GrooveLily
Encyclopedia
Groovelily is a trio, a pop band made up of Valerie Vigoda (vocals, violins), Brendan Milburn (vocals, keyboards), and Gene Lewin (vocals, drums). The band was originally formed in 1994 as "The Valerie Vigoda Band." Groovelily's music combines classical music, musical theatre, jazz and rock. Formerly based out of New York City
, in 2009 Brendan and Valerie relocated to Los Angeles
with their son, and Gene moved to Montclair, New Jersey
, where he lives with his wife and two sons.
), and sings with Groovelily. Valerie is a native of McLean, Virginia
, a classically-trained musician, honors graduate of Princeton University
, and former Army lieutenant. She founded Groovelily (originally the Valerie Vigoda Band) in 1994 and created the critically acclaimed CD, "Inhabit My Heart." Before Groovelily, she toured with Cyndi Lauper
(opening for Tina Turner
and Cher
), Joe Jackson
and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra
. Valerie's grandfather, Samuel Vigoda, was one of the last great Eastern European cantors
. Along with her husband and collaborator, Brendan Milburn, Valerie is a 2009 winner of the ASCAP Foundation Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award, as well as a two-time winner of the Jonathan Larson Award for Excellence in Writing for the Theatre.
Brendan Milburn sings and plays the keyboards with Groovelily. Brendan is a native of San Francisco, graduated from Pomona College
, and received a MFA from New York University
(NYU) in Musical Theatre Writing. Brendan puts his talents to work arranging for GrooveLily, as well as producing records.
Gene Lewin plays the drums and sings with Groovelily. Gene is a native of Princeton, NJ. graduated from Princeton University
, and earned a master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music
. He has toured with Audra McDonald
and has appeared on CDs with George Coleman
, John Patitucci
, and many others.
A list of some of their musical theatre projects include:
"Striking 12 may be the best new American musical that nobody has heard of."
-- Kenneth Jones, Playbill Online, December 16, 2005
"More artfully crafted and engaging than virtually all the standard-mold musicals coming our way these days."
-- Charles Isherwood, The New York Times, November 13, 2006
"But my frazzled attention is drawn to a musical making its East Coast premiere ... This might be just the thing to perk me up after a long, restorative doze. '
-- Charles Isherwood, The New York Times, April 22, 2011
"At its best ... Sleeping Beauty Wakes is a delightful entertainment for the head and the heart."
-- Bob Rendell, TalkinBroadway.com
"Much of the familiar dialogue, conveniently written in rhyming couplets, is scored and sung with contemporary GrooveLily melodies so well suited to the words that it's hard to believe they were written centuries apart."
-- William Westhoven, The Daily Record, March 31, 2006
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, in 2009 Brendan and Valerie relocated to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
with their son, and Gene moved to Montclair, New Jersey
Montclair, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 38,977 people, 15,020 households, and 9,687 families residing in the township. The population density was 6,183.6 people per square mile . There were 15,531 housing units at an average density of 2,464.0 per square mile...
, where he lives with his wife and two sons.
Members
Valerie Vigoda plays an electric, six-string, fretted violin called a "Viper" (created and designed by Mark WoodMark Wood (violinist)
Mark Winthrop Wood is an electric violinist, as well as the founder of Wood Violins, a company that makes unique electric violins. He is also an Emmy-winning composer. His music and strings education program has been featured on news programs nationwide....
), and sings with Groovelily. Valerie is a native of McLean, Virginia
McLean, Virginia
McLean is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. The community had a total population of 48,115 as of the 2010 census....
, a classically-trained musician, honors graduate of Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, and former Army lieutenant. She founded Groovelily (originally the Valerie Vigoda Band) in 1994 and created the critically acclaimed CD, "Inhabit My Heart." Before Groovelily, she toured with Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
(opening for Tina Turner
Tina Turner
Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...
and Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
), Joe Jackson
Joe Jackson (musician)
Joe Jackson is an English musician and singer-songwriter now living in Berlin, whose five Grammy Award nominations span from 1979 to 2001...
and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Trans-Siberian Orchestra is an American progressive metal band founded in 1993 by producer, composer, and lyricist Paul O'Neill, who brought together Jon Oliva and Al Pitrelli and keyboardist and co-producer Robert Kinkel to form the core of the creative team. Since then, TSO sold nearly 8...
. Valerie's grandfather, Samuel Vigoda, was one of the last great Eastern European cantors
Hazzan
A hazzan or chazzan is a Jewish cantor, a musician trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer.There are many rules relating to how a cantor should lead services, but the idea of a cantor as a paid professional does not exist in classical rabbinic sources...
. Along with her husband and collaborator, Brendan Milburn, Valerie is a 2009 winner of the ASCAP Foundation Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award, as well as a two-time winner of the Jonathan Larson Award for Excellence in Writing for the Theatre.
Brendan Milburn sings and plays the keyboards with Groovelily. Brendan is a native of San Francisco, graduated from Pomona College
Pomona College
Pomona College is a private, residential, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. Founded in 1887 in Pomona, California by a group of Congregationalists, the college moved to Claremont in 1889 to the site of a hotel, retaining its name. The school enrolls 1,548 students.The founding member...
, and received a MFA from New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
(NYU) in Musical Theatre Writing. Brendan puts his talents to work arranging for GrooveLily, as well as producing records.
Gene Lewin plays the drums and sings with Groovelily. Gene is a native of Princeton, NJ. graduated from Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, and earned a master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music
Manhattan School of Music
The Manhattan School of Music is a major music conservatory located on the Upper West Side of New York City. The school offers degrees on the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition...
. He has toured with Audra McDonald
Audra McDonald
Audra Ann McDonald is an American actress and singer. She currently stars in the ABC television drama Private Practice as Dr. Naomi Bennett. She has appeared on the stage in both musicals and dramas, such as Ragtime and A Raisin in the Sun...
and has appeared on CDs with George Coleman
George Coleman
George Edward Coleman is an American hard bop saxophonist, bandleader, and composer, known chiefly for his work with Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock in the 1960s.-Biography:...
, John Patitucci
John Patitucci
John Patitucci is an American Grammy-winning jazz double bass and jazz fusion electric bass player.-Biography:Patitucci is of Italian descent and was born in Brooklyn, New York, where he began playing the electric bass at age ten, composing and performing at age 12, as well as the acoustic bass at...
, and many others.
Musicals
As a band Groovelily has created several pieces of hybrid concert/musical theatre performances, as well as some more traditional musicals (where the actors are on stage and musicians are in the pit).A list of some of their musical theatre projects include:
- Striking 12Striking 12Striking 12 is the music group GrooveLily's off-Broadway holiday musical, based on Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Match Girl".The cast recording was released in 2004 by PS Classics.- Track listing : # Violin Ascension# Overture...
: A musical adaptation of Hans Christian AndersenHans Christian AndersenHans Christian Andersen was a Danish author, fairy tale writer, and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," "The Snow Queen," "The Little Mermaid," "Thumbelina," "The Little Match Girl," and "The Ugly Duckling."...
's fairytale "The Little Match GirlThe Little Match GirlThe Little Match Girl is a short story by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen. The story is about a dying child's dreams and hope, and was first published in 1845. It has been adapted to various media including animated film, and a television musical.-Plot summary:On a cold New Year’s...
." The creative team for "Striking 12Striking 12Striking 12 is the music group GrooveLily's off-Broadway holiday musical, based on Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Match Girl".The cast recording was released in 2004 by PS Classics.- Track listing : # Violin Ascension# Overture...
" includes Tony AwardTony AwardThe Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
winners co-writer Rachel Sheinkin and director Ted SperlingTed SperlingTed Sperling is a Musical Director, conductor, orchestrator, arranger, stage director and musician, primarily for the stage and concerts. He won the Tony Award for Best Orchestrations and the Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Orchestrations, for his work in The Light in the Piazza in...
.
"Striking 12 may be the best new American musical that nobody has heard of."
-- Kenneth Jones, Playbill Online, December 16, 2005
"More artfully crafted and engaging than virtually all the standard-mold musicals coming our way these days."
-- Charles Isherwood, The New York Times, November 13, 2006
- Sleeping Beauty Wakes: A reimagining of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, written by Brendan Milburn, Valerie Vigoda, and Tony Award winner Rachel Sheinkin. The musical was originally performed in 2006 by Deaf West Theatre (who also did "Big River") at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles, with all parts signed and spoken, either by the actors or as voice-overs by hearing cast members. The production won Ovation Awards for World Premiere Musical and Best Musical Direction, as well as a nomination for Best Lead Actress. it was rewritten and staged in May/June 2011 by Princeton University's McCarter Theatre, to be followed by a second run in July/August 2011 at La Jolla PlayhouseLa Jolla PlayhouseLa Jolla Playhouse is a not-for-profit, professional theatre-in-residence on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. -Background:...
in La Jolla, CA.
"But my frazzled attention is drawn to a musical making its East Coast premiere ... This might be just the thing to perk me up after a long, restorative doze. '
-- Charles Isherwood, The New York Times, April 22, 2011
"At its best ... Sleeping Beauty Wakes is a delightful entertainment for the head and the heart."
-- Bob Rendell, TalkinBroadway.com
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A musical version of William ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's play, "A Midsummer Night's DreamA Midsummer Night's DreamA Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
."
"Much of the familiar dialogue, conveniently written in rhyming couplets, is scored and sung with contemporary GrooveLily melodies so well suited to the words that it's hard to believe they were written centuries apart."
-- William Westhoven, The Daily Record, March 31, 2006
- Wheelhouse: A (semi) autobiographical tale of Groovelily's life on the road.
- Long Story Short:
- Ernest Shackleton Loves Me:
- Toy Story- The Musical:
Discography
- Inhabit My Heart (1994)
- Jungle & Sky/Groovelily Sampler (1996, 1997)
- Brendan & the Extenuating Circumstances (1998)
- Little Light (2000)
- Just The Three Of Us (2002)
- Are We There Yet? (2003)
- Striking 12Striking 12Striking 12 is the music group GrooveLily's off-Broadway holiday musical, based on Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Match Girl".The cast recording was released in 2004 by PS Classics.- Track listing : # Violin Ascension# Overture...
(2004) - A Little Midsummer Night's Music (Soundtrack) (2007)
- Sleeping Beauty Wakes (2009)