Gina Musto is a writer of several genres and an occasional dramaturg. She is a graduate from Augsburg University in their MFA in Creative Writing. As a playwright, her work Bad Indiana was a finalist for the National Queer Theater Reading Series. She lives in Minneapolis with her partner and three cats. When she’s not writing, she’s probably listening to a podcast, playing Animal Crossing, or slowly working her way through her never-ending to-read pile.
Gina Musto 
Last summer saw a limited run of a brand new show, “Lemonade for the Lawnboy, the Musical!” based on the book of the same name. The show explores the often tangled intersection between addiction and art, and examines the relationship between an artist/recovering drug addict and the church-going widow who took him in. This provocative production received an award for “Superior Team Achievement in Theatrical Design Innovation” from Lavender Magazine, and had audiences talking.
“Over drinks after the show we spent at least 45 minutes, probably more, talking about the show. We were fascinated, delighted, challenged, and all wished we could see it again. One of my friends has a 21-year-old daughter with an eating disorder who hears voices berating her. She said the show made her think alot about what her daughter has shared with her. It’s a pretty amazing and powerful show you’ve put on!”
Creating a new work is a process. Taking into consideration feedback from our past cast and audiences, we have diligently reworked, rewritten, rearranged, and rejuvenated our show, and are doing a limited run of this refreshed version in Hastings, MN.
The show is inspired by the life and work of David W Cook II and Janet Letnes Martin. Joining the cast as “David” and “Janet” for this new production are Twin Cities performers Ed Williams Jr. and Janet Paone. Ed was the winner of a 2007 Ivey Award for his performance in “Kiss of the Spider Woman”, and Janet Paone, one of the original Church Basement Ladies, was awarded “funniest performance” in Lavender Magazine’s “Year in Review” in 2010 for her portrayal of Marcus Bachmann!
The show runs June 1-5 at the Hastings Arts Center, right across the 61 Bridge in beautiful downtown Hastings (just 20 min SE of St Paul!). Hastings is the home of the “real” David and Janet. They are excited to have this show in their hometown, and we are excited to continue to move forward in the process.
We would love to have you attend as our guest. Let me know if I can arrange tickets for you.
Greta Grosch
LawnboyMusical.com
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Hi Greta,
I’m not sure that I’ll be able to make it to this show, but I’ll let the other theater bloggers in the community know about it and see if they’re able to attend. Thanks so much for letting me know about this production! I hope it’s a successful run!
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