Creative Team
A classic voice, a new dramatic vision, and music that carries Poe’s darkness from the page to the stage.
John Cozzi
John participated in the ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop and wrote lyrics for a number of revues in college and shortly thereafter. He is currently Co-Head of AEA Small Business Private Equity and a Partner on AEA’s Small Business Private Equity team.
Laurence Dresner
Laurence Dresner is a composer whose music has been performed throughout the United States and Europe. His work spans chamber music, musical theatre, cabaret and jazz, including Homeseekers, Heartbeat, Tiffany and The Cask of Amontillado.
Larry has also directed theatrical productions and produced chamber concerts. He serves on the boards of the Long Island Arts Council at Freeport and the Long Island Composers Alliance.
THE PARTNERSHIP
Laurence Dresner and John Cozzi met through the ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop—John, a lyricist looking for a composer; Larry, a composer looking for a lyricist. They began writing together and quickly discovered a shared interest in creating dramatically driven musical theatre.
In Edgar Allan Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado, they were intrigued not simply by its famous tale of revenge, but by everything Poe leaves unanswered. What had actually happened between Montresor and Fortunato? What could transform years of resentment into murder? And, most importantly, how does an otherwise rational man persuade himself that revenge is justice?
Those questions became the foundation for The Cask of Amontillado. Cozzi’s book and lyrics expand Poe’s tightly constructed tale into a larger human world, while Dresner’s music gives voice to the thoughts, memories, and emotions that lie beneath the surface.
Every note brings us closer to the other side of the wall.