Writing Sample 1- Plot Summary of a musical that I wrote for a press release

Darling follows upper crust teenager Ursula Morgan in 1929 Boston as society boils in the
weeks before the Stock Market Crash. Neglected by her excessive, self-absorbed parents, Ursula
encounters Peter, a charming rent-boy of uncertain age, on the run from Captain Rose of the
police. When she is offered the opportunity to run away with him, she takes it and finds herself
swept into the seedy underground of jazz, speakeasies, and a mysterious powder called ‘dust.’
Along the way, they also meet the boys of the Warehouse speakeasy, Stella the jealous barkeep,
and the girls of Lily’s burlesque. Darling is fresh, emotional, and daring new musical theatre at
its finest.
Writing Sample 2- A review of Something Rotten I wrote for my school’s paper
Last night I had the pleasure of witnessing “Something Rotten!” the musical comedy from the
Middle Ages currently running at the St. James Theatre. The show, with a book by John
O’Farrell and music and Lyrics by Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick, creates a world that quickly
lets you know this isn’t your parent’s renaissance. In fact, the moment we are introduced to our
hero Nick Bottom, a struggling playwright who is jaded by the success of William Shakespeare,
we know we are in for a night filled with cheeky, if not slightly low-brow humor. Still the show
garners big laughs, despite its eagerness to get them. Even with its slightly juvenile sense of
humor overall “Something Rotten” proves to be much cleverer than it originally may seem.
The greatest example of this is when Nick Bottom seeks help from soothsayer, Thomas
Nostradamus (Brad Oscar), to find out what the next big thing in theatre will be. His answer of
course: “A Musical.” What follows is the crown jewel of Something Rotten. An ode to musical
theatre filled with so many jokes and references that any fan of the art form is bound to love.
Which clearly, they do because the number received a standing ovation and the most laughs,
mine included, of the entire show. However, while this number alone was enough to sell me on
Something Rotten, the show never managed to achieve the same level of humor or excitement
again. Nothing could seem to top the number that captured exactly what we love, and love to
make fun of, about musical theatre. Meaning that the most exciting moment of the show came
about 30 minutes in. Even our rocking introduction to Shakespeare (Christian Borle) pales in
comparison. And while Borle does give a performance that is Tony Award winning, it is still
doesn’t have the draw that “A Musical” does.
The tap battle/rap battle, performed marvelously by Christian Borle and Brian Darcy
James, is an extremely clever moment, which provides a great ending to act one in “Bottom’s
Gonna Be on Top.” It is the perfect example of the wonderful on-stage chemistry between Borle
and James. Their humorous rivalry is simply a delight to watch and although it is not romantic,
the relationship between the two men is the most interesting one in the entire show. While the
secondary plot between Nigel Bottom (John Cariani), brother and writing partner of Nick, and
Portia (Kate Reinders), daughter of religious puritan (Brooks Ashman), is not objectionable it
feels just that, secondary. The two’s relationship is not particularly interesting, and I can’t help
but feel as though I’ve seen Reinder’s characterization before, done bigger and better by Kristen
Chenoweth circa Wicked. Her character feels one dimensional, and while I believe Reinder’s
certainly has more to offer in this role than the one note impression she is giving, I feel as though
she is not entirely to blame for her characters downfall.
 While Something Rotten provides a star vehicle for its leading men, the writing ends up
leaving its leading ladies in the dust. Even with a wonderful performance from Heidi
Blickenstaff as Bea, Bottoms wife and the show’s other leading lady, she still ends up falling sort
of flat. While her feisty and feminist character saves James’ from a multitude of sticky situation,
she still feels like little more than a plot device. Her gimmick of dressing up as men in order to
get a job, because she is a woman (and as we have been told it is the renaissance after all) feels
almost as one note as Reinder’s Chenoweth impression does. Leaving me as an audience
member satisfied with the humor of the show, but as woman myself wishing that the women had
gotten to do more of it.
However, despite this and the show’s other flaws I didn’t leave “Something Rotten”
feeling rotten at all. The show was exactly what it promised to be, an over the top, laugh out
loud, musical comedy. Although it had its flaws by the time after everything was happily
wrapped up during the final number, I felt quite pleased with what I had seen. While it may not
be as groundbreaking as some of its Broadway counterparts, such as Hamilton and Fun Home,
Something Rotten was exactly the thing it quite brilliantly is poking fun at, a true to its form
Broadway musical. At the end of the night I left the theatre reminiscing on the number I loved so
dear, in complete agreement that there is “nothing quite like a musical.”