The Appointment | 2019
“CLASSIC LIGHTNING ROD SPECIAL … BRUTAL AND BRILLIANT.”
— JOHN TIMPANE, THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
ABOUT THE SHOW
The Appointment is a satirical musical examining the absurdity and hypocrisy of the American abortion debate. Using cutting humor and catchy songs, it unpacks the economic, societal, and political systems that disempower groups of people from making informed reproductive decisions. Associated viewing risks include dizziness, cramping, choreographed musical numbers, emotionally manipulative informed consent handbooks, God’s wrath, and rampant misogyny. Side effects will last for the foreseeable future. Don’t worry. That’s perfectly normal.
In 2019, Lightning Rod Special presented a rolling two-city premiere of The Appointment, at Philadelphia’s FringeArts and at New York Theatre Workshop: Next Door in NYC. All performances were accompanied by opportunities for audiences to connect with the show’s partner organizations: Women’s Medical Fund, Allentown Women’s Center, WHARR, Pro-Truth, NYAAF, and Abortion AF. The Appointment received rave reviews in both cities and was named on year-end Best of 2019 Theatre lists by the New York Times, TimeOut New York, and New York Magazine. It was nominated for an astounding seven Barrymore-nominations (including Best Musical) with Brett Robinson taking home a win for Outstanding Supporting Actor.
“The Appointment is one of the most improbable new musicals in New York. It’s also one of the most enlightening.”
CREATIVE TEAM
Lead Artist: Alice Yorke
Lead Writing Team: Alice Yorke, Eva Steinmetz, Scott R. Sheppard, and Alex Bechtel
Director: Eva Steinmetz
Composer: Alex Bechtel
Choreography: Melanie Cotton
Co-Creators/Performers: Katie Gould, Jaime Maseda, Lee Minora, Brenson Thomas, Brett Ashley Robinson, Scott Sheppard, Alice Yorke
Additional Creation: nicHi douglas, Jenson Titus Lavallee, Mason Rosenthal
Stage Manager: Sara Marinich
Music Director: Amanda Morton
Drums: Michael Santa Cruz (Philadelphia), Mike Reilly (New York)
Bass: Charlie Muench (Philadelphia), Debbie Tjong (New York)
Production Design: Oona Curley
Lighting Design: Masha Tsimring
Costume Design: Jill Keys
Sound Design: Liz Atkinson
Props Design: Alicia Crosby
Co-Creative Producer: Meredith Sonnen
Producing Consultant: Renee Blinkwolt
Production Manager: Lauren Tracy
Audience Engagement Coordinator: Cat Ramirez (Philadelphia), Paloma Estevez (New York)
THE APPOINTMENT was developed, in part, with assistance from The Orchard Project, and from Camp Fringe 2018, at FringeArts Philadelphia.
Photos by: Johanna Austin and Oona Curley
PRESS AND ACCOLADES
Best Theater of 2019 New York Magazine, “As wild as it was, I can’t remember ever so exactly recognizing the destabilizing way it feels to have a womb in America.” -Helen Shaw
Best Theater of 2019 New York Times, “the show was as quietly thoughtful as it was boisterously, hilariously transgressive.” -Laura Collins-Hughes
Best Theater of 2019 Time Out NY
New York Times Critics’ Pick, “This thoughtful, profoundly imaginative show concludes in a silence that is all the more eloquent for the sound and the fury that preceded it.” -Ben Brantley
Seven Barrymore Award Nominations including Outstanding Musical and the Brown Martin Award
One Barrymore Award for Brett Robinson’s Outstanding Performance of a Supporting Actor in a Musical
Broad Street Review Review, “The Appointment’s genius [lies in] the compelling, matter-of-fact realism of its abortion-clinic scenes...”
Philly Life and Culture Review, “Lightning Rod Special does an impeccable job by getting their audience to think without being preachy. They indulge in humor to then catapult you into sincere truth.”
Philadelphia Dance Review, “The laughter that the show provokes becomes the glass of water we drink to digest the bitter pills the show prescribes.”
“A feverish explosion of the abortion debate that replaces rigid political views with a visceral exploration of the emotions that fuel both sides.”