News
Penelope will continue its journey in March-April of 2024 with a production at Signature Theatre in DC.
I’m absolutely thrilled for this piece to receive a production at Signature, and can’t wait to introduce our Broomcloset Musical Epic to the DC audiences.
More info on the production and its team is forthcoming, but for now: You can find more info and purchase tickets on Signature’s website.
See you in DC, friends!
Lightning Rod Special’s The Appointment, which I made Music & Lyrics for, and for which I’m a member of the lead writing team, is finally returning to the stage after its critically acclaimed world premiere in 2019. I’m so thrilled to return to this piece, and to work with my art siblings at Lighting Rod Special again.
The show will run in a limited Off-Broadway engagement at the WP Theater from January 12 - February 4, 2023.
A portion of the ticket sales for this run will be donated to the National Network of Abortion Funds.
PENELOPE will get its first full production as part of Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival’s 2023 Season; September, 2023.
I’m beyond thrilled that the piece will take its first steps into production at this utterly magical theater in the Hudson Highlands. Everyone at Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, especially Artistic Director Davis McCallum, have been so welcoming and enthusiastic about the piece. I feel as though we are in such capable and supportive hands, and am simply thrilled to bring the show to life under the stars in Garrison, NY.
Penelope has found two incredible collaborators, and is taking new and exciting shape. Grace McLean, writer/performer of In the Green and star of Broadway’s Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 has come aboard as performer/collaborator to play the title role of Penelope; and theatre artist/filmmaker Eva Steinmetz, whose last collaboration with me, The Appointment, garnered critical acclaim and was nominated for numerous Barrymore Awards, has come on board as director/collaborator.
Penelope returns to the Orchard Project
This summer, Penelope will receive further development workshop at The Orchard Project as part of their in-person Summer Festival Performance Lab series in Saratoga Springs, NY. The workshop will culminate in two public shows at Cafe Lena on Friday July 8th and Sunday July 10th. Folks can either attend in-person or live-stream the shows from home. Info on In-Person and Streaming Tickets can be found here:
In addition to these showings in Saratoga, Penelope will have a one-night-only concert at Rockwood Music Hall in New York City on Monday, August 22nd at 7pm. Come see the piece in this raw and intimate setting before we take our next steps to full theatrical production! Info on tickets for the concert at Rockwood can be found here:
I’m so incredibly excited for the piece to take these next steps in its growth, and even more excited to share them with you face-to-face. The more I work on Penelope, the more it becomes an opportunity for collective healing through music for the fears, grief, and longing we have all been feeling since the beginning of the pandemic. I look forward to sharing that gift with you in person soon.
Big love,
AB
This summer, Penelope was selected to be a part of the Orchard Project’s 2021 Performance Lab.
In collaboration with director Eva Steinmetz and playwright Brenson Thomas, we were in workshop on the piece for the month of July. Over the course of the workshop, several new songs were written, and crucial next steps were taken to expand and adapt the album into a full-length musical.
Further development workshops continue on the piece this September. More news will be coming soon about work-in-progress showings as it takes shape.
Now available for digital download! Penelope by Alex Bechtel
$10 on Bandcamp, with an option to pay more if you so choos.e
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Penelope is my musical love letter to all those who wait. For someone they love. For something they believe in. And hope that the wait will end well.
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I am so excited to share this music with you. I hope that it brings you hope, comfort, and light. If anyone has any problems retrieving their downloads from Bandcamp please contact me and I will happily walk you through the process!
xoxo, Alex
A devised podcast thriller just in time for Halloween, SUPERHOST unfolds as a series of voicemails left for Adrian, the owner of an AirBnB in rural Maine where mysterious things keep happening.
“The devised voicemail monologues allude to people who need an escape from quarantine—hungry for nature, a change of scene, or a friendly ear. And the guests’ attempts to remedy their creepy Airbnb experience may hit a note familiar to anyone who’s riding out our political and public health crises.
At what point is something merely irritating or unnerving, versus just plain dangerous? What is a fair and realistic expectation, and what do we do when we suspect or know someone isn’t meeting it? Life in a pandemic asks us to decide this a hundred times a day, and listening to the characters on this recording touches the same nerve.
“I’ll be faced with no choice but to report this to Airbnb and seek some kind of reimbursement,” one traveler huffs. That angry, impotent feeling is a familiar one. Who do you call when things go improbably wrong? What can you do if they don’t answer? Who else is listening?“ - Alaina Johns, The Broad St. Review
One month from now, we will either be sitting in a renewed sense of hope for our future or in desperate need of some beautiful music to lift us up. With that in mind, on November 17th I will release “Penelope”, a concept album of a new experimental musical about the waiting wife at the heart of The Odyssey. A tryptic of songs with lyrics framed by a series of instrumental pieces about waiting for something you love, and hoping the wait ends well.
$10 is the minimum price for the album, with an option to pay more if you desire.
Pre-order “Penelope” now and receive early downloads of 3 tracks from the album: “Overture”, “A Very Long Wait I”, and “Penelope”.
It’s been far too long since I’ve posted a piece of new music on here. And so …
This brief meditation for Cello ensemble helps to capture a bit of what I’ve been feeling lately. Tension, rebuilding, release, and regeneration. I hope it provides a bit of comfort, and maybe invites a bit of reflection.
Big Love,
A
Today’s installment in I Imagine They’re Still There.
Stay out in West Philly ‘til late. Decide to walk back to South Philly over the South St Bridge. Halfway over the bridge, stop and look out. The glimmering lights off the city in the water. The quiet rush of the cars underneath. Stop a moment, but not too long; then continue on home.
Piano sheet music is here if you’d like to play the piece.
Sending you all deep breaths, patience, and love.
A
