Evynne Hollens’ Contemporary Songbook Project returns in its 8th edition, this February, celebrating female writers on Broadway. A concert weekend highlighting an award-winning list of contemporary Broadway musicals written by women, featuring selections from Hadestown, 9 to 5, Legally Blonde, Fun Home, Once on this Island, Ragtime, Anastasia, The Color Purple, Bring It On, Waitress, Mean Girls, and the newest current Broadway royal-hit, SIX The Musical.
Long considered the Golden Age of musical theatre, the 1940s and 1950s were a time when women writers on Broadway were almost completely absent. In 1959, Mary Rodgers, daughter of musical theater titan Richard Rodgers, wrote the music for Once Upon a Mattress which shortly became her first and only hit, along with all other women writers until the 1970s. After a gap in the late 80s, the number of women composing for Broadway slowly began to build through the 90s and 2000s, until 2015 when Broadway boasted the highest number of female composers in one season: a whopping total of three, including Jeanine Tesori, the most prolific and honored female theatrical composer in history, known for Thoroughly Modern Millie, Caroline, Shrek The Musical and the critically acclaimed Fun Home (to name a few). The following year, Sara Bareilles' hit musical Waitress became the first Broadway musical in history in which the book writer, songwriter, choreographer and director were all female artists. In 2022, Broadway is finally seeing more women writers, directors, and producers, boasting the first woman to pen a play and a musical in the same season, an increase of women in design categories at the TONY awards than ever before, and a record number of successful female producers who are notably hiring more female writers and directors.
Local Broadway, Youtube & Eugene-born artist Evynne Hollens, will once again gather a diverse group of musicians from Broadway in New York, to Broadway in Eugene, and highlight a smashing lineup of music from hit Broadway musicals, including a few lesser known gems, written by women, from the era of modern musical theatre. You don't want to miss this spectacular evening featuring some of Broadway's best music from this extraordinary lineup. Notable artists whose work will be featured include: Jeanine Tesori (Thoroughly Modern Millie, Shrek the Musical, Caroline, or Change, Fun Home), Lynn Ahrens (Once on this Island, Ragtime), Amanda Green (Bring It On), Kristen Anderson-Lopez (Frozen), Sara Bareilles (Waitress), Brenda Russell & Allee Willis (The Color Purple), Irene Sankoff (Come From Away), Cyndi Lauper (Kinky Boots), Marsha Norman (The Secret Garden), Edie Brickell, (Bright Star), Anaïs Mitchell (Hadestown) and Lucy Moss (SIX The Musical).