The Show
Age of Power is a new musical that tells the story of Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla's pursuit to light up the world. Their competition unleashed a vicious personal and corporate war to control the new technology of electricity. Set in the Gilded Age, the story plays out as America is emerging as an industrial powerhouse, women, minorities, and immigrants are demanding equality and Wall Street gives rise to the mega-corporation. The battle between the self-assured Edison, America’s most famous inventor, and the eccentric immigrant, Tesla who arrived in New York with only four cents in his pocket, left riches, heartbreak, and death in its wake. Both men understood that their quest would change the course of mankind, but they could not foresee how it would change their lives and the lives of the women they loved.

Edison and Tesla are the perfect heroes for a time when scientific facts are called into question and the excitement and fear of new technology is a national obsession. The underlying themes of innovation, immigration, self-empowerment and corporate responsibility are as current today as they were at the dawn of the twentieth century.

About The Staged Reading
On March 29, 2019, the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills will host a staged reading of Age of Power. The cast will consist of some of Los Angeles and New York's most talented musical theater performers.

Your Generous Support
Your tax-deductible contributions will help us produce the March 29 reading. Theater producers from across the country will be invited to discover the show. This will be a crucial step on our journey to a production at a major regional theater followed by a Broadway opening.

CREATIVE TEAM

Allen Zipper, Mark Hollmann & Dave Caplan

MARK HOLLMANN – Music & Lyrics
Mark won the Tony Award, the National Broadway Theatre Award, and the Obie Award for his music and lyrics to URINETOWN THE MUSICAL. His other shows as composer/lyricist include YEAST NATION, BIGFOOT AND OTHER LOST SOULS, and ZM, the last of which was developed at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center during a residency at the National Music Theater Conference of 2015 as well as the Village Theatre’s Festival of New Musicals in 2017. He is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), serves on the council of the Dramatists Guild of America, and has served on the Tony Nominating Committee.

DAVE CAPLAN – Book & Additional Lyrics
Dave has enjoyed a long career in network television and feature films for which he has won numerous awards, including the Humanitas certificate.  Dave served as a writer/co-Executive Producer on ABC’s highly-anticipated re-boot of ROSEANNE as well as its current spin-off THE CONNORS.  He has also served as writer/Executive Producer or Consultant on a number of shows including the FX series ANGER MANAGEMENT, ABC’s GEORGE LOPEZ, THE DREW CAREY SHOW and TNT’s hit police/medical drama, RIZZOLI AND ISLES.  Dave also holds a Master’s degree in Media Psychology, specializing in research, and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the same discipline.

ALLEN JAY ZIPPER – Book & Additional Lyrics
Allen is an Emmy award-winning writer and producer of numerous television shows including Tracey Ullman’s HBO comedy TRACEY TAKES ON…, ABC’s GEORGE LOPEZ, CBS’s THE NANNY, TBS’ SULLIVAN & SON and most recently YouTube Red’s SING IT! In addition to winning an Emmy, he is also the recipient of the Imagen Award and has been twice nominated for the prestigious Writer’s Guild Award. Allen began his career in the theater at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami. He eventually started his own theater company under the mentorship of Broadway legend George Abbott.

KIMBERLY SENIOR – Director

Kimberly is a freelance director and the director of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize-winning play Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar. Most recently Kimberly made her HBO debut with Chris Gethard: Career Suicide, which premiered at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. Kimberly was awarded the 2016 TCG Alan Schneider Award. She is also the recipient of the 2016 Special Non-Equity Jeff Award for her work as a trailblazer, champion and role model for emerging artists and the 2018 Primary Stages Einhorn Award.
 

New York Credits: Disgraced (Broadway); Chris Gethard: Career Suicide (Judd Apatow); The Niceties (Manhattan Theatre Club); Sakina's Restaurant (Audible); The Who and The What; Disgraced (LCT3); Discord (Primary Stages); Engagements (Second Stage Uptown). Regional Credits: The Niceties (Huntington) ;Sheltered (Alliance Theatre); Support Group for Men; Disgraced;Rapture, Blister, Burn (Goodman Theatre); Buried Child; The Scene; Marjorie Prime; Diary of Anne Frank; Hedda Gabler; The Letters (Writers Theatre); Other Than Honorable (Geva); Sex with Strangers (The Geffen Playhouse); Disgraced (Mark Taper Forum, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre); The Who and The What (La Jolla Playhouse); Little Gem (City Theatre); Want; The North Plan (Steppenwolf); among others. She is the proud mother of Noah (12) and Delaney (10).

The Cast
Performers for the reading will be announced after auditions take place in February 2019.