Hi there! We are Kat Zimmerman and Makena Metz – and we are raising the funds to produce a cast album of our Hanukkah-Christmas family friendly musical that’s a modern adaptation of “A Christmas Carol”!
Set in present day Los Angeles, “Home for the Holidays” is about a family in crisis. When two teens cancel the holidays and run away from home, they are kidnapped by the ghost of their grandfather for a time traveling reckoning. To get out of time and get back home, the siblings must learn the true meaning of the holidays and traditions their family celebrates.
Our show explores how we process grief, how blended families create new traditions, and examines the theme of sharing your light in the world.
We are Jewish writers from blended families that celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas, who have never seen this kind of representation on stage.
From Kat: As a half-Israeli mom of twins, I want my kids to be able to see themselves, and their family in the theater.
From Makena: As a Jewish child of divorce, I want my blended family of different cultures and religions to be represented on stage.
With rising anti-semitism in this country and strife across the globe, we both know the world could use a musical that brings holidays, and people, together.
MUSICAL STYLINGS
We’ve got a contemporary musical theater score that pulls from pop, rock, jazz, traditional holiday, and klezmer music. The songs are fun and catchy and the melodies are infectious. Our music is perfect for fans of “Spirited” by Pasek and Paul and “13” by Jason Robert Brown.
Please get a feel for the show and enjoy a medley of songs from Home for the Holidays!
https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/888088561
We want our music to connect cultures and communities, lift each other up through the holiday spirit, and inspire a new generation of Jewish storytelling in music, theatre, and media.
If you want to check out more songs from the show, look at our Instagram and Facebook Page Reels @homefortheholidaysoffical.
PRODUCTION HISTORY
In 2022, this musical had a developmental concert reading produced by New Musicals Inc, was performed in the Alliance for Jewish Theatre’s Conference Showcase, and was workshopped through the Alliance for Jewish Theatre’s Macher Lab.
The work has undergone dramaturgy with New Musicals Inc.’s artistic director Elise Dewsberry, Alliance for Jewish Theatre’s dramaturgs Illana Stein and Alix Rosenfeld, and with The Braid Theatre Company’s dramaturg and creative producer Daphna Shull, artistic director and co-founder Ronda Spinak, and producing director Susan Morgenstern.
We are ready to bring this show to life on stage!
SO, WHY NOW?
We wrote “Home for the Holidays” because the musical theatre canon needs better representation of Jewish stories. Also, did you know that most of the famous Christmas songs (White Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Baby, I’ll be Home for Christmas, etc.) were written by Jewish composers? Why don’t we have famous songs for Hanukkah, too? And what about songs for families who celebrate both holidays?
By creating a show about a modern family celebrating the holidays, we create better positive and authentic representation for Jews and interfaith families who want to watch holiday shows that reflect them on stage!
There is no better time to help us produce a cast album that celebrates old and new holiday traditions, blended families, and the importance of the season of giving.
PRODUCTION
Now, time to talk about nuts and bolts! You’re probably wondering why we’re asking for so much money.
Well, making a cast album isn’t cheap. (Did you know most musical theatre cast albums cost $54,000 to over $100,000? And even more for Broadway?)
We want to manage costs while maintaining production quality – after all, we want this album to be great for you to listen to!
Take a look at our budget breakdown! We believe in being transparent with our costs as well as paying artists what they’re worth.
We’re budgeting SAG rates for the singers so that if they are union, we’re crowdfunding the right amount they would need to sing on the album!
So, can you help us pull off this album in time for the holidays of 2024?
PRODUCTION TEAM
We have an amazing production team in place to help us record this cast album – get to know them here!
Both Kat and Makena are industry professionals with demonstrated experience of working in the entertainment and musical theater worlds.
KAT ZIMMERMAN (CO-WRITER)
Kat Zimmerman is an ASCAP award-winning composer and writer for stage and screen and proud mom to 11 year old twins. Kat was the songwriter for the Emmy Award-Winning HBO film Autism: The Musical. She has performed at the United Nations, Broad Theater, Geffen Theater, Davies Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Aspen Music Festival, Festival d’Été de Nice, in concert across Europe and Israel, and with Stephen Stills, Jack Black, Rickey Minor, and Rev Run. Kat is an alum of New Musical Inc.’s CORE Curriculum for Musical Theatre Writing and UCLA’s composition program for media. She holds degrees from the Manhattan School of Music and Eastman School of Music and is a member of DGA, Maestra, ASCAP, and Opera America. Follow her on twitter, instagram, or tiktok @imkatzimmerman.
MAKENA METZ (CO-WRITER)
Makena Metz is a Jewish, LA native, INFJ Aquarius who writes for the page, screen, and stage. She has an MFA in Creative Writing and MA in English from Chapman University. Makena is a proud member of The Dramatists Guild of America, ASCAP, Women in Animation, Maestra Music, and the Society of Composers and Lyricists. Recently, Makena was selected for the Paramount/MTV Entertainment Group First Time Composers Program and participated in RespectAbility’s Virtual Entertainment Lab as a TV Writing Fellow. Last year, Makena’s songs premiered Hamster & Gretel on Disney Channel and Disney+, she was chosen as a mentee through Maestra music and also as an emerging artist NEXT Fellow for The Braid Theatre Company. Makena is an alum of Sam Carner’s Musical Creators Institute Program and New Musical Inc’s CORE Curriculum for Musical Theatre Writing. Makena’s theatrical work has been published and produced with Musical Theater Today Magazine, Queen’s Theatre’s “Disability Forward” Anthology, Next Stage Press’s “WE:US Monologues for the Gender Minority” Anthology, and produced with The Lincoln Center’s ADA30 Celebration, The Kennedy Center Playwright’s Intensive, The Navigators Theatre Company, and many others. Makena’s prose has been published with Wordgathering, PearTree Press, The Clockhouse Review, For Page and Screen, Havik, The Bitchin’ Kitsch, Wishbone Words, Strange Horizons, and more. Find her work on Coverfly, New Play Exchange, IMDb, or Chillsubs and follow her @ makenametz on social media or check out makenametz.com
ANGELA PARRISH (PRODUCER)
Angela Parrish is a Los-Angeles based songwriter, composer, record producer, artist, and multi-instrumentalist. She has sung alongside The Weeknd, Jimmy Kimmel, Florence + the Machine, and Mickey Mouse. Millions of cinema devotees heard her buoyant vocals on “Another Day of Sun,” the song that opens the Academy Award-winning film musical La La Land.
Recent projects include the series Poker Face, the film Chance, the webseries GLOP! – The Glorious Ladies of Puppetry, and the Off-Broadway production Rescue Rue. She is the vocal producer and additional music writer for the TV series Batwheels and Slumberkins, and has written songs for Disney’s Hamster and Gretel.
She also lent her voice to our amazing medley!
MEET THE REST OF THE MEDLEY SINGERS
CONNOR WARREN SMITH
Connor Warren Smith is a highly sought-after studio vocalist, composer, arranger, live performer, and voiceover actor who has contributed his voice and arranging skills to over 100 projects for film, television, and media to date. Connor is prized as being a “jack of all trades” singer for some of the industry’s top composers singing the film scores of Michael Giacchino, John Debney, John Powell, as well as singing and arranging for big name pop artists Olivia Rodrigo, Rosalía, Michael Bublé, and David Archuleta, to name a few. In 2018, Connor was signed to Disney Music Group as an original member of “DCappella”, whose debut album was released via Walt Disney Records the following year. He has also had the proud honor of being a guest soloist with the Golden State Pops Orchestra, the Hour of Power Choir & Orchestra, and the Lviv Philharmonic in Ukraine, among others. Connor is thrilled to be joining the recording cast of Home for the Holidays! Learn more and connect with him at www.connorsmithmusic.com
LIA PEROS
Lia Peros is an LA-based actor-singer. Favorite NYC and SoCal regional credits; The Marvelous Wonderettes (Missy), 25 th …Spelling Bee (Rona Lisa), H2$ (Smitty), Parade (Mrs. Phagan), The Secret Garden (Ayah), The Addams Family, South Pacific, My Fair Lady, A Christmas Carol, and Manson’s Girls at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. Lia also can be heard on the popular sci-fi podcast Ars Paradoxica as the time-traveling test subject, Petra. Lia has participated in countless developmental readings at New Musicals, Inc. in North Hollywood, including an early workshop of Home for the Holidays. During the holiday season, Lia can also be seen with Michetti-Knowles Yuletide Carolers. Proud NYU Steinhardt grad. Socials: @lilmsfanCpants
JOSHUA FINKEL
An accomplished Broadway and Hollywood actor, Joshua is a proud member of Los Angeles’s prestigious Musical Theater Guild. Among his numerous acting credits, Joshua starred on Broadway and in London as Molina in KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN opposite Chita Rivera and Vanessa Williams (7 TONY Awards); then went on to win Scenie and Broadway World awards starring as Molina at the Alex Theater in Glendale and twice in India. Joshua’s voice can be heard on the Original Cast Recordings of KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, BARK! as Ben, and as the voice of ARTSCENE VISUAL RADIO on ARTSCENECAL.com. Joshua also recorded the theme song for SHEMESH FARMS. In Film and Television Joshua has starred opposite Bruce Willis, Marcia Cross, Kathleen Quinlan, Kalista Flockhart, and Jill Clayburgh to name a few, in such projects as THE KID, ALLY McBEAL (Emmy award), FAMILY LAW, and DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES. Joshua has been on the TONY AWARDS, THE KENNEDY CENTER HONORS and is the recipient of several STAGESCENELA Awards, a VEE CEE AWARD, The ALLAN RICH LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR ARTS AND HUMANITEIS, The BRAVO BOB THEATRE AWARD and has received several OVATION and BROADWAY WORLD Nominations.
And more incredible singers to come on the cast album!
FINALLY…
We hope that you consider donating to help us produce the cast album of “Home for the Holidays.” We intend to record this musical in Summer and Fall of 2024, to release it just in time for Hanukkah and Christmas of next year. Thank you for donating and supporting Jewish new musical theatre!
If you want to see this show produced in a theatre near you, please spread the word and donate! By putting together a cast album, we’re able to get our musical to producers who are looking for Jewish and interfaith holiday content.
Stay up to date with the show at @homefortheholidaysofficial on Instagram and Facebook! Use the hashtags #homefortheholidaysmusical and #shareyourlight when sharing.
