Jason Gotay, Ashley Park & More to Star in Readings of New Musical MARCO POLO

Prospect Theater Company (under the leadership of Artistic Director Cara Reichel and Managing Director Melissa Huber), will be presenting a developmental reading of the new musical Marco Polo by Deborah Abramson (music) and Peter Mills (book and lyrics), on Monday, October 5.

Nick Corley directs a company that features Jason Gotay (Bring It On), Ashley Park (LCT's The King and I), Raymond Lee (Honeymoon in Vegas), Daniel Marcus (Urinetown), Paul Nakauchi (LCT's The King and I), John Schiappa (Rocky), with Adam Bashian, Gregg Goodbrod, Kevin Ligon, Toren Nakamura, Vishaal Reddy, Chris Ian Sanchez, Ray Santos, Dennis Stowe, and Sorab Wadia. Taylor Alyssa Marun is production stage manager. Dan Pardo is music director.

East meets West in an adventurous new musical. From the bustling seaport of medieval Venice to Kubla Khan's fabled summer palace in Xanadu, this original tale follows the travels of young Marco Polo on his first visit to China.

In August 2015, Marco Polo was featured in the Village Theatre's "Village Originals" Festival of New Musicals in Issaquah, Washington, and was previously developed by Prospect Theater through an NEA-funded residency at the Goodwill Theatre in Johnson City, NY.

Deborah Abramson As composer, in addition to Marco Polo: Things You Think About When You Can't Fall Asleep (with William Finn), The History of War (with Amanda Yesnowitz and Chip Zien), While I Wait (with Amanda Yesnowitz). As Music Director or Associate, Broadway: Matilda, Ghost, Spring Awakening and James Joyce's The Dead. Off-Broadway: The Glorious Ones, Bernarda Alba, Dessa Rose, and My Life with Albertine. Great gratitude to Prospect for keeping this alive and growing. www.facebook.com/DeborahKAbramson

Peter Mills is a composer/lyricist whose shows include Illyria, The Taxi Cabaret, The Flood, and Golden Boy of The Blue Ridge. Peter has won the Cole Porter Award, the Kleban Prize, the Fred Ebb Award, the Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award, and a grant from the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation. With composer Stephen Weiner, he has written lyrics for Iron Curtain and for the Broadway-aimed musical, The Honeymooners. www.pcmills.com

One of America's leading producers of new musical theater, Prospect Theater Company (founded in 1998) is dedicated to fostering and showcasing today's new voices shaping tomorrow's musicals. Since 2000, the company has fully produced more than 30 premiere 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 a Summer Intensive training program for teenagers. In recognition of its work as a community anchor for emerging artists that strengthens the quality, diversity, and dynamism of American theater, Prospect received a 2013 National Theatre Company Grant from the American Theatre Wing. Notable productions include: the Drama Desk Award-winning Working (2012), Jasper in Deadland (2014), the Drama-Desk nominated Tamar of the River (2013), Unlock'd (2013), Iron Curtain (2006, 2011), Myths and Hymns (2012), With Glee (2010), The Blue Flower (2008), Golden Boy of the Blue Ridge (2009), The Hidden Sky (2010), Illyria (2002, 2008), and the Drama-Desk nominated The Pursuit of Persephone (2005).