The Last Verista

Grace Millo, composer/writer/musician

Bound to be one of the hottest tickets of the coming year, composer, writer, musician, Grace Millo is on the cusp of artistic explosion.  Born to two opera singers, G. Millo has maintained a primarily musical life alongside her equally talented siblings, Rick Wilder (front man of the Mau Mau’s), and opera diva, Aprile Millo.  Having performed throughout the circuit in New York City and before that in California, Grace decided it was time to hone and pull together her strongest artistic vessels: songwriting and rock.

With a CD, “Quicksand Ground” released in 2005, G. Millo had already compiled a number of melodically beautiful, textually moving, and rhythmically profound songs, but what stands out more is her ability to layer both harmonic and rhythmic textures.  Her voice is nothing to shy at either; mixing husky with power, and then delicacy and softness merges well with her potent lyrics and layered musical palate.  Now, Millo has taken the best of her personal repertoire and made it the heart’s blood of her new and upcoming musical, “Connections,” that is scheduled to begin backer’s previews in the spring.

In a time when out-of-tune voices make it as “the next American Idol” we really need to swing the pendulum back a bit and get back to core roots. We need to pay attention when something truly great comes to the fore.  It is my feeling that “Connections” will be one of those great gems that expresses what artistry in this field ought to be:  an expression of self, a development of the soul, and an instructive about life and art.  Millo’s music for “Connections” is not only catchy and expressive, it is also layered, harmonic, and soulful.  Wedding to her varied instrumental palate, these aspects will create more broad-based prospects and a larger fan base because multiple genres are dealt with simultaneously, a genius mark of any large-scale production and one that is often lacking in Musicals today.  Broadway has gone the way of separating genres, which can segregate audiences.

Writing the book and music herself, Millo has shown determination and has pulled together a core group of artists to help support her in her endeavour.  Although nothing about the musical can be revealed yet in terms of plot or storyline, I urge you to stay tuned!  It is a remarkable thing to watch an artist flourish and achieve artistic realization.  Those of us who have ever had to create a large artistic or creative project understand the difficulties and the passion of this process.  It’s like the Agony and the Ecstasy of Michelangelo….”If it doesn’t hurt, it isn’t right.”  For Grace Millo, art is life and life is art. She is the name to watch this year in NYC.