Book & Lyrics by Maggie-Kate Coleman
Music by Anna K. Jacobs
Who shot Andy Warhol? The fabulous Candy Darling hosts a happening whodunit musical in which the famous—and infamous—denizens of Warhol’s legendary Factory all have motives to pull the trigger. But the pop art icon unravels an even bigger mystery as he confronts not only the prime suspects, but also his art and his own greatest creation: himself.
POP! received its world premiere production at Yale Repertory Theatre in 2009 and won three 2010 Connecticut Critics Circle Awards for Best Production of a Musical, Outstanding Actor in a Musical, and Outstanding Lighting Design. The 2011 Studio Theatre production also received a 2012 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor. The 2012 Pittsburgh City Theatre production starred Anthony Rapp (RENT) as Andy Warhol and was named one of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review’s “Top Ten of 2012.”
POP! features a cast of 7 (3M, 4W+).
Audio
Recorded live at Ars Nova, NYC
Lyrics by Maggie-Kate Coleman
Music by Anna K. Jacobs
Featuring: Courtney Bassett, Amy Linden, Alyse Alan Louis, Eric William Morris, Keith Potts, Bryan Charles Rooney, Paul Victor.
Musical Direction: Katya Stanislavskaya.
Preview
Gallery
POP! at City Theatre
Photos by Suellen Fitzsimmons/City Theatre
POP! at The Studio Theatre
Photos by Scott Suchman/The Studio Theatre
POP! at Yale Repertory Theatre
Photos by Joan Marcus/Yale Repertory Theatre
Press
“Filled with glamour, wit, intrigue, sex, and several pistols, POP! is vibrant, hip, fresh, and a hell of a lot of fun. A dynamic score with smart and funny lyrics performed with Factory precision and presence by an outstanding ensemble.”
Frank Rizzo, Variety
“Stylish, cleverly conceived with moments of dizzy brilliance.”
Charles Isherwood, The New York Times
“POP! is an intriguing and rousing evening, a bold and inventive attempt to give tuneful form to Warhol’s obsessive pursuit of the mundane.”
Peter Marks, The Washington Post
“Irresistible cast, music burst forth… POP! contributes more bold, colorful layers to the Warhol legend and has the added “something” of launching the original voices of creators Ms. Coleman and Ms. Jacobs onto the musical scene.”
Sharon Eberson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“A raucous, giddy, comedic expedition through the landscape of an era.”
Alice Carter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
“Anna K. Jacobs has written some really good music for this 2009-debuter. She calls forth an attractive array of styles: rock, folk, opera, church services, Asian and other ethnicities, all dovetailing with what the characters are doing and the specifics of Maggie–Kate Coleman’s lyrics. Jacobs also evokes minimalist music, perfectly suiting the seeming simplicity of Pop Art. And she aptly suggests slashes of 12-tone scores in cartoonish versions of Robert Motherwell, Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning.”
Gordon Spencer, WRCT
History
Notable Productions:
- Pittsburgh City Theatre (dir. Brad Rouse, feat. Anthony Rapp), PA, 2012
- The Studio Theatre (dir. Keith Alan Baker), Washington DC, 2011
- Yale Repertory Theatre (premiere, dir. Mark Brokaw), CT, 2009
POP! was developed at the NYU Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program and Yale Institute for Music Theatre.