Alice Lipowicz

The staged reading of These Drums Can See is coming very soon! We have a wonderful cast of singers and actors, with Paul Rosenberg on the grand piano and Ian Dylan on drums. Unfortunately, there are a very small number of seats so we are not selling tickets. There will be video viewings soon.
Here is our cast list (in alphabetical order):

MARK CARUSO (TRINA’S TAVERN MANAGER, OLDER MAN, ADDITIONAL ROLES) Mark is an experienced public speaker and an accomplished jazz guitar player who also has done some composing. He looks forward to performing in the staged reading of These Drums Can See.
CHANDRA CHAR (ANNA): Chandra is a native Californian based in Washington, DC. She brings creativity and whimsy into all aspects of her life. Recently featured in a dramatic reading of Steel Magnolias, she joins the cast of These Drums Can See. A former professional dancer and jazz/blues singer, she is trained in short- and long-form improv and performs with an indie team.
IAN DYLAN (DRUMS): Ian regularly plays in several rock bands and at jazz jams in Washington, DC. His experiences of living with congenital blindness were an inspiration for the writing of These Drums Can See.
TAUNYA FERGUSON (RITA, DEVIN’S MOM, EDITOR, VAN DRIVER): As a singer and actor, Taunya has performing with many local theater companies, including Ally Theater, Theatre Lab and St. Mark's Players. She has trained at the Washington Improv Theater's Musical Improv Conservatory and performed for many years with the Door #3 musical theater improv team.
PATRICK HSIEH (MARIO): A singer and actor, Patrick recently performed in the Rockville Musical Theatre production of the musical Urinetown, which has been nominated for 14 WATCH community theater awards.
CARLIC HUYNH (DEVIN’S FATHER, TIM THE MANAGER): Carlic is a very popular actor, singer and improviser who has been featured in numerous productions by the Washington Improv Theater. He also performs on independent improv teams and does standup comedy.
SOLI JACOBSON (MAUDE): Soli is a singer and actor who studied vocal performance at DC’s Duke Ellington School of the Arts. She is training in opera at the University of Maryland.
ALICE LIPOWICZ (BOOK WRITER, LYRICIST, COMPOSER, ANNOUNCER): A former dancer, Alice was a journalist for many years while performing comedy improv and musical improv as a hobby. She also has trained as a vocalist and pianist. She started writing musicals 10 years ago and These Drums Can See is her fourth musical.
TYRUS (TY) MATABAN (DEVIN THE DRUMMER): As a music director, pianist, actor and singer, Ty recently was the music director for a musical theater production of Legally Blonde.
PAUL ROSENBERG (PIANIST, COMPOSER): Paul is an innovative jazz piano player and composer who has performed in the DC area for many years and has been a leader in the Takoma Station Jazz Jam for more than 10 years. He wrote the music for many of the songs in These Drums Can See.

Ten years ago I experienced shingles in my right eye. Shingles occurs when the chickenpox virus gets reactivated for unknown reasons. Before vaccines, a third of the population would get shingles on various part of their body at some point in their life. My eye became extremely sensitive to light, to the point that I had to spend most of my time in a dark room. While in that room, in pain, and feeling anxiety, I began to write songs about my experience. It eventually became a 16-song sung-through musical, "My Beautiful Darkened World," and performed with a cast of four at the former Highwood Theater in Silver Spring, MD. Read more about it here:

Shingles Infected This Woman's Eye, So She Wrote a Musical About It As one does.