THE musical

Primarily a stage director and playwright, Shorr also works as a set designer and composer for theatre. Through all of his work, he strives to prevent audiences, collaborators, and himself from succumbing to complacency. He is particularly interested in the creation of new theatre pieces and in the aggressive re-working of classic texts.

 

His documentary play “Tribute: September 11” was commissioned in 2002 by the AmeriCulture Arts Festival in Fitchburg, MA to mark the first anniversary of 9/11, and was revived for the tenth anniversary and performed at Moravian College and at the University of Baltimore. “Rina,” his two-person, one-act re-working of Chekhov’s “The Three Sisters” was produced at New York’s “Chekhov Now Festival” in 2002. His play “Clytemnestra’s Daughters,” a reimagining of the Greek tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, was workshopped at the Southampton Writers Conference, prior to a reading at Touchstone Theatre. “Faust in France,” his World War One adaptation of Marlowe’s “Doctor Faustus,” was produced in 2012 at Moravian College, and then workshopped in residence at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre on Cape Cod. His play “Everyman on Trial”—a contemporary adaptation of the classic morality play “Everyman” was produced at Moravian in 2016 in conjunction with the College’s Medieval and Early Modern Studies Conference.

 

In addition to his work as a solo writer, he has co-authored several plays and musicals.  With James Jordan (Artistic Director of Touchstone Theatre), with whom he collaborated on this piece, he co-wrote the musicals “The Pan Show: A Cautionary Tale,” and “The Pan Show: In Pan We Trust” (both produced at Touchstone Theatre and named “best original play of the year” by the Bethlehem Press) and a musical adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey called “Ulysses Dreams.” Together, they conceived, wrote and designed “Dear Tamaqua—In a New Light,” which used language, music and light to turn a mile of city streets in the Pennsylvania coal-region borough of Tamaqua into a transformative community experience.  Shorr and Jordan (with contributions from the Touchstone Theatre ensemble) co-wrote “Bhudoo”—an interactive musical fable—which premiered at Touchstone in Spring, 2016, followed by performances in Italy (Teatro Potlach) and Hungary (Maladype).  Working with Touchstone Theatre founder Bill George, Shorr co-wrote “Journey from the East”— combining the mythic Chinese Journey to the West with the mythic American Western—premiering in Spring 2015 with a large-scale outdoor production in Bethlehem, PA.  

 

Shorr is an Associate Professor of Theatre at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he directs the Theatre Program and serves as Artistic Director of the Moravian College Theatre Company, and is a member of the Touchstone Theatre company. He moved to Bethlehem from Petersburg, Virginia, where he was the founding Artistic Director of Sycamore Rouge—a professional, non-equity theatre and arts center. While in Virginia, he served as a panelist for the Virginia Commission for the Arts, and on the boards of the Southside Virginia Council for the Arts and the Petersburg Arts Council. He holds a BA in Theatre Arts from Drew University, and an MFA in Stage Directing from Virginia Commonwealth University.