Panama, A New Musical

Steven Belfer and Stephen Michelman thank you for considering a donation (in any amount) to Panama, a musical about the meaning of modern America. We've created twenty original songs woven into two acts of engaging drama, performed by a cast of 18 amazing actors. It has been years in the making. World premiere performances are November 11 and 12, 2023, at the Sid Jacobson Theater in East Hills, NY. All donations will be paid towards production costs.

Panama began in 1995 when Steve Belfer approached me (Steve Michelman) with the idea of writing an original book musical "with historical sweep" set at the turn of the 20th century. I would write the book and lyrics, he would write the music. In fact, he had already created a set of intriguing compositions linked by unique harmonic patterns and melodic motifs. The music needed words, and the words needed a story to bring it all to life.

The Path Between the Seas, a classic history of of the Panama Canal by David McCullough, lay neglected on the Belfer bookshelf. I borrowed the book and read the first few chapters. The next day, the idea came to me: we would set our story in Panama, and the seed of the play would be a visit to Panama made by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, during the early days of canal construction. Roosevelt had traveled to Panama to rally support for the canal, which was being criticized by the press. He understood that the Panama Canal could be the greatest engineering feat of the 20th century, and that America's status as a world power hinged on its success. He also knew he might fall prey to a deadly tropical disease or an unhinged anarchist. Historical sweep: check.

Since 2020, Panama has evolved into a full-fledged two-act musical with twenty captivating songs and a cast of quirky characters. The play imagines what might have happened to the confident American president as he crosses the isthmus hounded by a muckraking reporter (Fiske) and an anarchist revolutionary (Margana). Panama poses the question, what are the consequences of imposing the American Way on the past, present, and future history of our planet?

PANAMA (copyright 2020)

Watch Panama workshop videos, recorded summer 2021:

Panama Workshop videos

Find out more about the production and the play at our Facebook page:

Panama Facebook Page

Purchase tickets for Panama here: https://buy.tututix.com/panamathemusical

PANAMA CAST

FISKE: Jonathan Hordos

MARGANA: Stacey Weinberger

HARRISON: Gerald Quigley

MATHILDA: India Shanelle

WESLEY: Kevin Knight

PRESIDENT: Phil Essex

COLONEL: Jeff Blinkoff

MULCAHEY: Peter Luftig

VANDERGROOT: Ken Cohn

BARTENDER: Renee Cohn

MERCHANT: Fern Nash

FRANKLIN: David Odukoya

NATIVE WOMAN: LoriAnn Creus

TELEGRAPH OPERATORS: Fern Nash, Fran Geier

BIGELOW: Efram Sachs

PRESIDENT AMADOR: Rob Gold

ANARCHISTS: Yves Romain, Olivia Klansky, ensemble