George Salazar and Lauren Harkens Sign on for New KAREHOUSE Musical at Joe's Pub

KareHouse, a new musical written by Michael Kimmel (Songbird, The Last Goodbye) with music and lyrics by Libby Winters (American Idiot), directed by Jenny Koons (Burn All Night), and produced by John Gallagher Jr., Allison Bressi, and LiAnne Kennedy, will be presented in a New York Premiere at Joe's Pub, for two performances only, September 25-26, 2017.

George Salazar (The Lightning Thief, tick, tick... BOOM!, Godspell) and Lauren Harkins join the previously announced Kathryn Gallagher (Spring Awakening), Ronald Alexander Peet (The Lion In Winter), Theo Stockman (American Idiot), Alyse Alan Louis (Amelie, Disaster!), and Renée Albulario (Wild Party, Here Lies Love) to bring these exciting new characters and songs to life for the first time.

Music direction is by Emma Weiss and Jeremy Robin Lyons. The evening will be stage managed by Nia Sciaretta.

KareHouse will feature original music by Libby Winters. Winters mixes distorted rock guitars with melodic vocals to create a distinctly "pretty-grunge" sound for the show.

Are you frustrated with traditional housing? Have you been fed a host of lies your whole life about who you are and what you can achieve? Then KareHouse is for you. KareHouse is a new way of living built upon community, shared goals and a fundamental belief that we are only as good as the people we surround ourselves with. KareHouse challenges "living" norms through physical spaces that foster meaningful relationships. We feature group activities, communal meals and our current playlist is pop/punk on heavy rotation. At KareHouse you'll find like-minded individuals learning to navigate their emotions and desperate to connect. Let our home become yours and together we can find a cure for the apathy that infects us all.

KAREHOUSE will be performed at Joe's Pub at The Public Theatre (425 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10003) for two performances only, on Monday, September 25 at 7pm, and Tuesday, September 26 at 9.30pm. Joe's Pub at The Public Theater. Tickets are $15, and can be purchased at joespub.publictheater.org.

Michael Kimmel (Author) is the creator of Songbird, based on Chekhov's The Seagull and set in Nashville, TN with music and lyrics by Lauren Pritchard (LOLO). Songbird had its Off-Broadway debut at 59E59 in October 2015 as a NYT Critics Pick, and was a finalist for the 2016 Kleban award. He is also the creator and adaptor of The Last Goodbye, a musical adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet with music and lyrics by famed singer/songwriter Jeff Buckley. TLG performed a series of sold out concerts at Joe's Pub at The Public Theater before its world premiere at The Williamstown Theater Festival where it went on to break box office records for WTF's Nikos Stage. TLG also had an acclaimed production at The Old Globe Theater, San Diego, CA (Nominated for two Craig Noel awards), helmed by two-time Tony nominee Alex Timbers. Michael's work has been featured at Joe's Pub at The Public Theater, Lincoln Center, Ars Nova, Soho Rep., LPR, The Westside Theater, and many other venues. Other works by Kimmel include Stand.Up., exploring the world of podcasts and stand up comedy, Todd and Mitzy, about a couple dealing with infertility, and Dog Whistle, an in-depth theatrical examination of a US Senate campaign. Upcoming musicals conceived and written by Kimmel include KareHouse, a grunge pop musical inspired by Ferdinand Bruckner's Pains of Youth, with music and lyrics by Libby Winters (debuting in 2017), and Wildwood, a new musical about the legendary shore town. Michael is one of the creators/producers of The Score, a new podcast featuring live performances of new musicals debuting in 2017. Twitter-@mkimml

Libby Winters (Composer) has been writing songs since she was 5 years old, though KareHouse marks the first time she has called herself a composer. She started the grunge-pop band LAKES in 2016 for which she writes songs, plays guitar and sings. As an actress she has appeared in numerous plays and musicals including American Idiot on Broadway from which she has drawn much inspiration. Hearing other people perform her songs has been a magical experience that she hopes to encounter again in the future. lakestheband.bandcamp.com @lakestheband on Instagram and twitter.

Jenny Koons (Director) is a theater director who specializes in bringing diverse artists together to create original cross-disciplinary work. Recent projects: Burn All Night (American Repertory Theater), A Sucker Emcee (National Black Theatre), Airness (Movement Director, Humana Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville), Theatre for One world premieres: What Are You Doing Here? (Charles Fuller), Golden State Freeway (John Guare), My Anniversary (David Henry Hwang), Deja Vu and This Moment After (ReGina Taylor), Barrel Wave (Naomi Wallace), The Blueprint (world premiere, Idris Goodwin, NYU Graduate Acting), K-I-S-S-I-N-G (Huntington Summer Workshop), {my lingerie play} (Joe's Pub), Runaways(Associate Director, New York City Center Encores! Off-Center), Instant SPKRBOX (SPKRBOX Festival commission, Norway), Bars and Measures (NNPN world premiere), Gimme Shelter (Why Not Theatre, Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games commission), Theatre for One world premieres: Untitled (Thomas Bradshaw) and Love Song (Zayd Dohrn), Wet Clutch (La Mama), Abyme (Philadelphia School of Circus Arts, Dixon Place), A Sucker Emcee (LAByrinth Theater, SPKRBOX Festival, Verkstedhallen, Dramatikkens Hus), Queen of the Night (Associate/Resident Director, 2014 Drama Desk Award), The Odyssey Project (Dixon Place, Site-specific across NYC). Jenny is curator of the New York City Center's Off-Center Lobby Project, co-curator of the 2016 Toronto ThisGen Conference, and co-founder of Artists 4 Change NYC (National Black Theatre). She is on the steering committee for The Ghostlight Project, serves on the advisory board for UK-based Artistic Directors of the Future, and is a member of New York City Center's Artists' Board. Jenny joined the SPACE Ryder Farm curation team in 2015 with the mission of increasing diversity within artist residency programming. She was an invited speaker on equity and artistic leadership at the 2016 Canadian Arts Summit: CultureNext.