BREED & RESCUE
Written, Composed, & Performed by Stephanie Weisman
Ben Flint, Pianist
Directed, Developed, & Designed by Marc Montserrat-Drukker
Musical Direction, Arrangement, & Composition Development by Ellen Hoffman
Script Developed with David Ford
Technical Direction, Co-Lighting Design by Hector Zavala
August 31 – September 23, 2017 | Berkeley
Thursdays & Fridays at 8pm | Saturdays at 8:30pm
Talkback on 9/22 with Musical Director and Arranger, Ellen Hoffman.
“Hannah’s performance was electrifying. I was fortunate to see Part 1 in March and I was blown away by the execution and direction of extremely super charged and powerful material. Hannah’s musical numbers were breathtaking and her voice cut through to the deepest part of my being. You could not hear a pin drop. She held us in rapt attention. We were all mesmerized. Do not miss this extraordinary night of theater.” – Ann Randolph
“Hanna Taylor, we learn in ‘Breed & Rescue,’ really loves babies and puppies. Abidingly by W.C. Fields’ rule not to work with children or dogs, she recreates both of them herself in this bittersweet musical. Warm, engaging, honest and moving, Taylor’s first one-woman show (plus piano player) offers a personal take on a universal subject: love and loss and carrying on. P.S. Regular Marsh-goers are in for a big surprise.” –Sylvie Simmons, Rock Star Rock Critic, Author of “I’m Your Man: the Life of Leonard Cohen”
“Here’s the thing–Writing is hard. Weaving writing into a fabric is harder. Try throwing in some songs that are ON theme and not gratuitous and you’ve just shaken hands with the impossible. But, this is exactly what Hannah Taylor has pulled off with ‘Breed & Rescue.’ A solo musical with a wonderful, criss-crossing highway of a story — that will steal your heart and send it frolicking into the sand or laughing into a bark crying into a lie. Yes, there are lots of lies stirred into this thick, full stew of a show–but the main ingredient is the truth. You are thoroughly steeped in the process and magic and horror and delight of adoption from multiple perspectives. Quite honestly, the songs (which were also composed and performed by the performer) are right up there with those haunting beauties–you hum leaving a Broadway show. I’m not joking. I’m not bullshitting. I mean this. This show delivers the goods. Then delivers some more. Doggone good is what it IS!” –Don Reed
Show Description
Breed & Rescue: A Solo Performance Musical
With a piano and pianist smack in the middle of the stage, Taylor intertwines her story of breeding, rescuing and adapting, into a joyful, sometimes comic, sometimes poignant, but ultimately hopeful journey. It is also a plea to make changes for those most vulnerable.
Check out a sneak peak here:
http://bit.ly/BandRvideo
Artist Biographies
Hannah Taylor (Writer/Composer/Performer) is delving back into her creative caverns. She has a MA in Creative Writing. Her journalism and poems have occasionally been published nationally. She has a lifelong affinity for solo performance and musicals. She loves to sing. She loves to dance.
Ben Flint (Pianist) toured the world as a keyboardist with Isaac Hayes for 18 years. He is a graduate of Berklee College of Music and USC. He currently teaches music at Diablo Valley College and is the Artistic Director of the Oakland Jazz Choir. His first CD, “Onyx” was released on the One Truth Label and he is cofounder of the World Soul Project with Gerard Harris.
Marc Montserrat-Drukker (Director, Development, Designer) is directing, developing, designing and integrating the musical aspects into the performance. Montserrat-Drukker is an award-winning director, who developed and co-created (with Ignacio García May) the play The Wave (La Ola) based on the real-life Palo Alto High School experiment in fascism by Ron Jones. The world premier was at the prestigious Barcelona’s Teatre Lliure and was named one of Spain’s top 10 productions of the year. Amongst many other productions, he also directed the solo performance Sombra y Cuna, starring Pedro Almodóvar, film actress, Rossy de Palma, at the CDN (Spain’s National Theatre in Madrid). In México City, he directed the full-scale production of Monty Python’s Spamlot produced by OCESA and Gou Produciones, which also became one of Mexico’s hit shows of the season. Last summer, Marc created and directed the music and opera concert I Want to be a Diva for the 30th Anniversary of the world renowned Catalonian international summer music Festival Castell de Peralada. Most recently he co-adapted and directed the world premiere stage version of Relato de un náufrago (The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor) by Gabriel García Márquez, which became one of the Teatre Lliure’s most successful productions of 2016. www.marcmonserratdrukker.com
Ellen Hoffman’s (Musical Director, Arranger, Composition Development) newest composition premiered at the Oakland Symphony on December. She has received commissions, and local and national grants, including a grant from the NEA. She has worked with legendary Rita Moreno, Linda Ronstadt, Bobby McFerrin, Joan Baez, and Terrance Kelly and the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir. Ellen was founding music director of Jazz Camp West, and the 85-voice Berkeley Broadway Singers.
David Ford (Script Development) called “dean” of solo performance, has developed many of The Marsh’s premier performances by Marsh stars including Brian Copeland, Charlie Varon, Geoff Hoyle, Maureen Langan, Ron Jones, and many more.
Hector Zavala (Technical Director, Co-Lighting Designer) is The Marsh’s Technical Director, has worked with the Circus Center, 42nd Moon and theaters all over the Bay Area. He is also the producer of the film, The Queen and the Dead.