World Premiere of a New Musical
Pleasure Never Lies
book & lyrics by Marshall Hagins
music by Brad Moranz
story conceived by Noah Brody & Marshall Hagins
Apr 10 – May 3, 2025
Cannon Street Arts Center
Directed by Sharon Graci*
Dr. Samantha Williams is a brilliant but slightly insecure ornithologist…and let’s face it, who wouldn’t be, with radical, slightly feminist ideas about evolution bubbling up in one’s head? Ideas like the pursuit of pleasure (gasp!) is the second great engine of evolution! What if “survival of the fittest” is only half the story? Sam along with a ragtag group of bird scientists struggle to prove their theories on love, life, and evolution from deep within the jungles of Papua New Guinea in this quirky and clever world premiere musical from Broadway veterans Marshall Hagins, Noah Brody (Fiasco Theater), and Charleston’s own Brad Moranz.
Marshall Hagins danced on Broadway (MAME) and in several national tours (A CHORUS LINE, OKLAHOMA, GREASE) before earning a BS in physical therapy and PhD in biomechanics from New York University. Dr. Hagins is an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at Long Island University and a Senior Research Associate at Harkness Center for Dance Injuries in Manhattan. Dr. Hagins has worked as a physical therapist for New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Merce Cunningham Dance Company, and the Mark Morris Dance Group. He has published over 40 papers in peer reviewed journals and has received research funding from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Hagins is a member of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop.
Brad Moranz performed on Broadway in SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN (Cosmo), A DAY IN HOLLYWOOD (Groucho), Off Broadway in LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (Seymour), and in the National tours of ME AND MY GIRL (U/S Gerald), SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS (suitor) and A CHORUS LINE (Zach). He has directed numerous regional productions of musicals (ANNIE, GUYS AND DOLLS, I DO I DO, NUNSENSE, UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN, KISS ME KATE, SECRET GARDEN, to name a few. Along with his wife Jennifer, he has choreographed for Film and TV including: THE RIGHTEOUS GEMSTONES, RADIOLAND MURDERS (Academy Award nomination), THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE, YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES (George Lucas), and more. Currently (again with his wife!), he writes, directs, choreographs and produces musical variety shows in Charleston, SC.
Noah Brody is an actor, director, teacher, writer, and co-artistic director of Fiasco Theater. For Fiasco he has directed MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG and co-directed THE IMAGINARY INVALID, INTO THE WOODS, MEASURE FOR MEASURE, TWELFTH NIGHT, and CYMBELINE. His work has been seen at the Roundabout Theatre, Theatre for a New Audience, Classic Stage Company, New Victory Theatre, McCarter Theatre, The Folger Theatre, the Old Globe, the Long Wharf, and London’s Menier Chocolate Factory among others. With collaborators Jessie Austrian and the Kilbanes, Noah is the recipient of Theatre Latte Da’s NEXT GENERATION Commission for the creation of an original musical, and, of course, an EST/Sloan commission with Marshall Hagins.
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PURE SEASON 22 SPONSORS
The Rodney B. & Marjorie S. Fink Foundation
Connie & Richard Hayes
Lee Bell & Fotios Pantazis
INDIVIDUAL SPONSORS
Chalmers Foundation
Lee Bell & Fotios Pantazis
Anonymous
PAY WHAT YOU WILL SPONSOR
Judith & David Miller
Funded in part by the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional ongoing financial support provided by Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Coastal Community Foundation, The John & Susan Bennett Memorial Arts Fund, The Joanna Foundation, and The Boeing Company.