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THE WRITERS

Gail Phaneuf  (Libretto/Lyrics – MONSTERS!) MONSTERS! is a collaboration with composer and longtime friend Ernie Lijoi. In 2005, the comic musical was named a finalist in the Rod Parker Playwriting Competition, kicking off developmental readings in Boston and New York City.

The show had its world premiere in the fall of 2006, produced by CentaStage in Boston, where it thrilled audiences and garnered early praise for the story and concept. Polished and energized after its local debut, Monsters is now being further workshopped in New York.

Gail is an active member, and former president, of The Playwrights’ Platform in Waltham, Mass., where several of her plays have been introduced. Her play "Stop Requested" was awarded Best Play and Best director in the 2008 Platform Summer Festival. It will be produced by The South Camden Theatre Company in April 2009. Urban Gardens was produced by the South Camden Theatre Company in New Jersey; the play won an Audience Choice award at the Platform’s 2004 Summer Festival. Her play A Perfect Match was selected for the the 2008 ACME Winter New Works Festival. Games and Puzzles was produced by Image Theater for the 2008 Boston Theater Marathon. Gail’s edgy political piece Random Selection was chosen for the Provincetown Theatre Company’s Spring Playwrights’ Festival and was performed at the 2004 Boston Theater Marathon. It was staged in 2006 as part of “War Games” at Curry College and was published in Belgium in a collection of short plays by Boston playwrights. Gail’s drama Binding the Artful Dodger received a staged reading in Provincetown in early 2007 and a full production at Curry College in 2009. Her new children’s musical, The Love Note, enjoyed a workshop in 2008 with the Performance Factory in Waltham, and had its World Premiere production at Curry College on April 25, 2009.

Gail brings an actor’s ear and sensibility to her writing. She has appeared on New England stages for more than 20 years, most recently in the role of Stevie in Edward Allbee’s The Goat – or – Who is Sylvia? for the New Provincetown Players and as Anna in The Baltimore Waltz for The Provincetown Theatre Co. She appeared in the 2007 Tennessee Williams Festival in Provincetown, as Viola Shields in The One Exception.

Gail’s acting career started when she was a young engineering student at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, under the direction of Angus Bailey. One of her favorite roles was the Woman in Christopher Durang’s Laughing Wild. Gail won an ARTA Best Actress in a Comedy award for her performance, and, to her delight, Durang was in the house. Other roles include Florence in The Female Odd Couple, Phyllis in Follies and Ouisa in Six Degrees of Separation.

Gail has written numerous performance pieces, including original music and lyrics for her band "Who's Leslie". Her ballad “It’s Not Me You Call” was performed at the 2006 annual “Boston Sings Boston” cabaret event, which highlights local composers.  Gail is a member of the Dramatists Guild. She holds a master’s degree in Theater Education and teaches scriptwriting at Curry College, where she produced a Black-Box festival of short plays in 2007 called “Class Acts”. She also produces and directs the New Play series every spring at Curry College.

Ernie Lijoi (Music/Lyrics – MONSTERS!) is a fellow at the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop in New York, where he has been writing music and lyrics for various new works since 2001. An accomplished folk/rock guitarist and composer, he moved to New York from Boston four years ago to enroll in the program and try his hand at composing for the stage.

            Some of Ernie’s best work to date is showcased in the comic musical Monsters, a show written with librettist and good friend Gail Phaneuf.

            A Massachusetts native, Ernie made his debut in the music world as a solo performer in the Boston area, where he impressed crowds with his stirring guitar ballads and witty cabaret tunes. Since then, he has taken his guitar on the road to Chicago, San Francisco, Key West, Bonaire and Washington, D.C. He has cut three CDs of his original songs and was honored to be named Billboard Magazine’s “Unsigned Artist of the Year” for his second album, Bliss, in 2000. His third album, Better Days, also garnered generous praise with Billboard dubbing him a “bona fide star.”

            Ernie’s performing career started in high school, when he played guitar in several bands. In college, he discovered theater and began acting with the theater company at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. Later, Ernie worked in theaters around New England, appearing in roles that included Billy in Anything Goes; Harold Hill in The Music Man; and Miles Glorious in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. In his work as Miles, Ernie earned his Equity card at age 22.

A software engineer by day, Ernie spent the next decade composing in all of his spare time and began writing material for local cabaret artists. In 2001, a revue of his cabaret music was performed at the renowned Sculler’s Jazz Club in Cambridge. His signature song “Chandler Street” is the annual show closer at “Boston Sings Boston,” an event featuring new works. A number of Ernie’s cabaret, jazz, and pop songs have been recorded by other artists.

            After this third CD, Ernie moved to New York City, eager to combine his compositional experience with his passion for theater. He began writing and arranging music on the piano. And he was accepted to the BMI program in 2001, both as a composer and lyricist, and remains a member of the BMI’s advanced group. A song he wrote while under the BMI’s tutelage, “All I Want for Christmas,” was performed at Carnegie Hall in 2004. His songs have been sung by choruses and cabaret artists in Boston and New York.

            Ernie is presently involved in several theater projects. Among them is Very Confused People (Love is Hell), for which he is writing book, music and lyrics. He is also working on the book and lyrics to the show Under the Influence, with several composers; and he is a contributor to The Wedding Project, a musical with composer Barbara Anselmi at its helm.

            When not working on Monsters and other musicals, Ernie still performs as an actor/singer in theater pieces and travels to do solo shows with his guitar. In his down time, he is working on a collection of humorous autobiographical essays, titled Enlighten Up.