SPOTLIGHT ON: Mourning Becomes Ridiculous (Book and Lyrics by David Eisner and Music by Chuck Muckle)

Manhattan Theatre Mission is excited and delighted to produce our second Showcase of New Musicals! Following up on the rousing success of last year's Showcase, we look forward to bringing you four diverse offerings from some of today's up-and-coming talent! Over the last few weeks, we have been spotlighting each of our selected shows to give you a taste of the excellent material we have planned for this year. This week's spotlight is on our fourth piece, MOURNING BECOMES RIDICULOUS (music by Chuck Muckle, book and lyrics by David Eisner).

Providing a playful twist on the conventions of classic Greek tragedy, MOURNING BECOMES RIDICULOUS is an offbeat take on Sophocles' ELECTRA. In this version, instead of guiding the various members of the House of Atreus to their inevitable and bloody ends, the Fates decide to take a more hands-off approach to humanity and start letting them sort out their own drama. Without the Fates around to blame for their woes, the melodramatic lives of Electra and the rest of the citizens of Mycenae take on new comic life as they are finally forced to take responsibility for their own crazy actions. Utilizing traditional Greek theatrical techniques and characters, MOURNING BECOMES RIDICULOUS mines the extremity of classical tragedy to hilarious effect.

Like most of their projects, Muckle and Eisner were drawn to this story for one primary reason: the fun and joy of playing around with theatre.  Having found a fun and fertile dramatic concept, the pair have developed the show into a tuneful, ironic, and clever piece that marries the theatrical style of the Greeks with the playfulness and wit of old-school songs in the vein of Cole Porter.

Manhattan Theatre Mission is excited and honored to include MOURNING BECOMES RIDICULOUS in this year's Showcase!  CLICK HERE to hear an audio sample of one of the show's songs, "I'm Gonna Be a Star". 

The 2nd Annual New Musicals Showcase will take place this Saturday, December 7th at 4pm at the Roy Arias Stage IV Theatre - 300 W. 43rd St. CLICK HERE for more information and to purchase tickets!