Musicals with Collaborators
Music by Murray, along with writing by some fine collaborators
Book by Robby Steltz Music and Lyrics by Stephen Murray
In the late 1800s rumors were circulating about alleged horror taking place on Blackwell’s Island, home of the New York City Lunatic Asylum. Women were apparently the victims of abuse and torture, and one woman, a newspaper reporter, decided to risk her own life to investigate. Nellie Bly committed herself to the asylum, documenting her findings and ultimately revealing the horrors to the entire world. This musical is adapted from Robby Steltz’s award-winning one-act play “Nellie” as well as Nellie’s own book “Ten Days in a Madhouse.” Featuring music by Stephen Murray, “Nellie: The Musical” tells the incredible story of how this “girl” reporter forever changed the way the world looks at treatment and housing of people suffering from mental illness. Eleven original songs including "Undercover,” in which Nellie Bly makes her decision to take on a dangerous assignment; the haunting, a cappella "Dreaming," sung by the ghostly women; and the villainous Miss Grupe's demand that the asylum patients "Comply." Ultimately, in "Struck by Words," Nellie comes to the realization that her words can bring about positive change.
Book by Todd Wallinger Music and Lyrics by Stephen Murray
Celebrate the joy of reading in a fresh, fun-filled, and musical way! The enormously popular children’s play, The Enchanted Bookshop, is now a musical!
An ordinary used book shop by day, A Likely Story becomes a magical place each night. Thanks to a spell from the Book Fairy, the characters inside the books come alive each and every night. Six of those characters — Dorothy Gale, Robin Hood, Pollyanna, Sherlock Holmes, Heidi, and Tom Sawyer — long to help Margie, the scatterbrained owner, save her struggling store. But they’re not allowed to leave the building or be seen by human eyes.
So when a pair of bungling smugglers comes looking for a stolen necklace hidden inside one of the books, the characters are torn. Should they warn Margie and risk disappearing forever? Or can they find a way to defeat the crooks without being seen?
Including appearances by other literary characters such as the Queen of Hearts, Long John Silver, and Doctor Doolittle, and with a toe-tapping score from Stephen Murray featuring jazz, march, and pop tunes, this charming musical will enchant audiences young and old.
Book by Craig Sodaro Music and Lyrics by Stephen Murray
The Wicked Witch is on trial for her crimes in the land of Once Upon a Time in this madcap musical featuring several favorite characters from many fairy tales. Witnesses for the prosecution and defense provide a variety of toe-tapping tunes such as a swinging Big Bad Wolf in “The Wolf of Wall Street,” an operatic Rapunzel in “I Love to Sing,” and a rocking Gingerbread Man in “Go, Gingie, Go!” The Wicked Witch herself casts a musical spell with “Escape Velocity.” The audience acts as jury in this trial and gets to determine the fate of the Wicked Witch. Guilty or innocent, you can be assured that this show is “Wicked Awesome.”
To order, contact Eldridge Publishing.
Book by Bryan Starchman, Music by Stephen Murray
Are we there yet? The Stathem family is on a loooong car trip, giving everyone lots of extra time to reminisce about the past 12 months. Here is a collection of hilarious (and often too close to the truth) scenes and songs that all families are going to be able to relate to. This easy-to-stage comedy is a lighthearted look at a "greatest hit list" of classic family moments.
Listen to clips from this show here
Visit Eldridge Publishing to order.
A Collaboration with Robert Kinerk
This show premiered in 2012 at The Majestic Theater in West Springfield, Massachusetts. Bob Kinerk’s fresh take on the classic story features lots of audience participation, fantastic characters, and eleven songs by Stephen Murray. Characters include a braggart father, his long-suffering wife, their poor but beautiful daughter, a strict rule-enforcing chancellor; a monarch whose kingdom depends on straw being spun into gold, and of course, the mysterious little man who is willing to perform that exceptional feat – but at a tremendous price.
Listen to clips from this show here
Visit Eldridge Publishing to order.
A collaboration with Spring Hermann
Adapted from award-winning author Luis Sepúlveda’s novel "The Story of a Seagull and the Cat Who Taught Her to Fly." After getting lost in the Atlantic and landing in an oil slick, a seagull manages to land in Boston at the front porch of Zorbo, a tomcat. Before the gull dies, Zorbo reluctantly promises to protect her egg, to feed the chick when it hatches, and to teach the young gull to fly. Zorbo discovers that hatching an egg isn’t as easy as it looks, so he enlists the help of his feline neighborhood friends: Sal, Einstein, and the Admiral. When the chick finally hatches, she takes one look at Zorbo and calls him “Mama.” Unsure how to raise a seagull chick, Einstein gets a book on how to raise chickens, but Zorbo can’t imagine what he was thinking when he agreed to teach the chick to fly. He’s a cat! What does he know about flying? And there’s another problem…Zorbo has a fear of heights!
Visit Big Dog Plays to listen to selections and order.
Book by Tom Large, adapted from the play by William Shakespeare
Shakespeare's popular comedy is now a modern musical. This is the first collaboration of Murray and Large. If audiences have half as much fun watching this show as we did writing it then this is sure to be a huge hit! Shakespeare's plot of shipwreck, disguises, mistaken identity, and eccentric characters remains. The language is modernized, some of the major male roles are now major female roles, and the music is loads of fun.
Listen to clips from this show here
Visit Eldridge Publishing to Order
Book by Craig Sodaro
Craig Sodaro has written a great story set in Florida during the Second World War. This was a great opportunity for me to write music in the 1940's style. There are lots of great 3-part songs for Betty, Ruthie, and Sissy in this one.
Listen to clips from this show here
Visit Eldridge Publishing to Order.
By Starchman and Murray
This is the musical version of Bryan Starchman's highly successful Just Another High School Play. A group of high school actors, abandoned by their director, have to fend for themselves in front of an audience without knowing what show they are doing. The assistant director and stage manager find a box of random scripts which they hand out to the cast in order to create the most unusual musical ever staged. The show is full of physical comedy, gags, and lots of satirical takes on some famous pieces of theater.
Listen to clips from this show here
Visit Eldridge Publishing to order.
Book by Tim Kelly, Music and Lyrics by Stephen Murray
This is a Wild West Musical based on the Russian Play, The Inspector-General by Nikolai Gogol. A town full of felonious incompetent fools mistakes a drifting grifter (or would that be a grifting drifter?) for a detective sent from the town's East Coast developer.
Song samples and lots of other resources for this show at PIONEER DRAMA SERVICE.
Book by Jay Moriarty, Music and Lyrics by Stephen Murray
Film Producer Larry Livermore needs a star for his new film Archie of the Amazon. When no actor fits the part, Larry heads for the Amazon jungle to find a real jungle man. He finds Rocky and his gorilla friend, Ingagi.A delightful goofball comedy.
Visit PIONEER DRAMA SERVICE for song samples and other resources.
Book by Patrick Rainville Dorn, Music and Lyrics by Stephen Murray
Meeting in the empty school auditorium one stormy night, these adventurous high school students' ultimate mission is to learn the identity of the enigmatic Locker Stalker. What begins as a half-hearted prank turns into a roller coaster night of great tunes, hilarious goons and side-splitting laughter as each student is confronted by his or her nightmare... literally!
Visit PIONEER DRAMA SERVICE for song samples and resources.
Book by Tim Kelly, Music and Lyrics by Stephen Murray
Mona Babbington's old Victorian mansion, once a beauty, is now a rooming house for rambunctious college students. With the help of her scatterbrain nephew and devoted niece, Mona struggles to hold off the wrecker's ball. It's not easy, considering Silias Price, the town octopus, is eager to turn the property into a parking lot. To raise money, the students decide to sell all the junk in the old house at a yard sale, but little do they know what complications they face!
Visit PIONEER DRAMA SERVICE for song samples and other resources.
Book by Cynthia Davies and Steven Fendrich, Music and Lyrics by Stephen Murray
Students who have sung in a chorus directed by Stephen Murray know of his passion for tongue twisters as choral warm-ups. Who else would get to write the songs for a show about a tongue twisting competition? This show is great fun and can be even more fun if the actors have trouble with the tongue twisters!
Visit PIONEER DRAMA SERVICE for song samples and other resources.