David Josefsberg, John Cariani & Nathan Levy to Star in TEN BRAVE SECONDS Industry Reading

An industry reading of a new American musical, TEN BRAVE SECONDS by Will Van Dyke and Jeff Talbott, will take place this week (Thursday, November 17) in New York City directed by Ellie Heyman, with musical direction by Patrick Sulken. The cast features Nathan Levy (Dear Evan Hansen), David Josefsberg (Beetlejuice, The Prom, Waitress) and John Cariani (Caroline or Change, The Band's Visit, Something Rotten), along with Jordan Tyson, Elijah Lyons, Melissa Victor, Kerri George, Danny Quadrino, Isabella Bria Lopez, Daniel Altamirano, Camila Paquet, Jack Hale, Celeste Rose and Polanco Jones, Jr. General Management services provided by Foresight Theatrical and Kevin Jinghong Zhu is the Stage Manager. Casting by Them.

TEN BRAVE SECONDS is a timely new American musical about one big/little day in the life of Mike, a completely average 16- year-old who is about to have a completely un-average day.

The presentation is produced by Erica Schwartz and Matt Picheny.

Will Van Dyke

(Music & Lyrics) is a Grammy nominated composer, songwriter, music supervisor, orchestrator, and arranger working in theatre, television, and film. Most recently Will penned the score to The Messenger at Pioneer Theater Company, where he has also written the scores to Ass and i. Other composition credits include: The 64 Keys (Cleveland Playhouse), The Gravedigger's Lullaby (off-Broadway), Straight (off-Broadway), The Lion King Experience titles (Disney), Writing Kevin Taylor (Village Theatre), among others. Will has also freelanced with various projects for Sesame Street and PBS television. Will currently serves as the Music Supervisor/Orchestrator/Arranger for the hit revival of Little Shop of Horrors. Will also Orchestrated and Arranged Fly at La Jolla Playhouse and Pretty Woman on Broadway and continues to Supervise worldwide. Other credits: Kinky Boots, Rent, The Addams Family, Grease, and Wicked. Will is a frequent collaborator with many of New York City's finest talents including Annaleigh Ashford with whom he created her Live from Lincoln Center special. Will writes musicals with Jeff Talbott and has a band. Will and Jeff have recorded several albums which are available everywhere you stream music.

Jeff Talbott

(Book & Lyrics) Jeff's play The Submission was the inaugural recipient of the Laurents/Hatcher Award and was produced off-Broadway by MCC Theater; it went on to receive the Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award for New American Play and was published and licensed by Concord Theatricals. Other produced works: The Messenger (Pioneer Theatre Company), The Gravedigger's Lullaby (off-Broadway-TACT/Theatre Row; published and licensed by Dramatic Publishing), i (Pioneer Theatre Company), Civics and Humanities for Non-Majors (2018 O'Neill Finalist; commissioned and produced by Montclair State University) and A Public Education (Out of Box Theatre, 2015 O'Neill Finalist; workshops-Pioneer Theatre, TACT). Other plays: The Inevitable Upward Trajectory of Josh, White Guy From Ohio; Joseph Cook (2019 O'Neill Finalist); Three Rules for the Dragon (2017 O'Neill Finalist, workshops-Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Colt Coeur and Premiere Stages), How to Build a City (workshops-TACT, Route 66), Elliot and All the Stars in the Midnight Sky. He writes musicals with composer Will Van Dyke: Imagine Harry (NAMT 2015, 2017 O'Neill Finalist), Wintersong (2016 Goodspeed Johnny Mercer Colony, 2017 NAMT Finalist), Seven Broken Hearts (2017 Rhinebeck Writers Retreat), The Circle and the Wheel (commissioned by Grove Entertainment and Barbara Whitman Productions) and Ten Brave Seconds (currently optioned by Avalon Road Productions). They have released three EPs (A View of the River, The Mayor, and Forks Don't Break) and the singles A New Year (featuring Annaleigh Ashford), I Hate to Love You (featuring Daniel Quadrino), and Take Me to the Party (featuring Wesley Taylor). Together, Jeff & Will were finalists for the 2019 Fred Ebb Award and the 2021 Kleban Award. Jeff graduated with honors from the Yale School of Drama.

Ellie Heyman

(Director) is a director of theater and film. Recent credits include: The Great Work Begins: Scenes from Angels in America featuring Glenn Close and Brian Tyree Henry (Drama League Award; NYT Best of 2020); MCC's Space Dogs; Eschaton (PGA Award Nomination for Innovation); (Still) Asking For It (The Public Theater); A$AP Rocky's Lab Rat, Jason Craig & Dave Malloy's Beardo (Drama Desk Nomination; Pipeline Theater), Erin Markey's Boner Killer (Under the Radar), Becca Blackwell's They, Themself and Scherm (Under the Radar); This (Bessie Nomination for Outstanding Production; NYLA), Thistree (PROTOTYPE Festival, Here Arts); The Travelling Imaginary with Julian Koster (Neutral Milk Hotel) rated "Top 5 shows of the year" by NPR; music-fiction podcast The Orbiting Human Circus (Of the Air) featuring Tim Robbins and John Cameron Mitchell, rated #1 on Apple Podcasts and downloaded over 5 million times, and the "cult classic" Dreamboy (Night Vale Presents). She is a graduate of Northwestern University and Boston University, and a Drama League and WP Theater Time Warner Directing Fellow Alumni.

Erica Lynn Schwartz

(Producer) is a Tony award-winning performing arts professional with a wide variety of theatrical development and production experience. She has seasoned management experience with deep relationships in the industry, a thorough understanding of theatrical production, new work development, licensing, touring and a proven track record in creating new revenue streams. Erica is a two-time Tony Award® winner as a Co-Producer of Moulin Rouge! The Musical, and David Byrne's American Utopia. She is the Vice President of Theatrical Programming for Ambassador Theatre Group, North America. Erica oversees theatrical programming for the company's North American venues, including the Emerson Colonial Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts where she was previously the General Manager. For almost 20 years, Erica has served in various capacities in the New York City performing arts community, working for organizations including ATG, Lincoln Center, producer Daryl Roth, MCC Theater, The Araca Group, TMG, and 321 Theatrical Management. Through these various roles she worked on numerous shows including Wicked, ...Spelling Bee, Buyer & Cellar, Movin' Out, Doubt, A Beautiful Noise, and Hairspray. Erica's Broadway producing debut was Neil LaBute's Reasons To Be Pretty (Tony, Drama Desk & Outer Critics Circle Nominations for Best Play). She is an active investor in several Broadway shows - including the smash-hits Hamilton, Plaza Suite, and an international tour of Wicked.

MATT PICHENY

(Producer) is a former actor turned investor and Founder of the investment company, Picheny. Matt is focused on developing passive income streams that enable investors to write their own story and choose how they want to spend their time. He specializes in revitalizing and elevating communities through real estate investment, community enrichment, and the arts. In the 1990's, Matt was a working actor who performed in 15 productions across the country including productions at Paper Mill Playhouse and Goodspeed Opera House. He is passionate about the transformative power of the arts and committed to supporting the creation of new work. Matt has invested in the Broadway productions of If/Then, Hamilton, Plaza Suite, an international tour of Wicked, and received two Tony Awards as a Co-Producer of Moulin Rouge! The Musical, and David Byrne's American Utopia.

TEN BRAVE SECONDS

A lot of things can happen in one day. Big things - like the Supreme Court hearing a momentous case. And little things - like saying one true thing about yourself to the people you love. TEN BRAVE SECONDS is a musical about one big/little day in the life of Mike, a completely average 16- year-old who is about to have a completely un-average day. It's also a day in the life of a family that is spiraling out of control. Mike's parents are one month out of a pretty terrible divorce, and now it's just Mike, his dad and his little sister. His dad is trying to hold this family together, but when Mike blurts out the fact that he's gay, it's fair to say neither of them handle it . . . you know . . . well. But Mike is about to learn that everybody is holding something inside they're afraid of saying. It doesn't matter if you're a dad, a son, a sister or a friend; we all are keeping some quiet secret away from the world that we're afraid of sharing. But it only takes a couple of seconds (ten, for example), to say exactly what you mean. In fact, the scariest moments are often over so fast, because that's what scary moments are - merely moments. And all it takes is a couple of brave seconds to get through them.