New Works

Maybe you’ve heard of a little musical called Annie? Well, that started off as a new work, never before seen by an audience until its debut at Goodspeed in 1976.

New works have been an integral part of Goodspeed’s mission throughout our past and into our present, allowing musicals to flourish, thrive, and have a life in the future.

Goodspeed takes new work seriously. Take a look at some of the ways we develop new musicals:

Goodspeed’s Festival of New Musicals is an annual event that allows three teams of writers and composers the opportunity to develop their musicals with a director, music, director, and student actors from The Hartt School and other local universities over the course of two weeks, culminating in staged readings performed for the public. The Tony-winning, worldwide sensation Come From Away was developed at the Festival in 2013!

The Johnny Mercer Foundation Writers Grove at Goodspeed Musicals is a long-term residency program that offers established and emerging writers the unique opportunity to research, develop and create new musicals.

The NYU Writers Residency is offered each year in collaboration with the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at the Tisch School of the Arts. During their week-long stay on the Goodspeed campus, second-year NYU students are provided the time, serenity, guidance, and resources to develop original full-length musicals as part of their graduation requirements.

At Goodspeed’s Terris Theatre in Chester, new works are developed even further with full-scale productions. Throughout the rehearsal process and the run, the writers and creative team are making changes to the show on an almost-daily basis. The Terris Theatre has launched dozens of shows to Off-Broadway, Broadway, film and beyond.

And finally, audiences can find new musicals in their final stages of development on The Goodspeed stage. Shows like Shenandoah, Annie, Holiday Inn, Anne of Green Gable, Summer Stock, The 12 and so many more got their start here!

The cast of Little Miss Perfect from the 2023 Festival of New Musicals

January 17 - 19, 2025

The Terris Theatre, Chester

Don't miss your chance to see the next big hit at Goodspeed’s 19th Festival of New Musicals! The Festival has launched more than 50 new musicals into the universe, sending them across the country, to Broadway, and around the world! Join us for a weekend filled with insider events, seminars, cabarets, and three staged readings of brand-new works as the brightest writers and performers collaborate to create the future of America's greatest art form.

For the first time, the Festival will be held at The Terris Theatre in Chester, a charming town filled with unique shops and restaurants!

Schedule of Events

* Exclusive Festival Package Event

Friday, January 17

All package holders will be able to pick up their tickets in the Terris Theatre lobby before Friday's staged reading.

R&J: Fire on the Bayou

7:30pm | The Terris Theatre

Conceived by Kevin Ramsey
Adaptation by Kevin Ramsey & Nygel D. Robinson
Music & Lyrics by Nygel D. Robinson & Kevin Ramsey

Romeo. Juliet. Capulets. Montagues. The world’s most famous romance takes on new meaning set against the revelries of modern day Mardi Gras. Adapted from one of the greatest plays of all-time, and featuring a jazz-and-blues score that evokes the spirit of New Orleans – R&J: Fire on the Bayou breathes new life into the timeless tragedy of Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers.

Buy Single Tix

Oliver Houser: Wunderkind

10:30pm | The Terris Theatre

Set in a Jewish American family in the early 20th century, Wunderkind is an original piece that follows Hans, a young piano prodigy endeavoring to break free of his father’s crippling expectations and claim his creative voice. A timeless story of forgiveness and redemption with a rhapsodic score, Wunderkind expresses the universal theme of becoming who we are.

Winner of the inaugural Stephen Schwartz Award, the ASCAP Foundation Sammy Cahn Award and a Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellowship, Oliver Houser (he/him) is an intersex musical theater artist who is passionate about creating original life-affirming work that facilitates healing and connection. Oliver has headlined at the Kennedy Center and presented his musicals at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, The Village Theater, Nashville Repertory Theater, Red Mountain Theatre Co, London's Other Palace Theatre, the NAMT Festival and beyond. Oliver’s original musical XY was one of three finalists for the Relentless Award, the largest prize presented to an unproduced musical. The piece will premier at London’s Park Theatre in 2025. www.oliverhouser.com.

Buy Single Tix

Saturday, January 18

Seminar Sessions

1:00pm - 4:30pm | Chester Meeting House (4 Liberty St - Just two blocks from the Terris Theatre)

Exclusive Gold Package Event

Please check back soon for seminar session announcements!

Oy Band

7:30pm | The Terris Theatre

Book, Music, & Lyrics by Bonnie Gleicher

When a vocal group of four Orthodox Jewish girls from Brooklyn come of age and can no longer sing in front of men, they disguise themselves as a boy band to perform for the whole forbidden world. Oy Band is the new empowering musical about the visceral need to do what you love and to discover who YOU really are... by pretending to be someone else.

Buy Single Tix

Cheeyang Ng: Legendary

10:00pm | The Terris Theatre

Legendary is Cheeyang’s journey in unpacking and processing the trauma of moving to a new country alone, leaving everything they knew behind while navigating a completely different culture, at the same time, trying to prove to everyone that the decision was worthwhile. Legendary weaves the mythological stories that they grew up with alongside their experiences immigrating to America, in a discovery to understand loss, ambition and self.

Born and raised in Singapore, Cheeyang Ng (they/them) is an award-winning singer-songwriter who writes at the intersection of queer, Asian and immigrant stories. They have performed around the world, including Lincoln Center with Carole King and Carnegie Hall with a cappella group Vocalosity. They are the first Singaporean to headline a concert at Joe's Pub, Feinstein’s/54 Below and Millennium Stage at Kennedy Center showcasing their original music. Their songs have been performed in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago and London.

Buy Single Tix

Sunday, January 19

The Carol of the Bells

1:00pm | The Terris Theatre

Book, Music, & Lyrics by Nevada Lozano

Christmas is the favorite holiday of the Bell family, most particularly the youngest daughter, Silver. After learning it may be the last Christmas with her grandmother, Silver sets about to reunite the entire family for one final Christmas – despite her parent’s recent divorce, the estrangement of her delinquent brother, boy-obsessed sister…and her dad’s new girlfriend crashing the festivities. Direct from its hit cabaret performance at last year’s Festival, The Carol of the Bells is an irreverent, heartwarming, yuletide musical comedy that will have your heart growing three sizes.

Buy Single Tix

Meet The Writers Q&A

3:30pm | The Terris Theatre

Exclusive Gold Package Event

The Festival weekend culminates in a question-and-answer session with some of the writers and creative teams behind R&J: Fire on the Bayou, Oy Band, and The Carol of the Bells.

Festival Packages & Tickets

a Festival Package! The Gold Package gives you full access to all of our amazing events, and the Silver Package is for those who simply want to see all 3 Staged Readings. You can also add-on one or both Cabarets with the Silver Package, or with Single Tickets.

Festival Packages

Gold Package | $125

1 Ticket for all 3 Staged Readings
3 Seminars*
Friday & Saturday Cabarets
Meet the Writers Q&A *

Silver Package | $75

1 Ticket for all 3 Staged Readings

Add-Ons

Friday Cabaret - $20
Saturday Cabaret - $20

* Exclusive Package Event

Call the Box Office to order packages: 860.873.8668

Single Tickets

Staged Readings

Adult Tickets: $30
Student Tickets: $15

Cabarets

All Tickets: $20

Buy Single Tickets

or call 860.873.8668

Become a Friend of the Festival!

Would you like to be a Friend of the Festival? Friends enjoy VIP seating for all Festival events, and other perks including:

An exclusive Kick-Off Cocktail Party where you can meet the writers and performers
The long-standing tradition of Sunday Brunch with Students
Recognition in all 2025 Festival programs and promotional displays
Opportunity to sit in on select Festival rehearsals

Most importantly, Friends of the Festival provide crucial support that helps to make the Festival a premier showcase for new musicals in the country. With a gift of $500 per person you can be a part of this exclusive group.

Contact Yz Jasa at yz@goodspeed.org or 860-873-8664 x333 for more information.

2025 Friends Of The Festival

As of 11/26/24
Ronald Benedict and Sandy Eichelberg
Denise Bernardo and Edwin Muentes
Jennifer Brown and Ian Ayres
Anne Sullivan Calanquin
Lorey A. Cavanaugh
Steven and Cindy Chao
Donald Coustan and Terri Coustan
Ruth Ann Davis
Susan Gonsalves
William Gratz and James Bruno
Jon Lukomnik and Lynn Davidson
David Macri and Judith Macri
Sonya Mangan
Will Rhys and Nancy Kluck
Anne Rothstein and Jane Hellman
Blair Russell and Nicolo Nisbett
Kathleen Sauer
Allyn Seymour and Karen Seymour
Bert Silverberg
Eugene Swain and Catherine Sarni

Festival Archives

2019

The Peculiar Tale of the Prince of Bohemia and the Society of Desperate Victorians

Friday, Jan 18, 7:30 PM

Book and Lyrics by Becca Anderson & Dan Marshall
Music by Julian Blackmore

When Prince Florizel learns that his father the King of Bohemia is dead, he seeks to escape the throne. He and his chaperone Colonel Geraldine are invited to join a secret society - The Suicide Club. Club members play a deadly card game nightly with higher stakes than the Prince has ever known. Realizing the deck is stacked against them, the Prince and Geraldine become inextricably linked to the club's members in a darkly hilarious new musical.

Follow the show's progress on the writers' website.

The Proxy Marriage

Saturday, Jan 19, 7:30 PM

Book & Lyrics by Michele Lowe
Music & Lyrics by Adam Gwon

Adapted from THE PROXY MARRIAGE by Maile Meloy

In Montana, a lawyer performs proxy marriages – primarily of military couples, in which both parties are not physically present. The lawyer’s popular teenage daughter Bridey and her awkward friend William stand in for the bride and groom. When senior year is done, they leave Montana to pursue their separate dreams. Over the next 13 years, life pulls them apart and then together again, and as the world changes, so do William and Bridey. In time they realize that perhaps what they were longing for all along was each other.

Devotion

Sunday, Jan 20, 1:00 PM

Music, Book and Lyrics by Mark Sonnenblick

Wanda Lee, a young woman in the fictional town of Braxton, Ohio, feels totally lost. Paul, a football star who became addicted to painkillers after a career-ending injury, feels much the same. When Wanda Lee's ten-year-old brother tells both of them he's been recruited for a divine mission, Paul and Wanda Lee must decide whether to bring him to his senses or join him on the journey. A story about addiction (not just to drugs) and belief (not just in religion), Devotion is a heartfelt, uplifting musical set against an American crisis of community.

2018

Five Points

Friday, Jan 12, 7:30 PM

Music by Ethan Pakchar and Douglas Lyons
Lyrics by Douglas Lyons
Book by Harrison David Rivers

New York City. 1863. Set amidst the tumult of the Civil War, Five Points chronicles the journeys of two men - Willie Lane, a young black performer at the famed Almack’s Dance Hall, and John Diamond, an Irish immigrant and former jig champion - as they risk everything in pursuit of the American Dream.

Sweetwater

Saturday, Jan 13, 7:30 PM

Music by Sean Mahoney
Book & Lyrics by Patricia Noonan

As World War II shakes the nation, sisters Beth and Frankie join women from across America to fly for the US Army. Leaving home to train in Sweetwater, TX, these Women Airforce Service Pilots risk their lives without military status. From history’s margins, Sweetwater brings the WASP center stage in an epic story about the joys and costs of being female pioneers

Passing Through

Sunday, Jan 14, 1:00 PM

Music & Lyrics by Brett Ryback
Book by Eric Ulloa

Based on the work “Walking to Listen” by Andrew Forsthoefel

Passing Through tells the incredible true story of a young man who journeys on foot from Pennsylvania to California, collecting stories as he goes. When his trek brings to light a repressed family trauma, he must use the lessons he’s gathered to confront his past. Set against the backdrop of America, it’s a musical about community and the healing power of forgiveness.

2017

Picnic at Hanging Rock

Friday, Jan 13, 7:30 PM

Book, Music & Lyrics by Daniel Zaitchik

Adapted from the novel by Joan Lindsay

Valentine’s Day, 1900. Victoria, Australia. The girls from the prestigious Appleyard College are released from their studies to take a day trip to Hanging Rock, an ancient geological rock formation. The wilderness is seductive. The girls are enraptured. The mystery begins... Daniel Zaitchik’s Picnic at Hanging Rock is a haunting musical adaptation of one of Australia’s most treasured and evocative novels.

Saturday, Jan 14, 7:30 PM

Music by Mark Hollmann
Book by Greg Kotis
Lyrics by Mark Hollmann & Greg Kotis

Can a sandwich turn people into zombies? ZM follows two teenaged fast-food workers as they struggle to live, and love, during a food-borne catastrophe that might well destroy Humanity. The creators of the Tony Award-winning Urinetown serve up a humorous new musical satire that will make you think twice before rolling up to the drive-thru of your favorite fast food restaurant.

Row

Sunday, Jan 15, 1:00 PM

Book by Daniel Goldstein
Music & Lyrics by Dawn Landes

Based on “A Pearl in the Storm” by Tori Murden McClure

In June, 1998, Tori Murden left her job as a project manager in Louisville, Kentucky, and embarked on what no woman had ever done: row across the Atlantic. She set out with her homemade vessel, covered over 1,000 miles and rowed over 200,000 strokes. She made videos to track her journey, even when she lost all radio connection with the outside world. But she unknowingly rowed into the heart of Hurricane Danielle. Row tells a heartbreaking and ultimately uplifting story of finding your heart in the middle of the ocean.

2016

We Foxes

Friday, Jan 15, 7:30 PM

Book, Music, and Lyrics by Ryan Scott Oliver
Directed by Leigh Silverman

Set in 1945 Missouri, this Southern Gothic musical tells the story of Willa—a tough, unmannered orphan adopted by the sheriff’s wife—and the bloody domestic war that ensues between them when Willa uncovers the secrets lurking beneath the floorboards. It is the story of intense human struggle, deliverance, and salvation that can only be found from within.

Track the show's progress.

Milo at the Movies

Saturday, Jan 16, 7:30 PM

Book by Tom Diggs
Music & Lyrics by Mark Gaylord
Directed by DB Bonds

Milo and Dexter thought they’d make a killing in vaudeville, but thanks to silent movies, they’d have better luck getting arrested than getting on stage. So when Milo’s gumption lands the duo an unexpected gig, the brothers figure they’ve struck gold: a regular gig, good dough, and a pretty dame to boot! As long as they can avoid the censor, the cops, the fiancé, and each other, everything’ll be just fine.

Track the show's progress.

Only Anne

Sunday, Jan 17, 1:00 PM

Book & Lyrics by John Dietrich
Music by Will Buck
Directed by Amy Corcoran

It’s Jane Austen meets Downton Abbey in this musical update of her popular novel Persuasion, set in 1920s Britain at the dawn of the Jazz Age. Anne Elliot is forced to confront the sacrifices she made for her family when she finds herself face-to-face with the highly-regarded Admiral Frederick Wentworth, the once-penniless true love she was persuaded to abandon. Only Anne maneuvers through a landscape of miscommunications, misperceptions, and, ultimately, the search for love in a rapidly changing world.

2015

Outlaws

Friday, Jan 16, 7:30 PM

Music & Lyrics by Alexander Sage Oyen
Book by James Presson
Directed by Noah Himmelstein

Frustrated with Washington and hard-up for cash, Jesse James and his brother Frank take matters into their own hands robbing banks, courting the press, and killing anyone who gets in their way. Alternating between sprawling epic and intimate family drama, Outlaws examines the blurred lines between hero and villain, bravery and recklessness, and man and god.

Track the show's progress.

The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes

Saturday, Jan 17, 7:30 PM

Book and Lyrics by Christopher Dimond
Music by Michael Kooman

Howard Barnes is a perfectly average man, until he discovers that his life has become a musical. Equal parts satire, romantic comedy, and love letter to the American musical, The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes is a musical for people who love musical theater, and their spouses who hate it.

Track the show's progress.

For Tonight

Sunday, Jan 18, 1:00 PM

Book by Whitney Rhodes, Spencer Williams, and Shenelle Williams
Music and Lyrics by Shenelle Williams and Spencer Williams

When their parents die of a mysterious illness in their small Welsh village, surviving siblings Thomas, Haydon, and Nettie are forced to fend for themselves. Inspired by the gypsies who once shared their home, Haydon heads off to Liverpool, guitar in hand, to find what he's been missing. There he meets Mirela who speaks to his wandering soul. Through a riveting indie-rock/folk score, For Tonight explores the indelible power of home.

• TheatreFest15 on the Isle of Man: October 9-10, 2015
• Wharton Center for Performing Arts, University of Michigan: Oct 23-24, 2015

2014

Adam Lives

Friday, Jan 17, 7:30 PM

Book, Music & Lyrics by Rob Baumgartner, Jr.

Adam is an unsuccessful songwriter who doesn’t know how to settle into his long-term relationship with Claudia. When he has an opportunity to write for an emerging pop superstar, Adam is forced to decide which he values more: an enduring partnership or a love that is worthy of song. Adam Lives is about finding and keeping the important things in life, but at what cost?

Track the show's progress.

A Proper Place

Saturday, Jan 18, 7:30 PM

Book by Leslie Becker and Curtis Rhodes
Music by Curtis Rhodes
Lyrics by Leslie Becker
Additional Lyrics by Curtis Rhodes

It is 1902. Mayfair, England. When an upper class British family is shipwrecked on an island with only their butler to help them survive, traditional class systems are questioned and unexpected love blossoms. Based on J. M. Barrie’s play The Admirable Crichton, this musical fantasy with a sumptuous score, dubbed a “cross between Downton Abbey and Gilligan’s Island,” is a classic tale of equality, survival and forbidden love.

• 2014 Village Theatre Festival of New Musicals, August 2014
• Village Theatre, Issaquah, WA, March 16-April 23, 2017

The Theory Of Relativity

Sunday, Jan 19, 1:00 PM

Music & Lyrics by Neil Bartram
Book by Brian Hill

This unconventional new musical from the writers of The Story of My Life is a joyous and moving look at our surprisingly interconnected lives. Through a collection of songs, scenes and monologues, The Theory of Relativity introduces a compelling array of characters experiencing the joys and heartbreaks, the liaisons and losses, the inevitability and the wonder of human connection.

• Goodspeed's Terris Theatre, May 7-30, 2015
• Drayton Arms Theatre, London, May 26 - June 13, 2015
• Studio Cast Recording available

2013

Nine Wives

Friday, Jan 18, 2013

Music & Lyrics by Douglas J. Cohen
Book & Lyrics by Dan Elish

Based on the novel, “Nine Wives” by Dan Elish

Nine Wives tells the story of Henry Mann, a 32-year-old bachelor who discovers that the love of his life has met someone new and is about to get married. What’s worse, he’s been invited to her wedding! What follows are Henry’s frantic attempts to find a woman he can take as his date – a potential future wife – to prove to his ex-fiancée (and the world) that he too is ready to move on.

TriARts Sharon Playhouse, July 24-27, 2014

Come From Away

Saturday, Jan 19, 2013

Book, Music and Lyrics by David Hein and Irene Sankoff

Come From Away is a rocking musical about when 38 planes from around the world were diverted to a small, Canadian community on September 11th, 2001 - doubling its population in an instant. While the world witnessed the worst acts of humankind, the stranded passengers had their faith in humanity restored by the spirited people who comforted those who had come from away.

• La Jolla Playhouse, May 29-July 12, 2015
• NAMT Festival of New Musicals: Fall 2013
• Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, Broadway, premieres February 18, 2017

Princesses: A New Rock Musical

Sunday, Jan 20, 2013

Book by Janece Shaffer, Emma Lively and Tyler Beattie
Music, and Lyrics by Emma Lively and Tyler Beattie

Four outrageous princesses escape the confines of their castle walls and shock the fairy tale world with their unconventional ways. Princesses is inspired by the Brothers Grimm's "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" and features a contemporary rock score.

2012

Harmony, Kansas

Friday, Jan 13, 2012

Music by Anna K. Jacobs
Book & Lyrics by Bill Nelson

A new musical with a lively, soulful score that follows Heath, a farmer in rural Harmony, Kansas and his city-born partner who talks him into joining the newly formed gay men's chorus. Heath discovers a love for making music and unexpected kinship. But when the group decides to perform in public, his world is turned upside down and all that matters to him is threatened.

• New York Theatre Barn at the D-Lounge: July 29, 2013
• Diversionary Theatre, San Diego, CA: June 14 - July 22, 2012
• Track the show's progress

Not Wanted On The Voyage

Saturday, Jan 14, 2012

Music & Lyrics by Neil Bartram
Book by Brian Hill

Based on the novel by Timothy Findley

A housewife, her husband, their three sons, and a talking cat - just an ordinary family living ordinary lives in the turbulent days before the Great Flood. Their ordinary lives are turned upside-down when they learn that they alone will survive the comnig deluge. Filled with magic, mythology and, above all else, hope, Not Wanted on the Voyage is a provocative new musical about the first time the world ended.

The Dogs Of Pripyat

Sunday, Jan 15, 2012

Music by Aron Accurso
Lyrics by Jill Abramovitz
Book by Leah Napolin & Jill Abramovitz

Based on the play by Leah Napolin

USSR, 1986. As all humans are evacuated from Chernobyl, their pets are left behind to fend for themselves. This is the story of those animals. Boychik is a gentle mutt who pines for his masters' return. But when a pair of alphas take control, Boychik learns how to hunt, kill and ultimately form a new kind of family. Based on true events, The Dogs of Pripyat is a story about hope and survival when they seem least possible.

The Green Room 42, March 2, 2020

2011

Hello! My Baby

Friday, January 14 2011 - 07:30PM

Book & New Lyrics by Cheri Steinkellner
New Music & Arrangements by Georgia Stitt

From debutante balls to Delancey Street, Hello! My Baby puts a new-fashioned spin on the great American songbook musical, weaving the updated hits of Berlin, Gershwin, Kern, and a score of others into a timely and hilarious tale of first love, class-struggles, street-gangs, gender-swapping, and a whole lot of ukuleles.

• Available for licensing through MTI
• Rubicon Theatre Company, Ventura, CA: Mar 21 - April 15, 2012
• Goodspeed's Norma Terris Theatre: Nov 3 - 27, 2011
• Track the show's progress

Nobody Loves You

Saturday, January 15 2011 - 07:30PM

Music & Lyrics by Gaby Alter
Book & Lyrics by Itamar Moses

Nobody Loves You is a romantic comedy about the search for meaningful relationships in a culture dominated by the quest for popularity. When Jeff, a philosophy grad student, goes on a reality TV dating show to win back his ex, he instead finds a girl who might be the love of his life. But will she fall for him once he is seduced by the adulation of his fans?

• Second Stage Theatre, New York NY: June 20-August 11, 2013
• NAMT Festival of New Musicals: Fall 2012
• The Old Globe, San Diego, CA: May 9 - June 17, 2012

Room 16

Sunday, January 16 2011 - 01:00PM

Book by Andrea Lepcio
Music by Stephen Sislen
Lyrics by Stephen Sislen & Ben H. Winters
Originally Developed by Stephen Sislen & Ben H. Winters

Room 16 tells the story of the unlikely friendship between G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt, and the events leading to the Watergate break-in of June, 1972. With a score spanning America popular musical styles from swing and big band to folk and early '70s rock, Room 16 is a fast-paced and darkly comedic look inside American political history.

2010

Hello Out There

Friday, Jan 15, 2010

Book & Lyrics by Eric Price
Music by Frank Terry

It’s the summer of 1995, a dozen years before the current financial crisis and the scandal of Bernie Madoff. Three Internet-savvy teens are able to earn tens of thousands of dollars in the stock market using an ingenious method that may or may not be illegal. When an immigrant taxi driver loses his life savings because of the teenagers’ game, he alerts the SEC. What was initially a high-flying summer of getting rich turns upside down as the S.E.C. chases the teens across the Internet, through the New Jersey suburbs, and all the way to Wall Street.

• Adirondack Theatre Festival, Glens Falls, NY: July 2011
• Staged Reading at Playwright's Horizons, NYC: March 2011

Rewrite

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Book, Music & Lyrics by Joe Iconis

This triple feature of wild musicals connects in surprising and dangerous ways. “Nelson Rocks!” is a pop/rock show about a young dude who needs to fix his life before the class bell rings. “Miss Marzipan” is a dizzy musical about a high-stakes dinner party. A little bit of blood is spilt, but it’s nothing that some kitchen towels can't clean up. “The Process” deals with a writer on deadline to finish his musical at the Dunkin’ Donuts. As his characters begin to populate the coffee shop, our friendly counter lady serves as a guide through this passionate look into one man's writing process.

Selections performed at Joe's Pub, NYC: Nov 6, 2010

Lincoln in Love

Sunday, Jan 17, 2010

Book & Lyrics by Peter Kellogg
Music by David Friedman

It’s a crucial moment in young Abe Lincoln’s life - the fledgling lawyer has served his first term in the Illinois state legislature and he’s mourning the death of his fiancée, Ann Rutledge. Enter socialite Mary Todd, arrived in Springfield to visit her sister and find a husband suitable to her cultivated taste and ambition. While at first she finds Lincoln coarse and uncivilized, Mary sees his great potential after his first major trial. Their on-again, off-again relationship is just one of the challenges and events that shaped the young Lincoln into the leader he would become.

• New Works Festival, The Village Theatre, Seattle: Aug 15, 2010
• Reading at Ford's Theatre, Washington D.C.: 2010
• Track the show's progress

2009

Life on the Mississippi

Friday, Jan 16, 2009

Book & Lyrics by Douglas M. Parker
Music by Denver Casado

Young Samuel Clemens leaves home to learn steamboat piloting on a Mississippi riverboat in 1858 and unexpectedly finds himself learning about life. And death. And love. And writing. All while navigating his way from boy to man and from Samuel Clemens to Mark Twain. Based on Twain’s autobiographical coming-of-age tale.

• Freed-Hardman University: April 22-26, 2015
• WorkShop Theater Company: November 2013
• American Folklore Theatre, Door County, WI: June 2010
• Coterie Theatre, Kansas City: Jan 26-Feb 28, 2010

Band Geeks!

Saturday, Jan 17, 2009

Book by Tommy Newman
Music & Lyrics by Mark Allen, Gaby Alter, and Tommy Newman

Band Geeks! is a high-stepping tribute to high school marching bands and misfits everywhere. With just nine members and dwindling funds, the Cuyahoga High Marching Beavers are close to extinction. When a troubled athlete is relegated to their ranks, Elliott, the tuba-playing band captain and Laura, his best friend, must find a way to unite the band, overcome their pride and embrace their inner geek.

• Available for licensing through MTI
• Arts Garage, Delray Beach, FL: April 18 - May 11, 2014
• Broadway Rose Theatre Company, Tigard, OR: Jan 30 - March 2, 2014
• The Human Race Theatre Company, Dayton, OH: May 31 - June 17, 2012
• Goodspeed's Norma Terris Theatre: May 16 - June, 6 2010
• NAMT Festival of New Musicals, NYC: Fall 2009

Factory Girls

Sunday, Jan 18, 2009

Music, Lyrics & Book by Sean Mahoney & Creighton Irons

At the dawn of the Industrial Revolution the Lowell Mill Girls’ must fight to maintain their country values and their humanity as they become America’s first independent working women. Armed with her pen and her voice, and fueled by a revolutionary spirit, one girl secretly rallies her co-workers against the burgeoning “soul-less corporation.” Her choice affects not only the girls and their community but also the fate of the American worker.

• 54 Below: February 25, 2015
• NAMT Festival of New Musicals, NYC: Fall 2009
• Track the show's progress

2008

The Trouble With Doug: A Modern-Day Metamorphosis

Friday, January 18, 2008

Book and Lyrics by Daniel Maté
Book and Music by Will Aronson

Inspired by Kafka’s “Metamorphosis,” 28 year old Doug finds himself turning into a slug. His family and fiancée face this utterly absurd reality and change along with him in this serio/comic slice of life.

• Arts Garage, Delray Beach, FL: April 18-May11, 2014
• TheatreWorks, New Works Festival, Silicon Valley, CA: Aug 4 - 19, 2012
• Royal & Derngate Theatre Co., UK: 2011
• NAMT Festival of New Musicals, NYC: Fall 2010
• CAP21 Theare Co., NYC: June 2009
• Fredericia Teater, Denmark: May 2017

Tales From the Bad Years

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Written by Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk

A musical revue that accurately and lovingly puts the relationships of young adults center stage as they attempt to cope with the follies, fantasies and frustrations they encounter in 21st century America.
• The Viewpoints Collective: Jan 28-Feb 1, 2015
• School of Fine Arts Theatre, University of Minnesota: Feb 14 - 23, 2013
• Paramount Theatre, Rutland, VT: Aug 2008
• Laurie Beechman Theatre, NYC: 2008
• Penn State New Musical Theatre Festival: March 2008
• Track the show's progress

Genesius, The Musical

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Book by L. J. Fecho
Music and Lyrics by Michael O’Flaherty

Based on a true story, this musical celebrates the founding, struggles, successes and heart of a theatre company specifically established to feature the joyous talents of a group of young theatre artists.

• TADA! Theatre, NYC: Aug-Sept 2009
• Track the show's progress

2007

Pearl

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Book, Music and Lyrics by Katie Kring

A haunting re-imagination of The Scarlet Letter, in which Hester Prynne's 12-year-old daughter, Pearl, seeks the truth about her family's mysterious past and ultimately, her own true self.

Tinyard Hill

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Music by Mark Allen
Book and Lyrics by Tommy Newman

South Georgia, 1964. A rural blacksmith and his son work to find mutual understanding and acceptance in a world that is simultaneously shrinking and getting too large to ignore.

• Cumberland County Playhouse, Crossville, TN: April 16 - July 11, 2010
• Theatreworks, Palo Alto, CA: July 15 - July 16, 2009
• Red Mountain Theatre Company, Birmingham, AL: Aug 8-9, 2008
• The Human Race Theatre Company, Dayton, OH: July 11 - 12, 2008
• NAMT Festival of New Musicals, NYC: October 2007