OUR STORY

“Failing”, creatively, can come in many forms, and at many stages in the creative process. Weak ideas are born far more often than strong ones, and for the most part, even the strongest ideas get knocked out of the air by an outside force or circumstance. Every masterpiece leaves in its wake a graveyard of works, both complete and unfinished, that will never see the light of day. But most, if not all “failed projects” yield something to take with you - self improvement, a new friend, a source for future inspiration - and sometimes, if you’re really lucky, a “failure” can still produce a tangible product, perhaps not as originally intended, but worthwhile nonetheless.

Songs from a Failed Play is just that - a trove of many people’s hard work on a musical back in 2012, that might normally disappear into our past catalog of ‘things we tried.” It was director Randy Redd, who first recognized that the music Dan and Adam had been working on had a theatrical voice, and began spinning it into a song-cycle called Fiction in Photographs. As it developed, Fiction… took many forms but ultimately ended up on a shelf. However, something about this particular failure and its team of creators inspired us to dig it up from its dark and mostly forgotten resting place, repackage it, repurpose it, wrap it up nice, and shove it lovingly back into the world for all to see and hear. Too much joy, passion, and camaraderie came from the conception, development, and attempted execution of this project to just throw it away. So, here are some songs that, as songs go, we’re pretty proud of. Though they may not have made for a great musical, they still make for great music. And here are some singers that, as singers go, are some of the best voices and storytellers you’ll find anywhere, even if we never quite cracked the code on how to tell that story on stage back in 2012.

Enjoy these recordings, now affectionately called Songs from a Failed Play.

About Dan & Adam

Dan Mills and Adam Podd met the way many lasting NYC collaborative duos do - by replying to the same Craigslist ad for part-time work singing kids’ music with puppets. Before long, they were playing Dan’s original music at open mics, bars, and listening rooms all over the city. This connection quickly evolved as they co-produced albums of Dan’s original songs and commercial music, and began co-writing songs for other artists and theatre projects. They continue working, writing, and laughing together as much as possible, while also pursuing separate careers in their respective fields of the music industry.