BALLOON BOY: THE MUSICAL Set for NYMF

BALLOON BOY: THE MUSICAL, a new musical featuring book, music and lyrics by Billy Recce, will be presented in the 2015 New York Musical Theatre Festival Developmental Reading Series.

Written by Recce when he was in the 7th grade - making him the youngest NYMF composer ever -BALLOON BOY: THE MUSICAL is a quirky comedy based on the bizarre 2009 news story that captivated the nation's attention when a man claimed his young son was stuck in a weather balloon in the sky, only to later admit that the child was actually hiding in the attic. Inspired by the infamous media sensation surrounding the event, this irreverent, celebrity-spoofing show offers sky-high hilarity as it examines how far a man will go to achieve fame - and how bright that light can shine before it burns a hole in the heart.

Now 17 and off to college, Recce's plays have been performed at The Kennedy Center and The Cherry Lane Theatre with Young Playwrights Inc. He is the winner of the 2014 VSA Playwright Discovery Award and the 2014 NYSTEA conference. In addition, BALLOON BOY won the 2014 Thespian Musicalworks competition. Recce is also the composer of Capes and Tights. He will be entering Fordham University's playwriting program this Fall.

BALLOON BOY: THE MUSICAL will be directed by Taylor Haven Holt, the assistant director of Broadway's Hand to God and Murder Ballad. She also directed Factory Girls at 54 Below and is currently Producing Artistic Director of Reckless Theatre Group, where she recently directed Stupid Kids.

The cast of BALLOON BOY: THE MUSICAL will feature Reed Campbell (Shakespeare in the Park'sComedy of Errors, Nice Work if You Can Get It)), Lynn Craig (The Marvelous Wonderettes), Lisa Graye,Andrea Lynn Green (Giant at The Public Theater, Primary Stages' Harrison, TX, Playwrights Horizons'Rocket Science), Michael Hull (Little Shop of Horrors at the Lortel), Tyler Andrew Jones (The Vow at M2 Musical Workshop), Emily Kratter (Labyrinth Theater Company's Confederates, The New Group'sProgress in Flying, NYMF's Greenwood), Michael Kushner (On the Town at Barrington Stage), Kaetlyn Miles and RJ Vaillantcourt.

Rebecca G. Greenstein is the musical director. She is a graduate of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Writing Workshop who has written Quest for the West: Adventures on the Oregon Trail! (NY Fringe Festival, Kentucky Repertory Theatre), GEORGE (Barnard College), Hapless Romance (West Village Musical Theatre Festival), The 115th Annual Varsity Show (Columbia University) and Plan B (Looking Glass Theater). She currently serves as music director for the award-winning Kidz Theater.

Sarah Devon Ford is the production stage manager. Her credits include Sleep No More by Punchbrunk and Off-Broadway's A Midsummer Night's Dream (Masterworks Theater Company) Soldier X and Livin La Vida Emelda (MA YI Theatre Company), Dry Land (HERE Arts) and The Most Deserving and The Architecture of Becoming (Women's Project).

BALLOON BOY: THE MUSICAL will be performed at the Studio Theatre at Theatre Row on Tuesday, July 7 at 3pm; Tuesday, July 7 at 6:30pm; and Saturday, July 11 at 4:30pm.

Free tickets for the NYMF Developmental Reading Series become available to the general public 48 hours before each performance, on a space available basis. Tickets may be reserved by phone at (212) 664-0979 x26 or by waitlist at the Theatre Row Studio Theatre starting one hour before each curtain.

The Studio Theatre at Theatre Row is located at 410 West 42nd Street in New York City.