Kaufman Music Center's 'Bound for Broadway' Musicals Announced

Kaufman Music Center's annual showcase of some of the best new musicals headed to New York Theaters will include shows by Academy Award Winner and "Let It Go" songwriter Kristen Anderson-Lopez ("Frozen") and Rick Elice ("Jersey Boys," "Peter and the Starcatcher"), plus music director Andy Einhorn ("Bullets Over Broadway, "Sondheim on Sondheim" & the upcoming "Hello, Dolly" starring Bette Midler). Featuring performances by Betsy Wolfe ("Falsettos"), SEBASTIAN ARCELUS ("Jersey Boys," TV series "House of Cards" and "Madam Secretary"), Drew Gehling ("Waitress") and many more.

At this annual event eagerly anticipated by New York's most serious and knowledgeable musical theater fans, Tony nominee and Emmy Award winner Liz Callaway will introduce the creative teams behind five new musicals on Monday, September 26, 2016, 7:30 pm, at Merkin Concert Hall. Past BOUND FOR BROADWAY shows, which kick off Kaufman Music Center's annual BROADWAY CLOSE UP SERIES, have given theater fans a sneak peek at Next to Normal, Avenue Q and The Drowsy Chaperone.

Callaway will lead a cast that includes Betsy Wolfe ("Falsettos"), SEBASTIAN ARCELUS ("Jersey Boys," TV series "House of Cards" and "Madam Secretary"), Drew Gehling ("Waitress"), Grant Braddock ("Amazing Grace"), Nicholas Christopher ("Hamilton"), Katie Lee Hill ("Nerds"), Rick Hip-Flores ("Fun Home"), Jesse Kissel ("The Visit"), Erin Mackey ("Anything Goes"), Jeremy Morse ("Waitress"), Beth Kirkpatrick ("Les Miserables"), Daniel Stewart ("Spring Awakening") and Emily Walton ("Peter and the Starcatcher") as well as Joshua David Cavanaugh, Patrick Lundquist, GRACE MCCLEAN, Travis Mitchell, OLUTAYO, BRYNN O'MALLEY, Will Sevedge, Chesney Snow, ZACHARY Francis Stewart and Noah Zachary.

Bound for Broadway will feature songs from:

"Legendale"

Music & Story by ANDREA DALY; Lyrics & Story by JEFF BIENSTOCK

The main character in this original, contemporary comedy about the power of fantasy escapes his humdrum life through the online game "Legendale." When the fantasy becomes real, Andy and his avatar must both discover their inner warrior. Legendale blends romance, adventure and virtual reality, over a pop-infused score.

"Radioactive"

Music by Will Reynolds; Book & Lyrics by Eric Price

This is the story of Marie and Pierre Curie, the two revolutionary scientists who discovered radium. Marie arrives in Paris as the ultimate outsider-a woman from a foreign country who wants to be a scientist. She finds the perfect collaborator in the no-nonsense Pierre. It is their shared discovery-a theoretical element that Marie calls radium-and the unforgiving and dangerous quest to prove its existence that brings the two scientists together as husband and wife.

"Hansel & Gretl & Heidi & Günter"

Music by Will Aronson; Lyrics by DANIEL MATÉ; Book by HANNAH KOHL

In this very dark take on the Grimms' fairy tale, Gretel is a mother whose kids get abducted.

"In Transit"
Book, Music and lyrics by Academy Award winning Kristin Anderson-Lopez ("Frozen"), James-Allen Ford, Russ Kaplan and Sara Wordsworth
Featuring an a cappella score from Broadway's freshest creators including the musical minds behind "Frozen" and "Pitch Perfect," "In Transit" is a new, modern musical, bringing to life a vivid tapestry of characters and music in the city that never sleeps...or stands still. Inspired by the vibrant rhythms of life on the subway, "In Transit" follows the intertwining lives of eleven New Yorkers, all hoping to catch the express train to success, love and happiness-and the stops they make along the way. In Transit opens November 10 on Broadway at Circle in the Square Theater.

"Magnificent Climb"

Book & Lyrics by Rick Elice ("Peter and the Starcatcher," "Jersey Boys"); Book &Music by Will Van Dyke

This musical explores the fates of two mountaineers who climb Mount Everest nearly a century apart.

The BROADWAY CLOSE UP series at Merkin Concert Hall continues on October 10 with Maury Yeston ("Nine, "Titanic") and on November 14 with BROADWAY's ONE-HIT WONDERS, and concludes with THE SONGS OF Frank Loesser on December 5. http://www.kaufmanmusiccenter.org/mch/series/broadway-close-up/