Welcome to Musicals by Mark!

I experienced the thrill of falling in love for the first time at eight years old.

My parents took me to see my first live musical, The Sound of Music, at the Shubert Theater in Cincinnati, Ohio.

When the curtain rose on Maria perched on a mountaintop that moved all the way downstage as she sang the title song it was like a revelation.

You could call it love at first sight and sound.

There’s no other way to describe the awe I felt as I sat enthralled in my seat.

I was spellbound by the music, the scenery, the actress singing her heart out and making me believe it was all real.

I felt like a monochrome Dorothy opening the door into a Technicolor™Oz.

I was so smitten that for a brief period of time, from nine to eleven years old, I tried writing musicals myself (including a musicalization of Hamlet – don’t ask!).

But as I grew older I never gave writing a musical much thought.

I didn’t know anyone who composed musicals, so I figured there was no reason to pursue a dream that wouldn’t go anywhere.

Fast forward fifty years, I met a composer who asked me the question that changed my life, “Do you want to write a musical?” I think I said yes before he even finished the question.

I may have given up on the dream but the dream never gave up on me.

I have now collaborated with two composers on musicals that have been given staged readings at the Granite Theatre in Rhode Island, the Forbes Center for the Performing Arts in Virginia, and by the Boston Conservatory at Berklee as part of the Boston Theater Marathon.

My musicals focus on stories that aren’t often told – the near-death fraternity hazing of a college freshman (The Pledge), William Shakespeare’s forbidden relationship with another man (Swagger), and the life of transgender pioneer, Albert Cashier (born Jennie Hodgers) who served as a soldier in the Civil War (Albert).

You may want to check out the interview about Albert, which was first presented by the Boston Conservatory at Berklee as part of the 23rd Annual Boston Theater Marathon: Special Zoom Edition in 2021.

https://www.bu.edu/bpt/2021/04/22/voices-of-btm-xxiii-mark-evan-chimsky-and-zev-burrows/

In 2022, Albert will be given a staged reading by the Left Coast Theater Company in San Francisco as part of their evening of short plays, Queerstory: Forgotten Figures & Events from Queer History. More to come on that!

I’ve recently begun writing plays as well, and they address such subjects as gender identity and intimate partner violence.

If you want to be kept updated about my projects please sign up here.

Enjoy the website!

Cheers,
Mark