Before and After
MUSIC BY RYAN KORELL
BOOK & LYRICS BY JONATHAN KEEBLER
BEFORE AND AFTER tells the story of a high school sophomore, Bea, who just wants to be normal. The trouble is she’s obese and believes normalcy is out of reach for her. Using Photoshop to see what she'd look like if she lost weight, Bea creates a skinny version of herself in her head (who takes on her middle name, Zoey). From that moment, Bea becomes obsessed with becoming Zoey, despite her naysaying.
In time, Bea transforms and becomes that skinny girl, but life doesn't look the way she expected. Eventually, Bea’s diet lands her in the hospital and she is forced to give the girl in her head a new name: anorexia. She must then take back control of her brain and finally accept that being normal does not have to mean being perfect.
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Sheet Music
The Dawn of Eden
MUSIC, BOOK, & LYRICS BY RYAN KORELL
BOOK & LYRICS BY JONATHAN KEEBLER
THE DAWN OF EDEN is a retelling of Lucifer's fall from grace, the creation of the Garden of Eden, and the biblical great flood with a twist: it reimagines Lucifer and God as coconspirators in a quest to escape the tyranny of a heaven ruled by the Greco-Roman gods. It is a story about two friends trying to change the world, the idealism of youth, and what happens when you go down the treacherous path of trying to make those ideals a reality.
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Worlds Apart
MUSIC BY RYAN KORELL
BOOK & LYRICS BY JONATHAN KEEBLER
WORLDS APART is a 20-minute musical that follows a group of old high school friends who have gathered for a reunion after their first semester of college. Some are trying to move forward while some just want things to be like old times. It was originally commissioned for UC Irvine 4@15 in March of 2015.