New Illustrated Musical Theatre Storybook Released, SHELLIE SHELBY SHARES THE SPOTLIGHT

Longtime New Line Theatre actor and illustrator Zachary Allen Farmer teams up with New Line artistic director and writer Scott Miller for SHELLIE SHELBY SHARES THE SPOTLIGHT, a delightful story of a young woman discovering for the first time the incredible magic and power of musical theatre, as she embarks on a wild adventure through the treacherous social jungle of her first high school musical.

When Shellie gets cast in the school show, she can't believe her luck, but her best friend, poor tone-deaf JoJo McQuill, isn't so lucky. Can Shellie successfully navigate the drama club mean girls, her crazy philosopher-teacher, music rehearsals, killer choreography, and Tech Week, without losing her mind and her best friend in the process?

SHELLIE SHELBY is appropriate for tweens, teens, and adults, though it may not be appropriate for younger children. There are references to marijuana, but no other "adult content."

Just before the pandemic hit, Miller published his latest book of analysis Idiots, Heathers, and Squips: The New Golden Age of the Musical Theatre. After the theatres were shut down, he returned to writing, and he soon released a short story anthology, Night of the Living Show Tunes: 13 Tales of the Weird. And then for something completely different, he followed that up with the new songbook, Broadway Musical Christmas Carols, and just last month, he released The ABC's of Broadway Musicals: A Civilian's Guide, a fun, short, easy-to-read introduction to the art form.

Zachary Allen Farmer is a professional actor, singer, and illustrator. He has appeared onstage with New Line Theatre in dozens of shows, including as Barry in the American regional premiere of High Fidelity in 2008 and again in 2012; as Charles Bukowski in Bukowsical; as Sheriff Karnopp in the 2009 world premiere of Love Kills; and as Albin in La Cage aux Folles. He also appeared as Edna in Hairspray with The Black Rep and Washington University, and in several independent films, including the feature film Four Color Eulogy. He has written a number of radio plays and co-written several comic books.

Scott Miller is a musical theatre director, composer, lyricist, bookwriter, historian, consultant, self-proclaimed fanboy, and the founder and artistic director of New Line Theatre, the alternative musical theatre company in St. Louis. founded in 1991. He has a degree in music and musical theatre from Harvard University. He has written eleven musicals, two plays, more than a dozen books about musical theatre, and he also writes the Bad Boy of Musical Theatre blog. For fifteen years, he co-hosted the radio show Break a Leg: Theatre in St. Louis and Beyond on KDHX, and now he hosts the theatre podcast Stage Grok, available on iTunes. Miller's Amazon Author Page, with all his books, is here. He has written a number of musical theatre analysis collections , as well as the books Strike Up the Band: A New History of Musical Theatre; and It's a Musical!: 400 Questions to Ponder, Discuss, and Fight About.

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