Once Upon A Carnival: A New Musical Adventure

06/21/2024

ATTN: anyone planning to attend one of our upcoming evening shows with Moonbox Productions' Boston New Works Festival -- our evening showtimes have moved a half-hour earlier, to 7:30 PM. Tell your friends (and see you at the Calderwood Pavilion soon!)

06/11/2024

Catch a sneak peek of the show THIS SATURDAY at 11 AM on WERS 88.9 FM (it can also be livestreamed online if you live outside of the Boston area, at https://wers.org )!

This Saturday, get a sneak peek of the Caribbean melodies of on Boston’s Standing Room only ! Set your alarms for 11! 💗🇹🇹💛🏝️💙🎭

ONCE UPON A CARNIVAL
Boston New Works Festival
Moonbox Productions
6/21 at 8pm
6/22 at 2pm and 8pm
6/23 at 2pm
Calderwood Pavilion Wimberly Theatre
Festival tickets at http://bit.ly/BNWF2024

05/26/2024

That’s right…at the bottom of the Caribbean sits an island shaped like a boot — and you can find yourself transported there June 21st-23rd, 2024 on the Wimberly stage at the BCA!

Thanks to , we’ll be back with a full show premiere for you as part of the 2024 Boston New Works Festival. Stay tuned for ticket purchase information, show/music previews, cast and creative team intros, and more‼️🇹🇹🎶🎭

04/27/2024

Happy Birthday Rose! ❤️ Trinidad and Tobago’s beloved Monarch, Calypso Rose, will celebrate her 84th Birthday tomorrow!

Forty-six years ago, on February 5th 1978, Calypso Rose became the first woman to win the Calypso Monarch crown with the songs “Her Majesty” and “I Thank Thee”! She was also Calypso Queen from 1974 to 1978, making her the National title holder for five consecutive years—a feat that no calypsonian had accomplished before. In 1977, she also became the first woman to win the Road March title with her song “Gimme More Tempo.”

Tobago-born McCartha Linda Lewis, known widely as Calypso Rose, began sharing her musical talents with the world as a teenager. Over the course of her career, she has become a multi award-winning international recording artist, composing and recording over 800 songs. Through her music, she has brought audiences together and shone light on important social and political issues. In 2017, she was awarded the Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the highest symbol of honour presented to a citizen of T&T.

This photo shows Calypso Rose in performance from the 10th Edition of the “Ins & Outs of Trinidad and Tobago” magazine, published in 2010. It is part of the National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago Magazine Collection.

References:
Calypso Rose, http://www.calypso-rose.com/.

Ottley, Rudolph. Women in Calypso. Vol. 1, 1992.

02/28/2024

BIG NEWS❗ / 🎭 AUDITION ALERT (paid opportunity) --

Some of you may know that Brianna Pierre and I have been working on writing an original musical for the last three years (!!!) called Once Upon A Carnival: A New Musical Adventure. Last year, we had the privilege of being supported in staging an Act 1 reading of our show-in-progress as part of the Boston New Works Festival with Moonbox Productions.

Well.....I'm super excited to announce that WE WERE INVITED BACK FOR 2024! And this time, we'll be doing the whole. damn. thing., in a full production at the Boston Center for the Arts, June 20th-23rd.

(Yes, that means we'll have to finish writing it within the next month or so. Send us any spare focus you have lying around, lol)

Harrison Acosta will be back as our music director, and we're so excited to have Regine Vital joining this year's creative team as director. First round auditions are now open and video submissions are due by March 10th -- more info here: https://moonboxproductions.org/about/employment-once-upon-a-carnival/

Please submit and share with your networks (particularly any Black/Afro-Caribbean, South Asian/Indo-Caribbean or other POC performers you know in the area)! We can't wait to see you!

(PS: If you were part of last year's production, look out in your inbox for a more specific email from me tomorrow!)

Book by: Angele Maraj and Brianna Pierre Director: Regine Vital Music Director & Orchestrator: Harrison Acosta Producer: Sharman Altshuler

05/15/2023

CASTING CALL - PAID! 💰🎶🎭
we’re urgently seeking Black and South Asian musical theatre actors for our Festival staged reading with .

Check out the link in our bio to submit an audition today! 🇹🇹

07/14/2022

In honor of , today we’re sharing this excerpt of “Radhika’s Prayer,” from the in progress, “Once Upon A Carnival”! 🪔🇹🇹🙏🏽

Our composer/lyricist will be in the DFW area all this weekend for the Festival, where another song from the show will be showcased! Stay tuned….

05/16/2022

Last night, our composer/lyricist debuted three songs-in-progress from “Once Upon a Carnival” to the public for the first time. She presented these songs as a capstone for her Emerging Artist Fellowship with .

Stay tuned throughout the week for behind-the-scenes rehearsal footage, performance video and more!