17 - HERSHEL & THE HANUKKAH GOBLINS by Mike Dailey & Jacob Combs (Ep. 51)

101 Stage Adaptations

Mike Dailey & Jacob Combs join Melissa this week to talk about their long-running holiday musical, Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins.
In this episode, we discuss:

• Why Strawdog Theatre decided to adapt this beloved children's book
• Adding framing devices and length to a short story
• Casting a show that needs musicians, actors, singers, and acrobatic types
• How the music changes every year with each new cast

And more!
Resources Mentioned
Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins playing through Dec 23, 2023
Strawdog Theatre
About Our Guests
Michael Dailey has been a Strawdog company member since 1997. He has appeared as an actor in 24 Strawdog productions. Writing credits include three radio plays presented as part of Radio Theatre 7, co-writer on the late-night series The Adventures of Picklebot and Lawfer and script editor for Strawdog’s productions of 1001 Afternoons in Chicago, Julius Caesar and Measure for Measure. As an actor, he’s enjoyed working around town with Lyric Opera, Stage Left, Steppenwolf, About Face, Shattered Globe, Eclipse and Writer’s Theatre, to name a few. He’s a proud graduate of Illinois State University, the Second City Conservatory and was a Steppenwolf Acting Fellowship recipient.
Jacob Combs is a writer, director, and composer based in Los Angeles. Most recently, he was part of the writers room for the Netflix comedy BLOCKBUSTER, and he is currently developing several TV projects with showrunners Vanessa Ramos and Jackie Clarke. Previously, Jacob spent a 6-year stint at Pixar Animation Studios in a variety of writing, development and production roles. He wrote on an untitled feature in development at Pixar and was part of the writers’ room for an upcoming, original episodic series. He also wrote several episodes of the Emmy-nominated Disney+ documentary series Inside Pixar. A lifelong theater nerd, Jacob wrote the music & lyrics for Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins (based on the beloved children’s book by Eric Kimmel), which has been produced annually since 2018 by Chicago’s Strawdog Theatre.
Follow Jacob on Instagram.

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