Musical Theatre Factory's Electronic Dance Musical NIKOLA TESLA DROPS THE BEAT Gets Developmental Run This Weekend

Musical Theatre Factory (MTF) has announced that it will stage four developmental presentations of Nikko Benson and Benjamin Halstead's NIKOLA TESLA DROPS THE BEAT, an electronic dance musical about history's most overlooked inventor.

The first of seven developmental presentations of the 2016 - 2017 season, the production is directed by Marshall Pailet, features musical direction by Madeline Smith, choreography by Maxx Reed and dramaturgy by Jeffrey Stoller.

Presentations are today, Sept 30th, at 3pm & 7pm and Oct 1st at 2pm & 7pm at Playwrights Horizons South Room, 416 West 42nd Street, 4th Floor. Running time is 75 minutes. Tickets are $18 and available at www.mtf.nyc.

NIKOLA TESLA DROPS THE BEAT is an EDM (electronic dance musical) musical about history's most overlooked inventor and his struggle to realize his vision of the future. The show's modern style and score reflect Tesla's obsession with that future, translating electric innovation into electronic music. Tesla himself is contemporized as a pop-icon whose sounds pushed the limits of what his audience could handle. Come feel the beat drop.

The cast of NIKOLA TESLA FROPS THE BEAT features Ally Bonino, Brandon Espinoza, Darius Harper, Jared Loftin, Crystal Lucas-Perry, Mike Millan, Rebecca (Bex) Odorisio, Larry Owens, Isaac Powell, Barrett Wilbert Weed and Tam Young.

Nikko Benson is a New York-based writer and performer, recipient of a 2016 Jonathan Larson grant. Projects include Start Again, In Pursuit of Magic, and The Pledge (w/ Christopher Staskel). He and his songs have been featured in concerts and cabarets around the city, such as Brian Stokes Mitchell's Plays With Music, William Finn's "Ridiculously Talented" series, and Shakina Nayfack's One Woman Show and Post Op. ASCAP and Dramatists' Guild member, TPAP teaching artist, MTF founding member!

BENJAMIN HALSTEAD studied filmmaking at NYU, where he wrote/directed a couple musical short films, and then enrolled at NYU again for the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. His songs have been performed at Joe's Pub, 54 Below, Bill Finn's Cabaret, Barrington Stage, NYMF, MTF, and more. MTF Founding Member. Ben spends his days in SpotCo's Digital Marketing Department, selling Broadway one tweet at a time.

Musical Theatre Factory was founded by Artistic Director Shakina Nayfack in January 2014 as a collective for early-career musical theatre makers interested in changing the way new musicals are developed in New York City. The mission of the Factory is to develop and present new Musical Theatre Works in a collaborative environment free from the pressures of critical or commercial success. With a focus on peer-evaluation and process-driven volunteer support, MTF's assembly line of development programming directly addresses the needs of today's musical theatre artists and is intended to nurture new work from initial concepts to full drafts and, occasionally, first productions.

In its first two years MTF has assisted in the development of over 90 new musicals with more than 900 volunteers contributing over 16,000 combined hours of service. The organization has partnered with a number of other theatre companies throughout NYC, including Joe's Pub at The Public Theatre, The People's Improv Theatre, Poetic Theatre Productions, and Playwrights Horizons, where they will begin a three-year residency this coming fall.

MTF members include some of today's most exciting composers, lyricists, book writers, directors, choreographers, music directors, dramaturgs, performers, and arts administrators. The organization is overseen by General Managers Frankie Dailey and Joey Monda, with Creative Producer Aaron Glick serving as Chairman of the Board of Directors.

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