FOXBRIER LANE Finds Hope at 54 Below

“Everyone needs a little grief music to let them know they’re not alone,” says Brandon Nicholas Pfeltz, quoting a pivotal song from his new musical Foxbrier Lane, which makes its 54 Below debut on January 29, 2025. The line could well serve as the show’s thesis — a heart-wrenching exploration of addiction, loss, and the ripple effects of grief that has already touched audiences deeply in its Maryland premiere.

The folk-rock musical, written by Pace University graduates Pfeltz and Aitan Shachar, began as a much different project. The two friends, who met as freshmen some 15 years ago, were working on a screenplay together when tragedy struck — Pfeltz’s brother passed away from an overdose after years of struggling with addiction and homelessness.

“I had written a screenplay called The Guinness Book World Records about my brother’s life and his addiction,” Pfeltz recalls. “After he passed away, I started writing this flood of different songs.” What emerged was something entirely new — a musical that would tell not just his brother’s story, but examine the devastating impact of grief on an entire family.

The show’s very title emerged from this raw period of processing loss. “The night after I came home to Baltimore, I just sat in the basement and wrote the first thing that came to my head, which became the title song,” Pfeltz shares. “I sent it to my partner, and she suggested calling it Foxbrier Lane — that’s the house I was living in at the time.”

For Shachar, the project is about something larger than just telling one story. “Every story deserves to be told, no matter who you are and where you come from,” he emphasizes. “It’s based on a true story, about addiction … when [Brandon’s brother] died, they found him on the side of the street, and it had this massive ripple effect on the entire family. We were able to come together and, in [what was] almost like a healing process, write his story down.”

The show’s journey to 54 Below is a quintessentially New York story of persistence and serendipitous connections. After a grant-funded premiere at Maryland’s Havre de Grace Opera House proved successful, music director Rachel Sandler offered them a slot at the prestigious venue. The casting process brought together an impressive ensemble through a mix of personal connections and open auditions — from Ken Jennings (original cast of Sweeney Todd) who was Pfeltz’s professor at Pace, to Michael Andreaus (A Soldier’s Play) whom Shachar met by chance on the subway.

Gerard Canonico, whom they had in mind for the role of Jack from the beginning, not only joined the production but helped bring in Brian Charles Johnson (American Idiot, Spring Awakening) as their lead. Johnson immediately agreed to take on the role of Noah, looking for a character he could sink his teeth into. For the crucial role of the mother, Pfeltz took a leap of faith, reaching out to Fredi Walker-Browne — the original Joanne from Rent — via Facebook. “I sent her the song, and I was like, ‘Hey, we would love to have you be a part of this, if you’re at all interested.’ And she agreed!” Pfeltz recalls.

The show’s two-act structure mirrors the experience of loss itself. The first act centers on Jack (played by Gerard Canonico of Spring Awakening fame), while the second act deals with the aftermath of his absence, with Jennings stepping in as the estranged father. ”As an audience member, I think you really feel the loss of the character of Jack,“ Pfeltz explains, ”because he is gone and he’s replaced by this kind of monstrous character.“

The creators acknowledge their musical influences — from Rent to Next to Normal — but Foxbrier Lane has found its own voice in tackling these difficult themes. What started as personal catharsis has resonated far beyond their expectations. “I didn’t know that the show finally clicked with me until we did the first set of concerts in Baltimore,” Pfeltz reflects. “We had so many people after the show coming up to us weeping … Some of these people were complete strangers who found out about the show through addiction groups. They felt the freedom to come up to us and share their personal experiences of somebody that they’ve lost in their life.”

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