Music by
Richard B. Evans

Book and Lyrics by
Charles Leipart

What could possibly be more timely during the world-wide economic mess of the early 21st Century than to revisit the Robber Barons of New York City's high society of the early 20th Century?

With unforgettable toe-tapping songs including "Greed is Good"..."Everybody Wants to Be a Star"... "We're Broke"... "Destiny Tango"... "The Status Quo"... "Ladies of Leisure"... "Things Can Change"... "Old Brown Shoes" ... and "The Price of Everything"... you'll marvel at how life can be so good when the economy is so bad!   
(click on song titles to hear an audio excerpt! See a complete list further below)

This high-class musical romp stars famed turn-of-the-20th-century socio-economist Thorstein Veblen (1857-1929) – here presenting his melodrama-within-a-musical to demonstrate his controversial thesis "The Theory of the Leisure Class" (in which he coins the phrase "Conspicuous Consumption"!)  Veblen seeks to see his theories sung and played out by some unsuspecting thespians who just need a job. Will his book be a best seller? Will he pay the actors? Can heiress Miss Van Drummond save the poor of Broome Street and rescue her penniless, idealistic boyfriend from a Chinese shoe factory? Or will corporate scandals bankrupt them all?!! 
Bring your food stamps, join the fun, and find out !!

GREED IS GOOD!  f.k.a.THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING at the 6th Street Playhouse, Santa Rosa, CA.

Directed by Nancy Prebilich, Music Directed by Richard Riccardi, featuring Craig Mason (courtesy of Actors Equity) as Thorstein Velben, with Sandy Riccardi, Tyler Costin, Heather Lane, Karen Pinomaki, Missy Weaver, James Pelican, Elliot Simon, and Robert Dornaus. 

INDEX TO MUSICAL NUMBERS:

ACT 1

1. Overture    (Veblen & The Musical Ensemble)
2. The Price of Everything     (Veblen)
3. This Little Book    (Veblen, Mary & Company)
4. Status Quo   (Fenny)
5. Status Quo / Things Can Change     (Ellen & Fenny)
6 The Gentlemanly Breeds      (Grinley, McPhee, Veblen, Fenny)
7. The Social Climber's Rag     (Mrs. Vandersnood, Veblen, Fenny)
8. Ted's Vision    (Ted)
9. In the Halls of New Harmonia    (Ted, Ellen, Engineers & Company)
10. Destiny Tango     (Veblen, Grinley, JP)
11. Greed is Good     (McPhee & The Money Honeys)
12. An Almost Perfect Man   (Ellen)
13. N.H.M.D.C. !       (McPhee, Ellen, Ted & Compay)
14. Whiskey, Bourbon & Chinese Girls     (Veblen, Mary, Ted)
15. The Price of Everything     (Veblen & Company)
16. Act 1 Finale   (Veblen & Company)

ACT 2

17. Entr'acte   (The Musical Ensemble)
18. Everybody Wants to be a Star    (Mary, Veblen, Company of Four: Fenny, JP, Grinley, Mrs. Vandersnood)
19. I'm the Kind of Man You Need        (McPhee)
20. Fenny's Prayer         (Fenny)
21. Ladies of Leisure     (Ellen, Fenny, Veblen)
22. Manhattan Primitive     (McPhee)
23. You Go On     (Ellen)
24. Old Brown Shoes     (Mary & JP)
25. Here and Now         (Ted, Ellen)
26. President Jack!         (McPhee, Veblen)
27. Things Can Change Reprise          (Fenny & Company)

RICHARD B. EVANS' other musicals include ENCHANTED APRIL, The Musical; THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD, An Irish Musical Comedy; MIDLIFE! The User’s Guide; and THE GOLDEN TOUCH (commissioned by the International Institute of Vocal Arts). Evans has also composed MIDAS AND MARIGOLD, A Family Opera and IRELAND'S POET-PATRIOTS, A Musical Tribute, as well as numerous art songs, chamber works, and choral works that are performed widely.

CHARLES LEIPART writes for the stage and musical theatre. Leipart wrote the book and lyrics for ENCHANTED APRIL, The Musical with composer Richard B. Evans. His awards include the prestigious Kleban Librettist Award for 2002; and the Global Search for New Musicals, Cardiff, Wales, 2005 for his musical FROG KISS. Leipart's other musicals include EXPRESSO TRASHO, THE SHOWGIRL OF 52ND STREET, THE DOCTOR'S WIFE, and ME & MISS MONROE, an original musical about Marilyn Monroe.

GREED IS GOOD!  (f.k.a. THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING; f.k.a. Thorstein Veblen's THEORY OF THE LEISURE CLASS) was developed with the generous support of the following organizations: Theatre Building Chicago STAGES; National Alliance for Musical Theatre, Annual Festival of New Musicals; Broadway Theatre Institute's Musical Mondays; Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama; Abingdon Theatre NYC; Crossroads Musical Festival of Kansas City; and the Steinhardt School at NYU.
 

NYC's Provincetown Playhouse

THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING, A Musical Vaudeville
premiered at the historic Provincetown Playhouse (as Thorstein Veblen's "Theory of the Leisure Class") in Greenwich Village, NYC, directed by Karen Azenberg. Music Director Michael Ricciardone; Lighting by Liz Tyler Brody; Costumes by Tom Smith; Production Stage Manager Jacob Seelbach. 

The cast included John Allen Biles, Kristin Carlson, Jamie Cronin, Greg Kenna, Christopher LaCroix, Lauren Marcus, Eyal Sherf, Luke Smith, and Amanda Webb. 

Kansas City's Crossroads Musical Theater Festival

THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING, A Musical Vaudeville,  presented (as Thorstein Veblen's "Theory of the Leisure Class") at the Kansas City Crossroads Musical Theater Festival. Directed by Ernest Williams, with Chris McCoy, Artistic Director.

(Left) Director Ernie Williams moderates a roundtable discussion with Evans, Leipart, other festival participants, and journalists. 

Chicago's Stages Festival of New Musicals

THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING, A Musical Vaudeville, presented at Chicago's Stages Festival of New Musicals.

 
Tim Pleiman, Artistic Director, Theatre Building Chicago; John Sparks, Festival Director; Joan Mazzonelli, Festival Administrator; Cindy Stevens, Artistic Dir. & Business; Alison Henderson, Stage Director; Jeremy Ramey, Music Director.

Cast included Jim Korinke, Heidi Stubblefield, James Wright, Elaine Fox, Lyndsey Agron, Chris Cobbett, Mark Snethen, Dean Vivian, and Cindy Baker.

NYC's Broadway Theatre Institute

Richard B. Evans and Charles Leipart with cast from the presentation of THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING, A Musical Vaudeville, (as Thorstein Veblen's "Theory of the Leisure Class") at the Broadway Theatre Institute, NYC.

Standing from left to right: Gwen Arment (Director), Amy Goldberger, Louisa Flaningam, Joel Briel, Susan Derry, Jonathan Ball, Broadway Music Director Jack Lee, Steve Sterner and Steve Geyer. Leipart and Evans kneeling in front.

NYC's National Alliance for Musical Theatre Festival

Cast of THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING, A Musical Vaudeville, (as Thorstein Velben's "Theory of the Leisure Class") presented by the National Alliance for Musical Theatre in NYC.

From left to right: Back Row: Nick Wyman, Robert Bartley, Sam Davis (Associate Music Director), Matt Bogart; Front Row: Michele Ragusa, Kathy Fitzgerald, Charles Leipart, Richard B. Evans, Felicia Finley and Thommie Walsh (Director).