It’s been a busy year, and keeping a blog for my website is unfortunately the last thing on my radar, so here are a few big moments of the year that deserve highlights!
“Amberland: A Folk Musical” in concert at the IGNITE Festival, April 13, 2025
Co-Produced by Prospect Musicals and Ring of Keys
Cast & Creative Team:
Mark – Achilles Mulkey
Dani – Zachary A. Myers
Betsy – Murphy Taylor Smith
Derrick – AJ Shively
Edie – Jennifer Blood
Mayor Tom – Carlos L. Encinias
Brandon – Najee Gabay
Alex – Liz Neitge
Callie – Lily Ali-Oshatz
Directed by Temidayo Amay
Music Direction by Katie James Rushin
Guitar – Will Shishmanian
Bass – Magda Kress
Drums – Caro Moore
Photos by Max Raymond
Showcase at SoHo Playhouse, July 5, 2025
My writing partner, Brooke Trumm, and I shared some of our work, including selections from our 10-minute musical, “A Piece of the Past,” as well as the first third of our full-length musical (still in progress), “Female Husbands.” Check out a segment from the latter below!
Cast: Sushma Saha, Thani Brandt, Marie Eife
Music Direction: Eliza Randall
Guitar & Cajon: Me & Brooke
Prospect Musicals’ Kindling Retreat, September 2025
I was asked to be a part of Prospect’s writing retreat in Johnson City, NY at the Goodwill Theater, where I was able to spend a week working on the newest draft of “Amberland”!
Cabarets, Concerts, Cruises, etc.
Of course, I’m still running around town (and now, the world) playing guitar for a variety of shows, artists, and cruises with Atlantis Events. There have been too many to list here, but some of my highlights were “A Trip to the Moon” at HERE Arts Center, “Third Sex” workshop with MTF (both shows written by Adam J. Rineer), and the July and August cruises with Atlantis, which took me to places like Barcelona, Greece, and the Giza Pyramids!
Let’s see how long it is before I write another blog post, or even more likely, redesign my entire website! Thanks for being interested in the journey, and hope to catch you at a show sometime.
Will Shishmanian 