Hunter Bell, Jeff Bowen & Ann McNamee's OTHER WORLD To Have Staged Reading This Week

OTHER WORLD, a new musical with an original score and story by Tony Award Nominee Hunter Bell (book), Obie Award winner Jeff Bowen (music and lyrics), and singer-songwriter and author Ann McNamee (music and lyrics) will present invite-only staged readings on Thursday, March 16 and Friday, March 17 at Open Jar Studios in New York City. With direction by Jenn Rapp (The Illusionists Director/Choreographer) and choreography by Karla Puno Garcia (Tick, Tick ... BOOM! film, Kennedy Center Honors), OTHER WORLD is being developed in creative consultation with the five-time Academy Award winning WĒTĀ Workshop (The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies).

One moment Sri and Lorraine are in a garage on Earth. The next, they're unexpectedly transported into Sri's favorite video game, Other World. Now trapped in the game and in a race against the clock, this unlikely pair must work together, discover their inner strengths, and connect with gifted gamers and astonishing avatars in order to survive and find a way home. With art direction provided by Academy Award-winning Wētā Workshop (The Lord of the Rings, Avatar), this heartfelt, humorous musical explores the connections we make on- and off-line, while celebrating the families and friendships we need to thrive in any world. Join us for this spectacular, original, otherwordly adventure. Your journey begins...now!

The cast features Micah Beauvais (Sri), Bella Coppola (Lorraine), Ryan Andes (Roman/Antagon), Madeleine Doherty (Myra), Kaden Kearney (Tris), Brandi Porter (Temula), Mikaela Secada (Jamie), with Sojouner Brown, Elena Camp, Sommer Carbuccia, Laura Dadap, Seth Rettberg, Sherisse Springer, Blake Stadnik, Levin Valayil, and Jason Williams.

The creative team for the developmental presentation also features music direction by Amanda Morton (KPOP), casting by Paul Hardt Casting (Once Upon A One More Time), video design by Khristian Bork (Coco live at the Hollywood Bowl, Danny Elfman - Coachella), sound design by Hidenori Nakajo (Octet), and general management by Alchemy Production Group (The Music Man, Come From Away). The Executive Producer is Lauren Tucker/Alchemy Production Group.

For more information about the show, visit https://otherworldmusical.com/

BIOGRAPHIES

Hunter Bell

(Book) earned an OBIE Award, a Drama League nomination, a GLAAD Media nomination, and a Tony nomination for Best Book of a Musical, all for the original Broadway musical [title of show]. Other credits include the books for Silence! The Musical (Lucille Lortel Nomination, Outstanding Musical), Now. Here. This. (Vineyard Theatre), Bellobration! (Ringling Bros. Circus), Villains Tonight! (Disney Cruise Lines), Found (Atlantic Theater, Drama Desk Nomination, Outstanding Book of a Musical), and Julie Andrews' The Great American Mousical (Goodspeed). He is a co-creator of the web series "the [title of show] show" and has developed television with ABC Studios/ABC Television. Hunter is a proud graduate and distinguished alumnus of Webster University's Conservatory of Theatre Arts, a member of the Dramatists Guild, Writers Guild, a MacDowell Fellow, and currently serves on the board of the Educational Theatre Association and Educational Theatre Foundation, national arts advocacy organizations representing theatre teachers and students.

Jeff Bowen

(Music and Lyrics) wrote the music and lyrics for and starred in the Broadway musical [title of show] (OBIE Award) and Now. Here. This. Additionally, he has written music and lyrics for Now. Here. This. (Vineyard Theatre), Villains Tonight! (Walt Disney Company), and the theme songs for the web series "the [title of show] show" and "Squad '85." His songs can be heard on the original cast albums of [title of show], Now. Here. This., as well as Broadway Bares Openings and Over the Moon: The Broadway Lullaby Project. He is a proud member of ASCAP, AEA, Writers Guild, Dramatists Guild, and the National Audubon Society. He serves as a faculty member of The National Theatre Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center.

Ann McNamee

(Music and Lyrics) received a B.A. from Wellesley College and a Ph.D. in Music Theory from Yale University, leading to a twenty-year career in teaching, choral conducting, and music research at Swarthmore College. After retiring as Professor Emerita, Ann composed for, sang, played keys, and toured with the Flying Other Brothers and Moonalice, both bands led by her husband Roger McNamee. She composed the majority of the songs on the Moonalice album that was part of T Bone Burnett's nomination for Producer of the Year at the 2009 Grammy Awards. For the Lilith Fair tour in 2010, she fronted the band Ann Atomic. Another highlight was opening up for U2 at the Oakland Coliseum in November 2011. She retired from touring in 2012 in order to collaborate on musical theater projects full-time. Ann's outside interests include co-founding the Haight Street Art Center, a community center/poster music/print shop to celebrate rock poster art in the Bay Area.

Jenn Rapp

(Director) On Broadway, Jenn Rapp is the current Associate Director & Choreographer for Broadway's The Illusionists, which has played annual record-breaking runs at the Marquis, Neil Simon, and Palace Theatres since 2015. Off-Broadway, she was the associate director for Squash (The Flea), Found (Atlantic Theatre Company), Bareat (New World Stages), Carrie (MCC), and Lucky Guy (Little Shubert Theatre). Jenn directed and choreographed Prison Dancer (NYMF), for which she won an Excellence in Choreography Award. She also directed and choreographed Spamalot (Surflight Theatre), which earned her a BroadwayWorld New Jersey "Best Choreography" Award. On television, Jenn was the associate choreographer for Cinemax's "The Knick", Showtime's "Happyish", and "Z: The Beginning of Everything" (w/ chor. John Carrafa). Jenn and John have worked together for many years in musical theatre, television, commercials, and on the original musical Finding Nemo, still playing at Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom.

Karla Puno Garcia

(Choreographer) is a proud Filipina-American from the Washington DC area. Most recently, she choreographed additional scenes for the Lin Manuel Miranda directed Netflix film tick tick...BOOM! She also worked as Associate Choreographer to Sergio Trujillo for the 2021 Kennedy Center Honors and the 2021 Tony Awards. Other choreography credits include Gone Missing (Encores Off-Center); One Thousand Nights and A Day (Prospect Theater); and In The Heights (VA Repertory) in which she received the Richmond Theater Critics Award for Best Choreography. She choreographed the new musical Noir, written by Duncan Sheik and Kyle Jarrow, and directed by Darko Tresnjak at The Alley Theatre in Houston. Karla has performed in several television programs, films, National Tours, and Broadway shows, including Hamilton: An American Musical, in which she was a swing for six years. Most recently, she appeared in NBC's "Annie Live!" Karla is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Dance and a minor in Journalism.

WĒTĀ WORKSHOP

(Creative Development) For over 20 years, five-time Academy Award®-winning Wētā Workshop has applied creativity and craftsmanship to blockbuster films and hit television series including The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, King Kong, Avatar, District 9, Thunderbirds Are Go, and Ghost in the Shell. This diverse, innovative company is also a tourist destination, producer of consumer products, interactive studio in collaboration with Magic Leap, behind-the-scenes facility, and creator of public sculptures and exhibitions, like the Te Papa's record-breaking Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War. CEO Richard Taylor is involved in all projects, from concept to completion. Rebekah Tisch serves as Art Director for Other World.

Alchemy Production Group

(General Manager) is headed by partners Carl Pasbjerg, Lauren Tucker, and Alex Stone, along with senior general managers, Marshall Purdy and Abbie Strassler, and management associate, Andrew McLaughlin, who have overseen scores of live stage attractions worldwide throughout their multi-decade careers. Current and recent productions include: Come From Away (Broadway, Toronto, North American Tour, UK, and Australia), The Music Man, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Illusionists (annual Broadway productions 2014 - 2019), Celebrity Autobiography on Broadway, Rockin' Road to Dublin (National Tour), Rocktopia, In Transit, Alton Brown Live: Eat Your Science, Doctor Zhivago, First Date, Memphis (Broadway, West End, and National Tour), Donny & Marie - A Broadway Christmas, A Christmas Story, Guys and Dolls, and Lucky Guy (Off-Broadway). Upcoming projects include: Trading Places, The War of the Roses, 42nd Street, A Sign of the Times, Other World, and The Pianist. APG has also worked closely with Base Entertainment on its portfolio of productions in Las Vegas and throughout the world.

Lauren Tucker

(Executive Producer) is a partner at Alchemy Production Group where she has worked since 2014 overseeing a wide range of projects at the developmental, regional, Broadway, touring, and international levels. Current and recent productions include Come From Away (Broadway, Toronto, North American Tour, UK, Australia, and Apple TV+), Trading Places, The Illusionists, In Transit, and Doctor Zhivago, to name a few. In 2016, she was a member of the inaugural cohort of the Broadway League's Rising Stars Fellowship Program. Prior to her time at Alchemy, Lauren was a junior agent at Henderson/Hogan Agency, where she represented clients for theatre, television, and film work. Lauren is a proud graduate of Brown University where she was a double-concentrator in Theatre Arts and Commerce, Organizations, and Entrepreneurship (Business-Economics), as well as an NCAA gymnast.