Backstage Pass: Recent Episodes
Broadway Podcast Network
Ever wonder what it takes to make a new musical sing? Find out with New York Theatre Barn’s Backstage Pass. Hosts Teresa Attridge and Pauls Macs create space to lift up the artistry of those transforming the landscape of our industry. We make the exclusive, inclusive, going straight to the source to understand each artist’s authentic viewpoint. We’re honored to celebrate a community of people who believe that art which challenges us is worth celebrating. Featured guests include Greg Kotis, Nico Juber, Justin Huertas, L. Morgan Lee, Jenn Collella, S.C. Lucier, Meghan Rose, Hector Flores Jr., Jessie MacBeth, and more. Theme song music by Nico Juber.
This episode features discussions about Zack Zadek and Peter Duchan’s Love, Rosie and Peter Hodgson and Kathleen Wrinn’s The Bridge.
LOVE, ROSIE (by Peter Duchan & Zack Zadek) - Rosie and Alex meet at eighteen. They’re from different worlds, a gulf of misunderstanding between them, but they share a passion for music—and for each other. Two interconnected lives are tracked over the course of 30 years, asking the question: what is a love story?
THE BRIDGE (by Peter Hodgson and Kathleen Wrinn) - The Bridge is an epic new musical based on the love story that built the Brooklyn Bridge. When Emily Roebling’s husband falls mysteriously ill and is unable to continue as Chief Engineer, Emily must do the impossible: secretly take her husband’s place as Chief, in an era half a century before women were allowed to vote. With a genre-defying score as vibrant as New York City itself, The Bridge explores the forces that unite and divide us. It is a story of mistakes and forgiveness. Of great sacrifice and even greater hope. Of finding a way forward, across the uncrossable. Together.
Featuring performances from Zack Zadek, Peter Hodgson, and Kathleen Wrinn.
Co-produced and edited by Hector Flores Jr. and Pauls Macs
Connect with Zack Zadek: Instagram and Twitter: @zackzadek
Connect with Peter Hodgson: Instagram: @phodgson11
Connect with Kathleen Wrinn: Instagram and Twitter: @inittowrinnit
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This episode features discussions about Kira Stone’s Salem and Truth Bachman and Zhailon Levingston’s Shapeshifters.
SALEM (by Kira Stone) - In Salem, Susannah, Bridget, Miriam, Martha, Rebecca, & Mary are held hostage in a modern day courtroom for their collective trial by judge and jury. We marvel at the mass hysteria, we deliberate, and we ultimately are a part of deciding the fate of these six women. Follow the twists, switchbacks, and real-life discoveries that are made as we speculate: Why did this happen? How did this happen? And, heaven forbid, could it happen again now? Kira was joined by her director Sarna Lapine.
SHAPESHIFTERS: A QUEER COMIC BOOK MUSICAL (by Truth Bachman and Direction & Development by Zhailon Levingston) - High school bully and comic book genius, Mel, discovers a hidden plane of existence called Queer Time, simply by drawing scenarios with pen and paper. In Queer Time, Mel joins the ranks of an underground network of Queer and Trans superheroes called The Shapeshifters. As Mel and the Shapeshifters sprint toward uncertain futures, this tribe of queer heroes must rely on community to persist, resist, and survive their living nightmares.
Featuring performances from Truth Bachman, Basit Shittu, Antonio Cipriano (Jagged Little Pill) and Kira Stone
Co-produced and edited by Hector Flores Jr. and Pauls Macs
Connect with Kira Stone: Instagram: @kirabethstone
Connect with Truth Bachman:
Instagram: @truthbachman
Twitter: @BachmanTruth
Connect with Zhailon Levingston: Instagram and Twitter: @zhailon
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This episode features discussions about AriDy Nox’s and Brandon Webster’s Metropolis and Mêlisa Annis and Jamie Floyd’s The King’s Wife.
METROPOLIS (by AriDy Nox and Brandon Webster) - Metropolis is an epic tale that follows the Harmonizer-android-unit turned space-time-continuum anarchist Fari as she is wrenched across space and time. With the Apocalypse hot on her heels in the past and the future, Fari keeps finding herself at the center of world-defining moments. But will she be able to withstand the upheaval? Or will she crack under the pressure?
THE KING’S WIFE (by Mêlisa Annis and Jamie Floyd) - The King’s Wife is a new musical that uniquely re-tells the relationship between Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, the first two wives of King Henry VIII of England. While historical accounts paint these women as bitter enemies, The King’s Wife (using historic clues) flips the script to tell their tale differently. It’s an untraditional period piece with a dark, progressive vibe, and a moving, hopeful story about female friendship and the detriment to the world when great women aren’t allowed to rise. Mêlisa and Jamie were joined by their producers Jennifer Kranz and Abigail Solomon.
Featuring performances from Cory Barrow, Jamie Floyd, Taylor Harris, Tyler McKenzie, Max Morter, Caleb Spainhour, Marthaluz Velez and HK Wall
Co-produced and edited by Hector Flores Jr. and Pauls Macs
Connect with AriDy Nox: Instagram and Twitter: @aridynox
Connect with Brandon Webster: Instagram: @brandomitable
Connect with Mêlisa Annis: Instagram and Twitter: @melisaannis
Connect with Jamie Floyd:
Instagram: @jamiefloyd
Twitter: @jamiefloydmusic
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Joe’s personal Instagram: @bisforbarros
Jen’s personal Instagram: @jensandler
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This episode features discussions about Nevada Lozano’s Ramona and Douglas Waterbury-Tieman’s Johnny & The Devil’s Box.
RAMONA (by Nevada Lozano) - Based on the classic novel by Helen Hunt Jackson, Ramona tells the story of an orphan girl growing up on a Mexican hacienda in Southern California in the 1850s. She falls in love with a Native American ranchero, and together they journey across the new U.S. state in search of a place to call home. With a blend of American, Native American and Mexican musical styles, Ramona is an epic love story set during one of the most violent, tumultuous times in American history.
JOHNNY & THE DEVIL'S BOX (by Douglas Waterbury-Tieman) - Johnny & The Devil’s Box tells the story of Johnny Baker, a young man who believes he’s the best fiddler that ever was, and aims to prove it. However, another fiddler who haunts the hills of North Georgia disagrees, the Devil himself. Now, Johnny must contend with the threat of the law, the hypocrisy of the church, young love and tempting fame as he navigates the balance between responsibility and pride. Johnny & The Devil’s Box proclaims the immense power of music to heal broken communities and relationships when we put aside our pride and join hands in jubilant song and dance. Douglas was joined by his collaborator Annabelle Fox, music supervisor Scott Wasserman, and dramaturg Annika Chapin.
Johnny & The Devil’s Box: The Concept Album is available now.
Featuring performances from Annabelle Fox, Amanda Robles (BSC’s Into The Woods), Shereen Pimentel (West Side Story) and Douglas Waterbury-Tieman (The Robber Bridegroom, SeaWife)
Co-produced and edited by Hector Flores Jr. and Pauls Macs
Connect with Nevada Lozano: Instagram: @nevadalozano
Connect with Douglas Waterbury-Tieman: Instagram: @jdwtieman
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Joe’s personal Instagram: @bisforbarros
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This episode features discussions about Nico Juber’s Millennials Are Killing Musicals and Justin Mortelliti and Shannon Hunt’s The Ladies Man.
MILLENNIALS ARE KILLING MUSICALS (by Nico Juber) - Millennials Are Killing Musicals is an entirely original, irreverently funny, and heartfelt musical about the Millennial existential crisis, motherhood, and stereotypes that define a generation. Meet Brenda: a quirky, stressed-out, single mom who hates her job, longs to be a writer, and can’t help but compare herself to the seemingly perfect “Jake’s Mom” at school. Brenda is finally ready for love and creativity in her life when her #influencer sister Katrina shows up eight months pregnant, completely unprepared for motherhood. Torn between two men, juggling an opinionated mother and an increasingly unstable Katrina, Brenda must learn how to break her self-destructive patterns and live filter-free so she can achieve her dreams. Nico was also joined by her director Ryan O’Connor and her music director Ted Arthur.
THE LADIES MAN (by Justin Mortelliti and Shannon Hunt) - The Ladies Man centers around Julian, an Italian-American boy from New Jersey who deals with the struggles of coming out and coming-of-age while escaping the shaming guilt of a Roman Catholic family and religion; searching for love, faith, God and himself while healing the wounds of childhood that continue to run deep. With the help of his colorful, hilarious and fiercely loyal friends plus an arsenal of New Jersey attitude, Julian navigates his way into adulthood, learning to face and accept the truth of himself at all costs.
Featuring performances from Amber Ardolino, (Moulin Rouge!, Hamilton), Andrew Chappelle (Hamilton), Casey Garvin (Mrs. Doubtfire, Miss Saigon), Asmeret Ghebremichael (The Book of Mormon, Dream Girls), Talya Groves (Mean Girls), Diana Huey (The Little Mermaid), Justin Mortelliti, Ryann Redmond (Frozen, If/Then), Jared Reinfeldt (HBO Max’s The Flight Attendant), Justin Showell (Hamilton), Brett Thiele (Escape To Margaritaville, Clueless) and Aidan Wharton.
Co-produced and edited by Hector Flores Jr. and Pauls Macs
Connect with Nico Juber:
Instagram: @stuffnicolikes
Twitter: @nicolj
Connect with Justin Mortelliti Instagram and Twitter: @justmort
Connect with Shannon Hunt:
Instagram: @shannonhuntmusic
Twitter: @shannonhmusic
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Joe’s personal Instagram: @bisforbarros
Jen’s personal Instagram: @jensandler
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This episode features discussions about Christine Toy Johnson and Jason Ma’s Broken Ground and Bobby Daye and Monica L. Patton’s Love & Southern D!scomfort.
BROKEN GROUND (by Christine Toy Johnson & Jason Ma) - Taking place in 1912 on the cusp of a new era for China, Broken Ground tells the story of 18-year old Xuě Lán, as she sets out on the path created for her by tradition and her family to marry a young soldier. Still grieving the recent loss of her mother and twin brother and yearning to make peace with the new life before her, she seeks guidance from both Guān Yīn, the goddess of compassion, and the spirit of her mother. Transported to another space and time of an ancient myth via an embroidered story in NüShū, the centuries-old writing system created by and only for women, Xuě Lán connects to her mother’s wishes for her and discovers that she can indeed find happiness by both speaking her truth and honoring her destiny. ***This conversation was recorded in November 2020.
LOVE & SOUTHERN D!SCOMFORT (by Bobby Daye & Monica L. Patton) - When dowager Mrs. Catheine Dejoie, of polite Louisiana society, dies, she leaves the entire estate to her estranged granddaughter, Milla, but only if Milla comes home from her self-imposed, decade-long exile to bury Catherine. Milla reluctantly leaves her life in France and returns to her ancestral home, a sprawling postbellum Southern mansion, and to her mother, a faded alcoholic debutante undone by the burden of bearing the family’s legacy. With the help of the family’s cherished maid, the women begin to repair their relationship until the reconciliation grinds to a sudden halt when a long-held secret is uncovered.
Featuring performances from Nikki M. James, Ramona Keller, Anthony Wayne, Kennedy Kanagawa, and Jaygee Macapugay
Connect with Christine Toy Johnson: Instagram and Twitter: @ctoyj
Connect with Jason Ma: Instagram:@goldmountainthemusical
Connect with Bobby Daye:
Instagram : @Bobbydaye
Twitter: @BobbyDaye2
Connect with Monica L. Patton:
Instagram : @neogeishaforever
Twitter: @neogeishaforeve
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This episode features discussions about Oliver Houser and Hunter Bird’s She Reached For Heaven and Adesha Adefela, Beau Lewis, and Ryan Nicole Austin’s Co-Founders.
She Reached For Heaven (by Hunter Bird & Oliver Houser) - On the outside, high school senior Jes Holt is doing everything she’s supposed to. On the inside, she’s never felt more alone and longs for something she can’t name. Set against the backdrop of the greatest drug crisis in our country’s history, She Reached for Heaven is an original coming-of-age story about the devastations of addiction, and one woman’s journey to choose life rather than escape it.
Co-Founders (by Adesha Adefela, Beau Lewis, Ryan Nicole Austin) - Co-Founders is the story of the two most unlikely partners in the history of Silicon Valley. Esata Thompson, a black female coder from Oakland, and Conway Delouche, a small town college dropout, take on the most competitive startup accelerator in the world - where the privileged make a killing while the people across the bridge grind to survive.
Featuring performances from Austin Dean Ashford, Ryan Nicole Austin, Jeb Brown, Gerard Canonico, Julia Harriman, Oliver Houser and Amber Iman
Connect with Oliver Houser:
Instagram: @oliverhouser
Twitter: @oliver_houser
Connect with Hunter Bird: Instagram: @hunter_bird
Connect with Adesha Adefela: Instagram and Twitter: @adeshamusic
Connect with Beau Lewis: Instagram: @peeplittlebeau
Connect with Ryan Nicole Austin: Instagram: @msryannicole
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Joe’s personal Instagram: @bisforbarros
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This episode features discussions about Amy Engelhardt and Marc Acito’s Bastard Jones and Sara Cooper and Lynne Shankel’s Perpetual Sunshine & The Ghost Girls.
BASTARD JONES (by Amy Engelhardt and Marc Acito) - Bastard Jones is a sexy, smart, rollicking new musical comedy that combines a bouncy pop score with period farce. When charming, low-born Tom makes the mistake of wooing Sophia Shepherd, daughter of the pompous Reverend Shepherd, a chain of secrets, schemings and multiple bed-hoppings are set in motion. Based on Henry Fielding’s 1749 Brit lit satire Tom Jones, ths musical reimagines the young, irrepressible foundling Tom Jones as an electric guitar in a harpsichord world.
PERPETUAL SUNSHINE & THE GHOST GIRLS (by Sara Cooper and Lynne Shankel) - Perpetual Sunshine & the Ghost Girls is an all-woman+ through composed musical theatre piece about the capitalist exploitation of workers’ bodies and rights in the face of a national public health crisis. Featuring an original 1920s-2020s mashup score, the show is based on the true story of the women who worked in the factories and were knowingly poisoned by the United States Radium Corporation, and who fought back, changing United States labor laws forever. Perpetual Sunshine & the Ghost Girls is a 2022 Richard Rodgers Award winner.
Featuring performances from Katelyn Baughman, Piper Bruce, Colette Caspari, Brian Davis, Amy Engelhardt, Audrey Hare, Don Howes, Autumn Key, Jessi Kirtley, Eden Mau, Claire Marie Miller, Alexa Lopez, Andie Peterson, Josh Raff, Evan Ruggiero, Lauren Senden, Bella Serano, Leila Shaye and Elena Wang
Connect with Amy Engelhardt: Instagram: @amyengelhardt
Connect with Sara Cooper:
Instagram: @_saradioactive
Twitter: @sarachnoid
Connect with Lynne Shankel:
Instagram: @shanktunes
Twitter: @LynneShankel
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This episode features discussions about Guillermo Mendez M, Guadalupe Sandoval, and Javier Vilalta’s Anjou: A Musical Horror Tale and Whitney Rhodes, Shenelle Salcido and Spencer Williams’ For Tonight.
ANJOU: A MUSICAL HORROR TALE (by Guillermo Mendez M., Guadalupe Sandoval and Javier Vilalta) - Anjou: The Musical Horror Tale is a modern Mexican opera which recently had its English-language premiere. The musical is a cautionary tale set in 16th century France, revolving around the massacre of Saint Bartholomew in 1572. Fusing Renaissance-inspired melodies, modern orchestrations and Latinx-influenced tunes, Anjou turns a tragic moment in history into a riveting exploration of kindness and acceptance against a backdrop of injustice, prejudice, and ruthless ambitions. The writers were also joined by their director, Roberto Araujo.
FOR TONIGHT (by Whitney Rhodes, Shenelle Salcido 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 Romani who once shared their home, Haydon heads off to Liverpool, guitar in hand, to find what he's been missing. There he meets a Romani woman who speaks to his wandering soul. With a riveting indie-rock/folk score, For Tonight explores the indelible power of home.
Featuring performances from Nathan Cockfroft, Joey Cornish, Kevin Curits, Sam Ebenezer, Simon Gordon, Michelle Beth Herman, Gabriel Hyman, Taylor Iman Jones, Luke McCall, Jordan Allan Mills, Michael Perrie Jr., Jelani Remy and Adam Tabellija
Connect with Guillermo Mendez M.:
Instagram: @memorias.mendez and @anjouthemusical
Twitter: @anjoumusical
Connect with Guadalupe Sandoval:
Instagram: @lupitasandovalactriz and @anjouthemusical
Twitter: @anjouthemusical
Connect with Javier Vilalta:
Instagram: @javiervialta
Twitter: @javiervialta and @anjouthemusical
Connect with Whitney Rhodes:
Instagram: @ladywhitrho and @fortonightmusical
Twitter: @For_Tonight_
Connect with Spencer Williams:
Instagram: @spencertwilliams and @fortonightmusical
Twitter: @composerspencer and @For_Tonight_
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This episode features discussions about Molly Beach Murphy, Jeanna Phillips, Alex Thrailkill, and Annie Tippe’s Cowboy Bob and Michelle Elliott and Danny Haengil Larsen’s Hart Island.
COWBOY BOB (by Molly Beach Murphy, Jeanna Phillips and Alex Thrailkill) - You wouldn’t look twice at Peggy Jo. She was a good daughter, always tipped well at restaurants, but disguised as “Cowboy Bob” in a fake beard and a ten-gallon hat, she was the slickest bank robber Texas has ever known. Making her get-away in a sky blue 1975 Pontiac Grand Prix, she was a modern-day bandit stealing thousands and evading detection for more than a decade. With a score that's equal parts Riot Grrrl rage and Texas two-step twang, this tale of a small-town legend spurs a discontented chain-restaurant waitress to buck routine, take life by the reins, and let it ride.
HART ISLAND (by Michelle Elliott and Danny Haengil Larsen) - Just off the shore of New York City lies a sorrowful island that serves as a public burial ground for the lonely, forgotten, or impoverished of the city. Hart Island is an inspiring and emotional tale of an immigrant woman fighting for her child, and the unexpected compassion of a disillusioned inmate who is the only person who can help her. This hauntingly beautiful new musical observes two people on the fringe of society as they change each other’s lives forever.
Featuring performances from Natascia Diaz, Ashley Pérez Flanagan, Rodney Hicks, Gizel Jiménez and Grace McLean
Connect with Molly Beach Murphy:
Instagram: @mollybeach
Twitter: @mollybeachmurph
Connect with Jeanna Phillips: Instagram: @thelonliestmonk
Connect with Annie Tippe: Instagram: @tippe_annie
Connect with Michelle Elliott: Instagram: @saladsoftheresistance
Connect with Danny Haengil Larsen: Instagram: @dannyhlarsen
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This episode features discussions about David Dabbon, Gabriel Jason Dean and Jessie Dean's Our New Town and Emerson Mae Smith and Murphy Taylor Smith’s Elektric.
OUR NEW TOWN (by David Dabbon, Gabriel Jason Dean and Jessie Dean) - In the aftermath of the deadliest shooting on a college campus in US history, surviving cast members of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town put together an unauthorized show as a way to reclaim their theatre space and heal their broken community. But when the event is stopped mid-performance, the cast and audience must decide between compliance or defiance. Our New Town is an immersive musical that puts the audience at the center of an American crisis. The writers were also joined by their director Theresa McCarthy (Titanic, Queen of The Mist) and theatre historian Howard Sherman (Writer of Another Day’s Begun: Thornton Wilder’s Our Town in the 21st Century).
ELEKTRIC (by Emerson Mae Smith and Murphy Taylor Smith) - A pair of twins, one cisgender, one transgender, are reunited after a decade by a Gods-sent mission: murder their mother to avenge their father. They are dual heirs to the throne of Argos, a small militaristic city-state under the complete control of their mother, Klytemnestra. Elektra, who's dealt with her mother’s violent transphobia for years, is ready to kill. Orestes, returning home in secret from his studies abroad, is not so sure. Argos is crumbling at the end of a years-long war and the streets hum with violence and talk of prophets. Brimming with revolutionary fervor, Elektric is a radical, trans woman-centered retelling of the Oresteia.
Featuring performances from Gabriel Argate, Lila Cooper, Travis Harley, Madeline Kendall, Elise Killian, Julie Manning, Emily Moreno, Benjamin Sellers, Murphy Taylor Smith, Miles Wilke and William Wallace
Connect with David Dabbon: Instagram and Twitter: @daviddabbon
Connect with Gabriel Jason Dean:
Instagram: @gabrieljdean
Twitter: @GabrielJasonDe
Connect with Emerson Mae Smith: Instagram and Twitter: @emersonmaesmith
Connect with Murphy Taylor Smith: Instagram: @msmurphysmith
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This episode features discussions about Jessy Tomsko’s In Emily’s Words and Eric Holmes and Nat Zegree’s Fly More Than You Fall. Tony Award nominated producer and New York Theatre Barn board Co-President Blair Russell is featured as a guest co-host on this episode.
IN EMILY’S WORDS (by Jessy Tomsko) - In Emily's Words, a new musical about the power of the human imagination, tells the story of English novelist Emily Brontë as she is writing her magnum opus: Wuthering Heights. Emily’s imagination knew no bounds, and in spite of having seen very little of the world, she was able to craft a sweeping melodrama that has left a legacy nearly 200 years after her death. Emily Brontë fought through adversity and illness, achieving agency in a time when women were denied it. Yet while she paved the way for female writers, Emily never lived to see the success of her own labors. Hers is a story of resilience, strength, and the greatness that can be achieved when the immense power of imagination is unleashed. Jessy was also joined by her director Avital Asuleen.
FLY MORE THAN YOU FALL (by Eric Holmes and Nat Zegree) - Fly More Than You Fall introduces a young girl, Malia, who deals with the tragic news of her mother’s diagnosis in the only way she knows how – through her writing. Malia crafts a tale of a young bird with broken wings who embarks on the journey of a lifetime, continually weaving in and out of Malia’s real-life struggles to navigate grief, puberty and growing up in the middle of nowhere.
Featuring performances from Johnathan Christopher, Diana Huey, Rachel Lauren James, Mehret Marsh, Nico Oliveri, Stephanie Jae Park and DeAnne Stewart.
Connect with Jessy Tomsko: Instagram and Twitter: @jessytomsko and @inemilyswords
Connect with Eric Holmes: Instagram and Twitter: @ericholmesdir and @flymorethanyoufall
Connect with Nat Zegree: Instagram and Twitter: @NatZegree and @flymorethanyoufall
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Jen’s personal Instagram: @jensandler
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This episode features discussions about Tyler Tafolla’s Seasons and Matt Dahan and Kelly Lynne D’Angelo’s Starry.
SEASONS (by Tyler Tafolla) - The new song cycle Seasons is about six friends who will go through the milestone moments and seasons of their lives over the span of six years. The story is told through the eyes of Max who so desperately tries to keep his small family of six friends together. He discovers that life doesn't always work out the way we plan it, and that friends drift apart. Max and his friends come of age as they find out why seasons must change.
Seasons will re-release its celebrated concept album fully remastered with Broadway Records and Theatre Barn Records on Friday, January 28th and you can listen wherever music can be streamed. The album release concert will occur on Sunday, January 30th at Feinstein’s/54 Below featuring stars of Jagged Little Pill, Be More Chill, The Prom and more. Tickets can be purchased at 54below.com
STARRY (by Matt Dahan and Kelly Lynne D’Angelo) - The new musical Starry tells the story of brothers Theo and Vincent van Gogh. Inspired by thousands of letters and told with a riveting contemporary pop-rock score, the iconic painter and his brother embark on a journey together to find the power of expression.
Starry’s viral concept album was remastered and re-released by Broadway Records in 2020 and can be streamed across all platforms.
Featuring performances from Matt Dahan, Kelly Lynne D'Angelo, Megan Kuramoto-Monroe and Tyler Tafolla
Connect with Tyler Tafolla:
Instagram: @tatafolla and @seasonsmusical
Twitter: @TylerTafolla
Connect with Matt Dahan:
Instagram: @mattdahanmusic and @starrymusical
Twitter: @mattdahan and @starrymusical
Connect with Kelly Lynne D’Angelo: Instagram and Twitter: @kellylynnedang and @starrymusical
Connect with New York Theatre Barn:
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Joe’s personal Instagram: @bisforbarros
Jen’s personal Instagram: @jensandler
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This episode features discussions about Bryan Blaskie and Laurie Hochman’s Nothing To See Here and Avi Amon, Ty Defoe and Nolan Doran’s The Lesson.
NOTHING TO SEE HERE (by Byan Blaskie and Laurie Hochman) - In the summer of 1925, the struggling town of Dayton, Tennessee hosted a trial that claimed national headlines and divided the country — the Scopes Monkey Trial, the first major anti-Evolution court case. Nothing to See Here is the story of Frank Robinson, the man who built the trial as a publicity stunt for his town, and May Robinson, his wife who longs to save her family from falling apart in a seemingly Godless town. Of course, notorious reporter H.L. Mencken is there to spin their story — and to uncover what the truth behind the trial really is.
THE LESSON (by Avi Amon, Ty Defoe and Nolan Doran) - The Lesson is a fantastical reimagining of a chance encounter between a revolutionary Beethoven and a more-established Mozart, whose worlds - and hearts - collide in Vienna in 1787. The show is set in an alternate universe that melds the future and past into an entirely new, queer, fun, and political space. A hybrid of theatre, film, concert, and dance party, The Lesson is a meditation on the purpose of artistic expression, the influence of family on who we are, and the control of information and ideas by the government.
Featuring performances from Milo Alosi, Jonathan Christopher, Bradley Dean, Heath Saunders and Forest VanDyke
Connect with Bryan Blaskie: Instagram and Twitter: @bryanblaskie
Connect with Laurie Hochman:
Instagram: @laurie.hochman
Twitter: @lauriehochman
Connect with Avi Amon:
Instagram: @aviamon
Twitter: @amonavi
Connect with Ty Defoe: Instagram and Twitter: @tydefoe
Connect with Nolan Doran:
Instagram: @nolandoran.nyc
Twitter: @nolandoran
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This episode features discussions about Andrew Beall, Evan McCormack and David Don Miller’s Goodbye New York and Hunter Bell, Jeff Bowen and Ann McNamee’s Other World. Hunter, Jeff and Ann were also joined by their director Adrienne Campbell-Holt.
GOODBYE NEW YORK (by Andrew Beall, Evan McCormack and David Don Miller) - When Olivia Long sets out to indulge her final day in New York City, the last thing she expects is to run into Will Edmonds--the one that got away. To her shock, he thinks she's the one who got away, and he's been waiting ten years to tell her. So she shares her day with him, showing him the New York she loves, and all that he’s been missing. But she’s harboring a secret, one that will take her away from him forever. A second chance at love doesn’t always come along, but if it does...do we take it? Even if it only lasts one day? Is it worth it to pull someone closer...only to say goodbye?
OTHER WORLD (by Hunter Bell, Jeff Bowen and Ann McNamee) - Other World is an original musical that tells the story of avid online gamer Sri and non-gamer Lorraine who are magically and unexpectedly transported into Sri’s favorite video game, Other World. The duo must learn how to work together and, with the aid of fellow gamers and their avatars, survive the game and find a way home. With its themes of love, loss, creativity, imagination, forgiveness, and empathy, this adventurous new show embraces family and the connections we make on- and off-line in this modern cyber age. Other World proudly features an inclusive cast and characters mirroring the gaming community and culture and giving voice to exciting talents.
Featuring performances from Arielle Jacobs, Michael Maliakel and Brad Standley
Connect with Andrew Beall: Instagram and Twitter: @composerandrew
Connect with Evan McCormack: Instagram: @esmccormack
Connect with David Don Miller: Instagram and Twitter: @daviddonmiller
Connect with Hunter Bell: Instagram: @huntbell
Connect with Jeff Bowen: Instagram: @jefbowen
Connect with Ann McNamee:
Instagram: @mcnamee.ann
Twitter: @AnnMcNamee
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Jen’s personal Instagram: @jensandler
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This episode features discussions about Dante Green’s An Incomplete List of All the Things I'm Going to Miss When the World is No Longer and Masi Asare’s Garden Of Starflowers. Dante was also joined by their collaborator Lyell Hintz.
AN INCOMPLETE LIST OF ALL THE THINGS I’M GOING TO MISS WHEN THE WORLD IS NO LONGER (by Dante Green) - Following a global announcement of the date and time Earth will be terminated, a community decides the only reasonable thing to do is to gather together. An Incomplete List… invites you into a glance at the last shit show ever -- through a retrospective of cherished and tragic memories -- to celebrate and mourn the delights and deceptions of the human experience.
GARDEN OF STARFLOWERS (by Masi Asare) - It’s 2075. A metropolis in a dystopian world where humans spend most of their time in survival pods taking shelter from an overheated planet. Plugged in to virtual realities, they rarely venture out in person except for organized mass entertainment events held under a shimmering festival dome. But Lucie, a misfit, has dreams of persuading flowers to grow in the scorched ground outside her pod. When Oscar catches a glimpse of her gardening on surveillance footage, he’s convinced she is the incarnation of Anjelín, a digital pop star he stans in virtual reality, and sets out to meet her. Meanwhile preparations are underway for Anjelín’s first holographic concert in the dome, but there are “glitches” in the digital star’s programming as she seems to manifest her own will and emotions. Oscar introduces a reluctant Lucie to the festival scene where she comes face to face with the virtual star who, uncannily, looks exactly like her. And then, Anjelín herself begins to have ideas about her purpose in the world, her connection to Lucie, and the dream of a real-life garden of starflowers.
Featuring performances from Jaime Cepero, Laura Galindo and Isabelle McCalla
Connect with Dante Green: Instagram: @dantemgreen
Connect with Masi Asare: Instagram and Twitter: @masiasare
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This episode features discussions about Aryanna Garber & Benjamin Velez’s Borderline and Kirsten Childs’ The Lucky Boy. Aryanna and Benjamin were also joined by their director Sarna Lapine (Sunday in the Park with George). Kirsten was also joined by her director John Simpkins (The Black Suits, Bloodsong of Love), music director Jennifer Peacock and actor Jasmine Forsberg (Broadway Bounty Hunter, Love In Hate Nation).
BORDERLINE (by Aryanna Garber & Benjamin Velez) - Borderline is a new musical dramedy about a girl living with Borderline Personality Disorder and struggling for normalcy amidst a revolving door of therapists, medications, and dysfunctional relationships. This new musical is a deeply personal story that explores the highs and lows, heartache and absurdity, of living on the borderline.
THE LUCKY BOY (by Kirsten Childs) - The Lucky Boy is a satirical one-act musical which examines what happens when a country is held hostage by a tyrant’s rule. Cruel King Ambrose kills citizens who don’t proclaim him adorable. When it’s predicted that an illegal alien baby named Lucky will grow up to surpass him in adorability, Ambrose throws the child into a nuclear waste bin. Eighteen years later, Ambrose discovers Lucky‘s still alive and hella adorable.
Featuring performances from Malik Bilbrew, Aidan Cole, Micaela Diamond, Kate Fahey, Jasmine Forsberg and Bryonha Marie Parham
Connect with Benjamin Velez: Instagram: @benjaminvelezmusic
Connect with Kirsten Childs:
Instagram: @kirchilds
Twitter: @KirChildsWriter
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Jen’s personal Instagram: @jensandler
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This episode features discussions about Ben Caplan’s I Don’t Want To Talk About It and Christina Crawford and David Nehls’ Mommie Dearest.
I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT (by Ben Caplan) - I Don’t Want to Talk About It takes a deep dive into the complex world of mental health as told by a troupe of mercurial performers to an unnamed protagonist. Through fourth-wall breaking sketch and song, the protagonist explores the subjects and stigmas of this taboo topic alongside the audience. But as the show goes on, the fourth wall begins to close, and the narrator realizes that the troupe isn’t here for the audience: they’re here for him. Through humor, empathy, and brutal honesty, this rock musical pushes the boundaries of how society discusses mental health.
MOMMIE DEAREST (by Christina Crawford & David Nehls) - Based on the explosive novel and film, this coming-of-age story is told through the point of view of brother-sister pair Christina and Christopher Crawford. The musical adaptation follows them through three decades of American culture as they grow up, struggle with adversity and try to remain family even as they are forced down different paths.
Featuring performances from Justin Albinder, Charlie Levy, Tina Scariano and Brynn Williams
Special thanks to Alex Pearlman/Bardo Arts for use of Mommie Dearest’s audio tracks
Connect with Ben Caplan:
Instagram: @MrBenCaplan
Twitter: @TheBenCaplan
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Joe’s personal Instagram: @bisforbarros
Jen’s personal Instagram: @jensandler
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This episode features discussions about Timothy Huang’s American Morning and Jaime Cepero’s Francois & The Rebels.
AMERICAN MORNING (by Timothy Huang) - Inspired by an article from the 2009 New York Times, American Morning tells the story of two immigrant cab drivers who share opposite shifts off the same medallion. The two men’s fates become intertwined as forced competition drives a wedge between them that culminates in a single desperate act that leaves one dead and the other brutalized.
FRANCOIS & THE REBELS (by Jaime Cepero) - Francois and the Rebels is a punk rock telling of the 1791 Haitian Revolution. With a pulsing punk rock score, and a story pulled from historic events full of love, loss, and deception, Francois and the Rebels tells an important and often forgotten black history through the lens of an immersive high energy rock and roll experience.
Featuring performances from Cathy Ang, Marc delaCruz, L Morgan Lee, Raymond J. Lee and Alex Lugo
Connect with Timothy Huang:
Instagram: @timothyhuanginstagram & @americanmorningmusical
Twitter: @TimothyHuang
Listen to the concept album of American Morning on Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music
Connect with Jaime Cepro: Instagram: @papimagic & @francoisandtherebels
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This episode features discussions about Georgina Escobar and Robi Hager’s Little Duende and Cheeyang Ng and Eric Sorrels’ Māyā. Cheeyang and Eric were also joined by their director Arpita Mukherjee. Both of these shows are featured in this year’s NAMT 33rd Festival Of New Musicals. A special edition discussion with NAMT’s New Works Director Mark Blankenship is also featured at the beginning.
LITTLE DUENDE (by Georgina Escobar and Robi Hager) - With fairy tales and mythological themes, Little Duende comments on real world matters as it explores the border crisis, dual citizenship and the consequences of a dark family secret.
MĀYĀ (by Cheeyang Ng and Eric Sorrels) - Told with contemporary language and a score that fuses Western pop and Indian Classical music, MĀYĀ is about the ties that hold us, the illusions that bind us and the truth that can finally set us free.
Featuring performances from Kimberly Chatterjee, Robi Hager and Kuhoo Verma
Connect with NAMT and Mark Blankenship:
Instagram: @NAMTpics & @IAmBlankenship
Twitter: @NAMT & @IAmBlankenship
Connect with Georgina Escobar:
Instagram: @thegeorginaescobar
Twitter: @ginnythekid
Connect with Robi Hager: Twitter & Instagram: @robihager
Connect with Cheeyang Ng: Twitter & Instagram: @Cheeyangmusic
Connect with Eric Sorrels: Instagram: @eric_sorrels
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Jen’s personal Instagram: @jensandler
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This episode features discussions about Paul Scott Goodman and Pamela Gray’s A Walk On The Moon and Daniel and Patrick Lazour’s We Live In Cairo. Paul and Pamela were also joined by director Sheryl Kaller and music supervisor Greg Anthony Rassen.
A WALK ON THE MOON (by Paul Scott Goodman and Pamela Gray) - A heart-stirring new musical that transports audiences to the summer of 1969 during the Woodstock festival and the Moon landing. Pearl Kantrowitz, a dutiful housewife, begins a love affair that pulls her away from the life she’s always known. At a crossroads, just like the America she's living in, Pearl must decide if she’s truly ready to leave her world behind.
WE LIVE IN CAIRO (by Daniel and Patrick Lazour) - Inspired by the young Egyptians who took to the streets in 2011 to overthrow President Hosni Mubarak, the show follows six revolutionary students armed with laptops and cameras, guitars and spray cans as they come of age in contemporary Cairo.
Featuring performances from Jackie Burns, Daniel Lazour, and Patrick Lazour
Co-produced and edited by Hector Flores Jr, and Pauls Macs
Connect with Paul Scott Goodman: Twitter: @thepaulproject
Connect with Daniel Lazour: Twitter & Instagram: @daniellazour and @frereslazour
Connect with Patrick Lazour:
Instagram: @plazour and @frereslazour
Twitter: @PatrickLazour
Listen to The Lazour’s album Flap My Wings on Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music
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This episode features discussions about Lauren Taslitz and Danny Ursetti’s Mimosa and Will Van Dyke and Jeff Talbott’s Ten Brave Seconds.
MIMOSA (by Lauren Taslitz and Danny Ursetti) - Mimosa is a plant with a special gift: she can dance. Mom begs her to stop, concerned that she could be noticed by a human. Then along comes lonely, teenage human Molly, who catches sight of Mimosa dancing and is so delighted by her, she digs Mimosa up and takes her home. Together they learn to communicate in order to unite and heal their imperiled communities. Mimosa is a cautionary tale that asks us to see ourselves as natural parts of the natural world in order to preserve and save our environment.
TEN BRAVE SECONDS (by Jeff Talbott and Will Van Dyke) - Ten Brave Seconds is a new musical about the day that 16-year-old Mike comes out of the closet and the cosmic change that affects his community. Mike is about to find out that it’s on the other side of the telling that all the good stuff sits waiting. This original story is about those tiny brave seconds that make up the gargantuan moments that tell you (and the world) who you are.
Featuring performances from Makai Hernandez, Diana Huey, Troy Iwata, Shereen Pimentel, Christine Toy Johnson and Angela Travino
Produced by Pauls Macs
Connect with Lauren Taslitz: Instagram: @ltaslitz
Connect with Danny Ursetti: Twitter & Instagram: @dannyursetti
Connect with Jeff Talbott: Twitter & Instagram: @jefftalbott
Connect with Will Van Dyke: Twitter & Instagram: @wvdmusic
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Welcome to The Musicals of Tomorrow! This episode is part of the premiere group and features discussions about Paulo K Tiról and Noam Shapiro’s On This Side Of The World and Jonathan Karpinos, John McGrew and Joseph Varca’s The Village Of Vale. Paulo and Noam were also joined by actor Belinda Allyn. Jonathan, John and Joseph were also joined by Tony Award® winning producer Jane Dubin and director Lisa Rothe.
ON THIS SIDE OF THE WORLD (by Paulo K Tiról and Noam Shapiro) - Stories of overseas workers, young lovers and gossipy church ladies. Snapshots of undocumented immigrants, millennial princesses and first-generation Americans. In On This Side of the World, six actors give voice to Filipino immigrants navigating old lives and new beginnings, as a one-way ticket sends them on a journey eight-thousand miles from home.
THE VILLAGE OF VALE (by Jonathan Karpinos, John McGrew and Joseph Varca) - Carrying only a pair of magical glasses and a desire for vengeance, an ageless Traveler returns to the village that once betrayed her. When she finally returns to Vale, she is caught up in the lives of the villagers who hold the key to her vengeance: an obsessed bookkeeper, a haunted widow, and the family of proud woodcutters that exiled her long ago. As her search for revenge upends the lives of everyone she encounters, she faces a choice that will change the village of Vale forever.
Featuring performances from Belinda Allyn, Marc delaCruz, Lauren Elder, John McGrew, Michael Protacio and Joy Tamayo
Connect with Paulo K Tiról: Instagram: @pauloktirol
Connect with Noam Shapiro: Twitter & Instagram: @noam_shapiro
Connect with John McGrew: Twitter & Instagram: @johnmcgroove
Connect with Joseph Varca: Twitter & Instagram: @joevarca
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Joe’s personal Instagram: @bisforbarros
Jen’s personal Instagram: @jensandler
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Welcome to The Musicals of Tomorrow! This episode is part of the premiere group and features discussions about Joriah Kwamé and Lauren M. Gunderson’s Little Miss Perfect and Kate Leonard and Daniel Merzlufft’s House Rules.
LITTLE MISS PERFECT (by Joriah Kwamé and Lauren M. Gunderson) - Coming of age is even harder when you’re also coming out. Noelle's world turns upside down when she develops feelings for Malaya, the foreign exchange student being hosted by her conservative family. As class president, she also must confront her privilege and compliance when her high school refuses to take steps in being more inclusive. Noelle struggles to decide whether she will be true to herself and an ally to her peers, or if she will settle with simply being Little Miss Perfect.
HOUSE RULES (by Kate Leonard and Daniel Merzlufft) - Jacob Hunt is a forensics-obsessed teenager living with autism in modern-day Vermont. With the help of his devoted mother and oft-overlooked younger brother, Jacob relies on strict routines to navigate daily life as smoothly as possible. The family is thrown into chaos, however, when Jacob’s beloved social skills tutor is found dead and Jacob is suspect number one. Based on the novel by New York Times Best-Selling novelist Jodi Picoult.
Featuring performances from Savannah Fisher, Max Antonio Gonzalez, Michelle Beth Herman, Joriah Kwamé and Daniel Merzlufft
Connect with Joriah Kwamé: Twitter & Instagram: @JoriahKwame
Connect with Lauren M. Gunderson: Twitter & Instagram: @LaLaTellsAStory
Connect with Kate Leonard: Instagram: @kraaate
Connect with Daniel Merzlufft:
Twitter: @danieljmertz
Instagram: @danieljmertzlufft
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Joe’s personal Instagram: @bisforbarros
Jen’s personal Instagram: @jensandler
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Welcome to The Musicals of Tomorrow! This episode is part of the premiere group and features discussions about Rob Rokicki and Sarah Beth Pfiefer’s Experience Marianas’ and Joe Iconis’ Love In Hate Nation. Joe was also joined by Love In Hate Nation Two River Theater cast members Amina Faye and Kelly McIntyre.
EXPERIENCE MARIANAS (by Rob Rokicki and Sarah Beth Pfeifer) - Experience Marianas is a wild sapphic rock musical adventure about one woman's journey to escape an oceanic cult. The piece is a high-octane, darkly comedic examination of systems of control and how we struggle to define our identities within them. Set aboard a ship, the show immerses our audience into the Marianas Institute, an aquatic ‘healing center’ founded by Dr. Davis “Daddy” Johnson. We are indoctrinated into the group in real-time. "Informational sessions" start off completely plausible but get progressively wilder and more fantastical, complete with pyramid schemes, sex rituals, sea monsters, and eventually murder.
LOVE IN HATE NATION (by Joe Iconis) - Set in a 1960s Juvie Hall, Love in Hate Nation tells the story of young people caught between eras of a changing America. Sixteen-year old Susannah Son is carted off to the National Reformatory for Girls to get her head put on straight. There she meets the aggressively incorrigible Sheila Nail, and a relationship forms which leads to an all-out “revolution in the institution” as they attempt to break out of the boxes society has created around them. Girl Group Wall of Sound harmonies are filtered through a punk rock spirit in this rebellious and romantic new musical.
Featuring performances from Sydney Farley, Amina Faye, Jasmine Forsberg, Lauren Marcus, Kelly McIntyre, Sarah Beth Pfeifer, Rob Rokicki, Lena Skeele, Emerson Mae Smith and Tatiana Wechsler
Connect with Rob Rokicki: Twitter & Instagram: @rrokicks
Connect with Sarah Beth Pfiefer: Twitter & Instagram: @itsmesbp
Connect with Joe Iconis: Twitter & Instagram: @MrJoeIconis
Connect with New York Theatre Barn:
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Joe’s personal Instagram: @bisforbarros
Jen’s personal Instagram: @jensandler
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