Ann Harada & Sara Wordsworth to Host Prospect's GOOD TO GO Women Writers Showcase

Immigration, the development of Luna Park, and new adaptations of the films Bread and Roses and Teeth are among the subjects of Prospect Theater Company's upcoming Good to Go Songwriter's Showcase, a concert celebrating new works-in-process created or co-created by women writers.

Conceived by The Good to Go Festival's Producing Artistic Director Judy Zocchi as a response to media reports noting a lack of female voices in the American theater, the Good to Go Songwriter's Showcase will be co-hosted by Ann Harada (Avenue Q) and Sara Wordsworth (In Transit). The evening will feature works by, and interviews with, Jill Abramowitz, Amy Burgess, Sara Cooper, Rachel Griffin, Anna K. Jacobs, Hyeyoung Kim, Ellen McLaughlin, Julia Meinwald, and Katya Stanislavskaya. The concert will be directed by Christine O'Grady with musical direction by Britt Bonney.

Prospect Theater Company, under the leadership of Cara Reichel, Producing Artistic Director and Melissa Huber, Managing Director, in partnership with The Good to Go Festival, continues its 2016/17 IGNITE Series at The TimesCenter with the Good to Go Songwriter's Showcase on Friday, March 10, 2017 at 8pm.

"It's an exciting time for Good to Go as we embark on our second concert showcasing new musicals by women that are 'good to go' and ready for production," said Zocchi. "This year, we feature shows that have been developed at the BMI Workshop, the Dramatist Guild Fellows Program, The Sundance Institute, The Public Theater and many more outstanding organizations." "Prospect is thrilled to once again partner with The Good to Go Festival, after our March 2016 concert collaboration," said Reichel. "We are honored to bring attention to new works from some of the industry's most exciting female writers."

Launched in 2015, Prospect's IGNITE Series is an ongoing concert initiative at The TimesCenter, featuring today's new voices shaping tomorrow's musical theater. Reflecting Prospect's dedication to fostering and producing work by emerging artists, IGNITE Series programming will include premieres of original material by award-winning songwriters; cutting-edge creations straight from Prospect's annual Musical Theater Lab; concert presentations of musicals in development; and more.

Single tickets are $20, $30 and $40, and may be obtained through online purchase at www.ProspectTheater.org / GoodToGoFestival.org, or by calling (212) 352-3101. Tickets may also be purchased at the door.

The TimesCenter (www.TheTimesCenter.com) is located at 242 West 41st Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues, in the heart of NYC's Times Square District. The venue features a 378-seat auditorium with state-of-the-art lighting, sound, and video capability, and a Steinway Concert Grand Piano.

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Good to Go Songwriter's Showcase Show List -- March 10, 2017:

BREAD AND ROSES

Book and lyrics by Jill Abramowitz

Music by Brad Alexander

Inspired by true events, Bread and Roses is a musical adaptation of the film (by director Ken Loach and screenwriter Paul Laverty) about a group of Los Angeles janitors who rise up against their corrupt bosses and attempt to unionize.

ELEVATOR HEART

Words by Sara Cooper

Music by Amy Burgess and Julia Meinwald

An all-female ensemble musical theater piece about being a woman right here, right now -- that will punch you in the face while kissing you on the lips.

WE HAVE APPLES

Book and lyrics by Rachel Griffin

Music by Rachel Griffin and Aron Accurso

Paralyzed by her mental illness, Jane, a quirky young writer, is admitted into a psychiatric facility. When a preventable tragedy occurs in the facility, Jane must help her fellow patients expose the inadequate care in the ward before more patients meet a similar fate.

THE NAMES WE GAVE HIM

Text by Ellen McLaughlin

Music by Peter Foley

Inspired by a true story, The Names We Gave Him concerns an amnesiac veteran of the First World War, the doctor who treated him, and the many women who, in denial of their grief, claimed him as their lost beloved.

LUNA PARK

Lyrics by Michael Cooper

Book by Daniel F. Levin

Music by Hyeyoung Kim

Luna Park chronicles the partnership of Skip Dundy and FrEd Thompson, the true fathers of the modern themed amusement park. A full generation before Walt Disney, they created at Coney Island an attraction called Luna Park, a place designed to allow everyone to forget the pressures of modern industrial society and remember how to play.

TEETH

Book by Michael R. Jackson & Anna K. Jacobs

Music by Anna K. Jacobs

Words by Michael R. Jackson

Adapted from the 2007 Sundance Award-winning indie horror film by Mitchell Lichtenstein, Teeth tells the story of Dawn O'Keefe, an evangelical Christian teen with a dirty little secret: she has teeth in her vagina. When the men in Dawn's life try to exploit her, she is forced to confront the teeth and decide whether to sacrifice or harness them.

RESIDENT ALIEN

Book, music and lyrics by Katya Stanislavskaya

Resident Alien is an original story of a family of three who are part of the third wave of Soviet and post-Soviet immigration to the U.S. in the 1990s. The family -- a professor stuck in the past, a musician willing to adapt, and a teenager whose culture shock coincides with her coming-of-age -- represents the full spectrum of the successes and failures of the immigrant experience.

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The Good to Go Festival is a platform that features plays, musicals and songs written by women that are "good to go" and ready for full production. Launched in 2015 with the Good to Go Summit, a day of panel discussions on the topic of gender parity, the Good to Go Songwriter's Showcase ushers in the festival's next phase, actively putting women's work in front of audiences and industry professionals.

Prospect Theater Company (founded in 1998) is dedicated to fostering and showcasing today's new voices shaping tomorrow's musicals. Since 2000, the company has fully produced more than 30 premiere musicals in New York City, in addition to new plays and numerous re-inventions of classic works. Reflecting its investment in the future of the field, Prospect leads a variety of developmental initiatives, including an annual Musical Theater Lab for emerging writers, and a Summer Intensive training program for teenagers. In recognition of its enterprising and risk-taking new musical theater, the company received a 2016 OBIE Award grant. Their work as a community anchor for emerging artists that strengthens the quality, diversity, and dynamism of American theater was also honored with a 2013 National Theatre Company Grant from the American Theatre Wing. Notable productions include: the Drama Desk Award-winning Working (2012), Death for Five Voices (2016), Long Story Short (2015), Jasper in Deadland (2014), the Drama-Desk nominated Tamar of the River (2013), Unlock'd (2013), Iron Curtain (2006, 2011), Myths and Hymns (2012), With Glee (2010), The Blue Flower (2008), Golden Boy of the Blue Ridge (2009), The Hidden Sky (2010), Illyria (2002, 2008), and the Drama-Desk nominated The Pursuit of Persephone (2005).

Photo Credit: Walter McBride