Jelani Remy, Emily Skeggs, and More Will Lead THE APPLE BOYS Industry Reading

THE APPLE BOYS, a new fast-paced musical comedy set in Gilded Age Coney Island, with book by Jono Lyons and music and lyrics by 2017 Jonathan Larson Grant recipient Ben Bonnema, will have industry presentations on Monday, September 23 and Tuesday, September 24 in Manhattan at Ripley Grier 38th St. Studios.

Directed by David Alpert and featuring music supervision by Rona Siddiqui, the four person cast will feature Alex Gibson (SpongeBob Squarepants, Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812); Jelani Remy (Back to the Future, Ain’t Too Proud); Emily Skeggs (Tony nominee for Fun Home); and Teddy Yudain (Little Shop of Horrors). The September presentations will feature new vocal arrangements by Hamilton’s Matt Gallagher with music direction by Emily Whitaker.

Under threat of an unfair rent hike, Jack, the grandson of Johnny Appleseed, sets out to save his family apple orchard through a chance encounter with three new friends: “famous” hotdog purveyor Nathan, champion strongman Warren, and aspiring roller-coaster designer Hank. In pursuit of their dreams, while challenging the ruling elite, this unlikely cohort discovers the transformative power of working together by joining their voices in song.

“The Apple Boys has been an exciting show to develop because it never fails to elicit audience responses above and beyond what we’re hoping for,” said Book Writer Jono Lyons. “People simply go crazy for the show, I think because they’re not used to seeing something truly new, surprising, uplifting, and genuinely hilarious. It’s set in the Gilded Age because we’re living through a new one today and both the music and story revolve around the concept of harmony. We’re working to dispel the myth of the individual hero and show that harmonious collaboration is a far more effective agent of change.”

“The score is a mixture of different styles of barbershop quartet music and more modern musical theatre. They play off each other in a fun way so it’s never the old, stuffy image some people have of barbershop music. It’s fresh, it’s irreverent, and it never takes itself too seriously,” said Ben Bonnema, who wrote the music and lyrics. “Harmony is something that can only happen when everyone joins together towards a common goal, as a collective and not an individual— and this show embodies those ideals, both in music and story.”

Biographies

Alex Gibson (Warren Lincoln Travis) received a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for his performance in Octet at Signature Theater. Broadway original casts: Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812, SpongeBob Squarepants. Off-Broadway: The Unsinkable Molly Brown(Transport Group), The Stinky Cheese Man (Atlantic Theater), Fabulation (The Billie Holiday Theatre). Regional: Cabaret (The Old Globe), The Pirates of Penzance (Barrington Stage), Octet (Berkeley Rep), Goodnight, Tyler (Alliance Theater). TV: Doom Patrol, Schmigadoon! 

Jelani Remy (Jack) is a Chita Rivera Award recipient and Papermill Playhouse Rising Star. Broadway: Back to the Future (Goldie Wilson, Marvin Berry), Ain't Too Proud (Eddie Kendricks), Disney’s The Lion King (Simba). Off-Broadway: Smokey Joe’s Cafe. Other NY: Mozart: Her Story (Carnegie Hall), The Apple Boys (HERE Arts Center) Anjou: The Musical Horror Tale, The Oscar Michaeux Suite, Love Around The Block (Hermes). National Tours: High School Musical, High School Musical 2! Regional: Cabaret (Goodspeed Opera House). 

Emily Skeggs (Hank) received a Tony Award nomination for her performance in Fun Home on Broadway. Off Broadway: Fun Home (The Public), And I And Silence (Signature), Transport (Irish Rep), Take Me Along (Irish Rep). Regional: Our Town (Huntington), The Shakespearean Jazz Show (NOLA Shakespeare Festival, ArtsEmerson). Workshops: ArtsEmerson, Huntington, La Jolla, Playwrights Horizons, Roundabout, Yale Institute. Select Film: The Ultimate Playlist of Noise, Dinner in America, I Love Lisha, Love You To Death, Mile 22.

Teddy Yudain (Nathan Handwerker) was a recipient of the Jerry Nelson Scholarship for the O’Neill National Puppetry Conference.  Off-Broadway: Little Shop of Horrors (Puppeteer, Derelict, U/S: Seymour, Orin et al, and Mushnik). Other NY: The Apple Boys (HERE Arts Center), El Niño (Metropolitan Opera) Regional: One Man, Two Guvnors (Florida Studio Theater), Unnecessary Farce (Saugatuck Center for the Arts), Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, and Hope Repertory Theater. He has studied clown with Lucas Caleb Rooney, Christopher Bayes, and Aitor Basauri. BFA in Acting from the University of Connecticut. Member of AEA and AGMA. 

CREATIVE BIOS:

Jono Lyons (Book) is an Independent Theater Award winning writer (Outstanding Original Short Script The Tenement 2010) and a recipient of the Jim Henson Foundation Seed Grant (Ensō 2013). He has performed Off-Broadway in Little Shop of Horrors, Blue Man Group, and Sleep No More. And at The Metropolitan Opera in Simon McBurney’s Die Zauberflöte, Lileana Blain-Cruz’s El Niño, and Anthony Minghella’s Madama Butterfly. He’s received over 2 billion views and 5 million followers for his viral internet creation Buddy the Rat (@buddytheratofficial). He is a proud member of Actors’ Equity, AGMA, The Dramatists Guild, and the Barbershop Harmony Society.

Ben Bonnema (Music/Lyrics) has received a Jonathan Larson Grant, the Fred Ebb Award, and the Harold Adamson Lyric Award. Theatre: One Way with Christopher Staskel (NAMT, Johnny Mercer Writers Colony at Goodspeed), Boys Who Tricked Me (Musical Theatre Factory, “heart-healing musical theatre" -Joshua Barone of the New York Times), The Lost Girl with Arianna Rose. New Media: Peter Panic with James Marion (Adult Swim Games, two million downloads). Film: Mary Poppins Returns (Music Associate to Marc Shaiman). Ben holds an M.F.A. from NYU's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. He helped form the Climbers United union.

David Alpert (Director) won the Wilde Award for his direction of Fully Committed, and was nominated for Best Director for A Scythe of Time at the New York Musical Festival. Off-Broadway: Our Brother’s Son (The Linney). Broadway/Off Associate: If/Then, The Trip to Bountiful, The Best Man, Talley’s Folly, Old Friends, Flashdance, Guys & Dolls. Founding Artistic Director of BroadwayCon, Creator of “E-Ticket to Broadway” podcast, producer of the “Living for Today” concert benefiting Gilana’s Fund, Creative Director for Idina Menzel (Carnegie Hall, Radio City, Bridges Tour, “Which Way to the Stage” on Disney+). David was named a Distinguished Alum of Western Michigan University, is a member of SDC, and on faculty at NYU.

Rona Siddiqui (Music Supervisor) is a Grammy nominated composer/lyricist and recipient of the Kleban Award, Jonathan Larson Grant, Billie Burke Ziegfeld Award, ASCAP Harold Adamson Lyric Award, and ASCAP Foundation Mary Rodgers/Lorenz Hart Award. She was also named one of Broadway Women's Fund's Women to Watch. Her musicals include Salaam Medina: Tales of a Halfghan (an autobiographical comedy about growing up bi-ethnic in America), One Good Day, Hip Hop Cinderella, and Treasure in NYC, She was the Music Supervisor of the Tony Award-winning A Strange Loop on Broadway. She teaches at NYU and BerkleeNYC and is a Dramatists Guild Council Member.

Matt Gallagher (Vocal Arranger) is currently the Associate Music Supervisor for all North American companies of Hamilton. Other Broadway credits: How to Dance in Ohio, Doctor Zhivago, Hands on a Hardbody, Jesus Christ Superstar, 9 to 5, Pal Joey, Legally Blonde, High Fidelity. Off-Broadway, Music Director: Cymbeline (The Public), Tick, Tick… Boom! (Encores!), The Last Five Years (Second Stage), Zanna, Don’t! (Houseman). Matt is a 37-year member of the Barbershop Harmony Society and has provided custom arrangements for dozens of quartets and choruses, including Voices of Gotham and 2022 Int’l Champions, Quorum.

Emily Whitaker (Music Director). Emily’s Broadway credits include Suffs (Associate Musical Director), &Juliet (Keys/Conducting Sub), The Band's Visit, Tootsie (Keys Sub). Off-Broadway: Merrily We Roll Along (Associate Music Director/Conductor/Pianist, Roundabout Theatre Company), The Visitor (Associate Music Director, The Public Theater), Monsoon Wedding (Music Supervisor, St. Ann’s Warehouse), The Hello Girls (Prospect Theater Company). National Tours: Mean Girls (Music Director). Regional: Trading Places (Associate Music Director, Alliance Theatre), Into the Woods (Princeton University). Emily has also been a proud teaching artist at Princeton University and McCarter Theater Center.

THE APPLE BOYS is being produced by Johnnie Moore Hawkins and Jono Lyons. General Management is Evan Bernardin Productions and the Stage Manager is Jereme Kyle Lewis.

The industry presentations of THE APPLE BOYS  will take place on Monday, September 23 at 4:00 PM and Tuesday, September 24 at 12:00 PM and 4:00 PM at Ripley Grier 38th St. Studios, 305 West 38 Street.  The running time is approximately 90 minutes.  

For more information about the industry presentations, please contact  info@TheAppleBoys.org or visit www.TheAppleBoys.org.