Full Cast and Creative Team Set for POTLUCK: A MUSICAL FEAST at Symphony Space

Prospect Theater Company has revealed the full cast and company for its annual Musical Theater Lab presentation, POTLUCK: A Musical Feast. The culminating one-night-only concert performance of new works generated in the 2023 Lab will be presented at NYC's Peter Norton Symphony Space (2537 Broadway, at 95th Street) this Thursday, November 16th at 7:30pm.

Prospect's Lab brings together a cohort of new musical theater writing teams, each of which create an original, short musical in response to a shared theme. The 6-week program culminates in a public presentation of the brand new works generated through the lab process. This year, the theme of POTLUCK: A Musical Feast centers around food, with each of the nine selected writing teams bringing one course of a meal to the collective table. In a series of playful and profound short pieces, writers explore how we are what we eat – with food impacting every aspect of our daily lives from first dates to family history.

The line-up of performers featured will include: Syd Bakal (Trans-pose!, 54 Below), Luz Ballestér, Marilyn Caserta (Six the Musical, Broadway), Juan Castro, Meetu Chilana (Cirque du Soleil's ZARKANA), Zina Ellis (Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, National Tour), Jodie Evans (Les Mis, London West End), Christian Mark Gibbs (Camelot, Lincoln Center Theater), Erica Ito (Rock Medea, Joe's Pub), Zachary A. Myers (A Strange Loop, Broadway), Claire Kwon (Almost Famous, Broadway), Gaea Lawton, Vaibu Mohan (Sati: Goddess Incarnate, writer), Michael Padgett (Clue!, Bristol Riverside), McLean Peterson (The Jury, A.R.T.), Lyn Philistine (Gypsy, Broadway), Andrea Prestinario (Fun Home, Baltimore Center Stage), Sheilah Rae (Fiddler on the Roof, Original Broadway Company), Chino Ramos (Thom Pain, Signature), Nigel O. Richards (Spamilton, National Tour), James Rose (Cabaret, Barrington Stage), Troy Valjean Rucker (Romeo and Bernadette, Off-Broadway), Sushma Saha (1776, Roundabout), Samantha Sayah (Once, Geva Theatre Center), Sam Simahk (Into the Woods, Broadway), Ariana Valdes (My Fair Lady, National Tour), and Luka Zylik (Metropolitan Opera Children's Chorus). Additional music performances by Alex Petti and Stefan Schallak.

Music Directors for the concert evening are Simone Allen and PJ Ju. Stage Managers are Sydnee Davis and Christina Russo. Lighting is by Shelby Loera. The concert evening is directed by Dev Bondarin, Prospect's Associate Artistic Director. The Musical Theater Lab is curated by Dev Bondarin and Cara Reichel, and the lab Associate Producer is Kate Semmens.

As previously announced, the writers and writing teams participating in the 2023 Musical Theater Lab are: Thani Brant, Rae Covey, Troy Defour & Sean Havrilla, Lorrie Doriza & Allison Light, Dylan Glatthorn & Will Lacker, Divya Mangwani & Tidtaya Sinutoke, Krystal Ortiz & Nygel D. Robinson, Dylan Schifrin, and Will Shishmanian & Brooke Trumm. This lab line-up includes writers from a wide array of backgrounds, who are working across forms and styles, in the worlds of Broadway, contemporary music, and opera.

Tickets are $25 and are available at www.ProspectTheater.org or by calling Symphony Space's box office, 212-864-5400. The anticipated running time is 95 minutes with no intermission.

Prospect Theater Company's annual Musical Theater Lab is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Funding is also provided by the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs.

For more information, please visit www.ProspectTheater.org.



ABOUT PROSPECT THEATER COMPANY

PROSPECT THEATER COMPANY is dedicated to fostering and showcasing today's new voices shaping tomorrow's musicals. Over two decades, the company has premiered almost 40 musicals in New York City, in addition to new plays and numerous re-inventions of classic works. Reflecting its investment in the future of the field, Prospect leads a variety of developmental initiatives: including an annual Musical Theater Lab for emerging writers, and the IGNITE Series of new musical theater in concert. In 2020, Prospect launched the VISION Series of original music-theater works on film, created for online streaming. In recognition of its enterprising and risk-taking new musical theater, the company has received an OBIE Award grant, and its role as a community anchor for emerging artists that strengthens the quality, diversity, and dynamism of American theater was honored by the American Theatre Wing.

Most recently, Prospect produced the NYC premiere of Lizard Boy (2023) with book, music and lyrics by Justin Huertas, and the musical song-cycle Notes From Now – Songs of Resilience & Renewal (2022) featuring a lineup of newly-commissioned original songs created by 21 of today's brightest musical theater writers. Other recent productions include the Drama Desk Award-nominated Einstein's Dreams (2019) by Joanne Sydney Lessner & Joshua Rosenblum, adapted from the novel by Alan Lightman, and the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award-nominated The Hello Girls (2018), by company founding artists Peter Mills & Cara Reichel. Additional notable productions include: Kerrigan & Lowdermilk's The Mad Ones (2017); Ryan Scott Oliver and Hunter Foster's Jasper in Deadland (2014); the Drama Desk nominated Tamar of the River (2013) by Joshua H. Cohen and Marisa Michelson; Carner & Gregor's Unlock'd (2013); Gordon Greenberg's revisal of Working (Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Ensemble, 2012) including new songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda; and Elizabeth Lucas' re-imagining of Guettel's Myths and Hymns (2012).

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