New Children's Musical PRESS START Now Available for Licensing

Beat by Beat Press announced this week that its original children's musical PRESS START is now available for licensing. This is the first musical ever to be composed entirely with 8-bit video games synthesizers. Beginning today, schools and community theaters can request a free perusal script and apply for production rights at www.bbbpress.com.

PRESS START adds to Beat by Beat's growing catalogue of award-winning, contemporary musicals written for elementary to middle school age performers. Since launching in 2011, Beat by Beat has become the fastest growing publisher of new children's musicals outside the typical fairytale catalogue with productions licensed in over 50 countries and nearly every U.S. state. Over 50,000 drama teachers and directors visit the website each month.

"Video games were such a huge part of my childhood.", stated Denver Casado, composer of the show. "Writing this show brought me right back to those days sitting in a row on the carpet with my friends at my parent's house, captivated by this virtual world, feeling all the excitement and anticipation of trying to beat the game".

PRESS START transports the audience into the bright, pixelated world of video games. When the iconic characters we know and love run out of lives, they decide to put on a musical fundraiser that will help them raise gold rings and play on. Through hilarious and heartfelt musical numbers we see the heroes, villains and sidekicks like we've never seen them before. But when things go terribly awry, it's the quiet sidekick Little Mushroom who must find the hero within to help save the day.

The show is 45-minutes long and features over 22 speaking and singing solo parts. Like every Beat by Beat musical, the majority of characters are gender-neutral allowing it to be performed by a variety of drama groups. In a market saturated by fairytale adaptations, the show offers a refreshing option for schools and theaters looking to bring new musical theatre to their communities.

Beat by Beat has attracted thousands of theaters to its unique online publishing platform. Available for free, its ePerusals let directors instantly read and listen to entire shows in a single multimedia PDF file. After purchasing a show, customers receive the production materials in the same day via digital download.

The production materials include a director's guide with tips from casting to costumes, professionally orchestrated accompaniment tracks the actors can perform to, plus the freedom to copy scripts and video record without worries of copyright infringement.

The writing and development process of creating PRESS START can be listened to in a 27-episode podcast series titled "Let's Make a Musical" on iTunes.

PRESS START has music and lyrics by Denver Casado, and book by Denver Casado and Brian Dawson.