A WOMB WITH A VIEW | All For One

A Womb with a View

AFO FEST

A WOMB WITH A VIEW

Written and Performed by Debra Barsha

Directed by Frank Ventura

October 2012

A WOMB WIHT A VIEW explores a year in the life of a lesbian’s journey through the process of alternative insemination. From shopping for sperm online, to having her partner, a NYC police officer, inject her with fertility drugs, to her day-to-day job as a 4th Grade Theatre teacher in a Brooklyn private school, our heroine tries to beat her biological clock. Through storytelling and original songs, this uproarious solo performance brings a fresh perspective to conception, family and the fertility industry.

A cinematic story with over 30 characters, A WOMB WIHT A VIEW deals with the basic, fundamental urge that a woman has to bear children, no matter what her sexual orientation is – while it also illuminates the many legal and societal issues that heterosexual women do not have to contend with.

A WOMB WIHT A VIEW is a musical comedy with an original, irreverent vision and wildly funny, catchy songs that will keep you spellbound right up to its surprising – and fully satisfying – conclusion.

Arrangements and Orchestrations by John Roggie

Additional Music and Lyrics by Rose Leiman Goldemberg & Maggie Harth

Originally Developed and Produced by Cap21

Press

“Whether writing, composing, singing, or telling stories, Debra Barsha is out there: fearless, funny, ruthlessly honest, and above all, talented as hell.”

Stephen Holden, New York Times

DEBRA BARSHA (Performer/Playwright) won the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Award for composing the score to Radiant Baby, produced at the Public Theater (dir. George C. Wolfe). Composer credits include: NYTW’s Songs From an Unmade Bed, (Ghostlight Records), Blackout (Amas), Sophie (JRT), NBC’s Policewoman Centerfold soundtrack, and her two one-woman shows Go To Your Womb and A Womb With a View. Barsha originated roles and was the musical director for the original off-Broadway companies of both Tony ‘N’ Tina’s Wedding and Charles Busch’s Swingtime Canteen. At A.R.T., she was the Music Supervisor for Cabaret (with Amanda Palmer) and Prometheus Bound (dir. Diane Paulus), She conducted Karen O’s Stop the Virgens at St. Ann’s Warehouse, Sydney Opera House (dir. Adam Rapp) and she has sung on/vocal arranged albums by George Clinton, Thomas Dolby, Bernie Worrell, Bill Laswell and Jackie Mason. Her songs have been recorded by George Clinton, Marty Balin and Rebecca Luker among others. Currently, Debra is the Associate Conductor for Broadway’s Jersey Boys.

FRANK VENTURA (Director) is the Founder and Executive Artistic Director of Collaborative Arts Project 21 (CAP21), a non-profit Theatre Company and Conservatory dedicated to creating new work, developing new talent and building new audiences. NEW YORK: Broadway: Movement Consultant & Etiquette: The Importance of Being Earnest (Roundabout Theatre Company), The New York Idea (The Atlantic Theatre Company), After Miss Julie (Roundabout Theater Company); Top Girls (Manhattan Theater Club); The Constant Wife (Roundabout Theater Company); Tartuffe (The Public Theater-Shakespeare in the Park); For The Shakespeare Theatre, D.C: The Heir Apparent, The Liar, The Way of The World; The Misanthrope (Classic Stage Company). Assistant Director: Annie Warbucks; Choreographer: Winchell (Broadway Workshop). New Musicals: Director/Choreographer: Six of One, The Library, One Tough Cookie, and The Game. OFF-BROADWAY: Choreographic Credits: Girl Crazy, Kiss Me Quick Before the Lava Reaches the Village, and The No-Frills Revue. ADDITIONAL NY/ REGIONAL PRODUCTIONS: Director/Choreographer: Evita, Sweeney Todd, City of Angels, Wonderful Town, Godspell, Finian’s Rainbow, Carousel, Working, Jacques BrIel, Fiddler on the Roof, Gypsy and Pippin. As a performer he appeared in the National Companies of Godspell and P. S. Your Cat is Dead. Company Member of Chicago’s Free Street Theater. He has served as President of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation, and holds a B.A. in Speech and Drama from Catholic University, as well as a B.F.A. and M.F.A. in Acting from the Goodman School of Drama.