Max Crumm, Tiffany Engen, Jakeim Hart & More to Star in MILLENNIALS ARE KILLING MUSICALS Off-Broadway

Out of the Box Theatrics has announced the initial casting and creative team for their Off-Broadway developmental production of Millennials Are Killing Musicals, written by Drama League songwriting contest and NAMT Challenge winner Nico Juber. The production, to be directed by Ciara Renée (Waitress, Frozen), will play a limited engagement from May 7-28, 2023, at Theatre 71 at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament (152 West 71st Street). Opening night is May 15.

The cast for Millennials Are Killing Musicals features Max Crumm (Disaster!, Grease, Off-Broadway's Emojiland, film Easy A) as Nate/Atlas, Tiffany Engen (Legally Blonde, Kinky Boots national tour, Off-Broadway's Rock of Ages, Hairspray film) as Jake's Mom, Jakeim Hart (Almost Famous, Off-Broadway's Sing Street, CBS's "Blue Bloods") as Dylan, Diana Huey (Disney's The Little Mermaid national tour, Off-Broadway's Honor, Scheherazade, Solana) as Katrina, Sheri Sanders (Rock The Audition, Urinetown national tour, NYMF's Screams of Kitty Genovese) as Nana Marie, Jae W.B. (Bruise and Thorn at Pipeline/ART NY, Lincoln Center's Luna & The Star Bodies) as Luna, and Brinie Wallace (A Beautiful Noise, The Book of Mormon, The MUNY's Hairspray) as Pacifica, alongside understudies Jessie Alagna (NYMF's Emojiland, The Ivoryton Playhouse's Mamma Mia!, Boogie Wonderland) and Kathel Griffin (Off-Broadways PLAY ON! Shakespeare Festival; Comedy of Errors, The Tempest, King John.).

Complete casting will be announced at a later date.

In addition to Ciara Renée, she/her, as Director, Ted Arthur, he/him, (Diana, The Prom, Off-Broadway's Cyrano) as Music Supervisor and Arranger, and Devyn Rush, she/her, as Vocal Arranger, the creative team will feature Harmony Harris, she/her, (Off-Broadway debut) as Assistant Director, Macy Schmidt, she/her, (Kimberly Akimbo, TINA, Off-Broadway's She Persisted) as Orchestrator, Sheela Ramesh, she/her, (Six, Off-Broadway's Merrily We Roll Along, NBC's Annie Live!) as Music Director, Andrea Yohe, she/her, (New York, New York) as Associate Music Director, Jamie Roderick, he/him, (Off-Broadway's Midnight at the Never Get; Red Roses, Green Gold; The Woodsman) as Lighting Designer, Lindsay Fuori, she/her, (Irish Repertory Theatre's Made By God, Creede Repertory Theatre, Music Theatre of Connecticut) as Scenic Designer, Bill Toles, he/him, (Mint Theater's Rat Trap, Ensemble for the Romantic Century's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Broken Box Mime Theater's Take Shape) as Sound Designer, Stefania Bulbarella, she/her, (Bright New Boise, Off-Broadway's Space Dogs, Frida - Viva la vida) as Projection Designer, Brynne Oster-Bainnson, she/her, (Off-Broadway's Hit the Wall, Aspen Music Festival and School's Don Giovanni) as Costume Designer, Héctor Flores Jr., he/him, as Production Manager, Sarah Parker, she/her, (Camelot, Fiddler on the Roof) as Choreographer, and Hope Easterbrook, she/her, as Associate Choreographer.

Additional creative team will be announced at a later date.

Aaron Grant Theatrical is Consulting General Manager, Gender Consultant is Shira Helena Gitlin, they/them, EDI Consultant is Tiffany Vega-Gibson, she/her/ella, with Casting Advisor Claire Yenson Casting. New York Theatre Barn serves as Associate Producer.

Millennials Are Killing Musicals has been in development for four years. The show was an O'Neill NMTC Semifinalist in 2021 and 2022, seen in a recent NYC industry reading, and songs showcased through New York Theatre Barn's New Works Series and sold-out concert presentations at Feinstein's/Vitellos (mostlyNEWmusicals) and 54 Below.

Millennials Are Killing Musicals is an entirely original, irreverently funny, and heartfelt musical about reclaiming authentic happiness in a social media filtered world. Meet Brenda: a single Millennial mom who wants to do better "adulting" like the seemingly perfect Jake's Mom at her daughter's school. Brenda is finally ready for love and creativity in her life when her younger #influencer sister Katrina shows up at her house, eight months pregnant, totally unprepared for motherhood. The three women must shed the Greek chorus of social media filters on their lives to achieve their dreams.

BIOGRAPHIES

Max Crumm (Nate/Atlas)

they/them
Broadway: Scott, Disaster! (Nederlander), Danny, Grease (Brooks Atkinson). Off-Broadway: Emojiland, The Evolution of Mann, Hot Mess, The Fantasticks, Disaster!, Brooklyn Crush. Festival/Regional: Woody Harrelson, Matthew McConaughey V. The Devil (NYMF 2017), The Situation, Jersey Shoresical (NY Fringe Festival). Walter Paisley, Beatsville (Asolo Rep.), Andy, Legendale (Human Race Theatre). Film/TV: Burning Man: The Musical, "Emergence," "Ray Donovan," Easy A, Killing Diaz, and Echoboom. @MaxCrumm

Tiffany Engen (Jake's Mom)

she/her
Tiffany most recently played Lauren in the Broadway National Tour of Kinky Boots, and will be performing in the upcoming off-Broadway production of Clueless!. Before that, she played Regina in the Vegas Company of Rock of Ages. She made her Broadway debut in Legally Blonde and then went on to play Serena in the Broadway National Tour of Legally Blonde. She plays Noreen (with twin sister, Brooke, as Doreen) in the Hairspray movie. Other credits: world premiere of Surf the Musical, Hairspray (Shelley), Awesome 80's Prom, 42nd Street, "Drop Dead Gorgeous," "Smash," "Raising Hope," and a recurring role on Nickelodeon's "Naked Brothers Band."

Jakeim Hart (Dylan)

he/him
Broadway: Almost Famous (Dennis Hope, u/s Russell); Off-Broadway: Sing Street (NYTW), Saturday Night (Second Stage); Regional: We Live in Cairo (A.R.T.); Television: "Blue Bloods" (CBS), "The Affair" (Showtime). Debut EP, Bad Country coming soon to all streaming platforms. Proudly on the autism spectrum. For Keith Hart. @jakeim_hart

Diana Huey (Katrina)

she/her
Diana Huey is an actor and singer best known for her year-long run as Ariel in the First National tour of Disney's The Little Mermaid (Gregory Award) and Kim in Miss Saigon (Helen Hayes Award). She has a continued passion to promote color conscious casting in the arts and in helping develop new works in the theater.

Sheri Sanders (Nana Marie)

she/they/any
Sheri is an actor first and always, but for the last 20 years has been very busy changing the landscape of musical theatre education trailblazing the revolution, Rock The Audition. A few fun favorite acting jobs: Rosie in Mamma Mia! at ACT of CT, Kitty in The Screams of Kitty Genovese at New York Musical Theatre Festival, Little Becky Two Shoes in the National Tour of Urinetown, Golde in Fiddler on the Roof at Surflight Theatre, Lulu Bear Baker in Thompson and Desmons' Women of a Certain Age, and Wendy in Cameron Cole's film Twitterpated. @sherisandersishere

Jae W.B. (Luna)

she/they
Jae W.B. is a theater artist, singer, and nightlife performer based in New York City. Jae made her Off-Broadway debut in the titular role of Thorn in Bruise and Thorn. Most recently seen in Luna and the Starbodies at Lincoln Center, Broadway for Racial Justice Sings! The misseducation of Lauryn Hill at Little Island Amph, and as Xavii for New Light Theater Project's Pastel Color Ripples. Jae has been seen performing in NYC nightlife spaces such as "The Line Up'' at Birdland, Club Cumming with Cat Cohen, "Quesdays" at the Q, "Love Boat" at Cherrys on the Bay, and "Group Therapy" at Rockbar NYC. Jae was an honorary mention for The New Visions Fellowship with the National Queer Theater & Dramatist Guild. Jae is a GLAM Award nominee for Best Vocalist.

Brinie Wallace (Pacifica/Brenda cover)

she/her
Most recently, Brinie appeared in A Beautiful Noise and The Book of Mormon on Broadway. Additional credits include the second national tour of The Book of Mormon; the MUNY's Hairspray, Aida, and The Buddy Holly Story; Slow Burn Theater Co.'s Once on This Island, and The Me Nobody Knows.

Jessie Alagna (Luna, Pacifica, Nana Marie, Jake's Mom, Katrina cover)

she/her
Favorite past credits include Pile of Poo in NYMF's Emojiland the Musical, Mamma Mia! at the Ivoryton Playhouse (Rosie), Bingo! The Musical (Allison), You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (Sally), Beehive! (Jessie), The Life, and Jekyll & Hyde. @jessiestella

Kathel Griffin (Atlas, Dylan, and Nate cover)

they/them

Kathel Griffin Is a Brooklyn based TransMasculine actor most recently seen in A First Glimpse of Light by Anessa Marie at 54 Below. Other credits include Oregon Shakespeares Play On! Shakespeare Festival Off Broadway at Classic Stage Company, Regionally (Great Lakes Theatre Co, Beck Center), & the 5th Avenue Theatre's NYC based workshops of up-incoming new work; 'Here & Their' & 'Miss Step'. They perform frequently in the city at 54Below, Greenroom42, and more. Kat is represented by Clear Talent Group. @kathelgriffin

Nico Juber (Book, Music & Lyrics)

she/her
Nico Juber is an award-winning musical writer, playwright, Millennial mom, and twenty-year lymphoma survivor. Her original comedy, Millennials Are Killing Musicals (O'Neill NMTC Semifinalist '21 & '22), was seen in a spring 2022 NYC industry reading (directed by Ciara Renée), and songs have been showcased through New York Theatre Barn's New Works Series and sold-out concert presentations at Feinstein's/Vitellos (mostlyNEWmusicals) and 54 Below. Her short sci-fi musical, Holo, won one of the top awards in the 2020 NAMT 15-Minute Musical Challenge, had its premiere at the Beck Center for the Arts (with Baldwin Wallace Music Theatre, directed by Ciara Renée) in February 2021, and was selected for the 2021 Broadway OnDemand Short Film Festival. Along with collaborator Selena Seballo, she was one of the Drama League Light the Lights Challenge winners for their song "Our Next Act," performed by André De Shields at their benefit in October 2021. Other songs have been selected for and performed at the Arts Ignite Art of Wellness Benefit, A Little New Music, The Latest Draft, Green Room 42, with original song commissions for 54 Below programming and the play Stormé by Carolyn M. Brown (with collaborator Christie Chiles Twillie). As a playwright, her work was featured in the Live & In Color 24-Hour Play Festival and will be included in an upcoming short play series that showcases the right to health care and privacy with a focus on abortion called The a Chronicles. She is a proud member of ASCAP, Dramatists Guild, Ring of Keys, League of Professional Theatre Women, and current Maestra Moms affinity group co-chair. Nico holds a B.A. from Tufts University. @stuffnicolikes

Ciara Renée (Director)

she/her
Ciara Renée is the director of and producing partner for Millennials Are Killing Musicals. After over a decade as an actress, known for such headlining Broadway roles as Jenna in Waitress and Elsa in Frozen, Off-Broadway roles like Esmeralda in Disney's original production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Mariana in MCC Theater's The Wrong Man (Lortel Award nominee) as well as TV roles like Hawkgirl in "Legends of Tomorrow," Ciara has begun the transition to directing. Previously, Ciara directed a short film of another musical by Nico Juber, entitled Holo for NAMT's 5x15 Festival, in collaboration with BW and Beck Center for the Arts. She also co-directed (with Michael Dallatorre) the short documentary Beating the Odds - Children's Defense Fund of California. She is the writer, EP, and co-director of the short film Reddy Records (Post prod). Most recently, Ciara directed a ground-breaking electronic one-man musical entitled The Runaround by Stewart Tabler, as well as a sold-out 54 Below concert and industry reading of Millennials... Ciara is passionate about changing the landscape of what stories get to be told and who gets to tell them by amplifying women's, queer, and racially diverse stories. And though she is a millennial, she quite misses having a doorbell!

Out of the Box Theatrics

(OOTB) is an Off-Broadway not-for-profit committed to lifting the voices of marginalized communities through the stories they tell. OOTB also produces site specific theatre to provide a more intimate and challenging experience to our audiences' expectation of theater. Out of the Box Theatrics was founded in 2015 by Elizabeth Flemming. Recent nominations include 2020 Off Broadway Alliance Best Musical Revival and 2022 Drama Desk for Outstanding Revival of a Musical (Baby) and 2021 Drama League Outstanding Digital Theater, Individual Production and 2022 Antonyo Award, Best Digital Theater Production (The Last 5 Years).

New York Theatre Barn

is a Manhattan-based non-profit theatre company that serves as an inclusive home for original culture shifting musicals during incubation. Since 2007, New York Theatre Barn has been providing space, funding, and a safe opportunity to experiment in front of live audiences often for the first time. The company serves underrepresented artists and audiences in their commitment to anti-racist, equity, and anti-oppression ideologies while adopting a decolonial approach to theatre making and practice. For artists, the support of NYTB means investment in process. For audiences, NYTB offers a glimpse inside the blueprint of an original musical being developed in real time by living writers. NYTB believes that there is no formula for musical theatre, except authenticity. www.nytheatrebarn.org.