Bonus Episode #2: Yes, it’s another “very special episode” – a song… well, songs really… that are NOT in the songbook. None of my upcoming guest stars were available to record this week, so I’m taking this opportunity to tell you about a wonderful organization called Raw Impressions, which brings random artistic people together to accomplish some specific creative endeavor unreasonably quickly. My first involvement with R.I. was last spring when I participated in RIPFest #6, a 16 day event during which seven short movie musicals were conceived, written, recorded, shot, edited, couriered cross-country, and screened in NY and LA. “WHAT??” you say? It’s true, it’s all true. You can’t believe it until you’ve lived it. Freefall is the name of the RIPFest film for which I wrote the songs. The Freefall experience was heaven, start to finish, even amidst all the craziness. The stars were aligned when our team was assembled: the creators were Lonny Price-director , David Simpatico-screenwriter, Jessica Hendricks-choreographer, and myself-songwriter. Our amazing cast included Becca Ayers, Joe Cassidy, Jessica Grové, and David Perlman. And our producers were the wonderful Jane Abramson and Laura Penney. These songs were recorded 5/11/05, with Jeff Greenwald on drums, Randy Landau on bass, Peter Sachon on cello, Gary Sieger on guitar, and myself on piano. RIPFest was such a great experience that I’m taking the plunge again this coming week, albeit in a different genre. This time it’s Raw Impressions Music Theatre #20, which means we’re creating short musicals (to be performed live, not on film) and we only have ten days to do it! Come check out our performances on March 26 and 27! Also, don’t miss Jessica Grové in the upcoming musical Iron Curtain (April 8-30, West End Theater) and Becca Ayers in the title role of Sarah, Plain and Tall (March 19-April 30, Lucille Lortel Theater). Clockwise from top left: Becca Ayers, Joe Cassidy, Jessica Grové, David Perlman