New York Theatre Barn Will Live Stream Excerpts From New Musicals By Eli Bolin, Steven Gallagher, Sukari Jones, and Troy Anthony

New York Theatre Barn will host a free live stream of its New Works Series on Wednesday, June 17th, 2020 at 7PM EDT, featuring excerpts from the new musicals Wally Flynn and The River is Me. The 40-minute presentation will also feature the creators of the new musicals. The company will be giving 50% of its donations each week to a different charity that supports black lives and civil rights. The charity on June 15th will be The Black Women's Playwright Group which serves African American Playwrights writing for the professional theatre.

Wally Flynn has music and lyrics by Eli Bolin (Co-op, Found, Volleygirls, John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch) and book and lyrics by Canadian artist Steven Gallagher (Pollyanna, Blackout). Wally Flynn's world has been turned upside down since the death of his father. Today is his twelfth birthday, and nobody seems to care. His sister won't stop tormenting him, his mom is too busy trying to fix her own problems to notice him, and his only friend is an imaginary soldier from the pages of his sketchbook. Armed with a rich fantasy life and five dollars for bus fare, Wally and Soldier head out into the world and embark on adventures that show Wally the meaning of family, and when it's time to grow up. The writers will present two songs from the show performed remotely by Alexander Bello (John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch, All My Sons) and Allison Posner (The Magnificent Seven, Volleygirls).

Inspired by the murder of Emmett Till, The River is Me has book and lyrics by Sukari Jones and music by Troy Anthony. Mississippi. Summer. 1955. A 14-year-old black boy whistles at a white woman and is kidnapped by her husband, murdered, and buried at the bottom of a river. Rather than be dismantled, the boy is endowed by powers from the river and returns to walk the earth as a superhero to save his mother from the grown-up world of violence. The writers will present two songs from the show performed remotely by co-writer Troy Anthony.

Wally Flynn was commissioned by Yonge Street Theatricals in Toronto and further developed at the 2019 Toronto Workshop. The River is Me was featured at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, NAMT's 2018 Festival of New Musicals, and in concert at Feinstein's 54/Below.

The 40-minute presentation will be available on New York Theatre Barn's YouTube channel, and is hosted and produced by Jen Sandler and Joe Barros. For more information, visit New York Theatre Barn's website: www.nytheatrebarn.org.

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