Miss Foxhole 1975
In development.
As the Vietnam War ends, the Army realizes it is running out of men; and so, in the summer of 1975, 20-year old Jill Morgenthaler excitedly joins the first class of women admitted to cadet training at Fort Bragg, NC. But the women are quickly confronted by one unanticipated challenge after another, including the biggest indignity of all -- an order to participate in a beauty pageant for the pleasure of the camp's 50,000 male cadets. MISS FOXHOLE 1975 is inspired by trailblazing Army Colonel Jill Morgenthaler's astounding "stranger-than-fiction" tale of that summer (as told to the Moth Radio Hour). Written with Joe DiPietro and Ryan O'Connell.
Val has a personal connection to this story, as she attended the same cadet training as Jill Morgenthaler, many years later.
Ernest Shackleton Loves Me
This show is a longtime passion project for Val, sparked by a life-changing museum visit. What began as creative curiosity turned into something weirdly autobiographical, a high-stakes ride through heartbreak, survival, and fierce optimism. The show will reopen, somewhere, at some point. Meanwhile, you can catch the show on BroadwayHD.com — filmed live in New York.
ERNEST SHACKLETON LOVES ME is a genre-bending, time-warping musical adventure. It follows a sleep-deprived single mom — a video game composer barely holding it together — who records a desperate dating video one night. But instead of a modern-day swipe, she gets a phone call from Sir Ernest Shackleton, the legendary polar explorer stranded in the Antarctic in 1914.
Through a surreal twist of fate — and a musical connection that defies logic — Shackleton reaches across time to help her navigate her own emotional ice field.
As their worlds collide, she discovers that the fuel to survive isn’t out there — it’s in resilience, self-reliance, and the guts to keep going when everything says quit.
Cast album is now available on Broadway Records (release date Feb 9, 2018).
Click here for the Broadway World album review.
Starring Val + the charismatic Wade McCollum (Wicked), the show is helmed by Obie Award® winning director Lisa Peterson and written by Tony Award® winner Joe DiPietro (Memphis), with music by Brendan Milburn and lyrics by Val, featuring production design by Alexander V. Nichols (Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway), costume design by Chelsea Cook, sound design by Tony Award® winner Rob Kaplowitz (Fela!) and music direction & orchestrations by Ryan O'Connell.
