LOUDER THAN WORDS
A NEW MUSICAL
About LTW
A NEW MUSICAL
Louder Than Words: A New Musical is a story centered around a selectively mute girl, Violet, who communicates through dance. With the help of her imaginary friend Stella, and her hard of hearing classmate, Jamie, she will face off against her parents, who want her to buckle down and run the family law firm one day. She is approached by a counselor to start attending group therapy and there she is forced to face her inner conflicts. As her parents pressure her to conform to society and her insistence to dance mounting, she is on the verge of an explosion! Her only out is the school talent show.
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
Louder Than Words was originally conceptualized by Christian Andrews, Ian Macdonald, and Mackenzie Davis in the spring of 2018. The initial concept was to create a musical where the main character did not sing or speak. The easy out was to make the character mute, but once we started research, it became more apparent how important this piece is. Hannah Stephens helped revitalize the project in the spring of 2019, and then we assembled a team. The process drastically changed when we got our research assistant, Claire Stacy. As a future deaf educator, she explained to us the significance of deaf and mute disabilities and what kind of pressure these people face to conform. We also got help from Robbie Miller, an MT at Kent State who was at one point selectively mute, and he brings a new dynamic to this team. Louder Than Words is in the early stages of coming to life, but this is just the beginning.
LTW Progress
STAY TUNED FOR MORE INFO REGARDING THE WORKSHOP AND THE FUTURE OF THE SHOW
OUR CAST DEMO (2021)
We have a talented group of Kent State students from diverse majors performing the music. An outstanding performance by Kayla Gerogosian as the imaginary friend, Stella really gives life to the music that has only existed digitally and in our minds for months. She brings a whimsical innocence to the part, while also creating a haunting vibe to the more cerebral tone.
