Fran Minarik

UnsungMusicalsCo. (Ben West, Artistic Director) presents the new documentary musical 45 Minutes from Coontown, created, written and performed by Ben West, the founder of UMC and a 2017 recipient of Lincoln Center's Martin E. Segal Award, with musical continuity and arrangements by Fran Minarik, and direction and musical staging by Parker Esse. 45 Minutes from Coontown is a celebration of black musical theatre, tracing its history from the late-1800s through 1999, and featuring more than 30 songs almost exclusively by black writers. Developed over more than four years, with more than 20 archives in more than 10 states, 45 Minutes from Coontown documents the story of an art form that grew amidst a nation's racial prejudice, and the many African-American authors who not only furthered the form itself but were also instrumental in the development of the American popular song.

UnsungMusicalsCo. (Ben West, Artistic Director) presents the new documentary musical 45 Minutes from Coontown, created, written and performed by Ben West, the founder of UMC and a 2017 recipient of Lincoln Center's Martin E. Segal Award, with musical continuity and arrangements by Fran Minarik, and direction and musical staging by Parker Esse.

UnsungMusicalsCo. presents the new documentary musical 45 Minutes from Coontown, created, written and performed by Ben West, the founder of UMC and a 2017 recipient of Lincoln Center's Martin E. Segal Award, with musical continuity and arrangements by Fran Minarik, and direction and musical staging by Parker Esse. 

UnsungMusicalsCo. (Ben West, Artistic Director) presents the new documentary musical 45 Minutes from Coontown, created, written and performed by Ben West, the founder of UMC and a 2017 recipient of Lincoln Center's Martin E. Segal Award, with musical continuity and arrangements by Fran Minarik, direction and musical staging by Parker Esse, and music direction by Dionne McClain-Freeney. 

UnsungMusicalsCo. (Ben West, Artistic Director) has announced, today, its Fall 2019 Calendar of Events scheduled at various mid-Atlantic locations. First up is the new documentary musical 45 Minutes from Coontown, which traces the history of black musical theatre and is the second installment in The Show Time! Trilogy; the season continues with Sex, Satire, and Song, an exhibit curated for Yale University; Diversity and the Birth of Broadway, a two-part lecture series for the Library of Congress; and concludes with the new musical revue *The Passing Show of 2019. UMC's 2019 season launched in March with the UMC Writers Lab*.

Show Time! The First 100 Years of the American Musical is created, written, and performed by Ben West, a 2017 recipient of Lincoln Center's Martin E. Segal Award. Developed over the past four years from more than twenty archives in more than ten states, Show Time! features over two dozen songs in an electrifying live-action documentary, weaving music and performance through a narrative of world, cultural, and theatre history, telling the remarkable story of this uniquely American art form, charting its evolution from the mid-1800s through 1999. Show Time! will cover seven eras of the American musical: Cosmic Collisions (1866-1899), Birth of an Art Form (1900-1924), Rise of the Golden Age (1925-1930), Golden Age, Part One (1931-1950), Golden Age, Part Two (1951-1970), Fall of the Golden Age (1971-1980) and Growing Pains, or Identity Crisis (1981-1999).

UnsungMusicals Co. announced today its plans for the 2018 season.

The York Theatre Company has announced the line-up for its 49th anniversary season at The York Theatre at Saint Peter's.

UnsungMusicalsCo. and The York Theatre Company announced today a partnership for the next three years for UMC's Show Time! Trilogy. UnsungMusicalsCo. (UMC) focuses on researching and developing prescient projects that explore the vibrancy of the American musical theatre canon, and how past works influence the artists and repertoire of today and tomorrow.

The New York Musical Festival (NYMF) announced today further selections for 2018 NYMF. The final invited production as well as a series of developmental readings and concerts will join the initially announced Next Link Projects. Now in its fifteenth year, the 2018 Festival will take place July 9th through August 5th at locations on West 42nd St. in New York City. Dan Markley serves as NYMF Executive Director and Rachel Sussman serves as Producing Artistic Director.

UnsungMusicals Co. announced today its plans for the 2018 season.

UnsungMusicalsCo. (UMC) will continue its 2014 Unsung concert series at 54 Below with Unsung Bob Merrill and Unsung Carolyn Leigh, Vol. 2, following its recent sold-out, critically acclaimed Unsung Carolyn Leigh concert for Lincoln Center's American Songbook. The two all-new evenings are created and directed by Ben West (Unsung Carolyn Leigh, The Fig Leaves Are Falling, At Home Abroad) with musical direction and arrangements by Fran Minarik (Unsung Carolyn Leigh, At Home Abroad).

UnsungMusicalsCo. (UMC) will present Unsung Carolyn Leigh, Vol. 2 at 54 Below on Thursday, November 20 at 7 PM and 9:30 PM. The evening, showcasing songs by the Tony- and Grammy-nominated lyricist of Peter Pan, Little Me, and How Now Dow Jones, is created and directed by Ben West (Unsung Carolyn Leigh, The Fig Leaves Are Falling).

UnsungMusicalsCo. (UMC) will present Unsung Bob Merrill hosted by three-time Tony Award nominee Marc Kudisch (9 to 5, Assassins, Millie). Created and directed by Ben West (Unsung Carolyn Leigh, The Fig Leaves Are Falling, Make Mine Manhattan), the intimate evening will play 54 Below tonight, August 5 at 9:30 PM.

UnsungMusicalsCo. (UMC) will present Unsung Bob Merrill hosted by three-time Tony Award nominee Marc Kudisch (9 to 5, Assassins, Millie). Created and directed by Ben West (Unsung Carolyn Leigh, The Fig Leaves Are Falling, Make Mine Manhattan), the intimate evening will play 54 Below on Tuesday, August 5 at 9:30 PM.

UnsungMusicalsCo. (UMC) continues its 2014 developmental reading series at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center with a special presentation of I Had a Ball, the 1964 Coney Island musical comedy with a book by Tony Award winner Jerome Chodorov (Wonderful Town) and a score by Stan Freeman & Jack Lawrence. The reading, directed by Ben West (Unsung Carolyn Leigh, The Fig Leaves Are Falling, Make Mine Manhattan), will be held today, July 24 at 2:30 PM in the Bruno Walter Auditorium.

UnsungMusicalsCo. (UMC) continues its 2014 developmental reading series at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center with a special presentation of I Had a Ball, the 1964 Coney Island musical comedy with a book by Tony Award winner Jerome Chodorov (Wonderful Town) and a score by Stan Freeman & Jack Lawrence. The reading, directed by Ben West (Unsung Carolyn Leigh, The Fig Leaves Are Falling, Make Mine Manhattan), will be held Thursday, July 24 at 2:30 PM in the Bruno Walter Auditorium.

UnsungMusicalsCo. (UMC) continues its 2014 developmental reading series at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center with a special presentation of I Had a Ball, the 1964 Coney Island musical comedy with a book by Tony Award winner Jerome Chodorov (Wonderful Town) and a score by Stan Freeman & Jack Lawrence. The reading, directed by Ben West (Unsung Carolyn Leigh, The Fig Leaves Are Falling, Make Mine Manhattan), will be held Thursday, July 24 at 2:30 PM in the Bruno Walter Auditorium.

UnsungMusicalsCo. (UMC) is proud to present a special workshop production of the all-new musical revue The Passing Show for five performances only this weekend, June 26-29 at MTC Creative Center.