We're excited to announce that the Phoenix Players are performing a workshop production of our musical The Art of Pleasing Princes at Hobart and William Smith Colleges on April 3rd and 4th, 2026, directed by Dee Gilner!
In a fantasy world where a despotic royal court is destroying the environment, five queer misfits band together to kill the king and save the world. Betrayal, infighting, and vengeance make forming community harder - and more necessary - than ever before.
We'll be posting updates on our socials, and you can keep up with the Phoenix Players on Instagram.
FAQ:
Can I come see it?
Yes! Attendance is free! Hobart and William Smith Colleges are in Geneva, New York. If it's ticketed, we'll post a ticket link closer to the event!
Will the full show be posted online?
Maybe! It depends on the preferences of our cast and creative team, but we should know more in February. Even if we will not be sharing the whole production, we (and the Phoenix Players) will hopefully get to post clips!
Wait, so you can license Melliot shows? And put them on at schools and theaters? Can I do that??
YES! If you are affiliated with an institution of some kind (a theater company, a school, a university) and interested in putting on a Melliot show, you should direct your inquiries to [email protected].
Cast breakdowns and more information are available on our website, or upon request (for example if you need some method of showing the musical to your teacher, etc.) "Clean" versions of Adamandi and The Art of Pleasing Princes are also available, if your school theater program has concerns about language. (This revision of TAOPP also has less explicitly adult content than the original.)
What is a workshop production?
Because it's the first production of this new revision, we are working with the Phoenix Players on a workshop production! That means we will be more involved than writers usually are with licensed works - making edits as the process goes along, and talking to the director and designers if anything is unclear in the script. Unlike the original staged reading of Princes that most people know, this production has a bigger budget for costumes and set, and will be using our orchestrations, so it will probably look and sound very different from what you're familiar with!
What has changed about the script of The Art of Pleasing Princes?
Quite a bit! It might be helpful to think about this version (which people have been tagging '2aopp') as an alternate universe prequel to the original draft: What if the original coup was the one we got to see onstage?
The characters are the same, but a lot of backstory has been moved into the musical proper: this is the first ever coup, Rowan gets passed over for the throne during the show, and the rest of the plan happens onstage. Maddox has a bigger role to play now, and there's tons of new worldbuilding around magic and the environment. And the ending is different! No spoilers, but working on a show about a bunch of queer kids killing a king was VERY different in 2025 than in 2022.
Most of the songs have been rewritten, including a score that is now themed around dance music, emo music, and pop music!
They also don't swear in it anymore (I know!), which will hopefully help y'all slip it past your drama teachers ;)
But I liked the old one! Why did it have to change?
If you're one of the fans of the original TAOPP staged reading who has stuck around this long -- thank you! You can still like the old version of the show (they're trying to accomplish very different things!) The recording of the old show is available unlisted on our YouTube, and the cast recording is on Spotify.
The original TAOPP will always have a special place in our hearts as our first musical together - and, as our first musical, it was way too long and packed way too many themes into such a tight space! We wanted to do something new with the story, and focus on the themes within it that mattered the most to us. Those may not be the themes that matter to you - but in the aim of giving this show a life beyond its first reading, we had to revise it and discovered a new story in the process! Whatever you feel about the old story, we're excited to share this one with you :)
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
So my dumb ahh just realized TODAY that eating my computer and through my door both by elliotly are literally TMA songs. Are there any other songs by him that are TMA references?
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Welcome to Heaven is a Stimboard! Your spot for Melliot adjacent stimboards :3
As of now, I’m focusing primarily on Melliot adjacent fandoms or works. Heres a list!
Adamandi, The Art of Pleasing Princes, Ghost Story, No Trespassing, En Abîme, Elliotly albums / music videos, Perfect x11, Kairos, Raincloud Halo music
(I cannot do works such as Purely Coincidental and Whirlwind for Hire Staged Production since the media has been mostly privated.)
REQUESTS ARE: OPEN!
How do I make a request?
Send one in the ask box — Heres a good format!
CHARACTER: Can I have a Rowan Astor stimboard with black and red stims?
^ Requests like this for characters such as Zeke & Claire will be more hard. Please expect more abstract images representing them! (IE: Blobfish webpage)
MUSIC: May I have a Friends and Foes stimboard with fire stims? — OR — May I have a Sound Body Sound Mind stimboard with sculpting stims?
If the requested topic doesn’t have a music video, attach / describe images you’d like to be included. If not, I will try to find images / gifs that align with the lyrics and Genius annotations
MULTIPLE CHARACTERS / SHIPS: May I have a Radiograph stimboard with cat and dog stims? — OR — May I have a Beatrix and Vincent stimboard with typewriter and journaling stims?
FOR TOPICS WITH MULTIPLE WORKS, PLEASE SPECIFY!
EX: May I have a Józef Pulaski (Montana AIR / 2024) stimboard with barn stims?
