Paulanne Simmon's Musicals
In The Schoolyard
About In The Schoolyard:
In the Schoolyard tells the story of native Brooklynite childhood buddies Larry, Jerry, Dave, Eddie and Manny. They played stoopball and stickball in the streets and basketball in the schoolyard of PS 8. They all worked for or stole from the grocery store owned by Manny’s mother, Mrs. Rivera.
Although they have all married, established careers (more or less) and moved away, they still come back to Brooklyn the last Saturday of September to play basketball in the schoolyard, have a few drinks at O’Leary’s bar and talk about old times and new events. But this time Larry insists he can’t make the reunion for reasons he won’t entirely reveal, Dave has lost his wife and the last of a series of jobs, and Manny is determined to bring his aging mother back to Florida where he lives. As the guys look back to the past, they realize they must figure out how they are going to face the future.
Writers Inspiration: While writing for the Brooklyn Papers, I was assigned a story about a group of men who came back to the P.S. 8 schoolyard every September to play basketball. I wrote my first play, Basketball Lessons, based on these men. After a while, I realized the play had the elements of a good musical. Six years later, I wrote In the Schoolyard.
Book & Lyrics: Paulanne Simmons
Composer: Rachel Kaufman
Produced: The New York International Fringe Festival
Year Produced: 2010