Upcoming Events:
composer.
performer.
educator.
Moni Stephenson
Composer
"Monica Stephenson’s music doesn’t miss a beat with a fresh sound that’s competitive with other new shows." - Pgh in the Round
Buoyant Sea
Hiawatha Project & The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
EQT Children's Festival World Premiere
Book by Anya Martin
Music & Lyrics by Monica Stephenson
Directed by Anya Martin
In “Buoyant Sea” young children sing and splash together along with their grown-ups in a “water-table-play” about the joy of togetherness. Come along with the ever-exuberant character of MC, and the timid, Rumi-quoting character of CC, as they row together through misty rivers and explore the icy arctic with story, song, and participatory play. Together this pair of best friends discover that when the world changes around us, like water, we can adapt, flow, and float up again.
Prime Online Series
Prime Stage Theatre Company's 2020-2021 Online Series
bringing theatre and literature to you at home, your classroom or anywhere!
-
Einstein, A Stage Portrait by Willard Simms
-
One Christmas Carol, Adapted by Douglas H. Baker from Charles Dickens
-
Sojourner, by Richard LaMonte Pierce
Tyndale Place
POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19. NEW WORLD PREMIERE DATE TBA
The Phoebe and Otto Premiere Series • A World Premiere Musical Comedy
Book & Lyrics by Jennifer Childs
Music by Monica Stephenson
Directed by Tracy Brigden
Starring Rachel Camp, Eileen Cella, Lee Minora, Emily Kleimo, and Ben Dibble
It’s 1953 in a homogenous American suburb. At the end of a cul-de-sac, three housewives lead quiet lives of childcare, housework, and bridge on Fridays. When a new neighbor, a former factory worker during the war, joins their clique, the ladies of Tyndale Place are introduced to a new way of life— one they never knew they wanted.
Twelfth Night
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Andy Kirtland
with music by Monica Stephenson and Gil Teixeira
May 3, 2019 – May 12, 2019
Match wits with one of Shakespeare’s most dynamic heroines in this hilarious tale of love, music and courage. Set in the colorful world of Portugal, Twelfth Night tickles the imagination as Viola disguises herself as a page boy to find her twin brother but finds herself at the center of a crazy love triangle. If music be the food of love, play on! Twelfth Night could be the perfect play to jumpstart a love affair with Shakespeare's works.
My Traveling Song
A Hiawatha Project Original Play
Directed by Anya Martin
Created by Liza Barley, Heather Irwin, Anya Martin, Monica Stephenson and Shani Banchee
with Tina Marie Cerny, Heather Graff, Lisa Leibering, Stephanie Mayer-Staley, and Jess Medenbach
Hiawatha Project brings together a team of professional artists, all of whom are also the parents of young children, for a special original performance meant to be experienced by children aged 1-5 and a grown up that loves them.My Traveling Song is an interactive, original play that whimsically uplifts memory and music, along with sensory explorations to create a theatrical experience designed to cherish and invigorate relationships between very young children and their caregivers. In My Traveling Song thunderstorms relinquish to cheerful mud puddles and darkness reveals magical firefly constellations in the night sky.
The Carols
2016 World Premiere in Philadelphia
2017 Pittsburgh Premiere at Carnegie Stage
2020 Fayetteville, North Carolina Regional Premiere at The Gilbert Theater
Written & Directed by Jennifer Childs
Music by Monica Stephenson • Lyrics by Jennifer Childs
It's Christmastime in 1944. War is raging on the other side of the Atlantic and, here at home, a group of neighbors gathers at the VFW to make the most of what they have. 1812's newest original comedy brings us an oddball friendship between a trio of singing sisters, an out-of-work Catskills comic, a limping piano player, and their grumpy Scrooge-like landlady. The Carols is a heartfelt and hopeful musical that looks at making something right with all the wrong people.
Wild Women Don’t Get the Blues
Premiered in May 2016 at East Liberty Presbyterian Church
Presented by Hope Academy’s teen theater company (HAT Co)
Directed By Meredith Hoppe
Composer & Music Director Moni Stephenson
“A multi-disciplinary work encouraging young women to stand up, speak their mind, refuse to back down, and ultimately, change the world.”
"Stories, poems, monologues and songs about women who stood up, spoke their minds, refused to back down and changed the world."
This Girl Laughs, This Girls Cries, This Girl Does Nothing
A Musical Adaptation, Hope Academy
Premiered in May 2015 at East Liberty Presbyterian Church.
Musical adapted with approval by
Playwright Finegan Kruckemeyer
Director Meredith Hoppe
Composer & Music Director Moni Stephenson
“This Girl Laughs, The Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing” is Finegan Kruckmeyer’s award-winning, fairytale-esque play about the journey of three sisters who take different paths, have incredible adventures, and end up back where they started, transformed into independent women. This highly original tale explores complex themes of love, loss and self-discovery.
Using an innovative DIY design aesthetic, plus shadow puppets and an original soundscape and songs, Hope Academy’s Teen Theater Company (HAT Co) brings this poetic, humorous and action-packed story to life for young people and adults, ages 8 and up.
Before Pride
TheatriQ; Dreams of Hope
Premiered in December 2013 at Alloy Dance Studios in Pittsburgh
Teaching Artist, Composer & Music Director Moni Stephenson
TheatriQ is a performance ensemble that creates work to address LGBQT themes. Before Pride has run in various locations such as: Pittsburgh PrideFest, Andy Warhol Youth Invasion, Pittsburgh Public School All-City Arts Showcase & Initiative for Transgender Leadership workshop.
It's My Party: The Women and Comedy Project
April 25, 2013 - May 19, 2013
Written and Directed by Jennifer Childs
Songs and Musical Direction by Monica Stepheson
