A ROMANTIC MUSICAL COMEDY
A sheltered slacker and a young woman running from her past are hunted by the police and her deranged ex for a crime neither of them chose, and find in each other the lives they hadn't dared to live.
IN DEVELOPMENT • BAY AREA & PORTLAND WORKSHOPS
BOOK, MUSIC & LYRICS
A complete, two-act musical with orchestration
GENRE
A plot-driven farce, with a love story that means it
SETTING
Family kitchen, beauty shop, corporate suite, failing nightclub
CAST
3 leads, 7 supporting roles, and 6+ chorus
Peter Palmer is twenty-three, lives at home, and hasn't had a job interview in six months. Candy Blue is tough on the outside and out of options. When they meet in the office of a corporate titan on the worst day of both their lives, one botched interview becomes a chase across town, with the police, Candy's deranged ex, and Peter's loving but clueless family all in pursuit. Each has to learn from the other what neither could learn alone.
Candy Blue weaves razor-sharp patter and counterpoint, brassy swing, slow-burning torch songs, and soaring ballads into a score in the tradition of Ashman & Menken and Gilbert & Sullivan, with the infectious, crowd-pleasing energy of Jerry Herman. The story moves from a suburban kitchen to a beauty parlor, a corporate suite, and a nightclub that reinvents itself as a soup kitchen.
TONE
The laughs come from character: a mother who can't let go, a CEO who thrives on domination, a young man way in over his head. Underneath, the show addresses real issues like control, compromise and what makes a family.
AUDIENCE
Suited to regional and university theaters. Recommended for ages 13 and up: stage gunfire and adult humor played for laughs.
FOR THEATERS
Available now: full script, piano-vocal score, and recordings from the Portland workshop.
In progress: orchestration for live players and new demo recordings and video with Bay Area performers.
Ready to workshop: a reading or workshop can be arranged now.
Workshop recordings from Portland and the Bay Area. All orchestration written and played by Gregory Anderson using sampled instruments. Piano-vocal scores and audition cuts are available on request.
Bay Area Workshop
2024-Present
Tired of Puttin' Up with the Blues
Lo Erin Jackson
Candy (mezzo)
Whadd'ya Call A Man
Lo Erin Jackson, Gregory Anderson (voice altered)
Candy (mezzo) and Peter (tenor)
Portland Workshop
Earlier Development
The Door
Stephanie Schneiderman, Gregory Anderson
Candy (mezzo) and Peter (tenor)
Lo Erin Jackson (Candy)
Lo is very excited to be workshopping this snazzy new musical with some amazing local talent! She most recently sang with AfterGlow Chorus as a soprano and featured soloist. Lo studied Musical Theatre Performance at Heidelberg University, where she crafted her love of storytelling and her passion for art as a tool for social justice advocacy. Some of her favorite performances have been her one-woman show for her senior capstone, portraying Judy Bernly in “9 to 5,” and Jo March in “Little Women.” For fun, Lo enjoys mindful movement (such as yoga and dancing) and being creative in any medium available to her (mostly painting and photography). She would like to thank Gregory for this incredible opportunity and her family for always supporting her passions.
Gregory Anderson (Creator)
Gregory is the writer and composer of Candy Blue. He wrote and played every part on the workshop orchestrations, sings male chorus parts on the recordings, and is the male-lead placeholder vocalist while he recruits talent. He has played lead roles in Guys and Dolls and Gilbert & Sullivan's Ruddigore with regional theaters in the Bay Area and Portland, and has sung with the AfterGlow Chorus.
Singers and actors
We're recording new demos and video for Candy Blue with Bay Area performers, and we're looking for voices for Peter (tenor), Deena (soprano), Bill (baritone), Georgia Stillson (operatic soprano), and more. If you'd like to be part of building a new musical from the ground up, tell us about yourself.
Theaters and producers
The script, piano-vocal score, and recordings are available on request, and a reading or workshop can be arranged now.
Contact Gregory Anderson for information, content, media or participation inquiries.