Miriam Feder

I especially admire simple language that is to the point. You are a great writer! And singer! And dancer! and everything else you did to make this such a great show. Krista

I can’t get the music out of my head. I’m almost normal, almost normal… I was wowed at how the whole play came together. The story line is descriptive of my age group and one can identify with it all too well. The music, acting, singing is wonderful. You’ve got a hit on your hands! Nancy

“The Only Way Out is Through” is wonderful, funny, touching, not to mention well performed and wonderfully written. Von

I loved your show yesterday…the performance was great – it was very tight. Scott

Thanks again for a memorable evening…you touched cords of pain and strength in us all. Fabulous. Barbara

I so enjoyed your and your co-star. You guys were great together and the music was so good and catchy. Cathy

I thoroughly enjoyed your play! The staging, lighting, music, lyrics were splendid! Carolyn

My husband…said he needed to take notes of your lines regarding “stuff”; I am the pack rat of the whole family so all the “dead peoples stuff” is part of my attic clutter.” Carol Anne

It was funny, poignant, true, and completely enjoyable. My admiration goes to both of you for telling such a real story. Margaret

You hit a chord in every woman at your show….good for you !! Sharon

I could really relate to what you were saying. It was funny, poignant, true, and completely enjoyable. My admiration goes to both of you for telling such a real story. Margaret

I just wanted to tell you how much I loved your show. You are really gifted. Your lyrics, melodies, acting, ideas, all are wonderful. And you and the other actress are quite a team! I am telling all my friends about it. Marjorie

You have a great production there. Joan

Bring this new timely musical to your theatre. Contact Miriam for information about licensing.

BAKING A MUSICAL FROM SCRATCH: Playwright and Producer’s diary

While I awaited the music—six to eight weeks–I thought I’d get me a director. I was fortunate to be able to hire Chrisse Roccaro. I was really excited to have someone with her experience and level head as director, not to mention being a female of a certain age….

By this time I’d pretty much decided to put the show into the Fertile Ground festival time slot. This would maximize my woefully inadequate publicity budget. (Yes that glorious grant check continued to shrink radically as I discovered I’d have to rent lights, a board, and come by a sound system. What was I thinking? Oh right—the Sellwood Lodge space was a bargain. But the list of what it didn’t include was growing. Then there were new sexy items like Insurance to think about…)

We held auditions for the other actress and cast Cindy Lyndin in the dual role of Laine/Dr. Dopfelganger (both the visiting friend and Shelley’s Therapist. I am playing the role of Shelley.) I was delighted at the turn-out for auditions; how interesting to be on the other side of the table. I really appreciated what the women who auditioned gave us. I had to chuckle at the surprise of actresses when they arrived to find saw a clump of middle-aged women waiting their turn. Not so many roles out there…

Music shot back at me from my far and oft-flung arranger. Someone else understood my ideas—always gratifying. As a Tech theatre-phobe I suddenly wished I’d paid attention to my many unfulfilling hours of tech work in college. Finally Dug Martell and I agreed upon one another.

An important and sometimes difficult part of production of my own work has always been to kick the writer out of rehearsals. This is a little tricky when she has been the whole shebang for so long. For one show, I had to get a little nasty with her and send her to wait in the car until rehearsal was over. Fortunately, at this point it was a little easier.

By now, a month into rehearsals for The Only Way Out is Through the playwright has been pretty securely dispatched. And once again—I am amazed how different my own writing looks from the standpoint of actress than writer. I have to get used to it, remind myself, discover it again and yes—work hard to memorize it. You’d think it would be easy to get those words into my head since they once came out of it. But, no.

Now, we’re rehearsing on a mostly-full set in my basement with a few twists and turns and of course not the sound we anticipate. We’re getting choreography from Kerris Cockrell—that’s exciting. Every day I think up something else new to do, in addition to learning my part, connecting with everyone in the production, finishing last week’s mess and keeping the rest of my life somewhat afloat. I’m almost getting used to this… Tickets