Welcome to Hansen-Perry Productions
(AS ADMINISTERED BY LICENSE WITH LEICESTER BAY THEATRICALS and ZION THEATRICALS)
Hansen/Perry Productions is a collaboration between Elizabeth Hansen and C. Michael Perry, two like-minded artists, whose purpose is to create entertaining, uplifting, thought-provoking, all-audience musicals.
Devotees of the classic American musical theatre, Hansen’s and Perry’s artistic vision is to innovate while remaining faithful to this truly American art form.
OUR MUSICALS
ENCHANTED APRIL
Book and Lyrics by Elizabeth Hansen
Music, Lyrics and arrangements by C. Michael Perry
based on the novel by Elizabeth Von Arnim
SOMETIMES WHAT SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE…ISN’T!
London, 1922.
It’s a rainy, miserable, dreary day in London and LOTTY WILKINS, a dowdy woman of about 30, is miserable and dreary in it. Longing for a respite from the rain, Lotty finds refuge in her women’s club where she happens upon an ad in the “Agony Column” of the London Times that reads: “To Those who Appreciate Wisteria and Sunshine. San Salvatore, a small medieval Italian castle on the shores of the Mediterranean to be let furnished for the month of April.” Lotty longs to be basking in wisteria and sunshine and leave her drab life and tedious husband behind, if only for a month.
Lotty befriends ROSE ARBUTHNOT, a rigid, reserved and sad sort of woman also in her 30s, who yearns for a rest from her stifling duties and distant husband as much as Lotty. But they can’t possibly afford the castle by themselves, so they advertise for companions to share the expense. They find two other ladies: MRS. FISHER a formidable and disapproving woman in her 60s, who can’t possibly be pleased by anything or anyone; and LADY CAROLINE DESTER, a stunner of a woman, lost in the complexities of a changing world and it’s equally changing morés.
The four women agree to rent the castle for a month of blissful privacy. But, instead of bliss, San Salvatore offers stifling heat, suffocating wisteria, and annoying housemates. Except for Lotty, who embraces the beauty and magic immediately, and blooms from the mousey housewife, into a radiant, confident “seer of all things.” Wanting to share this “tub of love” she writes and invites her husband, MELLERSH, an ambitious solicitor, who eventually finds himself charmed, not only by “this place,” but by his wife.
Meanwhile, Rose is tormented by San Salvatore’s beauty, for it only reminds her of the rift between her and her husband, FREDERICK, a middle-aged writer of dirty books. She yearns for the love she used to have before she distanced herself from him after the loss of their only child. While on a book tour, Fredrick serendipitously arrives at San Salvatore to visit Lady Caroline, not even aware that Rose is at the castle.
Amid the blossoms of fragrant wisteria, the hazy heat and sensuous silence, Lotty innocently and lovingly guides each lady through and past their loveless lives to rediscover their hearts as Rose reunites with the husband she adores; Mrs. Fisher embraces the present, along with the love and kindness it affords, and lets go of her past; and Lady Caroline finds a soulmate who sees her for what she finally admits she is: a spoilt, sour, suspicious and selfish spinster, and loves her despite it.
In just a month, one short Enchanted April, the lives and hearts of four women are transfigured by wisteria…sunshine…and a small medieval castle.
The show is about the redemptive power of love and friendship; of believing in the people around us to be able to better their lives through introspection and through the confidence of our belief that they can be happier than they are.
For Information, licensing and availability visit: (anenchantedapril.com)
© 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019 & 2020 by Elizabeth Hansen & C. Michael Perry
CHRISTMAS ON THE BLUE — a New Musical
Book by Elizabeth Hansen
Music by C. Michael Perry
Lyrics by C. Michael Perry & Elizabeth Hansen
A Christmas musical based on no true story at all! Christmas Eve in 1944. At a small radio station outside of Cleveland, Ohio, the radio station owner tries to prevent her station from closing down on Christmas Day. What with network feeds timed poorly with the local programming — where all the special effects sometimes go wrong — and trying to placate the station headliners (who think they are better than they are) and coddling the talented trio of sisters who sing backup and placating her nephew who does everything else — a Stranger arrives. There is no money and soon there will be no show!
Christmas On The Blue is now available for licensing at LEICESTER BAY THEATRICALS
© 2017 by Elizabeth Hansen & C. Michael Perry
HOW THE WEST WAS DONE!
Book by ELIZABETH HANSEN & ELAINE HANSEN
Lyrics by ELIZABETH HANSEN & C. MICHAEL PERRY
Music and arrangements by C. MICHAEL PERRY
A spoof of the old west — funny and fast
HOW THE WEST WAS DONE is fast paced, toe tapping’, rip roarin’ “Western” show full of authentic American music and original songs that will both delight the heart as well as tug at its strings. The story, I hear’d tell, is like this:
COOKIE, a right likable “swedish meat-ball” of a chuck wagon cook, has sent fer a mail-order bride. He shows up at a remote way-station to wait fer the stage coach when who should he find? A handful of our fav-o-rite Western types: LUCKY, the Gambler; CURLEY, the true-blue Cowboy; and SHERIFF, the…well…Sheriff. Well, sir, after talkin’ and singin’ a handful of great cowboy songs, the four of ‘em come to find that ever’ last one of ‘em is waitin’ fer someone on that stage. Suddenly, Curley gets a feelin’ and puts his ear to the ground. The stage is a comin’. They sing a rousin’ welcome song and head off at a dead run to meet the stage.
Meanwhile, back at the way-station, a ear-shatterin’ crash is heard real close. Then, four of the most disheveled fav-o-rite Western-type women come a staggerin’ on: FRENCHY, the dance hall girl “with the heart of gold;” MISS ELLANEOUS, the girl next door; BELLE, a Southern woman-of-the-world chanteuse; and SHOTGUN, a rough and tumble gal in buckskins. Well, after some talkin’ and singin’ some wonderful old tunes theirselves, they hear the faint voices of our Western heroes a callin’ fer ‘em. But where could these boys be? As good a scout as Shotgun is, she just can’t find where the voices ‘air a comin’ from. Will these poor gals end up a-wanderin’ the Western wilder-ness forever or will they find these menfolk that are a-lookin’ fer them. Well, not wantin’ to spoil it, let’s just say that like all good cowboy stories, everythin’ ends happily fer ever’one concerned.
The show is jam-packed with familiar tunes like SHENANDOAH, SHE’LL BE COMIN’ ROUND THE MOUNTAIN, SWEET BETSY FROM PIKE, RED RIVER VALLEY, STREETS OF LAREDO, HOME ON THE RANGE, DANNY BOY, and a whole bunch more, not to mention original songs that make the stage resound with glorious voices, laughs, and perhaps a touching moment or two. The show runs about 75 minutes and all in all is a wholesome and delightful yarn for the whole family.
For Licensing and availability: See Leicester Bay Theatricals page
© 2002 & 2005 by Elizabeth Hansen & C. Michael Perry
THEY CALLED HIM BROTHER JOSEPH
Book and Lyrics by Elizabeth Hansen
Music and Lyrics by C. Michael Perry
Get to know Joseph Smith through the eyes and heart of his mother, Lucy Mack Smith.
We come to know Lucy Mack Smith. It is 1855. She is near death and has compiled her memoirs into a biography of her son, Joseph Smith – – The Prophet. She has a young visitor who is interviewing her for the newspaper and asking her all about that “ol’ Joe Smith”. She says his name was Joseph — but they all called him Brother Joseph. She takes us through bits and pieces of the Prophet’s life in a celebration of the man and his relationship to God, his family, his friends, his congregations and even his enemies — where we find that he was always “Brother Joseph”. This show is designed to be rehearsed by an LDS Stake and, if desired, different sections can be appointed out to different Wards within the Stake. It can also be rehearsed as a full production by one producing group.
For Licensing and availability: See Zion Theatricals page
IN DEVELOPMENT
Two Hander (working title) — Trouble in NYC, her musical is needing help. The 11-o’clock number is just not working. Her producer rents a hotel room and tells her to go there and wait, someone will come and the number will be done in 24 hours! He shows up. He is her estranged husband and former writing partner interrupting a successful film score career in Hollywood to come to NYC to rescue someone’s musical. When they meet — FIREWORKS!
Book and Lyrics by Elizabeth Hansen
Music and Lyrics by C. Michael Perry
Divertimento (a New Musical based on the music of Mozart — adapted from the play Triumph of Love)
Book by Elizabeth Hansen
Music adapted from the works of Mozart by C. Michael Perry
Lyrics by C. Michael Perry & Elizabeth Hansen
CLASSICALLY DERIVED
THE IMPRESARIO (A new libretto by Elizabeth Hansen)
A singspiel by W.A. Mozart
A completely new adaptation of one of Mozart’s most famous one-act operettas. Adapted and set in the 1950s, this comic operetta takes a farcical look at the archetypes of opera : the Impresario, the Diva, the Angel, the Suckup, and the Gold Digger.
ABOUT Hansen-Perry Productions
Elizabeth Hansen is a Writers Guild Award winner and an EMMY-nominated screenwriter and consultant who has had a varied writing, directing, and acting career, that has taken her from the bright lights of Broadway working with the likes of Tommy Tune and Harold Prince, to the newsrooms of the Los Angeles Times where she had her own “Byline,” to the classrooms of Brigham Young University where she taught screenwriting and playwriting from 1994-2000 as well as helped focus their Screenwriting Program. After graduating with honors from the University of Utah, Ms. Hansen journeyed to Los Angeles to study musical theatre performance at the highly regarded Los Angeles Civic Light Opera Musical Theatre Workshop as well as acting technique with Charles Nelson-Reilly. From Los Angeles she moved to New York where she studied with the famed acting teacher Uta Hagen. Over the next few years she was seen on Broadway in A Day In Hollywood/A Night In The Ukraine and Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up. In her acting career she has starred opposite Milton Berle in Guys and Dolls, James Mason in A Partridge in a Pear Tree, Carol Channing in Hello, Dolly!, and Rudolf Nureyev in The King and I, as well as numerous musicals Off-Broadway and in regional theatre.
In the late 80s, Ms. Hansen decided to focus on her writing and was accepted into the prestigious American Film Institute Center for Advanced Film and Television studies, one of the top five film programs in the U.S., where she received an MFA in screenwriting. Since then, she has written for nearly every film and video venue in the business: feature film, short film, television (long and short form), corporate video, documentary, as well a s musicals and straight plays for the legitimate theatre. She has spent numerous years as a script consultant, first with the Pasadena Playhouse, where she reviewed new and established scripts which were under consideration, as well as with Entertainment Business Group, an entertainment consulting company where she worked on “Campaign Breakdowns” and “Comparative Picture Analyses” Also a film and stage director, she has directed a handful of short films and just completed directing Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn for Sundance Summer Theatre. In addition to her Writer’s Guild Award and her Emmy nomination, Ms. Hansen was a finalist for the esteemed Humanitas Prize for excellence in children’s television programing, a Telly Award for her work with the Foundation for a Better Life and has been awarded two Crystal Awards for excellence in corporate video writing as well as numerous screenwriting competitions.
C. Michael Perry — was born in Colorado and raised in Chicago. He found the theatre in High School and has made a living in Theatre, Film and Television since then. He has worked on over 25 major network television shows and some 300 commercials along with two feature films. He has performed in front of over 2000 live audiences from Utah to Italy in various plays and musicals. He has received acting awards for his many leading and supporting roles. He has directed over 40 shows on the Community, Educational and Professional level. He has choreographed over 50 productions. He has won awards for lighting and scenic designs in community theatre and continues to design shows at the high school level. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University with a BA in Theatre. He is the composer of over thirty musicals including “CINDERABBIT” for PBS, which won an Emmy Award and a “Best Of The West” Public Television award. He is also a playwright and lyricist for over 20 plays and award winning musicals that have been produced across the nation, many of which are published. Other works composed include, ENTERTAINING MARK TWAIN, FAUNTLEROY!, KEWPIE!, THE APPLE KINGDOM, OF BABYLON, TURN THE GAS BACK ON!, CURSES, FOILED AGAIN!, JEDEDIAH!, TOM SAWYER, ONSTAGE!, A CHRISTMAS MEMORY, CHRISTMAS DREAMS, LIBERTY JAIL!, and THE MIRACLE OF MIRADOR, THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL, FAUNTLEROY, ANNE with an ‘e’ – THE GREEN GABLES MUSICAL, ROSE: The Kewpie Lady, GREAT EXPECTATIONS, SUCH STUFF AS DREAMS, ENCHANTED APRIL, DIVERTIMENTO, THE TYMES OF ALL ETERNITY, THEY CALLED HIM BROTHER JOSEPH, HOW THE WEST WAS DONE, HEIDI, LITTLE PRINCESS, and JONAH. His new Fantasy-Adventure novels, THE MIRACLE OF MIRADOR, THE BLOOD ROSE OF PANADOR, the first and second of a 15 part novel series, are available at Amazon and on the Leicester Bay Books site, along with the first novel in his Wembley Tewkes trilogy: IMPERFECTIONS ON THE EDGE, and a stand-alone detective mystery, SINS OF THE SONS: FLASHES AND SHADOWS. He is the former President of Encore Performance Publishing, a publisher of plays and musicals for amateur and professional markets now owned by Eldridge Plays and Musicals. He makes his home in Newport, Maine with his wife Sharon. His daughters Jessica, Janalynn and Joelle and son Jon-Christopher are all out on their own.
CONTACT
General Information
Hansen Perry Productions
P.O. Box 495
Draper, UT 84020
Ordering Information
contact: [email protected]
OTHER LINKS OF OURS
A LIGHT IN THE WOODS — IMDB(A Feature Film that Elizabeth wrote and directed and I worked on)
