Musicals
Prodigy
James always assumed there was still time to fulfill his dream of becoming a brilliant classical pianist. And there was! …Until there wasn’t. Freely adapted from his journal from the semester he studied abroad in The Netherlands, Prodigy is a musical exploration into the marrow of what happens when our love for something exceeds our talent at it.
Prodigy premiered in a sold-out extended workshop presentation in 2024. Songs from the performance can be viewed on YouTube:
Late Bloomer featuring Lorin Zackular
Dinosaurs and Rocket Ships featuring Matthew Fairlee
Stupid Kids featuring Sean Doherty
On Music featuring Jordan Leigh McCaskill
Sweet Matthew
1970’s Appalachia. Sweet Matthew thought he knew what he was signing up for when he became the kept boy of a brute of a local business titan. Before long, his charmed captivity and loveless relationship take their toll. A quick fling with a gorgeous new farmhand seems like it will scratch the itch, only instead, it leads him down a murderous path.
Grasshopper Songs
A young farmer falls in love with the sun. They ask the sun’s father, the God of All Gods, to grant the farmer immortality so the two can be together forever, and the God of All Gods acquiesces. One snafu, however – they neglected to ask that he be preserved permanently in his youth, so while he will indeed live forever, he will age at his natural human progression. After 200 years, devoid of vitality, the two lovers must decide if their love is truly worth living until the end of time.
Grasshopper Songs premiered in an abridged version in concert at the Green Room 42 in 2023, featuring Rita Wolf with Peter LaPrade, Maya Sistruck, and Maya Lagerstam. A full video can be seen here.
And Then He Painted the Sky
Celebrating one of the greatest artistic triumphs of all time, And Then He Painted the Sky tells the story of Michelangelo painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, using the artist’s own poetry and letters as the entire text.
See footage from And Then He Painted the Sky here.
Opera
Relapse (libretto; music by Molly Joyce)
Marina wakes up in a hospital room after a serious drug overdose. As she pieces together the details of how she wound up so debilitated by her dependence on the pills, the formidable challenges of overcoming her addiction slowly come into fresh focus. In the chaos of influence from those who want her to make a full recovery and those who would perpetuate her cycle of dependency, Marina has to decide for herself if and how she will move forward.
Commissioned and premiered by the Washington National Opera and The Kennedy Center as a part of the American Opera Initiative, 2019.
Musicals for Young People
This trilogy of original musicals were commissioned and premiered by Playing for Others in Charlotte, North Carolina. James has been writer-in-residence since 2016.
From Where I Stand
Exploring the ways we experience insecurity and the ways our insecurities manifest in our relationships, From Where I Stand features five protagonists each navigating insecurities to varying degrees of success. A musical performed by teens for an audience of everyone. 3w, 2m, large ensemble with many opportunities for small features.
The Great Big Work
A musical of four stories of four kinds of forgiveness: forgiveness of self, forgiveness of someone who has apologized, forgiveness of someone who hasn’t apologized, and forgiveness of uncontrollable circumstance. Written for an ensemble of ten teen performers.
Ready. Set. Go.
A song cycle about self-acceptance, featuring a wide range of stories and musical styles. Written for an ensemble of ten teen performers.
To inquire about any of these pieces, please contact James directly at jamesholodkennedy [at] gmail [dot] com.