Alice Lipowicz

04/02/2026

We did it! We recorded the 90-minute staged reading at the Blue House Soundstage Production Studio in Kensington, MD on March 28. We will be releasing the highlights video very soon. We are very grateful to our talented cast of singers, actors and musicians who made this musical come alive, and also grateful to the local theater professionals who attended and who have expressed interest in the project.
CAST LIST (In alphabetical order):
MARK CARUSO (TRINA’S TAVERN MANAGER, OLDER MAN, ADDITIONAL ROLES) Mark is an experienced public speaker and an accomplished jazz guitar player who also has done some composing.
CHANDRA CHAR (ANNA): Chandra is a native Californian based in Washington, DC. She brings creativity and whimsy into all aspects of her life. Recently featured in a dramatic reading of Steel Magnolias, she joins the cast of These Drums Can See. A former professional dancer and jazz/blues singer, she is trained in short- and long-form improv and performs with an indie team.
IAN DYLAN (DRUMS): Ian regularly plays in several rock bands and at jazz jams in Washington, DC. His experiences of living with congenital blindness were an inspiration for the writing of These Drums Can See.
TAUNYA FERGUSON (RITA, DEVIN’S MOM, EDITOR, VAN DRIVER): As a singer and actor, Taunya has performing with many local theater companies, including Ally Theater, Theatre Lab and St. Mark's Players. She has trained at the Washington Improv Theater's Musical Improv Conservatory and performed for many years with the Door #3 musical theater improv team.
PATRICK HSIEH (MARIO): A singer and actor, Patrick recently performed in the Rockville Musical Theatre production of the musical Urinetown, which has been nominated for 14 WATCH community theater awards.
CARLIC HUYNH (DEVIN’S FATHER, TIM THE MANAGER): Carlic is a very popular actor, singer and improviser who has been featured in numerous productions by the Washington Improv Theater. He also performs on independent improv teams and does standup comedy.
Soli Jacobson (MAUDE): Soli is a singer and actor who studied vocal performance at Washington, DC’s Duke Ellington School of the Arts. She is training in opera singing at the University of Maryland.
ALICE LIPOWICZ (BOOK WRITER, LYRICIST, COMPOSER, NARRATOR): A former dancer, Alice was a professional journalist for many years while performing comedy improv and musical improv as a hobby. She also has trained as a vocalist and pianist. She started writing musicals 12 years ago and These Drums Can See is her fourth musical.
TYRUS (TY) MATABAN (DEVIN THE BLIND DRUMMER): A music director, pianist, actor and singer, Ty recently was the music director for a musical theater production of Legally Blonde.
PAUL ROSENBERG (PIANIST, COMPOSER): Paul is an innovative jazz piano player and composer who has performed in the DC area for many years and has been a leader in the Takoma Station Jazz Jam for more than 10 years. He wrote the music for many of the songs in These Drums Can See.

03/19/2026

The staged reading of These Drums Can See is coming very soon! We have a wonderful cast of singers and actors, with Paul Rosenberg on the grand piano and Ian Dylan on drums. Unfortunately, there are a very small number of seats so we are not selling tickets. There will be video viewings soon.
Here is our cast list (in alphabetical order):

MARK CARUSO (TRINA’S TAVERN MANAGER, OLDER MAN, ADDITIONAL ROLES) Mark is an experienced public speaker and an accomplished jazz guitar player who also has done some composing. He looks forward to performing in the staged reading of These Drums Can See.
CHANDRA CHAR (ANNA): Chandra is a native Californian based in Washington, DC. She brings creativity and whimsy into all aspects of her life. Recently featured in a dramatic reading of Steel Magnolias, she joins the cast of These Drums Can See. A former professional dancer and jazz/blues singer, she is trained in short- and long-form improv and performs with an indie team.
IAN DYLAN (DRUMS): Ian regularly plays in several rock bands and at jazz jams in Washington, DC. His experiences of living with congenital blindness were an inspiration for the writing of These Drums Can See.
TAUNYA FERGUSON (RITA, DEVIN’S MOM, EDITOR, VAN DRIVER): As a singer and actor, Taunya has performing with many local theater companies, including Ally Theater, Theatre Lab and St. Mark's Players. She has trained at the Washington Improv Theater's Musical Improv Conservatory and performed for many years with the Door #3 musical theater improv team.
PATRICK HSIEH (MARIO): A singer and actor, Patrick recently performed in the Rockville Musical Theatre production of the musical Urinetown, which has been nominated for 14 WATCH community theater awards.
CARLIC HUYNH (DEVIN’S FATHER, TIM THE MANAGER): Carlic is a very popular actor, singer and improviser who has been featured in numerous productions by the Washington Improv Theater. He also performs on independent improv teams and does standup comedy.
SOLI JACOBSON (MAUDE): Soli is a singer and actor who studied vocal performance at DC’s Duke Ellington School of the Arts. She is training in opera at the University of Maryland.
ALICE LIPOWICZ (BOOK WRITER, LYRICIST, COMPOSER, ANNOUNCER): A former dancer, Alice was a journalist for many years while performing comedy improv and musical improv as a hobby. She also has trained as a vocalist and pianist. She started writing musicals 10 years ago and These Drums Can See is her fourth musical.
TYRUS (TY) MATABAN (DEVIN THE DRUMMER): As a music director, pianist, actor and singer, Ty recently was the music director for a musical theater production of Legally Blonde.
PAUL ROSENBERG (PIANIST, COMPOSER): Paul is an innovative jazz piano player and composer who has performed in the DC area for many years and has been a leader in the Takoma Station Jazz Jam for more than 10 years. He wrote the music for many of the songs in These Drums Can See.

02/02/2026

CALL FOR ACTOR FOR STAGED READING on March 28
DC and Maryland Metro Red Line area
All roles cast except for one non-singing Male Actor

The project is a staged reading of a new original musical, These Drums Can See: A Blind Drummer Trying to Find His Grooce. It is a 90-minute musical about a blind drummer, inspired by our friend Ian Dylan who is a congenitally blind drummer regularly seen at DC jazz jams. He has served as a longtime paid consultant on the project and also will be involved in the performance. I wrote the book, lyrics and several songs, and my collaborator Paul Rosenberg wrote most of the beautiful compositions. Paul is a jazz piano player and composer who plays with the La Dolce Meter jazz ensemble, the Se Casa band and at the Takoma Station Jazz Jam..

The story is about Devin facing additional challenges when his Mom, who has been his helpmate for years, has to leave town for a few months to assist her mother. Devin tries hard to advance his drumming career and finally gets a lucky break, but there are still some big obstacles to overcome.

The main character and several other roles have been cast.
A little about me: I was a full-time journalist for many years and started doing comedy improv for fun about 20 years ago. I branched into musical improv and fell in love with it but was frustrated with its impermanent nature, so I started writing musicals 10 years ago and now it's my full-time project. I have written four musicals so far: two full-length and two that are 60 minutes each. In 2017 I produced and performed in my original musical about my episode of vision loss due to a virus-- My Beautiful Darkened World--at Highwood Theater (now closed) in Silver Spring, MD. We had a full house for three shows.
If you or someone you know might be interested, please send me a Direct Message on Facebook. If you are a videographer, musical producer or want to get involved in some other way please also get in touch.

01/29/2026

Ten years ago I experienced shingles in my right eye. Shingles occurs when the chickenpox virus gets reactivated for unknown reasons. Before vaccines, a third of the population would get shingles on various part of their body at some point in their life. My eye became extremely sensitive to light, to the point that I had to spend most of my time in a dark room. While in that room, in pain, and feeling anxiety, I began to write songs about my experience. It eventually became a 16-song sung-through musical, "My Beautiful Darkened World," and performed with a cast of four at the former Highwood Theater in Silver Spring, MD. Read more about it here:

As one does.

01/19/2026

CALL FOR ACTORS/SINGERS
For several years I have been working on the script, lyrics and music for a new original musical, These Drums Can See: A Blind Drummer Trying to Find His Groove. Pianist/composer Paul Rosenberg is the co-creator of the work, providing many beautiful tunes. The show is now ready to be produced as a Reading!

The Reading will be a public event in the DC area and will be professionally video recorded. It is a format in which the script is performed by the actors/singers/musicians typically standing facing the audience, without stage movement, and without a set, costumes or special lighting effects. Once the video is made, portions of it will be submitted to theaters to apply for production.

These Drums Can See is a 90-minute musical about a blind drummer, inspired by our friend Ian Dylan who is a congenitally blind drummer regularly seen at DC jazz jams. He has served as a longtime paid consultant on the project and also will be involved in the performance.

So I'm looking for three singers for these roles:
1 - Devin the drummer, late 20s to 30s; Boy-next-door, sociable personality; lives alone in subsidized housing.
2 - Mario, late 30s to 50s, Good looks with an edge; lives in Devin’s building; has a podcast featuring hard rock and heavy metal music; has low vision but relies on family wealth to pay for lots of extra conveniences.
3 - Anna, 40s to 60s, a journalist friend of Devin who has some new health issues.

I'm also looking for 3 actors in non-singing roles:
1 - Male - age 30 to 70, plays multiple roles
2 - Female - 20s, is a neighbor who becomes a romantic interest for Devin
3 - Female - 40s to 70s, plays multiple roles

The story is about Devin facing additional challenges when his Mom, who has been his helpmate for years, has to leave town for a few months to assist her mother. Devin tries hard to advance his drumming career and finally gets a lucky break, but there are still some big obstacles to overcome. The singer portraying the blind drummer likely will need to wear sunglasses during the performance.

If I can find a singer with visual impairment, that would be great, but if I cannot the project will still go forward. Also, I am open to LGBTQ performers for the roles.

We need a range of voices but right now we're open to several possibilities in terms of vocal range.

A little about me: I was a full-time journalist for many years and started doing comedy improv for fun about 20 years ago. I branched into musical improv and fell in love with it but was frustrated with its impermanent nature, so I started writing musicals 10 years ago and now it's my full-time project. I have written four musicals so far: two full-length and two that are 60 minutes each. In 2017 I produced and performed in my original musical about my episode of vision loss due to a virus-- My Beautiful Darkened World--at Highwood Theater (now closed) in Silver Spring, MD. We had a full house for three shows. My collaborator Paul Rosenberg is a very accomplished pianist who has contributed many beautiful melodies to the show.

If you or someone you know might be interested, please send me a Direct Message on Facebook. If you are a videographer, musical producer or want to get involved in some other way please also get in touch.

12/15/2025

Exciting news for These Drums Can See: A Blind Drummer Trying to Find his Groove, the musical that I've been writing for several years with the help of Paul Rosenberg, co-composer. I would like to introduce to everyone my friend Ian Dylan, who has been an inspiration and also a longtime paid consultant on the project. Ian is a very good drummer who often plays at various jazz jams in the area and is part of a Grateful Dead tribute band as well. Ian has been very helpful in reviewing and validating the narrative of the musical from his perspective. Thank you, Ian! I took this photo of him at the Takoma Station Jazz Jam on Nov. 25.

10/26/2025

Thrilled to announce that my frequent artistic collaborator Paul Rosenberg is now officially co-composer and musical director of my current musical theater composition These Drums Can See: A Blind Drummer Trying to Find His Groove. Paul is an innovative and very accomplished jazz pianist and composer and I am so grateful to be able to use several of his gorgeous compositions for These Drums Can See. Here is a short video of Paul improvising a piano solo in a recent gig in the jazz group La Dolce Meter. Looking forward to sharing more news soon!

09/25/2025

This is the article that filled the theater--nearly sold out--for three performances of my original musical, My Beautiful Darkened World, in Maryland in 2017. My technique for boosting publicity at that time was liberal use of Twitter (now called X). I also distributed postcards. I got lucky when a Washington Post reporter got interested in the show and wrote this article.

Recovering for months in a darkened room, she finds inspiration and humor in her illness.

08/21/2025

Nine years ago I woke up with an unusual pain in my eye. Within weeks the pain became unbearable whenever my eye was exposed to sunlight. For about six months I stayed in a darkened room, fearful and depressed. One day I wrote a song about what I was going through, and then another song, and another. I decided to write more songs to complete the story as a musical.. It was a great distraction and one of my only sources of joy to improvise my own melodies on the piano (yes, I play piano, too) and write lyrics. A year later, in August 2017, My Beautiful Darkened World premiered at the Highwood Theater (now closed) in Silver Spring, MD, with pianist Paul Rosenberg and singers Taunya Ferguson and Carlic Huynh. I'm very grateful to my team members for making the musical come to life and hope to produce it again (with singers and dancers!) in the future.

"Doctors could not stop the shingles virus from invading Alina's eye and making light almost unbearable. Spending months in a darkened room, she found hope a...

07/25/2025

I'm looking for a maker of videos, who can turn an amateur singer into a relatable diva and can add zest to a playwright's dialogue but still make it sound natural. Hmmm... anyone? It's been a busy few weeks, making recordings and videos for These Drums Can See--A Blind Drummer Trying to Find His Groove. For the recordings, I used my phone. So convenient! But I could use some advice on converting the audio file into an MP3. For the videos, I downloaded MovieMaker from Microsoft, which is now called Editor and has limited capabilities. I'm looking around for a better video-making app for a PC. And seriously, a good video maker/editor. Please get in touch.

04/17/2025

A past project of mine resurfaces on eBay more than 20 years later! - A postcard I created for the "I Cried For Princess Di" art exhibit I curated at CAVE Gallery in Washington, DC in 1998 is now for sale. The gorgeous photograph is by Ken Wyner and features my beautiful friend Maria. (I have contacted ebay to credit Ken Wyner for the photo). This was a project I initiated to highlight the extreme global celebrity that Princess Diana was experiencing at that time, which was a new trend in that time. The exhibit at CAVE Gallery included original art by Manon Cleary , Leslie Milofsky and Jenny Stelloh, among others. We had an opening night with about 200 people, and press including the BBC (who were annoyed, of course). Afterward we had the "Tiara Nights" cabaret performance at the former Chief Ike's Mambo Room in Adams Morgan featuring original songs by me, with several other singers and dancers, and the Second Storey Band. It was my first experience as an art and performing art event organizer and I treasure those memories. I also purchased Manon's artwork, which I proudly display in my home. Unfortunately this highly accomplished DC artist experienced a decline in health and passed away several years later. I will feature Manon's painting in a separate post.

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for "I Cried for Princess Di" By Alice Lipowicz (Cave Art Gallery) Postcard at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

04/15/2025

UPDATE: Hi, everyone, and happy spring! Here's an update on my latest projects.
Here are more details about the recent play I wrote. It's a comedy about a city couple moving to the country and interacting with their rural neighbors. It's about 30 minutes long with four actors (two couples). It's called New Neighbors. I'm still working on the illustration for it.
With theater production expenses going up dramatically, especially for musicals, it seems like a good idea to continue trying out playwrighting or perhaps write shorter musical skits.
Also working on my piano playing and may pick up the bass again to better accompany myself on my songs.
If you have contacts at a community theater that might be interested in New Neighbors (or any of my musicals for that matter) please get in touch!