Theater Latte Da Announces Three New Works As Part Of The 2024 NEXT Festival

Theater Latté Da has announced the slate of artists and projects for this summer's NEXT FESTIVAL 2024.

Three dynamic new works, SHE'S COME UNDONE by Darrah Cloud, Michael Holland, and David Simpatico, based on the novel by Wally Lamb; MY ÁNTONIA by The Kilbanes and Jessie Austrian and Noah Brady, adapted from the novel by Willa Cather; and THE MEASURES by Kira Obolensky and David Darrow, will each receive two-week developmental workshops and public presentations beginning Saturday, July 26.

Past NEXT Festivals have offered audiences a first look at new musicals that have gone on to full production at Theater Latté Da including C. (2015), LULLABY (2016), FIVE POINTS (2018), TO LET GO AND FALL (2019), CHRISTMAS AT THE LOCAL (2022),TWELVE ANGRY MEN (2022), JOHNNY SKEEKY; OR, THE REMEDY FOR EVERYTHING (2024) and SCOTLAND, PA (2024).

“The NEXT Festival provides a fabulous opportunity for artists and audiences to come together around exciting projects that explore the intersection of story and music.  The response and feedback from audiences who attend the presentations has a powerful impact on shaping these new works.” says Elissa Adams, NEXT Festival producer and Director of New Work at Theater Latté Da.

The first presentation of the 2024 NEXT Festival is SHE'S COME UNDONE with music and lyrics by Michael Holland, book by Darrah Cloud and David Simpatico, adapted from the novel by Wally Lamb. SHE'S COME UNDONE will be  directed by Justin Lucero, with music direction by Jason Hansen.

Adapted from Wally Lamb's acclaimed novel She's Come Undone, this new musical from the creators of TWELVE ANGRY MEN: A NEW MUSICAL uses an American folk score to chronicle the life of Dolores Price, who conceals her pain, and herself, behind an addiction to food, her double-wide wit, and a fictional life of her own devising.

SHE'S COME UNDONE was commissioned by Theater Latté Da in 2022 and received a developmental workshop in February 2024.

Public presentation dates and times for SHE'S COME UNDONE are Saturday, July 26 at 3:00 pm and Monday, July 29 at 7:30 pm at the Ritz Theater.

The second presentation will be MY ÁNTONIA with music and lyrics by The Kilbanes, and book by Noah Brody,adapted from the novel by Willa Cather. The MY ÁNTONIA presentations will be directed by Jessie Austrian, with music direction by Christine and Harrison Wade.

Willa Cather's classic novel  of immigrant life on the Nebraska prairie chronicles the story of a young man and how his friendship with Ántonia profoundly shaped his young life. The musical duo The Kilbanes join forces with theater-makers Noah Brody and Jessie Austrian of Fiasco Theater to bring this ever-timely story to the stage.

MY ÁNTONIA was created through a 2019 NEXT Generation Commission from Theater Latté Da and received a developmental workshop in 2023.

Public presentation dates and times for MY ÁNTONIA will be Friday, August 2 at 3:00 pm and Monday, August 5 at 7:30 pm at the Ritz Theater.

The final presentation of the 2024 NEXT Festival will be THE MEASURES, with music and lyrics by David Darrow, and book by Kira Obolensky. THE MEASURES will be directed by Tyler Michaels King, with music direction by Andy Kust.

Based on the “21 Grams Theory” and experiments conducted by Dr. Duncan MacDougall in Haverhill, Massachusetts in 1907, this new musical follows a young nurse's search for purpose as she aids an eccentric doctor to weigh patients as they die to prove the human soul has physical weight. Weaving between the memories of the sick and dying and a peculiar man battling his own grief, THE MEASURES traverses the gap between what we leave behind and where we might go beyond our final breath.

THE MEASURES was commissioned by Trademark Theater and developed with the support of Trademark Theater, the Playwrights' Center and Rhinebeck Writers Retreat. The NEXT Festival workshop and presentation of THE MEASURES is sponsored by Barb and Fran Davis. 

Public presentation dates and times for THE MEASURES will be Friday, August 9 at 3:00 pm and Monday, August 12 at 7:30 pm at the Ritz Theater. 

Theater Latté Da is an award-winning Twin Cities musical theater company that combines music and story to illuminate the breadth and depth of the human experience. The company seeks to create new and impactful connections between story, music, artists, and audience by exploring and expanding the art of musical theater.

Festival Dates: July 26 - Aug 12, 2024
All public presentations will be presented at the Ritz Theater.
Tickets: $15 or purchase a 3-Show NEXT Festival pass for $30

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