SHOWSTOPPER

The name Jerry Rockwell may not instantly come to mind, but he is a composer/lyricist responsible for some of musical theatre’s most popular and innovative shows. Some, like Rascals & Rogues and Water Cooler, were hits, while others like Key Party and Tricky Dick were not. And others, like Beyond and Split, never even made it to opening night. Jerry’s work was always challenging, bold, and intensely personal.

Still doesn’t ring any bells? Well, that’s because Jerry doesn’t exist.

 

He’s the brainchild of theatre veterans Gary Stockdale and Spencer Green, who created the award-winning musicals Bukowsical and Bumpersticker; and Matthew Leavitt, co-artistic director of The 6th Act, and librettist for the operas Orpheus and The Wreck of the Miranda, and the book/lyrics for the musical Kid Gloves.

 

SHOWSTOPPER is a one-person show which follows Jerry as he discusses his life and career to an “audience” at New York’s 92Y Theatre. He details the ups and downs, successes and failures, and everything that he sacrificed in his quest to become the Next Big Thing as a musical composer on Broadway.   

 

Each song in SHOWSTOPPER comes from one of Jerry’s own musicals starting in the late-1960s and going all the way to the present. Some are big and brassy, some anthemic, some jaunty and jolly, others introspective. And as he traces the development of his music, influenced and fed by his personal triumphs and struggles, we learn how life and art are inextricably linked.