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“Do what you love. Know your own bone; gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it, and gnaw it still.”                                                                                                - Henry David Thoreau

                                                       
Writing Credits

Novels 

Well With My Soul                                                                                                              (Prologue)

The bonds of blood are tested by two brothers who have spent the first part of their adult life drifting away from each other, closing the door to engagement and emotional connection. The older brother, Jacob, flees his small Tennessee hometown by seeking freedom in New York City, where he travels deep into a labyrinth of sex and drugs while fighting the fear over his homosexuality. His entanglement with the ministry as his own personal rehab only alienates him more from his true identity; wreaking havoc in the lives of those closest to him. The younger conservative brother, Noah, stays behind feeling shackled by familial duties for their aging mother, but finds courage in the sorrow of the past and a new way at looking at life that he never believed he possessed by writing stories of his conflicted family.  Spanning the unbridled times of the 1970s and the sovereignty of Reaganomics, each brother’s story becomes an unflinching exploration of the way that we deal with what most unsettles us and the families we inherit and build along the journey.

Patchwork of Me (Work in Progress)

Sometimes the voices in your head are the ones that speak the loudest and drown out any semblance of reality.  This is what Sara Butler, a thirty-something gal with a small group of quirky friends in Phoenix, Arizona discovers.  She has a strange habit of listening to those voices too much while clawing at an invisible rash which plagues her arm. Doctors can’t find anything as her shrink tries to get to the root of the emotional issue - but Sara keeps too many secrets from him about her past in foster care and instead makes up elaborate stories of a family history.  She does confide the recurring odd dreams she has of being on the beaches of Maine, but she has never been to that part of the country...or has she? Leaving her job over Christmas break (as well as the man she has dubbed her ‘booty text’), she embarks on a trip across the country with her two gay male friends on the road of self discovery; patching her life together as she learns how the future she plans for is directly tied to a past she knew nothing about.

The Cool Side of the Pillow (Work in Progress)

Zachery Kleinmann lives in the elite world of New Canaan, Connecticut and has left his accounting job four years earlier to be a modern stay-at-home father. But as his son is starting pre-school, his wife is passionately involved in her own career, and Zach is knocking on forty years old, he begins to wonder how he will find his own serenity and define himself moving forward.  Enter Ginger Charman, an eccentric, free living actress who has dedicated her life to bringing joy to children and keeping all those around her young at heart. As Zach is pulled into her world and discovers secrets about his new friend, he is not sure he'll ever be able to leave the rabbit hole once he has fallen through - or if he'll even want to venture outside of it again.

Short Stories, Prose & Poetry   

" Now I'm Up!" Off The Rocks Vol 14 Editor Allison Fradkin

"Getting Through the Recession" Loch Raven Review Vol. VI, No. 1 Editors Jim Doss & Christopher T. George April 2010

"Cain & Abel"  Muscadine Lines: A Southern Journal Vol. 26 Editor Kathy Rhodes April 2009

"Father to Son" The Oddville Press Vol. 1 Issue 3 Editor Patricia D. Hurst April 2009

"The Box" Perpetual Magazine Editor Russell Fellows April 2009

"The Business Trip" Loch Raven Review Vol. IV, No. 4 Editors Jim Doss & Christopher T. George Jan 2009  The print version is available here.

"Book of Bummers" Rancor'd Type  Issue 3 Editor Joe Sutton. Nov 2008  

"The Christmas Star" Home and Holidays Dec 2008 & Rancor'd Type Christmas Eve Edition 2008

"A Moment to Breathe"  Word Catalyst Magazine Vol 2. No. 6  Publisher Shirley Allard. Jan 2009 

"Completion"  Word Catalyst Magazine Vol 2. No. 6  Publisher Shirley Allard. Jan 2009 

"08.08.08Word Catalyst Magazine Vol 2. No. 5  Publisher Shirley Allard. Dec 2008 (poem)

"Economics" Word Catalyst Magazine Vol 2. No. 5  Publisher Shirley Allard. Dec 2008 (poem)

"History" Word Catalyst Magazine Vol 2. No. 5   Publisher Shirley Allard. Dec 2008 (poem)

 

"The Computer" (short story)

"It Ain't Over 'Til the Fat Guy is Skinny" (prose)

"A Mother’s Love" (short story)

"My Godson"

 

Plays

It is Well With My Soul                                                      Westminster Arts Center, NJ (stage version of novel above)                                                                           (Staged Reading)
In an age where the country is in an upheaval about gay and lesbian rights, evangelicals running Washington, and closeted gay men finding themselves in scandalous headlines, It is Well With My Soul is a story of a gay male model, caught up in the world of sex and drugs who makes a deal with God during a bad drug overdose and becomes a preacher.  Even though he marries and fathers children, he continues to fight with his “demons”.  Jacob Garrett wanted to make a difference with his life and be known, no matter the cost to him, his wife, his children or his congregation.  This story follows the rise and fall of one man who came close to having it all, but pride and arrogance got in his own way.


Musical Book, Music & Lyrics

Invisible Fences (Country gospel musical)                      The Lark Theatre Co., NYC, NY
(Music & Lyrics with Stephen Kitsakos)                                                 (Equity Staged Reading)
                                                                                                   4th Wall Musical Theatre, NJ Set in the rural south during the explosive summer of 1963, this musical centers around the story of a multi-racial school teacher who has dreams of moving on in her life and a white man who has recently moved to Dalton, Georgia to forget his past and start a new life with his daughter.  Through love, hope and perseverance, the characters try to break through their “invisible fences” to find their dreams. 
© Allen & Kitsakos 1998  

River Divine (Country gospel musical)                                          The Duplex,NYC, NY
Winner: Best Score Award                                                                     TheatreWeek Magazine
A country gospel musical based on the play, The Diviners by Jim Leonard.  A traveling back-sliding preacher comes to a small country town in the midst of the depression.  There he meets a boy with developmental issues, but has a gift of diving water, though he won’t touch the stuff.  The two form a bond of friendship that causes town folk to believe the preacher is there to heal the boy in this poignant and tragic tale.                                                                             © Allen 1996

Destiny & Dreams                                                             Don't Tell Mama, NYC, NY
(concert version)                                                                                                                      A time-travel musical about a man who travels back in time to stop a train wreck from occurring that is carrying a traveling circus troupe.  In Illinois, he has heard many stories about this historical wreck and finds himself haunted in memories by it.  Once he is back in time and begins to meet all the characters from this troupe, he finds himself drawn to the lead trapeze star who's partner does not like the fact that this new man has worked his way into the hearts of everyone at the circus.  He suddenly realizes this is the woman that has visited his dreams and believes destiny has brought him here.  Is he able to stop the wreck or is he actually the cause of it?  
© Allen 1994

From Humble Prospects                                                                       Garland, TX
An epic pageant that told the history of the town, Garland in Texas in 1986.  It followed the settlers that created the town and retold historical accounts of that period in the late 1800s.                     © Allen 1986

  Kids of U.S.A. (Children’s musical)                                                           Garland, TX
A musical that follows the lives of six teenagers as they go through issues of dating, school work, and graduation.                                                                                                                      © Allen 1986

  No Mother to Love Her                                                                              Garland, TX
An old-fashioned melodrama set in the mountains of Colorado.  Complete with a hero, heroine (who doesn't know she's the heroine) and a villain that all get involved with saving a saloon in a town that has no recreational value and has lost all business. © Allen 1985

  Dracula Bites at Dusk (Children’s musical)                                               Garland, TX
A comical musical telling about Dracula and all the other creatures that live in the basement of an old inn, each of them dealing with problems faced by children: loneliness, acceptance and friendship. © Allen 1984


Music & Lyrics

  The Flooding of Bishop Falls (children’s musical)                   Tour in Hudson Valley, NY
(Music & Lyrics with Stephen Kitsakos)                                                                                     A commissioned piece that told a historical story about the greater Hudson Valley area in New York.  © Allen & Kitsakos 1998   

  The Thousand-and-Second Tale                                            BMI Workshop NYC, NY
(Music only/Lyrics by Jenne Watson) 
A ten minute musical about the the story of Scheherazade by Edgar Allen Poe.                          © Allen & Watson 1994

The Little Mermaid (Children’s musical)                              Children’s Theatre Tour/NJ
A musical based on the beloved Hans Christian Andersen story about a mermaid who longs to be part of the human world. © Allen 1994

The Blue Cat of Castle Town is a musical based on the children's book by Catherine C. Coblentz.  Once in a blue moon there comes a cat that is blue, singing the river's song, seeking - for you!      © Allen 1995

Vocal Arrangements

Queen of Hearts (life of Princess Diana)                                            Harold Clurman Theatre, NY
(Off-Broadway Equity Showcase)

Gregory's Prose/Poetry Blog

 

 
   
   
   
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