david taylor little
director.writer.educator
writer
More recently, I have been discovering my love of playwriting. It's been exciting to have a new outlet for my love of story-telling. Some of my plays have been produced by Indiana Public Radio, Speranza Theatre Company, Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company, and The Ball State University Department of Theatre and Dance. I have a few commissions I'm currently working on for future production including a SECOND sequel to Arlo Whittaker and the Viola Verdict.
David Taylor Little...provided an impressively updated libretto...eliminating elements of the original that would be unplayable today.
- Gerry Kowarsky
HEC St. Louis' Home of Education Arts and Culture
David Taylor Little’s New Book Shines.
-CB Adams
PopLifeSTL
This production of “Naughty Marietta,” shows how a clever update...can be a sweet mystery of life.
-Mark Bretz
Ladue News
With a new book by David Taylor Little...this New and Improved "Naughty Marietta" was rather like a bag of Cheez-Its: I knew it was junk food but it sure was tasty.
-Chuck Lavazzi
Stage Left
Naughty Marietta
Mistaken identities, pirates, and 18th-century drama – Naughty Marietta has it all. Get ready for a night where plot twists are as common as costume changes, and every scene is a delightful surprise!
The operetta is set in colonial-era New Orleans and follows the adventures of a spirited young woman named Marietta, a French princess who disguises herself as a servant to escape an arranged marriage. Naughty Marietta is known for its delightful melodies, and comedic situations, blending light opera and romantic comedy into an entertaining and tuneful operetta.
All Out for Christmas:
A Showbiz Radio Fable
Will the show go on? It’s 1947, and a big Broadway star has come to a small Midwest radio station to be in their annual Christmas radio show. Will her appearance save the radio station from financial ruin? Will the ingenue and the young radio producer find love? Will the Broadway song writers compose a catchy enough melody to rival White Christmas? Find out in this delightful radio showbiz fable.
Christmas Gifts
Christmas Gifts combines two of O. Henry’s beloved short stories, The Gift of the Magi and The Last Leaf, into a contemporary, holiday story that highlights the importance of caring for people through the act of giving gifts. On Christmas Eve, siblings Aiden and Sophia sneak downstairs to take a peek at their haul of presents, only to discover that their parents have been expecting them. They find a singular gift that they are allowed to open, a strange book, called Christmas Gifts. As they read the story aloud, they meet Jim and Della, a married couple from 1960s New York City, and the contemporary friends and roommates, Johnsy and Sue. How will these stories come together? Will Aiden and Sophia learn the lesson their parents have intended them to learn? Will they discover the true importance of gift giving? Find out by tuning in to Christmas Gifts.
This new book re-contextualizes the classic swashbuckling, romantic, desert operetta for a contemporary audience with all the beloved, original story elements and songs in tact. The premier production was first staged at The Winter Opera of St. Louis in March 2023.
When the fictional country of Sharahbat is occupied by the equally fictional Marnish army, Marne countryman Pierre takes it upon himself to become The Red Shadow and secretly fight alongside the people of Sharahbat. Chaos ensues when love is thrown into the mix. A romantic adventure from the 1920s re-imagined for a contemporary audience.
The sold-out house on Sunday afternoon was treated to Romberg’s appealing music and some fine comic efforts in David Taylor Little’s new libretto.
-Mark Bretz
Ladue News
David Taylor Little's new book is very successful, and his plot summary was the cleverest I have ever seen
- Gerry Kowarsky
HEC St. Louis' Home of Education Arts and Culture
The Desert Song
The Disappearance of Ezra Clybourne...?
It's time for Jake Mitchell, Devon Bennet, and Ezra Clybourne's favorite time of the year...a week and a half at Red River Ridge Summer Arts Camp! But, while this band of best friends is usually excited to spend time at their favorite place, things are different this year. Ezra and Devon have recently broken up, Devon is angry with Jake for some reason, and now that camp has begun Ezra hasn’t even arrived to register! Things really go haywire when a stranger, calling himself Ezra Clybourne, shows up on the second day of camp. Without access to phones, or the internet, or the outside world, Jake takes it upon himself to find out what has happened to Ezra and mend the rift that has occurred between him and his two best friends. Will he be able to do it all before the end of his time at Red River Ridge? You’ll have to tune in to this live podcast to find out.
Arlo Whittaker
and the Viola Verdict
Murder She Wrote meets Slings and Arrows in this fun radio play/live podcast! During rehearsals for a production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, The Arden Globe Trodder's managing director is murdered on stage. Now director Arlo Whittaker must solve the murder in order to save his production. Will he find the culprit before it's too late?
