NEW WORK
COUNTER-STORYTELLING UN/RE-LEARNING PALIMPSEST DRAMATURGY
THE FALLEN
By Lauren Katz & Jonja Merck
THE FALLEN is structured as a lively collection of murdered ballads, turning the timeless Victorian Murder Mystery of Jack the Ripper into a hauntingly more timeless "Murdered Mystery."
In a city where fact and fiction, and the living and the dead, blend into the smog, four murdered women retell and reclaim their stories with the help of Evelyn, as she's the only one who can see them and who's alive to sing their ballads...but not for long.
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FOR THE RECORD
Northwestern's 88th Waa-Mu Show
~ Co-Creator/Head Writer ~
Inspired by Amisha (Amy) Padnani's "Overlooked Project" in the New York Times, For the Record follows the life of a fictional journalist, Andi Massaad, as she accidentally stumbles upon the realization that Ida B. Wells, along with many other of history's most incredible women, were not given obituaries. Andi then embarks on a journey to chronicle the lives of three remarkable, but forgotten, women in history: Ida B. Wells, Gene Grabeel, and Julie D'Aubigny.
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Classic "LAUREN-ISMS" :
Oodles of wordplay
Evolving the meaning of a word over the journey of a song
Internal rhymes
Syncopation & ties
Catchy melodies
MY BALLADS
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MY COMEDIC SONGS
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Dramaturgy
I've always loved writing and working on original adaptations; that is, works that balance being inspired by, or grounded in, history, while also telling an original story. As an English Major, extensive research and thematic structural organization are my bread and butter! Take a deep dive for yourself below: