Gail Phaneuf - Playwright

Home• Plays • Actor• Director

MONSTERS the MUSICAL - a musical mid-life meltdown! (5 women, 1 man)

(95 minutes)

"MONSTERS – the Musical" is a mid-life story that captures the humor, agony and insight experienced at life’s milestones. The show is set in Samantha’s Manhattan apartment where she lives alone. Her mother pays a visit to celebrate her 40th birthday, during which Samantha reveals that she has plans to quit her Wall Street job and head for soul-searching adventure in Machu Picchu. Distressed at this potentially hasty move, her mother desperately tries to convince Samantha to reconsider, to do the practical thing. Samantha insists she's firm in her resolve to strike a new path at 40, but the echo of her mother's words stirs up a toxic blend of old insecurities embodied by monsters – familiar to us all – Apathy, Fear and Body. These demons descend upon her, one by one, on this momentous birthday, in a bid to derail her new ambitions and to protect their own demon status. Samantha is dragged into a hilarious showdown of wills and determination, as this pack of zany demons tries to sink her spirits and drag her into their paranoid world. When a birthday package arrives at her door, the monsters warn her it's no gift, but part of a dangerous plot against her. The antics only skyrocket with the unexpected arrival of a young and sexy Birthday Singer, sent mysteriously to wish her birthday greetings. Samantha gains an unlikely ally in her battle with the demons. In the end, Samantha wins, with a revelation that shocks and delights her and the audience. Charged with energetic music and side-splitting lyrics, MONSTERS asks: Have you faced your demons? We can’t necessarily destroy them, but we can laugh at them and put them in their place.

Production History:

*CENTASTAGE Production, Boston, MA (WORLD PREMIERE 2006)

*Rod Parker AWARD Finalist

York Theatre, NYC, staged reading, 2008
TA-DA Theater, NYC, reading, 2005
Emerson Stage, Boston, reading, 2005

THE LOVE NOTE - Musical ( cast of 15 - 30 young adults, 1 female adult role)

(90 minutes)

      “Phaneuf’s spirited musical has the exuberance of HAIRSPRAY
        and the sweet innocence of BYE BYE BIRDIE.”
                                       …the Theater Mirror Boston

What do you do when you are a kid and reality intrudes upon your imaginary and carefree world? How do you navigate the perils of youth and move from being sheltered to self-assured? On the brink of growing up, Jessie is determined to make sense of a new and different place with the help of her own imaginary friend Airy. The Love Note allows us to glimpse into a world of tweens where adults dare not meddle. Only the observant and unassuming Lunch Lady is on hand to occasionally “clean up the mess”. The Love Note is a soaring new musical that follows Jessie as she and Airy struggle to make sense of a new world where there are weird and wacky “bookworms”, a cute boy named Peter, and the bullies run the school and the lunch period. Although Jessie is not sure what to do when the head bully Brittany descends upon her and tricks her out of her delicious lunch, she still finds strength in the tiny pink love note that her mother tucks into her lunch bag each day. Bolstered by her ever- growing hunger, and daily advice from her colorful and jovial friend Airy, Jessie finally decides to take lunch preparation into her own hands

Production History:

CURRY COLLEGE - (PREMIERE 2009)

The Performance Factory, Waltham, MA - workshop 2008

Playwrights' Platform, reading, 2008

BINDING THE ARTFUL DODGER (3 women. *Dancer required) (95 minutes)

Cassie is 17, a talented dancer, who has just landed the wily role of the Artful Dodger in the high school production of “Oliver!” But she has troubles that she hides from everyone, except Ms. Minuk, the costume mistress and guidance councilor from whom Cassie aggressively seeks attention in her lonely world. Cassie’s life is both lonely and beautiful, and we see the manifestation of that beauty when she dances. Cassie and Ms. Minuk have one powerful connection: the lovely Roxy, who was Cassie’s best friend and Ms. Minuk’s favorite student. As Cassie wrestles with an eating disorder and a broken heart, she pushes Ms. Minuk to the brink of civility, and forces the reserved older woman to rethink her solitary life.

Production History:

Curry College, 2009. (premeire)

Playwrights' Platform, Boston, MA reading, 2005
New Provincetown Players Winter -staged reading, 2007

*Choreographed by Terry Norgeot

BREAKFAST WITH MARY (4 women, 1 man) (120 Minutes)

It was supposed to be a quiet weekend in the country. But a group of friends is tossed suddenly into turmoil, as they enter the world of a sage but declining innkeeper. To walk through the door of Mary’s Bed & Breakfast is to face, reluctantly, vexing questions of truth, family, and loss. Before they get out, each will have to face ghosts – Mary’s and their own.

Production History:

Playwrights' Platform, Boston, reading, 2004

"STOP REQUESTED", (15 minute) drama/comedy

"Stop requested." Lewis and Christine meet on a city bus, each focused on their own destination - Lewis is headed for the dentist, while Christine is going shopping downtown. When Vietnam vet Lewis insists that he knows Christine, however, their individual journeys merge for a brief time as they develop an unlikely friendship for the duration of a bus ride.

Production History:

Playwrights' Platform Summer Festival, 2008
*Audience Choice and Playwright's Choice
*BEST PLAY, BEST ACTOR - Vincent Siders
*BEST DIRECTOR - Gail Phaneuf

South Camden Theatre Company, 2009

HEUER PUBLISHING - for Licensing

RANDOM SELECTION (10 minute) comedy/drama

Patti Hathaway and Jerry Bisantz

(Jerry Bisantz and Patti Hathaway)

A man is detained for a random search at the airport and is subsequently sent to war for his "country". A chilling and absurd journey from wand to wand.

The Boston Theater Marathon,Boston, 2004
Provincetown Theatre Co., staged reading, MA,2004
Hovey Shorts , Play Festival, Newton, MA, 2004
Curry College , "War Games" production, 2006

The Best of Boston’s Ten Minute Plays (Volume One), Toneeluitgeverij VINK B.V., 2005

URBAN GARDENS , (20 minute) comedy

*Audience Choice Award winner

Urban Gardens

Playwrights' Platform Summer Festival, Boston, 2004
South Camden Theatre Company, "Facing Ourselves"
production, South Camden, NJ, 2007
Curry College - Class Acts, 2007

A PERFECT MATCH , (10 minute) comedy

A Perfect Match