Dear Edwina
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''Dear Edwina'' is a
musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...
by Zina Goldrich (music) and Marcy Heisler (book and lyrics). A children's one-hour musical, it concerns a young girl who gives her neighborhood friends and family advice through singing in a musical show. It is set in the town of
Paw Paw, Michigan Paw Paw is a village in and the county seat of Van Buren County, Michigan. The population was 3,362 as of the 2020 census. Overview The village is located at the confluence of the east and south branches of the Paw Paw River in the northeast ...
(but also based on
Deerfield, Illinois Deerfield is a village in Lake County, Illinois, Lake and Cook County, Illinois, Cook counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. A northern Chicago metropolitan area, suburb of Chicago, Deerfield is located on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore, ...
, where Marcy Heisler was born). A 'Junior' version for younger children cuts the songs ''Seamus'' and ''RSVP''.


Production history

The musical was written in the 1990s during a BMI Workshop. With no productions, it was finally licensed in 1998 to amateur groups, and has since been performed in schools.Suskin, Steven
"Review: ‘Dear Edwina’
''Variety'', November 17, 2008, retrieved August 15, 2017
In July 2006, the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, New York City, produced ''Dear Edwina'' as a special benefit for three performances, directed by Jen Bender and featuring Kate Wetherhead as Edwina. ''Dear Edwina'' premiered
Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
at the DR2 Theatre, opening November 14, 2008 through April 19, 2009. Directed by Timothy McDonald with choreography by Steven G. Kennedy, the cast featured Janice Mays (now Janice Landry) as Edwina. The production was part of the DR2 Kids series. This production received two 2009
Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards are among the most esteemed honors in New York theater, recognizing outstanding achievements across Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions within the same categories. The awards are considered a signific ...
nominations, for Outstanding Music (Zina Goldrich) and Outstanding Lyrics (Marcy Heisler). A return engagement ran at the DR2 Theatre from December 11, 2009 to February 15, 2010. Directed by Timothy McDonald with choreography by Steven Kennedy, the cast featured Ephie Aardema as Edwina. The musical played a third holiday season run at the DR2 Theatre from December 17, 2010 to February 25, 2011. Again directed by Timothy McDonald and with Steven G. Kennedy's choreography, this cast featured Courtney Ann Sanderson as Edwina.


Synopsis

Thirteen-year-old Edwina Spoonapple has very talented siblings. But because of this, she thinks that she isn't special or talented. Yet Edwina has many talents including leadership, singing, and advising, and she combines all of them by directing a weekly mini-musical out of her garage. The topic of these musicals is letters written to her by neighborhood kids who need advice. She gives them advice through songs and dances that she orchestrates with her friends. One of the main themes of Dear Edwina is Edwina's desire to be in the "Advice-a-palooza" festival because she feels it will prove that she is as talented as her siblings. This is all going on while Edwina's love interest, Scott, is trying to win her over. But, since Edwina is so concerned about her show, she doesn't care about Scott. Scott wins her heart by singing her a seductive love ballad as an impromptu performance on the show. The talent scout calls, and asks for Scott to perform at the festival, not Edwina. She is heartbroken when she runs into her sister, Katie, who has just run away from the Summer Math Olympics because she was getting made fun of by the other girls. Edwina tells Katie not to listen to them, and to just do what she loves to do. Katie hugs her, and Edwina realizes that love is far more important than getting a prize.


Characters

Source: MTI *Edwina Spoonapple - A 13-year-old girl who wants proof of her accomplishments, just like her siblings. She leads the "Dear Edwina Show". *Becky Del Vechio - An enthusiastic cheerleader and best friend of Edwina's. *Scott Kunkle - A neighbor of Edwina who is in love with her. *Kelli Poshkonozovich - A "prima" ballerina from Miss Sandy's YMCA class and Edwina's neighbor. She is also a good friend of Edwina. *Bobby Newsome - Edwina's friendly new next-door-neighbor. *Lars, Billy, & Cordell - The Vanderplook triplets who live in Edwina's neighborhood. *Annie Smith Meenahan Johnson - A Girl Scout & Edwina's friend. She is in love with Lars. *Vladimir - The scary, Dracula-like uncle of Edwina. *Frank - A rude & sarcastic kid. *Lola Nonone - A shy girl from Peru visiting her cousin in Honolulu *Harry Petitt - Lola's cousin and the reason she left Peru. *Seamus- a Scottish boy who wants to know what this word R.S.V.P means who writes to Edwina. *Aphrodite/Hephaestus Swenson - a young girl (or boy, depending on the production) who writes to Edwina about their picky brother. *Chef Ludmila - A chef who does not know how to set a table *Katie Spoonapple - Edwina's youngest sister, a math whiz. *Myra Spoonapple - Edwina's older sister, A piano prodigy *Joe Spoonapple - Edwina's older brother. *Susie and the Napkins - a singing group. * Carrie - a valley girl who needs help setting the table and writes to Edwina *Abigail - Letter writer who has a gross brother and needs advice. *Ziggy- A lover of reggae music who writes to Edwina. *Mary Sue Betty Bob - Edwina's 15th cousin twice removed, comes to explain how to save money. *Periwinkle - A young girl whose parents have bought a ski school in Sweden and doesn't know how to speak Swedish. *Ann Van Buren - Talent scout from the Kalamazoo Advice-a-Palooza Festival *Farmer Jerry - A farmer from Illinois who reminds you to save money *Fairy Forkmother- A fairy who shows Chef Ludmilla how to set a table *William and Sonoma- Fairy Forkmother's helpers *Johnny- A picky boy who learns to widen his food variety in Say No Thank You *Queen of the Boola-Boola- A woman who teaches Johnny how to politely decline food in Say No Thank You


Songs

*Paw Paw Michigan *Up on the Fridge *Dear Edwina *Here Comes a Letter *Aphrodite *Say No Thank You *Becky's Cheers *Another Letter *Abigail *Frankenguest *Carrie *Fork, Knife, Spoon *Time For Intermission *Here Come More Letters *Periwinkle *Hola, Lola *Becky's Second Cheers *Seamus (Dear Edwina only) *R.S.V.P. (Dear Edwina only) *Ziggy Intro *Ziggy *Put It in the Piggy *Thanks for Coming 1 *Edwina *Thanks for Coming 2 *Up on the Fridge Breakdown *Up on the Fridge/Sing Your Own Song Reprise *Hola Lola Reprise


Recording

A ''Dear Edwina'' recording, starring Kerry Butler,
Andréa Burns Andréa Burns is an American actress and singer best known for her portrayal of the hairdresser Daniela in Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical ''In the Heights'', as Carmen in Douglas Carter Beane's '' The Nance'', and as Mrs. Spamboni in ''The Elect ...
,
Terrence Mann Terrence Vaughan Mann (born July 1, 1951) is an American actor and baritone singer. He is best known for his appearances on the Broadway stage, which include Lyman in '' Barnum'', The Rum Tum Tugger in ''Cats'', Inspector Javert in ''Les Mi ...
,
Rebecca Luker Rebecca Luker (April 17, 1961 – December 23, 2020) was an American actress, singer, and recording artist, noted for her "crystal clear operatic soprano" and for maintaining long runs in Broadway musicals over the course of her three-decade-lo ...
and many other Broadway performers was released on November 11, 2008 by
PS Classics PS Classics is a record label that specializes in musical theatre and standard vocals, founded in 2000 by Grammy-nominated freelance producer Tommy Krasker and singer/actor Philip Chaffin. Recent Broadway cast recordings from PS Classics includ ...
.Suskin, Steven
"On the Record. Goldrich & Heisler's 'Dear Edwina', and Douglas J. Cohen's 'The Gig'"
Playbill, January 18, 2009


References

{{reflist


External links


Official Site''Dear Edwina''
at the Music Theatre International website *
Dear Edwina Jr.
' at the Music Theatre International website

2008 musicals Off-Broadway musicals Musicals set in Michigan