Joe Iconis to Write New Musical PUNK ROCK GIRL Featuring Songs by Blondie, Avril Lavigne, P!nk and More

A new stage musical, Punk Rock Girl, is in development featuring a score of popular songs written and made famous by female artists and female-fronted bands including Pat Benatar, Bikini Kill, Blondie, Echosmith, Avril Lavigne, Pink, TraLaLa, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and more, and also featuring the title song by The Dead Milkmen.

The musical will feature a book and arrangements by musical theater phenomenon Joe Iconis (Be More Chill). The project will be directed and choreographed by Jennifer Werner (The Black Suits), with co-arrangements and orchestrations by Rob Rokicki (composer/lyricist of The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical).

Punk Rock Girl will be published and licensed by R&H Theatricals, A Concord Music Company, who also represents Iconis' musicals Things To Ruin and Be More Chill, the latter of which was recently announced to move from its sold-out run at Off-Broadway's Signature Theater to Broadway's Lyceum Theatre in February 2019, and is slated to be adapted into a major motion picture.

Lively McCabe Entertainment, led by co-president and producer Michael Barra, will executive produce alongside BMG's Manager of Theatre Development, Elyse Cogan, who will serve as co-producer.

Development is currently underway, with a reading held earlier this month in New York City which featured a cast that included Yoyo Bonner, Gerard Canonico (Be More Chill, Groundhog Day), Alexandra Ferrara, AJ Holmes (The Book of Mormon), Lauren Marcus (Be More Chill), Destinee Rea(The Book of Mormon), Brian Sears (The Book of Mormon), Brooke Shapiro, Talia Suskauer (Be More Chill), and Jason SweetTooth Williams (Be More Chill).

Production plans will be announced shortly.

In Punk Rock Girl, 16-year-old Angela Quivers is a perfectionist who never takes chances and feels like there's no place where she belongs ... until she meets Proxi, a teenager who pulls her into a world of grungy guitars, shocking secrets, and big, loud, messy emotions. A musical about a young person finding a community and creating her tribe, Punk Rock Girl is a noisy celebration of all things raw and ragged; trashy and heartfelt; familiar and alien.

According to Iconis, "In punk music, you don't have to be the most talented musician, the best singer, or the most beautiful rock star. The point of punk is that its music for everyone - it's a party for people who aren't polished, who aren't perfect. It's about finding your passion and not being ashamed of your inner weirdo. This lovingly-trashy show explores serious issues in an occasionally fantastical, often explosive, always heartfelt way."