Edenville02.jpg
 

about

 

 

joe drymala is a composer and multi-instrumentalist who also writes words, mostly for the theater but sometimes for other audiences. he is a Texan by birth and upbringing but mostly works in Brooklyn these days.

a 2018 Jonathan Larson Grant Finalist and a 2019 Artist-in-Residence at Fresh Ground Pepper’s BRB, joe wrote the score and book for the musicals STREET LIGHTS (New York Musical Theater Festival, further development at Old Globe Theater, San Diego) and SKY'S END (Winner of The Blank Theater Co.'s Young Playwright's Festival, L.A. "Robbie" Award Nominee for Best Music and Lyrics) and he wrote the book and much of the score for the original incarnation of the musical WHITE NOISE (New York Musical Theater Festival, "Best Score" Summer Theater Awards, featured on TV newsmagazine ABC Primetime).

in 2003 his opposition to the Iraq war led him to Vermont to volunteer for Gov. Howard Dean's presidential campaign, where he ended up as Gov. Dean's primary speechwriter, though he didn't write the speech that people think of when you say the name "Howard Dean." he did get to write a 5,000 word essay on poverty in America for Vanity Fair Magazine on Gov. Dean's behalf ("How The Poor Live Now," December 2003) and a speech on the Republican Party's strategy of racially divisive politics which Gov. Dean delivered in South Carolina and which The Black Commentator called "the most important statement on race in American politics by a mainstream white politician in nearly 40 years."

he is also a founding member and composer for People Doing Math, a podcast created with director Andrew Scoville, playwright Jaclyn Backhaus and media designer Dave Tennent, in which the math-curious-but-challenged hosts explore mathematical questions through their art. People Doing Math has recorded live episodes at Ars Nova's ANT Fest and The Public Theater's Under The Radar Festival.

his alter ego, OCR Soundsystem, mashes up theater music with pop music, inspiring such accolades as “WEPA!!!” from Daphne Rubin-Vega, “THIS. IS. LIFE!” from Fredi Walker-Browne, and “Love it” from Frances Ruffelle (Twitter/Youtube @OCRSoundsystem).

as an arranger, he has worked with a variety of artists and ensembles including  Tony winner Patina Miller, The Doo Wop Project, and the Indianapolis Pops Orchestra. he is fully fluent in Pro Tools and Finale, speaks Logic and Main Stage with an accent, and can hold his own in conversation with Ableton Live and QLab. his French is pathetic.

 

 

 

music for theater and for not theater

by joe drymala (music / lyrics / arrangements / instruments / production / sometimes vocals)

current projects

 

[these are works-in-progress, so the sound of the recordings may
be a little more rough-edged than what you'll find up above.]

For The Win

the Scottish play, if pentagon-funded scientists who had merged their brains with artificially intelligent nanobots designed a world for humans in which everything is game-ified and everyone's value is tied to their score. in other words, almost exactly like our world today, minus nonessential features like empathy, and fish.

the three rogue scientists are the show's weird sisters, creating a new game for some unsuspecting humans who would do anything to win. if Black Mirror merged with Little Shop of Horrors but was instead soundtracked with synthpop songs, it might slightly resemble something like For The Win.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edenville; Or, The Congregation of the Dead

midway through the journey of my life, i found myself wandering through the dark Kentucky wilderness, where i was led by a pale figure to witness a drama enacted of, by, and for the dead. it was a pageant that turned into an argument, and i did my best to transcribe the piece as accurately as possible, an effort at which i no doubt failed to some extent.

they called it a "Hymnal," though it was really more of a play with music. set at the beginning of the American Civil War, the “Hymnal” told the story of a tiny Kentucky town on the Ohio River in which a group of enslaved African Americans rose up to claim their freedom.

though a few of the town’s inhabitants availed themselves honorably, most of the white folk chose to react to the liberation of the enslaved with either fury or cowardice. the story suggested elements of tragedy, though it was not without heroic inspiration and touches of comic levity, and the sum of its parts amounted to a sharp inquiry into the nature of our national character.

the ghosts themselves could not agree on the correct interpretation of the events, and instead each made a case for the rightness of his or her own particular choices. i came away convinced that their spirits are still, as the song goes, "marching on," for better and for otherwise.