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Skyscraper Lullaby

By: James Fritz
Narrated by: Stephanie Hsu, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Arian Moayed
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Publisher's summary

Please note this audiobook contains strong language and content that some listeners may find upsetting. Discretion is advised.

As they recount the events surrounding the disappearance of their toddler—one with a tendency to bite—two parents cope with grief in vastly different ways. While the father wrestles with feelings of guilt, the mother is convinced she’s spotted the boy in frightening TV news reports...though let’s just say he looks nothing like the precocious little boy they remember from a decade ago. A heart-pounding, psychological journey of unimaginable proportions thrillingly brought to life by Arian Moayed, Celia Keenan-Bolger, and Stephanie Hsu (as a young doctor in the midst of disaster), James Fritz’s Skyscraper Lullaby is a haunting examination of the ways we cope with tragedy, complicity, and remorse… or the lack thereof.

Playwright James Fritz was awarded a commission through the Audible Emerging Playwrights Fund, an initiative dedicated to developing innovative original plays driven by language and voice. As an Audible-commissioned playwright, he received funding and creative support to develop Skyscraper Lullaby.

Sound design and composition by Max Perryment.

©2022 James Fritz (P)2022 AO Media LLC
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About the Creator

James Fritz is a playwright from South London.
His writing for audio has won several awards around the world including an ARIA Gold Award, the Grand Prix Nova first prize and both the Imison and Tinniswood BBC Audio Drama Awards.
Plays for audio include Dear Harry Kane, Eight Point Nine Nine, Death of A Cosmonaut and Comment Is Free.
His theatre work has been nominated for an Olivier Award and The Verity Bargate Award, and has won a Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting and the Critics Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright.
His theatre work has been nominated for an Olivier Award and The Verity Bargate Award, and has won a Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting and the Critics Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright.
Plays for stage include Four Minutes Twelve Seconds, Parliament Square, Ross & Rachel, Start Swimming, The Fall, Lava, Lines and Cashmoney Now.

About the Performer

Stephanie Hsu can be seen in the A24 film from The Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), Everything Everywhere All At Once. In this independent feature, Stephanie stars as ‘Joy/Jobu’ alongside Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan. The film debuted at SXSW and released wide on April 8, 2022 to rave reviews. Additionally, Everything Everywhere All At Once has reached box office records for an indie arthouse reaching the $65 million milestone in North America in box office numbers since its release and has become A24’s highest grossing film worldwide.
Stephanie can also be seen in seasons three and four of Amazon’s hit show, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, as ‘Mei,’ the provocative love-interest to ‘Joel Maisel.’ The cast won a SAG Award in 2020 for best ensemble in a comedy series.
Upcoming, Stephanie will appear in the Peacock anthology series Poker Face, created by Rian Johnson and starring Natasha Lyonne. Stephanie is also set to guest star in the Disney+ Series American Born Chinese alongside Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan. The series is written, and executive produced by Kelvin Yu.
Stephanie originated the role of ‘Christine Canigula’ in the audience favorite Broadway sensation, Be More Chill. For this performance Stephanie received a Lucille Lortel Award nomination and a Drama Desk Award Nomination. She has performed all over NYC from downtown to uptown making her Broadway debut as ‘Karen The Computer’ in SpongeBob Squarepants The Musical.
Her past television and film credits include a recurring role on The Path, Awkwafina is Nora from Queens, Femme, Set It Up, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Girl Code. She is passionate about regenerative agriculture and wild mushroom foraging

About the performer

Broadway: To Kill A Mockingbird (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Awards, Drama League Nomination), Glass Menagerie (Tony Award Nomination, Drama Desk Award,Dorothy Loudon Award), The Cherry Orchard, Peter and The Starcatcher, (Tony Nom, Drama Desk Nom, Drama League Nom) Les Misérables (Drama Desk nom.), The 25TH Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Tony Nom, Drama Desk Award for Best Ensemble, Theatre World Award)
Off Broadway: A Parallelogram (2econd Stage), The Oldest Boy (Lincoln Center Theater), Merrily We Roll Along (City Center Encores), A Small Fire (Playwrights Horizons), Bachelorette (2econd Stage), Saved (Playwrights Horizons).
Regional Theater: Goodman Theater, Kennedy Center, American Repertory Theater,La Jolla Playhouse, White Heron Theater.
TV: The Gilded Age, Bull, Louie, The Good Wife, Nurse Jackie, Good Behavior, Law & Order SVU, Elementary, Heartland, Blue Bloods, NCIS New Orleans.
Film: Diane, The Visit, Breakable You. Celia was awarded the NYCLU Michael Friedman Freedom award for her commitment to pursuing social justice in both her life and career. She graduated from The University of Michigan and is currently training to become an end-of-life doula.

About the Performer

Arian Moayed can currently be seen starring opposite Julia Garner in Shonda Rhimes’ latest series Inventing Anna (Netflix). Additionally, he is seen as ’Stewy' on HBO’s hit series Succession and in the second season of Love Life on HBO. Other notable acting credits include: The Humans (Drama Desk Award), Guards at the Taj (Obie Award), Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (Tony nomination), Rock the Kasbah opposite Bill Murray, and Rosewater alongside Jon Stewart.
Iranian-born writer, actor, director and producer created the Emmy-nominated thriller, The Accidental Wolf, which was acquired by Topic Studios and stars Tony Winners Kelli O’Hara, Laurie Metcalf, Sahr Nguajah, and many more. Current writing projects include 28 Mordad (upcoming), a film version of The Courtroom (Archer Gray/Topic) and a film adaptation of The Man in Red.
As an actor, Arian can currently be seen starring opposite Julia Garner in Shonda Rhimes’ latest series Inventing Anna (Netflix). Additionally, he is seen as ’Stewy' on HBO’s hit series Succession and in the second season of Love Life on HBO. Other notable acting credits include: The Humans (Drama Desk Award), Guards at the Taj (Obie Award), Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (Tony nomination), Rock the Kasbah opposite Bill Murray, and Rosewater alongside Jon Stewart.
Arian is also the co-Founder of Waterwell, a civic-minded and socially conscious non-profit art and education company. With Waterwell, recent productions include The Flores Exhibits, a series of videos in which artists, lawyers, advocates, and immigrants read the sworn testimonies of children held in detention facilities at the U.S./Mexico border flores-exhibits.org, The Courtroom: a re-enactment of one woman’s deportation proceedings, named "Best Theater of 2019" by The New York Times, and a dual-language Hamlet (Arian played the title role). Waterwell also created Fleet Week Follies, an annual festival of music, food, and kid-friendly activities, free to military service members and their families. At the Waterwell Education Program, over 250 students per year receive world-class arts training and education in advocacy at the Professional Performing Arts School, all free of charge. He has been a faculty member for nearly 15 years, currently teaching the Artist as Citizen and Senior Capstone.

Editorial Review

Uncompromising and fantastic
As a rule, I don't do horror, but I was intrigued by the premise of this one so I went for it and within minutes I was hooked. (My dog got an extra-long walk out of this one-and-done listening binge!) An Audible Emerging Playwrights' commission from James Fritz, this experimental piece employs audacious storytelling and sophisticated sound engineering to create a horrific but also incredibly beautiful production. Amid the backdrop of madness and horror there's so much humanity here. The father in the story is 100 percent Nick in Gone Girl. He's guileless but untrustworthy, with that “aw shucks, who me?” quality that’s both enraging and endearing. And the two women in the story are so recognizable, so sympathetic—even if their stories push the boundaries of believability—that your heart will hurt for them. My verdict: Skyscraper Lullaby is the most bizarre and compelling thing I've listened to all year. I love that this story didn’t hold back, it just went for it. And so should you. —Emily C., Audible Editor