New Musicals From Jay Alan Zimmerman, Laurie Hochman, and More Set For New York Theatre Barn's Choreography Lab 12th Season

New York Theatre Barn will launch the 12th season of its Choreography Lab in 2025. Curated by Avital Asuleen, the Choreography Lab is the only platform for choreographers and writers to collaborate on movement for original musicals during incubation. 

In April, the New Works Lab will support three original musicals and three choreographers. The three musicals include: Magia - written by Letitia Bullard and Nathan Leitão, Big Quarterly - written by S. Todd Townsend, Luke McLemore, and Kim Kilby, and Forty Elephants - written by Bryan Blaskie and Laurie Hochman. In September, the lab will make space for Songs For Hands On A Thursday, a theatrical song cycle created by the company's longtime collaborator, Jay Alan Zimmerman, and based on poems by award-winning playwright Sarah Ruhl. The work on Songs For Hands On A Thursday will support a Deaf composer, a Director of Artistic Sign Language, 3 choreographers (both Deaf and hearing), a projection designer, a sound engineer, and 8 performers (both Deaf and hearing). More details will be announced soon.

Magia, previously featured in the company's award-winning New Works Series, is a welcoming celebration of Afro-Latino-Caribbean cultures and experiences in an imaginative fantasy musical with spices from the countries that represent the writers: The Bahamas and Brazil. Big Quarterly is a hip-hop gospelized musical, centering the legacy of Peter Spencer – a former slave turned pastor who sparked the Big Quarterly – a joyful reunion for freedom in Delaware and a chance to secure passage on the Underground Railroad. Forty Elephants is a dual-timeline comedy about the power of love, the social diminution of women, and the biggest score they can fit in their pockets.

Funded in part by a generous gift from the Amber Foundation, the Choreography Lab was created to elevate and expand the use of dance in musical theatre. The lab's unique programming supports choreographer development, fosters collaboration between writers and choreographers earlier in the creative process, and serves as an educational forum where all parties can strengthen and specify how dance can be used to convey story and character. For more information, visit New York Theatre Barn's website: www.nytheatrebarn.org.

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