Nothing That I Do Would Interest You
from the song cycle Awkward (2015)

In addition to a handful of instrumental works, my senior recital at the University of Miami featured a 70-minute song cycle titled Awkward, which was about four students clumsily (and tragically) transitioning into adulthood after college. Despite its flaws, the whole piece was a breakthrough for me as I began finding my voice as a songwriter. The bookish alto character sings “Nothing That I Do Would Interest You,” inspired by an actual conversation I had with a friend of mine. It remains my best-selling song on Repertwa. 

 

Want Me To (2016)

During my first semester at New York University, I started developing a reputation for writing irreverent songs (lots of great poop jokes, honestly). But after I came out and had my heart broken for the first time, something changed. “Want Me To” is a stand-alone song that I wrote entirely on a plane ride, and it’s about the moment I realized my first relationship was coming to an end. 

 

Swipe Right 
from the film Swipe Right (2017)

Written and directed by Sean O’Brien, Swipe Right is a short movie musical about two adorkable young adults looking for love in New York City. Sean wanted a score in the style of Golden Age musicals, which was a nice foil to the modern-day story of dating app woes. It was one of the first times I wrote a pastiche score, and the title song “Swipe Right” was inspired specifically by swing music of the 1950s. 

 

The Tide*
After You* 
from the musical After You (2017)

With book and lyrics by Grey, After You is a folk-pop musical about a man named Alan struggling to cope with the death of his husband Thomas. In “The Tide,” Alan’s friends mourn Thomas’ death, describing their feelings in vastly different ways (drowning, burning, being deafened) even though they all suffer the same unifying grief. Thomas soon returns as a ghost, encouraging Alan to move on with his life, while simultaneously holding him back. In the eleven o’clock number “After You,” Alan comes to terms with the fact that he must let go of Thomas in order for both of them to be at peace. 

 

Pieces** 
from the musical Light on the Water (2019)

Bookwriter/lyricist Erin J. Reifler and I wrote tons of songs for our musical Light on the Water. Many of those songs never made it into the final draft, but thankfully, “Pieces” did. It’s a duet between the two lead characters, Rebecca and Hadley, who separately wonder if their relationship is going to fall apart during a camping trip in the woods. To make matters worse, the lake in the woods is haunted by supernatural fireflies...and the ghost of Rebecca’s ex-girlfriend. 

 

The Better One 
from the musical Boyfriend Twins (2021)

Despite its uncomfortable subject matter, Boyfriend Twins is one of the shows I’m most proud of. Originally released as a musical audio drama during the pandemic, it’s about two boyfriends, Corey and Tim, who are trying to achieve fame as influencers through their @BoyfriendTwins Instagram account. Unfortunately, after a medical emergency, the couple finds out that they’re actually related. In “The Better One,” Corey works through his humiliation and admits to himself that found family (literally) is more important than anything. 

 

Right Time, Right Place 
Letters 
Love You Again 
from the musical Overtures (2023)

In Overtures, the spirits of composer Hector Berlioz and actress Harriet Smithson find themselves trapped in Purgatory together. The only way out is to relive the memories of their tempestuous love affair. The problem? They both remember things differently. “Right Time, Right Place” sets the scene, with both Berlioz and Harriet singing about the beginning of their Bohemian lives in 19th century Paris. After seeing Harriet in a production of Hamlet, Berlioz becomes obsessed and floods her with “Letters,” much to Harriet’s annoyance. But later in the show, after years of not speaking, both of them sing “Love You Again,” in which Hector contemplates the risk of reconnecting and Harriet brainstorms how to revive her waning career. 

 

You, Other People, and Me 
from the musical Hallucinations (2026)

Hallucinations is a one-act musical that I’m still currently writing. It’s about an artist named Kylie and a software engineer named Charlotte who have been dating for a year. Kylie sings “You, Other People, and Me,” persuading Charlotte to open up their relationship. Charlotte reluctantly agrees; but while Kylie begins seeing other artists at a retreat, Charlotte begins a romantic relationship with a chatbot named Imogene. The two (or three) women are soon pitted against each other as they argue about AI and what makes a relationship real. 

 

Made in Your Image 
If I Had the Chance 
Abort, Retry, Fail?_ 
Uploading 
from the song cycle Androids (2019)

Androids is a song cycle that explores what it means to be human through the eyes of several different robots. It was the first piece I produced in New York City, and it sold out the historic Duplex Cabaret in 2019. Numerous efforts to record a studio album of the score have failed so far, for a variety of reasons. But with my own nostalgia, and in the current age of AI, the show has remained very close to my heart and stubbornly relevant. “Made in Your Image” is the opening number in which the androids awaken and begin asking existential questions. In “If I Had the Chance,” a perky office-bot contemplates the monotony of work and, for the first time, dreams of something more. Later in the show, a trio anxiously sings “Abort, Retry, Fail?_” as they navigate a series of error messages and the dreaded “blue screen of death.” This transitions into the finale “Uploading,” in which the androids conclude that death is a necessary part of being human; that we live on in all the things we love. Despite our flaws, we are all “perfectly designed.”

 

* Lyrics by Grey

** Lyrics by Erin J. Reifler