NEW YORK, October 10, 2022 – For this year’s New York Comic Con, excited theater fans assembled for an in-person conversation with a group of talented theater creatives behind popular musical projects like “A Strange Loop,” “Moulin Rouge: The Musical,” “Annie Live!,” “Come From Away,” and more in Impact24 PR’s #BroadwayToHollywood: 2nd Annual Look at the New Age of Musicals panel.

Moderated by actress Lorna Courtney (“& Juliet”), the panel featured Charlie Rosen (Orchestrator; A Strange Loop; Moulin Rouge), Mia Neal (Hair and Wig Designer; Annie Live!; KPOP; West Side Story 2020 Revival), Ian Eisendrath (Executive Music Producer; Come From Away), Daniel Mertzlufft (Composer and Music Supervisor; Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical; TikTok’s For You, Paige), and Esin Aydingoz (Composer, Arranger, Pianist; DCappella).

The discussion began by the panelists delving into their latest work- and what it’s actually like taking projects from Broadway, to the big screen.

Charlie Rosen explained his role in bringing “A Strange Loop” to the stage through music. “I’m sort of the vessel for the composer of the music,” said Rosen. “The process of working with Michael R. Jackson is similar to working with any composer of any musical; exploring why they made the choices they made and their own personal musical influences.”

Mia Neal jumped in to discuss her creative process for designing looks for the televised performance of “Annie Live!”, which earned her an Emmy Award earlier this year. “The beautiful thing about Annie being a live show is that it combined both worlds, theater and film,” Neal explained. “The wonderful thing about the live show is that you need to treat it like theater, so the hair and wigs need to be pinned in a certain way so that it holds up during movement.”

Ian Eisendrath gave the audience insight into his work on the stage version and the recorded version of “Come From Away,” which is available for streaming exclusively on Apple TV+. “When we worked on the music together our goal was to create a musical theater experience that functioned more like a film score than a set of songs, which is a very hard thing to do, especially since we only had 4 days to film it.”

Speaking on the digital side, Daniel Mertzlufft chimed in to talk about his two latest projects made exclusively for TikTok – “Ratatouille: The Tiktok Musical” and “TikTok’s For You, Paige.” “There has to be other ways to create theater, and that is what Ratatouille and For You, Paige is all about. The version of theater that we all know and love works, but there are other ways that are just as artistic and more accessible.”

Esin Aydingoz shared her experience taking famed musicals like “The Beauty and The Beast” and “The Little Mermaid” to a live concert setting. “I normally just take part in musical roles, with those projects already existing and there’s not typically room for me to be involved in that capacity. For these projects, I was much more involved and got to be in meetings not just about music, but for other aspects like costume and hair design.”

The conversation then shifted to accessibility and inclusion in theater, and how we can continue to support the next generation of theater creatives. Esin Aydingoz started off the conversation by talking about her new role as the Assistant Chair of Berklee College of Music’s Screen Scoring Department. “People get to experience theater for the first time. We don’t just teach it in a way that you learn in a classroom, students get to learn by experiencing it.”

Adding to the conversation, Rosen said “Broadway should not just be a luxury commodity. We need people at the top who can influence those decisions and change the tide.”

New York Comic Con attendees were left with important insight into the changing landscape of theater, and how everyone can take a part in bridging the gap between Broadway and Hollywood and beyond.

About Impact24 PR:

This panel was produced by Impact24 Public Relations and its team members. Impact24 PR is dedicated to highlighting behind-the-camera and behind-the-curtain talent, and supports many of the industry’s leading creatives. From makeup artists and composers, to cinematographers, VFX companies, production designers, and more. Impact24 is deeply committed to representation and inclusion in the entertainment/art space, and actively works to eradicate gaps within the industry, and further. For more information on the company and panelists, visit www.impact24pr.com or on Instagram (instagram.com/impact24pr) and Twitter (twitter.com/impact24pr).

This panel was produced by Impact2 Public Relations and its team members.

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