CAP21 Launches 2015 Season with New Musical THE ARTIST & THE SCIENTIST Tonight

The award-winning CAP21 Theatre Company will open its 2015 season with the first production of a new musical, THE ARTIST & THE SCIENTIST, with book and lyrics by Jenny Stafford, music by Brandon Anderson, and story by Jenny Stafford and Brandon Anderson. It is a love story exploring the conflicting ways in which we each see the world and the fears we have of losing ourselves in other people. THE ARTIST & THE SCIENTIST will play a limited run from tonight, February 4 -28, 2015 at the CAP21 Theatre, 18 West 18th Street, 5th Floor, New York.

Brandon Anderson is an award-winning composer (2007 ASCAP Foundation Frederick Loewe Award, Kennedy Center ACTF Award, Critics Pick, Time Out NY). His work has been performed at Lincoln Center, The Metropolitan Opera, The Laurie Beechman, and Joe's Pub. Jenny Stafford's work has been featured at Lincoln Center, Prospect Theatre Company, The Metropolitan Opera, and NYMF. She was the recipient of the Paulette Goddard Award, and was recognized as a finalist for the Yale Institute for Music Theatre Award and The Eugene O'Neill Musical Theatre Conference.

Jessi D. Hill (Women's Project, NYTW, Primary Stages, The New Group) will direct the production, with musical direction by Kristen Lee Rosenfeld (Spring Awakening 1st National Tour). The artistic team for The Artist & The Scientist includes scenic designer Lee Savage, costume designer Amy Sutton, lighting designer Greg Solomon, sound designer Jacob Subotnik, stage manager Cate Di Girolamo and production manager, Becca Doyle. Casting will be announced in early January.

This production of The Artist & The Scientist culminates two years of development as part of CAP21's New Works Development Program: a comprehensive series of residencies, readings, workshops, and professional mentorship that is individually tailored to meet the needs of writers and their work. Artistic Director Eliza Ventura says "This beautiful project reminds me of what T.S. Eliot said: We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."

The Artist & The Scientist runs from February 4 through February 28, 2015 at the CAP21 Theatre (18 W. 18th Street, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10011). Performances are Wednesday-Saturday at 7 PM. Regular single tickets are $18 general admission.

For more information on the show, or to purchase tickets, visit www.cap21.org. Information will also be available by phone starting January 5, 2015.

The CAP21 Theatre Company season will continue in May -- June 2015 with another new musical.

Collaborative Arts Project 21 (CAP21) is dedicated to creating new work, developing new talent and building new audiences. Now in its 21st Anniversary Year, CAP21 consists of an award-winning Theatre Company, an internationally recognized Musical Theatre Conservatory, and an active Studio Rentals business.

CAP21 Theatre Company produces new musicals by both emerging and established writers. Its extensive programming for new musical development is designed to drive new work towards production. Last year, these programs further developed 28 new works. Past productions include the award-winning production of Southern Comfort (written by Julianne Wick Davis and Dan Collins) which received the 2012 GLAAD Award for Outstanding New York Theater. Additionally, numerous new works developed with The CAP21 Theatre Company have moved on to subsequent productions and workshops around the U.S., and five new musicals produced at CAP21 have been awarded the Jonathan Larson Award.

The CAP21 Conservatory is proudly one of America's top musical theatre training programs and currently has over 100 alums that have performed on Broadway. Hundreds more have performed Off-Broadway, in national tours, and in film and television. Notable Alums include Lady Gaga (Grammy Winner), Matthew Morrison (Emmy Nominee, Tony Nominee, Glee, South Pacific), Melissa Fumero (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Nikki M. James (Tony Winner, The Book of Mormon), Cristin Milioti (Tony Nominee, Once), Bobby Steggert (Tony Nominee, Ragtime), and Adam Jacobs (The Lion King, Disney's Aladdin).