Krystina Alabado, Emma Hunton and Ben Fankhauser Tapped for THE MAD ONES Off-Broadway

59E59 Theaters will launch the first show of Prospect Theater Company's three-year residency with the NYC premiere of The Mad Ones, a new musical featuring book, music & lyrics by Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk (Henry and Mudge) and directed by Stephen Brackett (Buyer & Seller). The Mad Ones is choreographed by Alexandra Beller (Bedlam's Sense and Sensibility). The Music Director is Paul Staroba.

The Mad Ones begin performances on Tuesday, November 7 for a limited engagement through Sunday, December 17. Press Opening is Thursday, November 16 at 7 PM.

Mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved...Samantha Brown balances on the edge of her future, car keys in hand. As she sits in the driver's seat, she faces a choice: will she follow in her mother's footsteps, or take the dare of her impetuous best friend and chart a new path?

This contemporary and compelling score from one of NYC's most exciting new songwriting teams immerses audiences in the complex inner life of a young woman on the brink of change. When every choice feels like life and death, how do you turn the key?

The cast of The Mad Ones features Krystina Alabado (Broadway's American Psycho and American Idiot) as Samantha Brown; Emma Hunton (Broadway's Next to Normal and Spring Awakening) as her best friend Kelly; and Ben Fankhauser (Broadway's Newsies) as Adam, her boyfriend. The role of Samantha's mother is TBA.

The design team includes Adam Rigg (scenic design); David Lander (lighting design); Jessica Pabst (costume design); and Alex Hawthorn (sound design). The Production Stage Manager is Veronica Aglow. The casting director is Michael Cassara, CSA.

The performance schedule is Tuesday - Thursday at 7 PM; Friday at 8 PM; Saturday at 2 PM & 8 PM; and Sunday at 3 PM. Please note: there is an added performance on Sunday, November 12 at 7 PM; there is no matinee performance on Saturday, November 11. For Thanksgiving week, there is an added performance on Tuesday, November 21 at 2 PM and there are no performances on Wednesday, November 22 and Thursday, November 23. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison). Single tickets are $25 - $70 ($25 - $49 for 59E59 Members). Tickets are available by calling Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 or online at www.59e59.org.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk (book, music and lyrics) are pop-influenced musical theater writers who have devoted their careers to creating a bridge between musical theater and pop. Having created a global grass-roots fan base online and having won just about every award a young writing team can win, the pair are more determined than ever to make musical theater relevant and make pop music work on stage.

The Kerrigan-Lowdermilk YouTube Channel has logged over 7.3 million views to date, and averages over fifteen hundred views a day and their first album "Our First Mistake" was KJickstarted in 48 hours and went on to raise $35,000 to fund an additional tour "You Made This Tour" and subsequent album "Kerrigan-Lowdermilk Live."

Videos of their breakout hit song "Run Away With Me" from their upcoming musical The Mad Ones has over two million views on their channel and 24K additional fan videos. The song has been included on the debut albums of Aaron Tveit, Josh Young (Amazing Grace), and British / West End stars Dwayne Britton, and Stuart Matthew Price. It has been performed by British acapella sensation Collabro, Jeremy Jordan (Supergirl), Colton Haynes (Teen Wolf), and Grant Gustin (The Flash). In 2009, Miss America Contestant Lynn-Taylor Smith sang "Say the Word" by Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk during the talent portion of the Miss America competition. The event was broadcast live from the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, NV on TLC. Leigh-Taylor's performance marked the first time a song from a new, unproduced musical had been performed on a Miss America broadcast.

Kerrigan & Lowdermilk's musicals include: Henry & Mudge, which had an Off-Broadway run at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in 2006-2007, and 4 subsequent national tours with TheatreworksUSA; The Mad Ones (formerly The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown), which had a developmental production at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, CA and the Goodspeed's Norma Terris Theatre; and the upcoming immersive musical The Bad Years, which was developed at Theatreworks/Silicon Valley and Cap21 before two sold-out immersive workshop productions in New York City.

Their work has been developed at theaters and festivals across the country, including the La Jolla Playhouse, Perry-Mansfield New Works Festival, ASCAP/Disney Workshop, Manhattan Theatre Club, York Theatre, NAMT, NYMF, Penn State New Musical Festival, and Primary Stages. They have been resident artists at the MacDowell Arts Colony, Orchard Project, and Rhinebeck. Between them, they are recipients of the Kleban Award, Jonathan Larson Award, Alan Menken Award, and the Richard Rodgers Award. They were 2004-2005 Jonathan Larson Fellows at the Dramatists Guild, and are members of the BMI Musical Theatre Advanced Workshop,ASCAP and the Dramatists Guild.

Stephen Brackett (director). Off Broadway: Caroline McGraw's Ultimate Beauty Bible (Page 73), Jacob Yandura and Rebekah Greer Melocik's Wringer (NYCCT), Bixby Elliot's Sommerfugl (InViolet), Jonathan Tolins' Buyer & Cellar (Rattlestick and Barrow Street Theaters/Westport Playhouse/National Tour/London's Menier Chocolate Factory), Anton Dudley's City Of (Playwrights Realm) Lucas Kavner's Carnival Kids (Lesser America), Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief (Theatreworks USA), Ken Urban's The Correspondent (Rattlestick), Chad Beckim's After (Partial Comfort), Dan Fishback's The Material World (Dixon Place), Bekah Brunstetter's Be A Good Little Widow (Ars Nova), and The Tenant (Woodshed Collective). Regional Theater: Tasha Gordon-Solmon's I Now Pronounce (Humana Festival), Philip Dawkins' Le Switch (About Face), Joe Tracz and Joe Iconis' Be More Chill (Two River), David West Read's The Great Pretender (TheatreWorks Silicon Valley).

Alexandra Beller (choreographer) is Artistic Director of Alexandra Beller/Dances, which is currently celebrating its fifteenth anniversary. As a member of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company from 1995-2001, she performed in over 50 countries and throughout the U.S. In 2004-05 she helped to create "The Belle Epoch," (Martha Clarke and Charles Mee). She was a two-year Artist in Residence at HERE, and has also been an AIR at Dance New Amsterdam and DMAC. Theatre choreography includes Bedlam's critically-acclaimed Sense and Sensibility (Nominee: Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Choreography), later remounted at Folger Theatre (Winner: Helen Hayes Award for "Outstanding Choreography for A Play"). Other credits include Two Gentlemen of Verona (Eric Tucker, director) and As You Like It (GT Upchurch, director) for Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Chang(e) (Suzi Takahashi, director) for HERE, How to Transcend a Happy Marriage (Rebecca Taichman, director), and movement coaching for Taylor Mac, Theatre Askew, Dael Orlandersmith, and others.

Prospect Theater Company (Cara Reichel, Producing Artistic Director / Melissa Huber, Managing Director) was 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 the IGNITE Series of concerts at The TimesCenter. In recognition of its enterprising and risk-taking new musical theater, the company received a 2016 OBIE Award grant. Notable productions include: the Drama Desk Award-winning Working (2012), Long Story Short (2015), and Golden Boy of the Blue Ridge (2009) at 59E59 Theaters, as well as Jasper in Deadland (2014), the Drama-Desk nominated Tamar of the River (2013), Iron Curtain (2006, 2011), With Glee (2010), The Blue Flower (2008), Illyria (2002, 2008), and the Drama-Desk nominated The Pursuit of Persephone (2005). For more information on Prospect 17-18 Season membership and tickets visit www.ProspectTheater.org.