THE LADIES MAN
Written by Justin Mortelliti with Music & Lyrics by Justin Mortelliti and Shannon Hunt
The Ladies Man is a pop musical that begins in the late 1980s and travels through the 90s, 2000s and into the teens. Julian, an Italian-American boy from New Jersey deals with the struggles of coming out and coming-of-age while attempting to escape the shaming guilt of the Roman Catholic Church; searching for love, faith, God and himself while healing the wounds of childhood that continue to run deep. With the help of his colorful, hilarious and fiercely loyal friends plus an arsenal of New Jersey attitude, Julian navigates his way into adulthood. Along the way learning to face and accept the truth of himself at all costs while making the cruel discovery that the shame, it follows.
The themes through out The Ladies Man are that of Love, Faith vs. Religion, Family and Friendship. Ultimately, this is a story about the devastating effect that shame, a religion and damning belief can have on a person and a family. And how the love of friendship and a return to faith can heal and save. Similar in style to contemporary musicals like Next to Normal, Dear Evan Hansen and Fun Home but with the cool factor of HBO's Euphoria; The Ladies Man is a deeply real, dark, gritty and often very funny story. The theatricality is found in the juxtaposition between the dark realism in which the story of Julian and his family lives and the electric blue fantasy world that exists in the music in-between. A dark comedy that off and on transforms into a haunting neon music video as things shift between theater and reality, light and dark, pop and rock.
