2019: La Jolla Playhouse, Joe's Pub, MTF... oh, my!
SINGLE RELEASES
Laura launched into 2019 with monthly single releases with Macabre Americana. The band has released three debut singles so far. “American Train,” “Maxine,” and “Natural Disaster” can be streamed on Spotify, Apple Music, Soundcloud, and Bandcamp.
LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE
In February, Laura was a part of a La Jolla Playhouse Sponsored presentation of Bhangin' It in NYC. Bhangin' It, featuring a book by Rehana Lew Mirza and Mike Lew with music and lyrics by Sam Willmott, draws inspiration from the high-stakes world of intercollegiate competitive bhangra – a traditional Indian folk dance morphed into a good ole American dance-off. The story follows a biracial student, Mary, who gets kicked off her bhangra team for not being "Indian enough." When she forms a team of her own, cultural authenticity and cultural pluralism are set on a collision course in this brash, intoxicating and gripping new musical.
On March 25th Laura joined The Lobbyists at Joe’s Pub in their presentation of a concert of music from their new musical THE GOLDEN SPIKE, a collaboration with Don Nguyen. The Golden Spike is the story of Sun Wu, a Chinese immigrant who worked on the Transcontinental Railroad thirteen years earlier who now finds himself trying to outrun the long arm of the law in hopes of reuniting with his wife and son. Weaving strong emotional narratives of Chinese and Irish immigrants of the railroad, The Golden Spike is a story of the pursuit of love, family, truth, and the sparkling light of equality under the otherwise dark shadow cast by the Chinese Exclusion Act.
MTF + WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH
Laura closed out March with MTF’s Agent 355 Jam Session in celebration of Women’s History Month.
The Culper Spy Ring famously helped George Washington win the American Revolution, but there's one secret they never revealed; the identity of their female member. Now, an all-female/TGNC punk-rock band will reveal the truth about the unknown woman that helped America's first spy ring "outwit them all." Challenging a history written by men, Agent 355 explores the loyalty, heritage, and courage of six real Revolutionary women whose stories, sacrifices, and secrets shaped the nation. These jam session songs are from the perspectives of historical figures such as Nathan Hale (Lauren Patten), Anna Smith Strong (Lauren Zakrin) and Sally Townsend (Laura Dadap).
TINY DESK CONTEST
In mid April, Macabre Americana submitted a video for NPR’s 2019 Tiny Desk Contest.
“We build too many walls an not enough bridges.” - Isaac Newton
“Oscar” was born after a real conversation with a man who feared deportation after the 2016 US presidential election. It’s our anthem for all immigrants across this country: our nation was built on the backs of immigrants— and this song is as much of our love song for them as it is our battlecry for asylum seeker policy reform.