New Musical LIZARD BOY to Have New York Premiere at Theatre Row in June

Prospect Theater Company will present the New York premiere of the award-winning new indie-rock musical Lizard Boy, with book, music and lyrics by Justin Huertas and directed by Brandon Ivie. Preview performances are set to begin on Thursday, June 1st at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street), with an opening night set for Wednesday, June 14th. The strictly limited engagement is set to run through Saturday, July 1st, 2023.

Following a successful run at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Prospect's production will feature the acclaimed original actor-musician cast, including show author and the composer of Marvel's Squirrel Girl podcast, Justin Huertas, who is joined onstage by collaborators Kiki deLohr and William A. Williams. Director Brandon Ivie, from Prospect's hit production of Jasper in Deadland, leads the creative team, which includes Music Director Steven Tran. Additional creative and design personnel to be announced.

Lizard Boy tells the story of Trevor-a young man with green scaly skin-whose first date spirals into a mythic and transformative journey as he confronts villains, monsters, and himself. Will the night conclude with a kiss... or the end of the world? Equal parts comic book adventure and coming-of-age love story, 
Lizard Boy has been called "Ingenious" (San Francisco Chronicle), "Phenomenal" (San Jose News), "Ferocious & Funny" (Seattle Times), "Wildly Original" (The Guardian), and "Must-See Theater" (BroadwayWorld.com).

Lizard Boy is the winner of six 2021 San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards, including Best Entire Production, Best Stage Direction, and Best Ensemble. The original cast recording, which is available online, has been streamed over three million times on Spotify.

The show was originally commissioned, developed by, and received its world premiere at Seattle Repertory Theatre. It was presented in the National Alliance for Musical Theatre's 2020 Festival of New Musicals, further developed and produced by the 2019 TONY-winning TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, and most recently appeared at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Lizard Boy is presented by special arrangement with Creative Endeavor Office (Carolyn D. Miller & Matthew J. Schneider), Blair Russell, Dawn Smalberg, and Bev Ragovoy.

Lizard Boy will play June 1 - July 1, 2023 on the following performance schedule: Tuesdays - Fridays at 7:30pm; Saturdays at 3pm and 7:30pm; and Sundays at 3pm, subject to change.

Tickets, starting at $27.50 for "first look" performances, are now on sale, and can be purchased by visiting https://www.prospecttheater.org/lizardboy or by calling the Theatre Row Box Office at 212-714-2442 x45 (https://bfany.org/theatre-row/). Theatre Row is located at 410 West 42nd Street. The Box Office is available by phone Monday - Friday from 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm.

For more information, please visit ProspectTheater.org.


ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

Justin Huertas

(Author/Trevor) is an award-winning playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, and musician best known for his original musical Lizard Boy (Seattle Rep, Diversionary Theatre, NAMT Festival of New Musicals, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Original Cast Album streaming on all platforms). His performance as Trevor has earned him regional theatre awards in every city Lizard Boy has performed. Justin and collaborator Steven Tran composed original music for Marvel's Squirrel Girl: The Unbeatable Radio Show! podcast. Other works include The Last World Octopus Wrestling Champion, Howl's Moving Castle, The Lamplighter, and We've Battled Monsters Before. Justin will also premiere two new musicals next spring: The Mortification of Fovea Munson (adapted from the novel by Mary Winn Heider) at the Kennedy Center and Lydia & the Troll (directed by co-creator Ameenah Kaplan) at Seattle Rep.

KIKI deLOHR

(Siren) is an award-winning Seattle-based performer and collaborator. Helland created the role of Siren in Lizard Boy's first workshop in 2013. Since then, she has originated the role in every regional premiere, receiving numerous accolades along the way including Theatre Puget Sound's Gregory Award, Seattle Theater Writers' Gypsy Rose Lee Award, the BroadwayWorld Seattle Critics Choice Award, and the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award. Other US Regional: Afterwords (World Premiere), The Sound of Music (Maria), Grease (Rizzo), Oklahoma! (Ado Annie), Elf (Jovie), Les Misérables (Eponine), American Idiot (Whatsername), Rent. Film: Laggies. Co-author of The Lamplighter (with Justin Huertas and Sara Porkalob).

William A. Williams

(Cary) is a musician/actor based in New York City. He originated the role of Cary in Lizard Boy at Seattle Rep going on to win a Theatre Puget Sound's Gregory Award for his performance. He was also most recently recognized by the SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle for his portrayal of Cary in 2021. Other regional credits include: Of Mice and Men (Seattle Rep); Zanna, Don't!, ...Spelling Bee (Contemporary Classics); Beauty and the Beast, Showboat, The Gypsy King (Village Theatre); Romeo and Juliet, Comedy of Errors (Seattle Shakespeare Company). William played guitar in productions of Spring Awakening (Balagan), Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (ArtsWest), and took on the bass guitar for The Iceman Lab at Target Margin in NYC. He received his BFA from Cornish College of the Arts.


Brandon Ivie

(Director) has directed the world premieres of Lizard Boy (Justin Huertas), The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes (Michael Kooman, Chris Dimond), Jasper in Deadland (Ryan Scott Oliver, Hunter Foster), String (Adam Gwon, Sarah Hammond), The Hinterlands (Michelle Elliott, Danny Larsen). Broadway assisting: Next to Normal, A Christmas Story, First Date, Catch Me if You Can. Other directing credits: The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Hope Mill Theatre (UK), The Public Theater/Joe's Pub, HERE Arts Center, Paper Mill, Signature Theatre, Barrington Stage, Goodspeed, Ford's Theatre, Kennedy Center, Seattle Rep, The 5th Avenue Theatre, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Diversionary Theatre. Drama League Directing Fellow, Charles Abbott Directing Fellowship, LCT Directors Lab. He is Associate Artistic Director of Village Theatre and the Gregory Award-winning Artistic Director of Contemporary Classics.

STEVEN TRAN

(Music Director) is a composer, music producer, and theater artist. Alongside frequent collaborator Justin Huertas, Steven is the co-composer for Marvel's Squirrel Girl: The Unbeatable Radio Show!, available on all podcast streaming services. Other collaborations include: The Last World Octopus Wrestling Champion, Howl's Moving Castle, The Lamplighter, The Mortification of Fovea Munson (upcoming at The Kennedy Center), and Lydia and the Troll (upcoming at Seattle Rep). Other select music direction, composition, and/or orchestration credits: The Winter's Tale, As You Like It, 12th Night (Seattle Rep), Stars Between (Seattle Opera Creation Lab), And So That Happened (5th Ave). As director: Baseball Saved Us, Northwest Bookshelf (5th Ave). Steven is the creator/performer of an autobiographical solo show The Sonata Years, which was a semifinalist for the 2021 National Playwrights Conference.

ABOUT PROSPECT THEATER COMPANY

Prospect Theater Company is dedicated to fostering and showcasing today's new voices shaping tomorrow's musicals. Over two decades, the company has premiered more than 35 musicals in New York City, in addition to new plays and numerous re-inventions of classic works. Reflecting its investment in the future of the field, Prospect leads a variety of developmental initiatives: including an annual Musical Theater Lab for emerging writers, and the IGNITE Series of new musical theater in concert. In 2020, Prospect launched the VISION Series of original music-theater works on film, created for online streaming. In recognition of its enterprising and risk-taking new musical theater, the company has received an OBIE Award grant, and its role as a community anchor for emerging artists that strengthens the quality, diversity, and dynamism of American theater was honored by the American Theatre Wing.

Recently, Prospect produced the musical song-cycle Notes From Now - Songs of Resilience & Renewal (2022) featuring a lineup of newly-commissioned original songs created by 21 of today's brightest musical theater writers. Previously, Prospect produced the Drama Desk Award-nominated Einstein's Dreams (2019) by Joanne Sydney Lessner & Joshua Rosenblum, adapted from the novel by Alan Lightman, and the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award-nominated The Hello Girls (2018), by company founding artists Peter Mills & Cara Reichel. Both of these shows ran Off-Broadway at 59E59 Theaters and have original cast albums available from Broadway Records. Other notable productions include: Kerrigan & Lowdermilk's The Mad Ones (2017); Milburn & Vigoda's Long Story Short (2015); Ryan Scott Oliver and Hunter Foster's Jasper in Deadland (2014); the Drama Desk nominated Tamar of the River (2013) by Joshua H. Cohen and Marisa Michelson; Carner & Gregor's Unlock'd (2013); Gordon Greenberg's revisal of Working (Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Ensemble, 2012) including new songs by Lin Manuel Miranda; Elizabeth Lucas' re-imagining of Guettel's Myths and Hymns (2012); and John Gregor's With Glee (2010).

For more information: ProspectTheater.org


ABOUT THEATRE ROW


Theatre Row is an Off-Broadway multi-theater complex in the heart of NYC's Theater District that serves as an affordable home for performing artist organizations, and a lively, accessible venue for diverse audiences. Located just two blocks from Times Square, Theatre Row offers theater rentals, rehearsal studio rentals, office space, ticketing and box office, as well as tech support to actors, producers, dancers, and musicians. Theatre Row encourages its varied mix of nonprofit theater companies to share ideas and resources as they work in its intimate spaces. Over 160,000 patrons come to Theatre Row each year. 




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