New York Theatre Barn to Feature New Musicals From Jaime Cepero, Joey Contreras, Zoe Sarnak & More

New York Theatre Barn will continue to host weekly free live streams of its New Works Series each Wednesday evening at 7PM ET. Upcoming July installments of the series include excerpts from the new musicals Francois and the Rebels, Forget Me Not, A Crossing, American Morning, Tenn and more. Available on New York Theatre Barn's YouTube channel and Broadway on Demand, the live 40-minute series includes excerpts from two new musicals and a conversation with the creators of the two shows. The company will be giving 50% of its donations each week to a different charity that supports black lives and civil rights.

July 8, 2020 @ 7PM ET

Francois and the Rebels

Book, Music, and Lyrics by Jaime Cepero

Featuring live performances performed remotely by L Morgan Lee (A Strange Loop) and Alex Lugo (Rent, Godspell)

Francois and the Rebels is a punk rock telling of the 1791 Haitian Revolution. With a pulsing punk rock score, and a story pulled from historic events full of love, loss, and deception, Francois and the Rebels tells an important and often forgotten black history through the lens of an immersive high energy rock and roll experience.

American Morning

Book, Music and Lyrics by Timothy Huang

Featuring live performances performed remotely by Cathy Ang (KPOP, We Are The Tigers), Marc delaCruz (Hamilton, If/Then), and Raymond J. Lee (Soft Power, Groundhog Day)

Inspired by an article from the 2009 New York Times, American Morning tells the story of two immigrant cab drivers who share opposite shifts off the same medallion. The two men's fates become intertwined as forced competition drives a wedge between them that culminates in a single desperate act that leaves one dead and the other brutalized.

July 15, 2020 @ 7PM ET

Talk To Me

Book and Lyrics by Charlie Sohne

Music by Tim Rosser

Featuring live performances performed remotely by Josh Shapiro and Brynn Williams (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, SpongeBob SquarePants)

Talk To Me is a family musical about Graham, a 12 year-old boy on the autism spectrum who makes friends with the Siri app on his mom's iPhone. It's through his interactions with Siri that others are able to see another side to Graham -- allowing him to make new friends, gain a new level of understanding in his relationship with his mother and eventually change his entire school.

F.L.I.P.PED

Words and Music by J. Oconer Navarro

Featuring live performances performed remotely by Jaygee Macapugay (School of Rock, Here Lies Love) and Devin Ilaw (Miss Saigon)

Enzo Ramos is a first generation Fil-Am 30-something who accompanies his traditional, immigrant parents and his favorite Tita "back home" to the Philippines to celebrate his Lola's upcoming 100th birthday. When unexpected tragedy hits, they are forced to reckon with the deep secrets that rise to the surface.

July 22, 2020 @ 7PM ET

Tenn

Book, Music, and Lyrics by Jullian Hornik

Featuring live performances performed remotely by Christian Probst (The Book of Mormon) and Bandits on the Run

A new musical based on the early life of Tennessee Williams, Tenn follows Williams' years trapped in St. Louis with a family in collapse, to his formative months living in the Old French Quarter of New Orleans.

¡Americano!

Based on the life of Antonio Valdovinos

Co-Book, Lyrics, Direction and Musical Staging by Michael Barnard

Music and Lyrics by Carrie Rodriguez

Co-Book and Lyrics by Jonathan Rosenberg

Featuring live performances performed remotely by Sean Ewing (West Side Story, Amazing Grace)

Inspired by the events of 9/11, Tony geared his entire childhood towards enlisting in the Marines on his 18th birthday. Yet when he did, Tony was devastated to learn his parents had not been honest with him and that he was an undocumented immigrant, unable to realize his dream. ¡Americano! casts a profoundly human light on what it means to be a Dreamer.

July 29, 2020 @ 7PM ET

Forget Me Not

Book and Lyrics by Kate Thomas

Music by Joey Contreras

Featuring live performances performed remotely by Kerstin Anderson (My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music), Jacob Dickey (Aladdin, Emojiland), Amanda Lopez, Diana Huey (The Little Mermaid) and Michael Williams

Forget Me Not is an original musical, loosely inspired by the 1970s Exploding Whale and the Long Island Serial Killer. Unsolved murders, tender relationships, and a media frenzy lead to an explosive reveal that makes us wonder what we would do to keep from being forgotten.

A Crossing

Book by Mark St.Germain

Music and Lyrics by Zoe Sarnak

Directed and Choreographed by Joshua Bergasse

Created in Association with Calpulli Mexican Dance Company

Featuring live performances performed remotely by Ashley Perez Flanagan (Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, In The Green)

Pulsing with energy and emotional intensity, this story about a group of migrants crossing the southern border is raw, visceral and electrifying - demonstrating the personal impact of crossing an "invisible line. This new dance musical ingeniously combines compelling lyrics, athletic choreography and elements of Mexican folk music to tell a remarkable tale of courage, fear and struggle.

The New Works Series is produced and hosted by Jen Sandler and Joe Barros. For more information, visit New York Theatre Barn's website: www.nytheatrebarn.org.