Brokeneck Girls:
The Murder Ballad Musical
Written by Eve Blackwater, directed by Michael Hagins, with music by Brokeneck Girls.
Presented as part of the 2024 Days of the Dead, October 17-November 2 at Under St. Marks Theater.
The dark comedy that won Best Musical in the NYC Fringe Festival returns to NY in its third edition, with new scenes and fresh plot twists! Based on the tradition of violence against women in folk music and the crimes that inspired the songs, the social commentary delivers fast-paced laughter while addressing issues of class, race, gender, and power. Revenge, redemption, free will and the conflict between good and evil unfold unexpectedly in a story focused on three women who bond over music and share increasingly outrageous secrets. Eventually the truth comes out- the desire to survive has driven all of them to become what they fear most. The score, performed by the NYC-based, folk noir band Brokeneck Girls, features songs of murder, mayhem and dirty deeds spiced with juicy gossip and facts about real people and events in the songs. Loyalty, murder, quick wit, and banjo jokes tell the hilarious and unflinching story of hidden history and the beginning of cultural obsession with true crime.
Brokeneck Girls, the Murder Ballad Musical, began in 2019 when songwriters Eve Blackwater and Jeannie Skelly attended an open mic and noticed an alarming trend of songs featuring violence against women. The tradition of Murder Ballads, a genre of music frequently based on real events, began hundreds of years ago and were the original version of the true crime podcasts that are so popular today. Jeannie and Eve, along with fellow songwriter Kendra MacDevitt, formed the folk-nouveau band Brokeneck Girls, providing an alternative take on these songs. The group found a macabre humor in the lack of outage surrounding the popularity of an artform glamorizing domestic violence, particularly the song Knoxville Girl, which cheerfully depicts the torture and killing of Ann Nichols in 1683, and currently boasts over 100 modern covers on Spotify alone. They made it their mission to highlight the hypocrisy while indulging in the goosebumps and guilty pleasure of the genre. After a few months of yelling historical facts into drunken crowds at shows, and a brief attempt at performing musical skits alongside their songs, Eve took it upon herself to write a play about the characters in their songs. FRIGID New York offered a space to workshop the production and the show sold out its first run in October of 2023. After a series of workshops and revisions, the musical returned for the 2024 NYC Fringe Festival. Tickets quickly sold out, resulting in emotional box-office moments when friends, fans and family realized the new, indie production had suddenly become popular and they had missed their chance to see it. The show was named “Best Musical” in the festival and also received a “Sell-Out Award,” for their outstanding ticket sales. Despite offers to move the show Off-Broadway, the team decided to enjoy their success by doing a limited run at a small, East Village theater before expanding to larger audiences.
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