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America’s Happiest PersonBook and Lyrics by G. Bruce Smith, Music by Dante LunaContact Email: gbrucesmith1@gmail.com |
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Oliver Grimm has been dumped by his girlfriend for being such a Debbie Downer and he wants to get her back. So, he vows to prove he’s a changed man and sets off on a journey to become happy. The pinnacle of his pursuit comes when he is named one of five finalists for a new reality TV show, “America’s Happiest Person.” If he wins, he can show his ex that he is, indeed, a very happy man. As the competition progresses, and the pressure of the show builds, the contestants reveal secrets that beg the question: Can anyone be truly happy or is the pursuit of happiness just a crock of shit? In Act 2, things get really crazy and chaos ensues in the buildup to the TV show finale. With a variety of music and dance styles, as well as elements of farce and parody, “America’s Happiest Person” takes a fresh, comedic look at happiness in contemporary society. In the summer of 2022, Dante Luna (musical composition) and G. Bruce Smith (book and lyrics) workshopped songs with two professionally trained singers. On October 26 and 27, 2022, “America’s Happiest Person” was presented as a rehearsed staged reading at The Broadwater Second Stage in Hollywood. (In 2021, Smith presented an unrehearsed reading of book only to a small, invited audience of theater professionals to solicit input. The feedback he received was extremely helpful.) We are now looking for further development with theater professionals and/or universities. Ultimately, we hope for a full professional or university production.
G. Bruce Smith (Book, Lyrics) G. Bruce Smith is the award-winning author of 25-plus plays of various lengths and two screenplays and has production credits in California, Minnesota, India and Paris, France. Productions of several of his plays have been critically acclaimed by such publications as the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Weekly and Backstage West. Most recently, his play, “By the River Rivanna,” was presented in April 2024 as a hybrid staged reading/production with music and dance at Studio/Stage in Hollywood. In fall 2021, his play, “Broken Mirror: A Frankenstein Odyssey,” was produced by Santa Monica College (Calif.). Before that, his play, “Where the Dead Men Lost Their Bones,” had its world premiere at McCadden Place Theatre in Hollywood in November 2018. His full-length play, “Heart Mountain,” which was commissioned by Santa Monica College, was produced in November 2012 and selected for the Regional Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival (February 2013 at Los Angeles Theatre Center). It was also produced in 2014 at UWC Mahindra College in Pune, India. He has won several playwriting awards from theaters all over the U.S., including the National Playwriting Award from the American Renegade Theatre in Los Angeles for his play “The Last Pitch,” which went on to get two productions, one of which garnered Pick of the Week by L.A. Weekly. Dante Luna (Musical Score) Writing music for the stage and screen, Dante Luna has had his works premiered and performed throughout the USA, Scotland, France, the Netherlands, Italy and Russia. This includes his string orchestra composition, “Listen to Me,” which was taken on a world tour by the Russian String Orchestra in 2018-19; his String Quartet No. 1, premiered by the Carpe Diem String Quartet in Siena, Italy (2019); and recently his soundtrack to the film “Hunted,” premiered at the Hallucinea Film Festival in France (2022). In addition to being a composer, Luna has also music directed several musicals during his time at UCLA (B.A. class of 2018, M.A. class of 2021), including “Tick, Tick… Boom!,” “Pippin,” and “Love’s Labour’s Lost.” Most recently in spring 2024, Luna music directed the California School of the Arts’ production of “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.” He also plays regularly as a musician with the top orchestras of Los Angeles, including the Los Angeles Opera, L.A. Master Chorale, Pasadena Symphony/Pops, and the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra. Having also attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, and Interlochen Arts Camp, he has grown up performing in the pit orchestra for dozens to musicals and operas. Luna currently serves on the music faculty at the AMDA College of the Performing Arts, and California School of the Arts, San Gabriel Valley. |
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America’s Happiest Person
Book and Lyrics by G. Bruce Smith, Music by Dante Luna
Contact Email: gbrucesmith1@gmail.com
Oliver Grimm has been dumped by his girlfriend for being such a Debbie Downer and he wants to get her back. So, he vows to prove he’s a changed man and sets off on a journey to become happy. The pinnacle of his pursuit comes when he is named one of five finalists for a new reality TV show, “America’s Happiest Person.” If he wins, he can show his ex that he is, indeed, a very happy man. As the competition progresses, and the pressure of the show builds, the contestants reveal secrets that beg the question: Can anyone be truly happy or is the pursuit of happiness just a crock of shit?
In Act 2, things get really crazy and chaos ensues in the buildup to the TV show finale.
With a variety of music and dance styles, as well as elements of farce and parody, “America’s Happiest Person” takes a fresh, comedic look at happiness in contemporary society.
In the summer of 2022, Dante Luna (musical composition) and G. Bruce Smith (book and lyrics) workshopped songs with two professionally trained singers. On October 26 and 27, 2022, “America’s Happiest Person” was presented as a rehearsed staged reading at The Broadwater Second Stage in Hollywood. (In 2021, Smith presented an unrehearsed reading of book only to a small, invited audience of theater professionals to solicit input. The feedback he received was extremely helpful.)
We are now looking for further development with theater professionals and/or universities. Ultimately, we hope for a full professional or university production.
G. Bruce Smith (Book, Lyrics)
G. Bruce Smith is the award-winning author of 25-plus plays of various lengths and two screenplays and has production credits in California, Minnesota, India and Paris, France. Productions of several of his plays have been critically acclaimed by such publications as the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Weekly and Backstage West.
Most recently, his play, “By the River Rivanna,” was presented in April 2024 as a hybrid staged reading/production with music and dance at Studio/Stage in Hollywood.
In fall 2021, his play, “Broken Mirror: A Frankenstein Odyssey,” was produced by Santa Monica College (Calif.). Before that, his play, “Where the Dead Men Lost Their Bones,” had its world premiere at McCadden Place Theatre in Hollywood in November 2018.
His full-length play, “Heart Mountain,” which was commissioned by Santa Monica College, was produced in November 2012 and selected for the Regional Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival (February 2013 at Los Angeles Theatre Center). It was also produced in 2014 at UWC Mahindra College in Pune, India.
He has won several playwriting awards from theaters all over the U.S., including the National Playwriting Award from the American Renegade Theatre in Los Angeles for his play “The Last Pitch,” which went on to get two productions, one of which garnered Pick of the Week by L.A. Weekly.
Dante Luna (Musical Score)
Writing music for the stage and screen, Dante Luna has had his works premiered and performed throughout the USA, Scotland, France, the Netherlands, Italy and Russia. This includes his string orchestra composition, “Listen to Me,” which was taken on a world tour by the Russian String Orchestra in 2018-19; his String Quartet No. 1, premiered by the Carpe Diem String Quartet in Siena, Italy (2019); and recently his soundtrack to the film “Hunted,” premiered at the Hallucinea Film Festival in France (2022).
In addition to being a composer, Luna has also music directed several musicals during his time at UCLA (B.A. class of 2018, M.A. class of 2021), including “Tick, Tick… Boom!,” “Pippin,” and “Love’s Labour’s Lost.” Most recently in spring 2024, Luna music directed the California School of the Arts’ production of “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.” He also plays regularly as a musician with the top orchestras of Los Angeles, including the Los Angeles Opera, L.A. Master Chorale, Pasadena Symphony/Pops, and the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra. Having also attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, and Interlochen Arts Camp, he has grown up performing in the pit orchestra for dozens to musicals and operas.
Luna currently serves on the music faculty at the AMDA College of the Performing Arts, and California School of the Arts, San Gabriel Valley.