On the morning of Jan. 13, 2018, an emergency alert was sent out warning of an incoming nuclear missile attack on Hawaii. It was a false alarm. Visiting the islands with her husband at the time, Dallas-based singer-songwriter Holly Doubet was so affected that she conceived a musical about the incident and its aftermath.
This Is Not a Drill, which Doubet wrote with three collaborators, is having its world premiere this month at the off-Broadway York Theatre. It follows the reactions of eight characters, portrays the troubled state worker who mistakenly sounded the alarm, and even President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appear. It was assumed that the attack was prompted by tensions between the U.S. and North Korea during Trump’s first term.
From left, Kathy Babylon, Holly Doubet and Joseph McDonough. Babylon wrote the music and lyrics for This Is Not a Drill with Doubet and John Vester. McDonough wrote the book with Doubet.
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Doubet is known locally as a songwriter for the Barney & Friends children’s TV show, which ran on PBS from 1992 to 2010. She also worked for almost 20 years as a studio singer in Los Angeles. She is a Texas native from a musical family. Her great-uncle performed with Bob Wills in The Light Crust Doughboys and her mother was an opera singer who coaches rock vocalists.
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Now in previews, This Is Not a Drill opens Sept. 18 and is scheduled to run through Oct. 11. Tickets at yorktheatre.org.
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