrics by Lois Wyse and Sheilah Rae
Music by Robert Waldman
Based on the #1 NY Times Bestseller by Lois Wyse
Published by Samuel French
https://www.samuelfrench.com/p/6310/funny-you-dont-look-like-a-grandmother
2M, 4/5 F
Funny, You Don't Look Like a Grandmother is a humorous, heartwarming revue that looks at modern grandmothers in a whole new light. These are the women who have thrown away the granny glasses, shapeless black dresses and Red Cross shoes and replaced them with cute little tennis dresses, skis and a condo in Florida. The show celebrates these changes with skits and songs about everything from what to name the grandmother to her availability as baby sitter, her job, her friends, her activities, her new interest in shopping, but most of all, her relationship to that incredible new baby and its parents. Whether you are a grandparent or a grandchild, every generation of your family will love this show!
Click HERE for more information.
The Belle of Tombstone
(f/k/a I Married Wyatt Earp)
Co-Book by Thomas Edward West and Sheilah Rae
Lyrics by Sheilah Rae
Music by Michele Brourman
11 F (or more if desired)
It's time to set the record straight! Young Josie Marcus is nothing like the girls back home. Passionate and fearless, she leaves behind her upper-class Jewish family for the adventure of Tombstone, Arizona---home of legendary lawman Wyatt Earp, and the site of the infamous Shootout at the O.K. Corral. Decades later, Josie must finally come to terms with the 30-second gunfight that led her to a lifetime of regret. Weaving together 1944 Hollywood and the mythic West, The Belle of Tombstone sheds new light on one of history’s most fictionalized moments. Eleven gutsy women give voice to the untold story of the American frontier in this compelling new musical.
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What Goes Around
Book, Music and Lyrics by Sheilah Rae and Michele Brourman
2M, 2F
This is a collection of 5 short musicals (all Heideman Finalists) with additional connective material. These stories are linked together around the theme of how "the tables will turn on a dime" in one's life. The musicals included are:
Single and Active
On the Page
What Goes Around
The Waiter
Lovelines
ONE-ACT and TEN-MINUTE MUSICALS
Every Other Thursday
Book, Music and Lyrics by Sheilah Rae and Debra Barsha, based on the short story by Edna Ferber
Published by Smith and Kraus in "Five by Ferber" (5 brand new one-act plays adapted from Ferber's short stories)
2M, 4F
The time is 1927, Helmi is a Finnish maid working for the Mawson family of New York’s Upper West Side. Her day off is every other Thursday. What she does on every other Thursday is her secret and hers alone, much to the consternation of the people she works for.
Single and Active
Adaptation and Lyrics by Sheilah Rae
Music by Michele Brourman
Based on the article 'Adventurous' by Rachel Lehmann-Haupt, originally published in Outside Magazine, July 2006
2M, 2F
Based on the true story of Rachel Lehmann-Haupt's experiences when she was commissioned to write an article for Outside Magazine about adventure dating and its online website. It exposes the men she met, the kinds of dates she had, and the end result of her riotous experiences.
Cooper Union
Book and Lyrics by Sheilah Rae
Music by Debra Barsha
4/5 M, 3/4 F (can be performed by teens)
Cooper Union explores the beginnings of Cooper Union on the Lower East Side, and how Peter Cooper was the first to admit women into his school. Among the many firsts of Peter Cooper, was also the use of the elevator, and free tuition for all.
The Mystery of Young Girl Drawing
Book by Deborah Savadge
Music and Lyrics by Sheilah Rae
1 M, 3 F (can be performed by teens)
This musical is about the provenance of the painting 'Young Woman Drawing' in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and traces the history of its painter, originally attributed to a famous male portrait painter of the time, but since has been attributed to Marie-Denise Villers, the youngest of 3 sisters who were all painters. However, only recently this decision was challenged by the French art department at the Met, and continues to be controversial.
Who Cares?
Book and Lyrics by Sheilah Rae
Music and Additional Lyrics by Michele Brourman
5/6 F, 1 M (optional) (can be performed by teens)
This is a short musical about a girls' high school soccer team, and explores the ongoing FIFA scandals and its effect on the morality of these young girls and their decisions regarding honesty in qualifying important championship game.
The Waiter
Book by Sheilah Rae and Jennifer Maisel
Lyrics by Sheilah Rae
Music by Michele Brourman
Based on the play 'Seen/Not Seen' by Jennifer Maisel
I M, 2 F
This is a short one-act musical based on the play 'Seen and Not Seen' by award-winning playwright Jennifer Maisel. It deals with a mother and daughter's differences of opinion on everything from what to wear to lunch, to the type of men the daughter is prone to be attracted. Over a brief meeting a lunch, the daughter finally is able to tell the mother what she thinks of her and her opinions, but only after their charming waiter offers his two cents to the mix. This hilarious, melodic and surprise ending 3-character musical will leave you laughing all the way out of the theater. The score has a subtle Latin character---like one long cha-cha at a Bar Mitzvah. Heideman Award Finalist
Lovelines
(A 10 Minute Musical Lovestory)
Book, Music and Lyrics by Sheilah Rae and Michele Brourman
1M, 1F
Lovelines, a 10-minute musical love story, is a short musical play about the relationship of a couple going through midlife changes, as reflected by the separation and ultimate divorce of their best friends since college. In examining what might have happened to their friends, they look for answers to ‘spice up‘ their own relationship, asking what it might need to endure: he, a Porsche; her, a facelift. Ultimately, their resolution is found in the realization that love is not about exterior or material superficialities, but rather, based in the deep maturity that comes with knowing and sharing a combined history of family, events and mutual growth. Heideman Award Finalist
What Goes Around
Adapted by Sheilah Rae and Michele Brourman
Lyrics by Sheilah Rae
Music by Michele Brourman
Suggested by the short story 'What Goes Around' by Louise Bagshawe
2 F, 2 M
“What Goes Around” is a short musical play for 4 characters, 2 men, 2 women, based on the charming short story by British writer, Louise Bagshawe, that was included in the bestselling collection ‘Girls Night In’. The play is about a Los Angeles couple at the end of a twenty-year marriage. The husband, a Hollywood studio exec-type, is trying to dissolve this marriage over an anniversary dinner, and the wife, an elegant British homemaker and children's’ book publisher, remains quiet and passive, listening. While both are quite civilized to each other, their Alter Egos sing their inner thoughts, which are anything but quiet and passive, or civilized. The play is a musical quartet, in musical snippets of 70’s and 80’s pop genre styling. It is a strong comedic piece with a surprise ending. Heideman Award Finalist.
On the Page
Book by Sheilah Rae and Michele Brourman
Lyrics by Sheilah Rae
Music by Michele Brourman
2 F, 1 M
Ensemble of assorted students/and number
"On the Page" is a short musical which examines the influence of our professors on us in determining the course of our lives. Told in flashback, 'On the Page' tracks the careers of an influential professor and his talented graduate fellow, as she ultimately becomes the wheeling-dealing head of a publishing conglomerate, and he a tenured but retired English professor, perhaps with one good novel/memoir left in him. Heideman Finalist
CHILDREN'S MUSICALS
Virtues
Book by Sheilah Rae and Jim Morgan
Lyrics by Jim Morgan
Music by Sheilah Rae
Can be performed by any number of adults and/or children
A musical book of Virtues!, is a one hour and ten minute children’s musical, created to be performed by children, for children—or by young adults for children. (Adults could also perform the material). With a cast of six, the show is revue-formatted and contains retellings of several well-known fables, re-explaining them in updated language and hip musical context. The fables included are:
The Girl with the Curl
Tortoise and the Hare
St. George and the Dragon
George Washington and the Cherry Tree
The Legend of the Big Dipper
‘Virtue’ itself is a complicated word, so through the retelling of these stories, children come to understand what the nature of ‘virtue’ really is, and what benefits can be brought to you by leading a virtuous life.
I Don't Want To Go To Bed!
(A children's musical)
Book by Lois Wyse
Music and Lyrics by Sheilah Rae
Additional Lyrics by Lois Wyse
(based on the I Don't Want to Go to Bed series by Lois Wyse)
