Works and Performance
SHE SINGS ME HOME
SHE SINGS ME HOME
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Artemis Montague
Additional Music by Angela Ortiz and Chris Bulle-Goyri
SHE SINGS ME HOME is about a young Black trans woman named MONIKA and a young Black cis woman named LILIANA who slowly fall in love in an under-21 mental ward while passing notes, creating alliances and friendships, and risking their safety in the process. Disaster strikes and worlds are rocked when secrets are put to the light.
It discusses intergenerational trauma, interpersonal and structural violence and -isms, and the need for a better system than the one we have in America. The music is within the Black musical canon, and it includes R&B, rock, blues, gospel, and pop music.
It was part of the Page to Stage Festival at the Kennedy Center in November 2020. The musical then had a successful concert at NYC's own The Green Room 42 on February 6, 2023, as well as a full workshop at Round House Theatre in Bethesda, MD as part of their 2nd Annual National Capital New Play Festival from May 1-6, 2023. It was awarded a 2024 MAP Fund Grant and will have a developmental reading on February 3, 2025 at Caveat (21A Clinton Street, Manhattan, 10002). Please check out "Other Links" for a link to tickets!
Playbill's Songwriter Series: Artemis Montague
OTHER WORKS IN-DEVELOPMENT:
RHAPSODY IN SUNFLOWER YELLOW
This Black-, trans-, and queer-led musical shows the breakdown on the protagonist – “Arti” - as they seek to write a musical about celebrated painter Vincent van Gogh but struggle with their own demons. “Arti” talks to “Vincent” as a friend, as a god, and as a figment of their own despair. It talks about artistic struggles with wanting notoriety, legitimacy, and personal agency; trauma of all kinds; and problems with love, friendship, and mental health. It uses more of traditional musical theatre styles but is still rooted in jazz, blues, gospel, rock, R&B, and soul music.
HOW BABY AND THE ANCESTORS ATTEMPTED A REVOLUTION
This piece has Black, transgender, and queer characters and centers around the protagonist - Baby - who seeks to take over Cook County Jail as part of a political action. However, ancestors Marsha P. Johnson, Dr. Reverend Prathia Hall, and Audre Lorde have other plans. This show will use musical genres rooted in gospel and R&B. They developed the piece further as a MacDowell Fellow in July 2024.
INTERVENTION OF THE Nth KIND
This stage play show is still in its infancy, but it's about immortals coming from the sky and killing serial rapists and sexual abusers, confronting the audience about rape culture, accountability, science vs faith, and the need for justice before anyone dies.