PRODUCTION NOTES by FORREST MALLARD -- February 21, 2003

Remembering RUSTY MAGEE

Sad news from Christina Sales @ Comedy Central

Following a long battle with colon and brain cancer, our dear friend RUSTY MAGEE passed away this Sunday, February 16 at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time.

After his first performance on the Moonwork stage some nine years ago, Rusty quickly became the face and heartbeat of our company. His original compositions set Shakespeare to music in 1999's A Midsummer Night's Dream and 2001's What You Will, and his adaptation of Walt Whitman's poem "Thanks in Old Age" became both the signature song in our 2002 original musical Voices From The Hill, and a rallying cry for those around him during his battle with cancer.

For years, Rusty was the quintessential "closer" for our Evenings of Original Works, with his parodies of Jim Steinman, his reverential comedy routines on Bob Marley, Cat Stevens, Bob Dylan (and every song from the 20th century written in F-minor), not to mention "The Lick," and, most memorably, his sing-along finale of "Brown Eyed Girl." Rusty just had a way of sending everyone home humming. We will miss his talent, his enthusiasm and passion for his time on our stage, his good humor, and most of all his friendship. He gave us all the company of someone who could do something we couldn't, someone who took a beat-up piano and made a small show seem huge, and, for far too short a time, set our Saturday nights to music.
Thanks, joyful thanks Rusty, and from all of us at Moonwork, our sweet appreciation.

Information on the memorial service, and a guestbook for notes and remembrances can be left at Rusty's website, www.sweetappreciation.com.

RUSTY MAGEE founded the Westbank Downstairs Theater over twenty years ago with Lewis Black and Rand Forester. Under their "leadership," over 300 original plays and musicals were presented over the course of ten years. Rusty's accomplishments included winning the New York Outer Critics' Circle James Fleetwood Award for his music and lyrics for Moliere's Scapin. This adaptation, created with Andrei Belgrader and Shelly Berc has been produced at Classic Stage Company, Yale Rep, American Conservatory Theatre, and Portland Stage Company. He wrote the music and lyrics for American Repertory Theatre's productions of Ubu Rock, a new musical based on Alfred Barry's Ubu Roi, The Green Heart at Manhattan Theatre Club co-written with Charles Busch, and a new musical adaptation of The Servant of Two Masters. His children's Christmas opera, Flurry Tale, with libretto by Billy Aronson, is currently being developed by American Opera Projects. With Lewis Black, Rusty co–wrote the musical, The Czar of Rock and Roll, which premiered at Houston's Alley Theater. He was musical co-ordinator and also performed in Irish Rep's The Irish and How They Got That Way by Frank McCourt, which was taped for PBS. He was the musical conductor for Harold Prince's Grandchild of Kings, and arranged and performed the music for Lincoln Center's Tony Award–winning production of The House of Blue Leaves on Broadway and television. Mr. Magee and Bob Golden's song, "Road to Victory," was featured in a film at the Sundance Festival. Rusty was a member of the Dramatists Guild and the Ensemble Studio Theatre. He graduated from Brown University and was awarded an honorary M.F.A from the Yale School of Drama.

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