Book by Jen Cohen
Music & Lyrics by Nicky Phillips
About The Show
Curious George, the beloved monkey is famous for his narrow escape from danger in his well-known stories. What is not known is how he symbolically safeguarded his own creators in times of danger. Margret and H.A. Rey, the writers of Curious George, were Jews who became refugees when they had to flee Paris in 1940.
They had to leave all of their belongings behind but managed to escape with the Curious George manuscript moments before the Nazi’s occupied the city. They brought Curious George safely to America narrowly escaping danger themselves.
This is the story of how two immigrants came to America and contributed to the fabric of American culture. Against all odds, a husband and wife find joy in a time of despair creating their artwork and stories, determined to get to safety while protecting their life’s work and ultimately bringing a little monkey to millions of children for years to come.
Development History
Rey of Light has already been through several stages of development. Jen and Nicky began their research by traveling to the DeGrummond Collection at the University of Southern Mississippi where all of the original works of Margret and H.A. Rey are housed. Then they traveled to Paris where they researched the Nazi occupation and visited the Rey’s original home.
Nicky and Jen were honored to be awarded the Margret and H.A. Rey Residency from the Curious George Foundation. This was a two-week writing residency that took place in the actual cottage where Margret and H.A. Rey lived in Waterville Valley New Hampshire. Since then, the show has been developed at the Johnny Mercer Foundation Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals and the Canadian Music Theatre Project at Sheridan College.
The show had a successful residency and developmental workshop at the Interlochen Center For The Arts. Rey of Light was also selected for the ASCAP/Stephen Schwartz Workshop with Broadway panelists Stephen Schwartz, Joe DiPietro and Bob Martin.
Music
The Writers
Nicky Phillips, Music & Lyrics
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Nicky Phillips is an award-winning composer who lives in Nyack, NY. She is currently a member of the BMI Lehman Engel Advanced Musical Theatre Workshop where she was awarded the Jean Banks Award for outstanding achievement in Musical Theatre. An alumna of the Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project, Nicky was mentored by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Craig Carnelia. Her work has been showcased at Lincoln Center, 54 Below, Don’t Tell Mama, The Laurie Beechman Theatre and The New York Theatre Barn. Nicky is the co-writer of a new musical theatre songbook entitled The Tweens ’N Teens Songbook, New Musical Theatre Songs for the Young (ish) Performer, written with collaborator Sarah Ziegler. Her musicals include: A Rey Of Light (ASCAP/Stephen Schwartz Workshop, Johnny Mercer Foundation Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals); In Between (Bravo Academy); The Last Party (Toronto Fringe Festival); Stagefright (Prospect Theater’s Musical Theatre Lab); In Flanders Fields (Smile Theatre, Lunchbox Theatre, Betty Mitchell nomination). Original Music for plays include: The Snow Queen (Theatre New Brunswick); Buyer and Cellar (Alberta Theatre Projects); Old Man and The River (Theatre Direct, Dora nomination for Outstanding Production); Jane Eyre, The Penelopiad and The 39 Steps (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre). She is a proud member of ASCAP and has been awarded multiple ASCAP Plus Awards. You can currently hear her songs on the new animated series Vida The Vet (Netflix). Visit www.nickyphillips.com
Jen Cohen, Book
​Jen is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of The Arts, London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (summer program) and the Lyric and Book Labs at NMI in L.A. She is an alumnus of The Johnny Mercer Foundation Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals and of Interlochen Centre for the Arts in Michigan as well as the ASCAP Stephen Schwartz workshop. She is currently on the Board of Directors of Canadian Friends of Interlochen. She has also worked extensively as a choreographer and director at Soulpepper, Young People’s Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille, Harold Green Jewish Theatre, Tarragon, Buddies in Bad Times and many more. Jen has also served as dramaturg and/or director on new musicals written by Louise Pitre, Jim Betts and Leslie Arden to name a few. She also served as program director of Theatre 20’s “Composium”, a composer and lyricist writing unit in Toronto. Jen was nominated for the Siminovitch Prize in Directing and for the Mike Ockrent Theatre Directing Fellowship SSDC, NY. She has won a Dora for Best Production of a Musical for A Year with Frog and Toad and nominated for Best Musical Production and Choreography for Pasek and Paul’s James and The Giant Peach, both at the Young People’s Theatre.
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