Michael Kaplan
Musical Theater and Storytelling
First Staged Reading
In June we had the pleasure of seeing the full show performed by eight fabulous performers, under the direction and accompaniment of Rebecca Lowrey, through musicalwriters.com. Here are a few of the musical numbers, performed by Jessica Humphrey, Joshua Sherman, Ellen Eberhardt, Shaun Senter, Samantha Padilla, Johnny Brown, Sarah Comley-Caldwell, and Brian Hathaway.
Two Empty
The Opening Number
3 couples show up to dinner but the 4th--
Sarah and Fred--is missing. What happened?
Never Happened
A morning-after duet of Remorse vs. Denial.
Sarah ends up sleeping with a co-worker after a heated fight with her husband. Ready to ask for forgiveness, she is shocked by what she finds back home.
Is This Us?
Fred and Sarah have a blow-out argument. Their six friends all witness the fight (in a meta-Greek-Chorus way) and have been happily choosing sides and heckling while the argument raged. But the moment it ends with harsh words and hurt feelings, they consider the mirror it presents to their own lives.
First Light
The Closing Number
Let's make it work. For one more day,
let's make it work.
Pitch Night Finalist - Musicalwriters.com November 2025
Semi Finalist - Wild Imaginings Festival 2025
About The Show
Three couples eagerly arrive at their regular dinner together, only to find that the fourth couple is missing. What happened to Sarah and Fred? Someone heard they had a fight. Another knows a bit of dirt, but they don’t want to share. Did the marriage blow up overnight? With that, the dynamic of the show is established. The six friends will tell the story of Sarah and Fred, trying to piece together what exactly happened. Sarah and Fred appear to sing about their highs and lows, capturing the history of a 20-year marriage in blazing musical shorthand. Along the way, the perspectives twist and clash, as our guides bring their personal biases to the shared story line. In other words, we have a song cycle punctuated by totally unreliable narrators.
Book and Lyrics by Michael Kaplan
Music by Sam Steere & Michael Kaplan
Sam and I were thrilled to have one of our songs performed at the MusicalWriters.com New Works Cabaret on Sept 30, 2023 at Theatre Arlington in Arlington, Texas. The entire evening was under the inspired direction and creative vision of Rebecca Lowrey, and Ms. Jessica Humphrey simply knocked it out of the park!
