Media Hub

A Superhero was featured on "The List" on ABC2 on April 10. Check it out!

Jonathan Waller ’00 has come full circle. As a McDonogh student he was involved in theater under the direction of English teacher Jon Aaron. April 12-14, Waller’s talents returned to McDonogh in the form of A Superhero, a musical he both wrote and composed.

Directed by Aaron, the cast and crew of students from all three divisions impressed the crowds with their work on stage and behind-the-scenes. The audiences were also wowed by a 20-piece orchestra that included 11 McDonogh musicians and nine professionals.

A Superhero is a story about the extraordinary power of love, family, and the faith we have in things we can’t prove to be real. Those same elements have also played a part in Waller’s career. While a student at McDonogh, he became interested in music composition. As a senior, Waller wrote and composed his very first musical production, Tale, which was one of three new works to win Centerstage’s Young Playwrights Festival that year.

“McDonogh has a history of giving students unique opportunities. The encouragement that I received from my teachers to produce Tale set the stage for my higher education and career,” shared Waller.

Waller’s Career Soars
After graduating from McDonogh, Waller went on to pursue a Bachelor’s of Music in Musical Theatre Composition at New York University. He was awarded the Alan Menken Composition Award while studying at NYU and graduated with honors. His career took off and he taught composition workshops at the Tony Award-winning Vineyard Theatre in New York. His musical, The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley, enjoyed a 60+ city tour throughout the country and his sold- out cabaret, The Ballad of Jonathan K. Waller, was performed at the popular New York City venue Don’t Tell Mama.

Currently, when not composing, Waller is the Director of Marketing at Baltimore’s Everyman Theatre. He is also a Producing Artistic Director of Young Actors Theatre, one of McDonogh’s popular summer camps for students interested in musical theatre.

The cast of A Superhero has been rehearsing since October to tell the story of Brown Bradley, a man who believes he can save his struggling hometown by building a brand new amusement park called Superland. In the story, Brown’s world is turned upside down on the day of the grand opening, when he receives shattering opposition from an underestimated local man named William Duncan. At this point, he is forced to confront a pivotal event in his life – the day his father died. On that day, Brown was mysteriously saved from falling to his own death by a shadowy figure who could fly. The new musical drama questions, what makes a superhero real?

Waller says, “There couldn’t be a more fulfilling way to have seen A Superhero through this crucial phase of its development. Returning to the stage where Jon Aaron directed me as an actor and now collaborating with him as an artist feels like coming full circle. The extraordinary efforts of the students and creative team have been rewarding and invaluable.”

For more information on A Superhero, visit www.superheromusical. com.