THE COSTUME

Book, Music & Lyrics by Daniel Zaitchik

“A story as subtle, detailed and moving as the childhood reminiscences of Truman Capote and Dylan Thomas. The Costume offers us a challenging new classic to add to the canon.”

- Time Out NY

Halloween Eve, 1954. 10-yr-old Leo is given the unexpected task of caring for an injured pigeon discovered in his neighbor’s yard. As he attempts to nurse the wounded bird back to health throughout the night, Leo replays the surprising events of the day, and we’re invited into his complex, emotional world . . .

The Costume is a one-act, one-boy music-play, originally commissioned by Premiere’s NYC and performed off-Broadway at The Barrow Group Theatre as part of the 2019 installment of Inner Voices, a series of one-act solo musicals. The production starred Finn Douglas and was directed by Noah Himmelstein, with music direction by Deborah Abramson.

(THe piece is currently being expanded into a longer project, commissioned by Roundabout Theatre Company.)

“This is an extraordinary little piece — as delicate as Meissen china — with a sensibility that recalls the writing of Carson McCullers or perhaps Harper Lee . . .

To hang an entire piece on a child performer would seem to be an act of folly, but Douglas is word-perfect, unaffected, and so emotionally transparent in his handling of Zaitchik’s lovely music and words that one can’t look away, not even for a split second.”

- Lighting & Sound America

ALBUM

The original cast album was produced by Tony and Grammy-winner Scott Lehrer and is available on all the usual streaming services.