Hey, welcome to the Who’s Esther Studio. I’m Randall Craig. Thank you so much for dropping by. I hope you have a chance to listen to some of the music and learn more about this very special musical. Interested in a real-world conversation about Who Is Esther? Please reach out…
The story behind the hat
Well, if you see me right now, you see that I’m wearing a Who is Esther hat. Interestingly, there are only two versions of this hat – only two copies. I’m wearing one of them, but the other one is being worn by a very special young man across the pond. His name is Amiel, and he’s the person who … Read More
The work is never done
I want to share one of the biggest misconceptions I had when I first started writing this musical: I was so sure it was good after I wrote it. Then, I started to get feedback. The feedback was an eye-opener. The number of times it was rewritten, the number of songs that were discarded, and new songs written – musically … Read More
Who Is Esther on the Ride to Conquer Cancer
Stay with me. This year, for the 4th time, I’ll be participating in the 200km Ride to Conquer Cancer in June. Doing the Ride took every ounce of my energy, but listening to all of the people sitting on lawn chairs along those 200km, with signs with their family member’s names, shouting “You’re riding for ________”, over and over again, … Read More
Who Is Esther is Now Officially Partnering with PMCF
We’re Official. Given the unique Who Is Esther backstory, perhaps it isn’t surprising that we are running the musical as a Social Enterprise, and that 100% of all proceeds are being directed to the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation (PMCF). This has taken a number of months to negotiate and put into place, but we’ve now signed formal terms. What does … Read More
Now on Spotify and Apple Music
Wow, just wow. After casting, studio work, post-production, and more back-and-forths than you could imagine, the studio cast recording of Who Is Esther is now on Apple Music, Spotify, and 250+ other online music stores. If you want to listen on Apple Music, here’s the link: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/who-is-esther-studio-cast-version/1887599163 Here’s the link on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/791hJt5CTQA9lorQKcCBU7 And here is the very surprised (and … Read More
Back in the studio!
After a short hiatus where we were working on updating the orchestrations, we spent several days in the studio, recording the remainder of the songs. Thanks to the exceptionally talented Berlayne Smith (who reprised her role as Esther), Manuele Adrian Mizzi (as Mr. Verious), Justin Welsh (Uncle Mo), Cara Adams (Vashti and Contestant Two), Erin Humphry (Contestant One), and Jesse … Read More
Time for a rewrite? (yes, again)
I had the exceptional good fortune to meet Rob Corbett recently. Beyond teaching acting at several colleges and being a playwright in his own right, he is a most insightful script reader and dramaturg. And a pleasure to work with. One of the challenges of a first-time script writer (that’s me), is that you don’t know what you don’t know. … Read More
COVID – terrible for theater, but an opportunity in disguise?
After months of networking, meeting exceptionally talented people, and learning more about the details of the business of musical theater, I hit an unexpected wall. Or rather, the entire industry did. While normally, one would expect to do a series of workshops with a new play, what is happening now is appalling: the entire arts community has effectively shut down. … Read More
The Power of Diversity: Feedback and Perspective
After two years of research, 100’s of hours in front of the computer writing and rewriting, playing music for hundreds of hours to get everything just right, 89 recording sessions, editing sessions, mixing sessions, mastering… it was done. And then, it wasn’t. When I wrote my first (non-theatrical) book in the 1990’s, I felt the same: the masterpiece was … Read More
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