New York Theatre Barn's 12th season launches with its signature New Works Series on Monday, February 4th, 2019, presenting pre-premieres of two new musicals. Bonnie Milligan (Head Over Heels) and Zachary Noah Piser (Dear Evan Hansen, Sweeney Todd, Wicked) lead the cast of Postcard American Town, which will be presented with the musical Ramona.
Crystal Skillman (Mary and Max) and Lynne Shankel's (Allegiance, bare: the musical, Altar Boyz) Postcard American Town tells the story of the The Town of Westville as it prepares for its biggest annual event - the Settler's Picnic. Emma Reed, whose family were original settlers, is excited to be finally taking her place in a big job as the Head Picnic Coordinator. But when the event is accused of exclusion by Dylan Bakshi, a newcomer to town, tensions rise and values are challenged in surprising ways. A new musical about a young woman's awakening to white privilege and activism in a small town, and a small town that has to choose its future. Joining Milligan and Piser in the cast are Alan Ariano (The King and I), Pamela Bob (Hand to God), Michael Buchanan (Cry-Baby), Jodi Capeless (All About Me), Laura Jordan (Cry-Baby), Nehal Joshi (School of Rock), Bill Parry (Groundhog Day), Erin Quill (Avenue Q), Chuck Ragsdale (A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder), and Jessica Tyler Wright (Company, New York City Opera's Dear Erich).
Based on the celebrated novel by Helen Hunt Jackson, Nevada Lozano's musical adaptation of Ramona tells the story of an orphan girl growing up on a Mexican hacienda in Southern California in the 1850s. She falls in love with a Native American ranchero, and together they journey across the new U.S. state in search of her true identity. With a blend of American, Native American and Mexican musical styles, Ramona is an epic love story set during one of the most violent, tumultuous points in American history. Produced in association with John Albert Harris, the music director is Adrian Ries, and the cast includes Joy Del Valle (West Side Story int. tour), Justin Duval (Happy Days tour), Jose Gomez Jr., Peter Gosik (The Wizard of Oz tour), Alba Ponce de León, Gabriela Pérez, Amanda Robles, Josy Soriano, and Esteban Suero.
New York Theatre Barn's Artistic Director Joe Barros (The Evolution of Mann, Bastard Jones) directs both 35-minute presentations. Sam Strum is the line producer and casting is by Eisenberg/Beans Casting (Daryl Eisenberg,CSA; Ally Beans, CSA).
The 70-minute presentation will begin at 7PM at the D-Lounge, located at the Daryl Roth Theatre (101 East 15th Street) in New York City. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door, and can be purchased on New York Theatre Barn's website: www.nytheatrebarn.org. Seating is limited.
Now in its 12th season, New York Theatre Barn is a Manhattan-based non-profit theatre company dedicated to incubating, investigating, and producing new musicals that tell untold stories. Theatre Barn's core programs include the New Works Series - exclusive pre-premieres incubating new musicals, the Choreography Lab - the only platform where choreographers and writers collaborate on movement for new musicals during incubation, and unique residency opportunities which recently resulted in a developmental production of the musical Sam's Room, and a reading of the musical Eastbound which is performed in English and Mandarin. For more information: www.nytheatrebarn.org.
Videos