 |
The Schmidt Sisters: A Revolutionary SituationBook by Rebecca Farley, Lyrics by Margo Hera, Music by Ashlynn Hazel PilgerContact Email: schmidtsistersmusical@gmail.com |
“A revolution is impossible without a revolutionary situation.”– Vladimir Lenin
We are living in historic times and have a revolutionary situation on our hands right now. What better time to share this story?
Our Story
Rebecca Farley and Margo Hera met in October 2020, when they were both working on “Save the Libraries: No on #2!,” a political campaign in New Orleans. Picture this: New Orleans, a struggling city in the Gulf South, has a problem. Their mayor, in a desperate ploy for funds, wants to cut the public library’s funding by 30%. After a public outcry, a few of the city’s left-leaning organizations form a coalition titled “Save the Libraries: No on #2” to fight this proposed city ordinance. Margo and Rebecca worked as volunteer coordinators for this campaign. Operating from Zoom, they galvanized over 200 volunteers across the New Orleans metropolitan area over the course of two months. They organized daily phonebanking sessions — both Rebecca and Margo make pretty awesome phonebankers — and sent volunteers across the city to wave signs on election day. And they won the campaign! A group of several hundred library-obsessed volunteers saved the local libraries! The Schmidt Sisters feels like the natural child of this union. During the campaign, Rebecca told Margo about a story she couldn’t stop thinking about: the story of the Schmidt sisters. Rebecca had read about it in a book about Lenin — a book from the library, no less! — and thought it could make for an interesting Les Mis-style dramatic musical. Or maybe a Great Comet. Margo confessed she wrote lyrics. Rebecca confessed she wrote librettos. They decided they would continue their political partnership by writing a musical. Rebecca and Margo met Ashlynn shortly thereafter. Margo found Ashlynn Hazel Pilger, a recently graduated composer from Boston Conservatory, through mutual friends. They were thoughtful, kind, and brilliant. Margo was ferociously organized, meticulous, and erudite. Rebecca dreamed and wrote a lot. Ashlynn composed with an astonishing atttention to detail. They all learned a lot about Stravinsky. In March of 2021, just four months after they started a shared Google Drive, they held a reading over Zoom with a full libretto, lyrics for 13 songs, and music for 9. They received feedback from actors and made a call to keep working, to keep going, to keep Schmidt-ing. They worked in their separate corners of the country, meeting over Zoom and phone calls, working away in Google Drive, until February of 2024, when they finally all convened in New Orleans for a week-long writing retreat. They got to work writing more intensely than ever and submitting to theatre festivals and competitions. In June 2024, The Schmidt Sisters was accepted to Emerging Artists Theatre’s Spark Theater Festival. For the festival, the writing team presented a one-night-only staged reading September 18th at The Chain Theater in NYC. It was performed with a pared-down cast of 10 to a sold-out house with an audience of just over 100 and a waitlist. The rave reviews poured in. As for next steps, the writing team would like to mount a 29-Hour Industry Staged Reading or a developmental production at an incubator theatre or university. In the big-picture-future, we see The Schmidt Sisters on a big stage like one on Broadway or the West End. Production ElementsCast sizeIt can be done with a cast of 10, but can also be scaled upward with a large ensemble. The requirements for the main cast seven named characters: two women, three men, and a non-binary person in their early-to-mid-twenties and a man in his thirties or older. OrchestrationsA 29-Hour Reading or developmental production would need 3-5 musicians on piano, guitar, and keyboard, with optional bass and drums. A full production would need 10 musicians on guitar, bass, drums, trumpet, trombone, 2 reed doublers, and 3 keyboards (fill-in for strings, brass, winds, synth). The goal is to make 10 musicians sound like 30. Ashlynn has the skillset to orchestrate if desired. Number of songsThere are 20 songs, including the overture. Target audienceThe target audience is lovers of grandiose history-based mega musicals like Les Miserables; Evita; Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812; Miss Saigon; and Anastasia.
Meet the Team
Rebecca Farley (Book) she/her is a writer living in her native New Orleans, Louisiana. She has a Bachelor’s in creative writing from Columbia University, where she wrote books for two musicals. She studied musical theater in high school at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and the Professional Performing Arts School in New York City. Most recently, Antigravity Magazine published her work. She previously wrote for Martha Stewart Living Digital and Refinery29, a women’s website. In her spare time, she works in labor organizing and harm reduction. Margo Hera (Lyrics) she/her is a multi-hyphenate theater artist who lives in New York City after escaping her hometown in South Florida. In between those cities she got her B.A. in Theatre Performance and B.S. in Psychology and Gender & Sexuality Studies at Tulane University in New Orleans. She also studied theatre in middle and high school at Bak Middle School of the Arts and Dreyfoos High School of the Arts. This is her first foray into writing a musical after a lifetime of working onstage. She is part of the musical improv team Elevator Pitch which started as a house ensembles team at the People’s Improv Theatre. She can be seen doing theatre, standup, improv, and sketch comedy around the city. Ashlynn Hazel Pilger (Music) they/she is a non-binary composer, music director, and pianist residing in Portland, Oregon. They received their BM in Composition at Boston Conservatory at Berklee in 2020 under Jonathan Bailey Holland, Marti Epstein, and Eun Young Lee. Additionally, Ashlynn took musical theatre writing classes with Michael Wartofsky and David Reiffel at Berklee College of Music. For 8 years, they music directed at educational, community, and professional theatres. Ashlynn wrote a full-length musical entitled Indigo with their brother, and the reading was performed in Boston Conservatory. Additionally, Ashlynn is a mathematics educator and tutor. They have an MS in Mathematics from Portland State University and started their PhD program last fall. Ashlynn is a proud member of the Musical Theatre Writing Collective. Follow Us On Social Media:Instagram: @theschmidtsisters TikTok: @the.schmidt.sisters
Demos
|
|
|
|
|
The Schmidt Sisters: A Revolutionary Situation
Book by Rebecca Farley, Lyrics by Margo Hera, Music by Ashlynn Hazel Pilger
Contact Email: schmidtsistersmusical@gmail.com
“A revolution is impossible without a revolutionary situation.”
– Vladimir Lenin
We are living in historic times and have a revolutionary situation on our hands right now.
What better time to share this story?
The Schmidt Sisters: A Revolutionary Situation is based on a true story. In turn of the 20th century Russia, two sisters are bestowed with a lofty inheritance from their Bolshevik brother. Lenin wants that money for the Bolshevik party, so he sends two comrades to woo the women and marry them to secure the funds. One couple is diametrically opposed while the other falls so in love they are blinded to their surroundings.
Our Story
Rebecca Farley and Margo Hera met in October 2020, when they were both working on “Save the Libraries: No on #2!,” a political campaign in New Orleans. Picture this: New Orleans, a struggling city in the Gulf South, has a problem. Their mayor, in a desperate ploy for funds, wants to cut the public library’s funding by 30%. After a public outcry, a few of the city’s left-leaning organizations form a coalition titled “Save the Libraries: No on #2” to fight this proposed city ordinance. Margo and Rebecca worked as volunteer coordinators for this campaign. Operating from Zoom, they galvanized over 200 volunteers across the New Orleans metropolitan area over the course of two months. They organized daily phonebanking sessions — both Rebecca and Margo make pretty awesome phonebankers — and sent volunteers across the city to wave signs on election day. And they won the campaign! A group of several hundred library-obsessed volunteers saved the local libraries!
The Schmidt Sisters feels like the natural child of this union. During the campaign, Rebecca told Margo about a story she couldn’t stop thinking about: the story of the Schmidt sisters. Rebecca had read about it in a book about Lenin — a book from the library, no less! — and thought it could make for an interesting Les Mis-style dramatic musical. Or maybe a Great Comet. Margo confessed she wrote lyrics. Rebecca confessed she wrote librettos. They decided they would continue their political partnership by writing a musical. Rebecca and Margo met Ashlynn shortly thereafter. Margo found Ashlynn Hazel Pilger, a recently graduated composer from Boston Conservatory, through mutual friends. They were thoughtful, kind, and brilliant. Margo was ferociously organized, meticulous, and erudite. Rebecca dreamed and wrote a lot. Ashlynn composed with an astonishing atttention to detail. They all learned a lot about Stravinsky.
In March of 2021, just four months after they started a shared Google Drive, they held a reading over Zoom with a full libretto, lyrics for 13 songs, and music for 9. They received feedback from actors and made a call to keep working, to keep going, to keep Schmidt-ing. They worked in their separate corners of the country, meeting over Zoom and phone calls, working away in Google Drive, until February of 2024, when they finally all convened in New Orleans for a week-long writing retreat. They got to work writing more intensely than ever and submitting to theatre festivals and competitions.
In June 2024, The Schmidt Sisters was accepted to Emerging Artists Theatre’s Spark Theater Festival. For the festival, the writing team presented a one-night-only staged reading September 18th at The Chain Theater in NYC. It was performed with a pared-down cast of 10 to a sold-out house with an audience of just over 100 and a waitlist. The rave reviews poured in.
As for next steps, the writing team would like to mount a 29-Hour Industry Staged Reading or a developmental production at an incubator theatre or university. In the big-picture-future, we see The Schmidt Sisters on a big stage like one on Broadway or the West End.
Production Elements
Cast size
It can be done with a cast of 10, but can also be scaled upward with a large ensemble. The requirements for the main cast seven named characters: two women, three men, and a non-binary person in their early-to-mid-twenties and a man in his thirties or older.
Orchestrations
A 29-Hour Reading or developmental production would need 3-5 musicians on piano, guitar, and keyboard, with optional bass and drums.
A full production would need 10 musicians on guitar, bass, drums, trumpet, trombone, 2 reed doublers, and 3 keyboards (fill-in for strings, brass, winds, synth). The goal is to make 10 musicians sound like 30.
Ashlynn has the skillset to orchestrate if desired.
Number of songs
There are 20 songs, including the overture.
Target audience
The target audience is lovers of grandiose history-based mega musicals like Les Miserables; Evita; Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812; Miss Saigon; and Anastasia.
Meet the Team
Rebecca Farley (Book) she/her is a writer living in her native New Orleans, Louisiana. She has a Bachelor’s in creative writing from Columbia University, where she wrote books for two musicals. She studied musical theater in high school at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and the Professional Performing Arts School in New York City. Most recently, Antigravity Magazine published her work. She previously wrote for Martha Stewart Living Digital and Refinery29, a women’s website. In her spare time, she works in labor organizing and harm reduction.
Margo Hera (Lyrics) she/her is a multi-hyphenate theater artist who lives in New York City after escaping her hometown in South Florida. In between those cities she got her B.A. in Theatre Performance and B.S. in Psychology and Gender & Sexuality Studies at Tulane University in New Orleans. She also studied theatre in middle and high school at Bak Middle School of the Arts and Dreyfoos High School of the Arts. This is her first foray into writing a musical after a lifetime of working onstage. She is part of the musical improv team Elevator Pitch which started as a house ensembles team at the People’s Improv Theatre. She can be seen doing theatre, standup, improv, and sketch comedy around the city.
Ashlynn Hazel Pilger (Music) they/she is a non-binary composer, music director, and pianist residing in Portland, Oregon. They received their BM in Composition at Boston Conservatory at Berklee in 2020 under Jonathan Bailey Holland, Marti Epstein, and Eun Young Lee. Additionally, Ashlynn took musical theatre writing classes with Michael Wartofsky and David Reiffel at Berklee College of Music. For 8 years, they music directed at educational, community, and professional theatres. Ashlynn wrote a full-length musical entitled Indigo with their brother, and the reading was performed in Boston Conservatory. Additionally, Ashlynn is a mathematics educator and tutor. They have an MS in Mathematics from Portland State University and started their PhD program last fall. Ashlynn is a proud member of the Musical Theatre Writing Collective.
Follow Us On Social Media:
Instagram: @theschmidtsisters
TikTok: @the.schmidt.sisters
Demos
- Live for the Cause/Die for the Cause (Full Song): After our two suitors, Viktor and Nikolai, are tasked with wooing and marrying the Schmidt sisters, they debate their personal and political values, roping the entire bar of Bolshevik comrades into the ordeal.
- We Never Needed You (Full Song): Leader of the local Bolshevik faction, Anna, regrets their role in the Schmidt affair and goes to Elizaveta to apologize. They admit that they have always loved Elizaveta.
- Curtain Up (Clip): A piece of our finale.