Ruchir Khazanchi
Actor – Musician – Writer
writer, composer, & lyricist
The scratch demo folder features songs and collaborations from A Bridge to the Moon, Illest Dance, some musical theatre concept songs, some pop songs, or whatever else I feel like putting in there. It’s an active folder of ideas that I want ears on for development inquiry, listening enjoyment, or collaboration. Most of these are designed to feel like they would in an intimate, small-scale live performance with light production elements and instrumentation.
Enjoy these works in progress as they are.
A song from MEGA! sung by Sushma Saha for “You Heard It Here First!” at Green Room 42.
A whole showcase (in New York!) of original music, including a new musical in early development.
Debuted an hour-long show featuring my original songs at Davenport’s Piano Bar along with some friends.
a bridge to the moon
The filmed workshop of my new musical film, A Bridge to the Moon, is available for streaming!
Co-written and performed with Michael-Ellen Walden and Emmet Smith.
Directed by Autumn Thelander.
Created in collaboration with the American Music Theatre Project’s senior capstone festival, the recipient of 3rd prize in New Musicals Inc. “Search for New Musicals 2021”, and a semifinalist for the National Musical Theatre Conference 2022 at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center.
“Dreams, loss, climbing toward the stars on string lights. In the face of an environmental crisis, three grieving siblings are tasked with holding their island and family together. When Lil decides to take drastic action in hopes of finding their mother or at the very least, some answers, the limits of their world are tested.Through collaborative music, words, and movement this heartfelt story celebrates the power of a child’s dreams and the risks we will take to care for our community.”
Follow our piece on Instagram as we continue to grow @abridgetothemoon.
ILLEST DANCE
In January 2022, I had the privilege of working alongside bookwriter & lyricist Alex Manaa for the first 60-minute workshop of our hip-hop fantasy musical, Illest Dance.
Our story follows Jack Foster, a young musician at odds with his father, Bill, about the future of his artistic career. As Jack tries to find a way to into the rationale of Bill’s sternness, he learns about a version of his father that existed unbeknownst to him long before he was even born.
Follow us on Instagram @illestdancemusical to keep up with updates on our upcoming CAST ALBUM, and future engagements for Illest Dance.
Composer & lyricist for Brooklyn Children’s Theatre, premiering a new 10-minute musical entitled The Crown Jewels. Written alongside bookwriter Nicky Thompson-Martin and a youth advisor, Violet, the piece was premiered by young elementary school students (K-2) with BCT’s fall season in December 2022.
The finale number from the show, What Makes Us Alive, will be featured in BCT’s 2023 Gala honoring EGOT recipient Viola Davis.
The 89th Waa-Mu Show presented an original musical “State Of The Art” completely digitally during the Covid-19 pandemic. State of the Art thus became the first-ever new musical to be presented live over Zoom to an international audience. I was a writing coordinator/head writer for the show and collaborated or facilitated the writing on many of the musical’s original songs. My work on the show was recognized with the John Paynter Award for Outstanding Creation of Music. Individual song credits are available in the program.
For the Northwestern Class of 2020 School of Communication Digital Convocation, I collaboratively wrote the music & lyrics to “How Far” along with Emmet Smith. The song was performed by the graduating class of Musical Theatre Certificate students.
Ruchir Khazanchi 