On December 4th 2009 we did a table reading of the first draft of our new musical
MARRY HARRY. The book is by Jennifer Robbins, the reading was directed by
Sheryl Kaller, Musical Directed by Fred Lassen, and our performers were a
stellar group of Broadway actors – Fred Applegate, P.J. Benjamin, Donna
Lynne Champlin, Harris Doran, Francis Jue, Isabel Keating, Jill Paice,
Michele Ragusa, Tim Shew, Mariand Torres, and Elisa Van Duyne.

we will keep you informed as the musical move forward!

This is us 30 years ago.  We’re posting this news to invite you to save the date for a very special performance of work we created in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s that will be presented as part of Philadelphia Dance Projects the last weekend of February.  We are re-creating some of our performance art duets plus What We’re Made Of – a group piece we originally performed with 2 Men Dancing (our Ggay Men’s Dance/Theatre/Music Collective with choreographer Ishmael Houston-Jones).  We fifty-something originators are setting these works on a very talented group of twenty-something performers – Greg Holt, John Luna, Scott McPheeters and William Robinson.  The info is below – we hope you will join us!

xo Michael and Dan

philadelphia dance projects 2010 presents
regeneration | contemporary dance | past + future
pairing the next wave of contemporary dance artists
with influential choreographers from the 1970s and 80s Philadelphia dance scene

Friday, February 26th, 7:30 PM
Saturday, February 27th, 2 PM and 7:30 PM
Local Dance History Forum – Sunday, February 28th, Noon – 6 PM

The Performance Garage
1515 Brandywine Street (just north of Spring Garden)

tickets: http://www.danceboxoffice.com/
info@philadanceprojects.org

On Tuesday, December 8th we will be receiving the Visionary Award from OUTmusic, the organization we founded 19 years ago. The award is
being given as part of the 2009 OUTmusic Awards at Webster Hall in New York
presented in partnership with Logo/MTV. Other honorees include Kevin
Aviance and Toshi Reagon, the event will be hosted by Kate Clinton and
Rodney Chester, and will feature performances by lots of great musicians.

For those of you who will be in New York next week and would like to join us
for the celebration advance tix are only $25. available online at
www.outmusic.com <http://www.outmusic.com>

Cheers,
Michael and Dan

photo by: jj tiziou

Uptown Players closes its 2009 season with the musical BREATHE …

BREATHE runs October 9 – November 7, 2009, with performances at 8 p.m. on Thursday through Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons at 2 p.m. (no performances October 11, 15 and 31). Performances take place at the KD Studio Theatre, located at 2600 North Stemmons Freeway #180, Dallas, TX 75207. Tickets are $25-$30 and can be purchased online at www.uptownplayers.org or by phone at (214) 219-2718.

BREATHE is an award-winning collection of seven short musical stories by Dan Martin and Michael Biello that celebrate gay and lesbian life. Full of a life-loving spirituality, its deeply felt celebration of humanity is a bittersweet antidote to the modern ailment of cynicism. BREATHE has the power to penetrate even the most hardened of hearts…

Tranquil Journeys for Healing & Harmony CD
Guided Meditations with Qigong Instructor Debi Dunn
Original Music by Dan Martin / Produced by Debi Dunn and Lis Kalogris

Purchase CD for $14.95 plus tax from www.the heartofhealing.com OR download at www.itunes.com

BIELLO MARTIN STUDIO proudly presents NAKED DESIGN – an exhibit of photographs by 7 Philadelphia photographers – each photo featuring a nude figure with one of MICHAEL BIELLO’s decorative art objects. Part of DESIGN PHILADELPHIA 2009, NAKED DESIGN will open on Friday, October 9th from 6 PM – 9 PM with an artists reception. The exhibit will continue through October 31st. BIELLO MARTIN STUDIO is located at 148 N. 3rd Street in Old City Philadelphia.

215-923-8737 / www.biellomartin.com / info@biellomartin.com

NAKED DESIGN celebrates the sensual side of decorative art and design and features photographs by Philadelphia photographers JOE BOWMAN, ROBERT HAKALSKI, MELISSA HAYS, ALAN KOLC, ANDREW LOXLEY, LEAH MACDONALD, and RENE MICHELI. Each photographer selected a piece of Biello’s art to photograph in an environment with a nude figure. The style, color, and size of each image are at the discretion of the photographers.

postcard image: Flicker photo by joe bowman / ceramic headlight by michael biello

NAKED DESIGN graphics by 168design

COUSINS GRIMM completed a successful 8 week run in chicagotown … listen to public radio review

COUSINS GRIMM hits the airwaves: http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/content.aspx?audioID=35893

THE COUSINS GRIMM REVIEW EXCERPTS – CHICAGO 2009

“The Cousins Grimm” involves a smart-and-sexy lesbian and a nebbish gay man both claiming some kind of kinship to the Brothers Grimm, and deciding to write gay versions of classic Grimm tales, only to find the characters taking over their actual lives. It is warm-hearted, sweet and amusing material that delivers a nice cache of self-aware laughs and, more importantly, offers up some very likable tunes by Off-Broadway songwriters I have long admired.”

Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune
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“This delightful new musical unfolds as an ambitious rework of backstage Broadway musicals and a fresh–gay oriented take on the timeless Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm. Originality together with empathetic characters singing fun tunes makes for a light evening of musical comedy. I enjoyed this smart riff on fairy tales.”

Tom Williams, ChicagoCritic.com

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“The Cousins Grimm” begins with the song “Why not a Fairytale?” and by the end the audience feels like singing along. A musical about playwrights creating a gay, musical version of the Grimm’s fairytales may sound ridiculous—and it is—but it is also fabulous. Shamelessly campy, “The Cousins Grimm” is jam-packed with laughs—so much so that one audience member said that her mouth hurt from smiling. In between the witty jokes, the crazy costumes and the larger-than-life characters, viewers catch a glimpse of themselves in stories about struggling against losing hope and losing love. Ted Sod’s script and Michael Biello’s lyrics are both amusing and poignant, and even the most biting and edgy moments in the script have a lot of heart. “The Cousins Grimm” is a lovely combination of satire and romance, and manages to let the audience laugh at fairytales without forgetting their charm.”

Ilana Kowarski, New City Stage

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“A whimsical 95-minute world premiere that combines the revisionism of “Into The Woods” with the Lambda-laced Broadway idolatry of “The Drowsy Chaperone,” “The Cousins Grimm” imagines a frustrated gay playwright. This dreamer collaborates with a lesbian descendant of the fairytale-writing Grimm brothers to write a musical with gay fairytales providing alternative role models for GLBT kids to grow on. A charming look at storytelling from an angle that changes everything and—human nature being what it is—nothing at all.”

Lawrence Bommer, Chicago Free Press

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check out chicago public radio review/conversation of our COUSINS GRIMM musical

http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/content.aspx?audioID=35893

running thru august 23rd @ the hoover-lippen theater in chicago