*NEW DEMO JUST RELEASED*
“HALF OF THE GOLD” ft. Jesse Weil
(scroll down or click HERE to listen)
CRASHLIGHT is an orchestral pop musical about the last nation on Earth and a young woman’s risky mission to expose its government’s brutal ban on artistic expression. The story pits the unifying power of art and human courage against repression in all its forms. After the mysterious death of their parents, teenage songwriting prodigy, Rian, lives with her older sister Jade in the “greatest nation” on post-apocalyptic Earth. Ruler Marcus Pressi provides food, shelter, steady work and tranquilizing music to a compliant populace. After hearing Rian perform, Pressi offers her a cozy position in the government’s music propaganda factory. But Rian writes from her heart – a criminal act. And Jade wants to know if Pressi’s regime murdered her parents. The sisters are on a collision course with Pressi’s power structure. Pressi has an army. Rian and Jade have only their music, love and courage. CRASHLIGHT is told through an original cross-genre score that is intense and haunting.
CRASHLIGHT was created by Celeste Makoff (book, music, lyrics, orchestration) and developed for Broadway with Director Hunter Bird, Forbes 30 Under 30’s Macy Schmidt (Music Supervisor), and Tony Winning Producer Nick Demos.
Beyond telling the gripping story of Rian and her compatriots through Celeste Makoff’s work, CRASHLIGHT invites audiences to live through the tragedy of creative repression and feel the profound power of music.
In February 2023, the music of CRASHLIGHT debuted in a sneak-peek industry concert at Broadway Plus in midtown, featuring performances from Broadway's Mykal Kilgore, Lianah Sta. Ana, Kerstin Anderson and Jesse Weil. The event was covered by Playbill, Broadway World, and Time Square Chronicles.
CRASHLIGHT was a top 20 finalist for the National Alliance for Musical Theatre Festival (NAMT) out of 575 submissions last year (2023), and was a semi-finalist in the Eugene O'Neill National Music Theater Conference (2022). CRASHLIGHT also received an honorable mention from the Relentless Award in 2022.
