UnsungMusicalsCo. and York Theatre Co. Partner for Show Time! Trilogy

UnsungMusicalsCo. and The York Theatre Company announced today a partnership for the next three years for UMC's Show Time! Trilogy. UnsungMusicalsCo. (UMC) focuses on researching and developing prescient projects that explore the vibrancy of the American musical theatre canon, and how past works influence the artists and repertoire of today and tomorrow.

The Theatre at Saint Peter's, home to The York Theatre Company, will host all three UMC productions in its Show Time! Trilogy, kicking off with the upcoming documentary musical Show Time! The First 100 Years of the American Musical, which runs September 13-16, 2018. Show Time! The First 100 Years of the American Musical is created, written, and performed by UMC founder Ben West, a 2017 recipient of Lincoln Center's Martin E. Segal Award. Developed over the past four years from more than twenty archives in more than ten states, Show Time! features over two dozen songs in an electrifying live-action documentary, weaving music and performance through a narrative of world, cultural, and theatre history, telling the remarkable story of this uniquely American art form, charting its evolution from the mid-1800s through 1999.

Show Time! will cover seven eras of the American musical: Cosmic Collisions (1866-1899), Birth of an Art Form (1900-1924), Rise of the Golden Age (1925-1930), Golden Age, Part One (1931-1950), Golden Age, Part Two (1951-1970), Fall of the Golden Age (1971-1980) and Growing Pains, or Identity Crisis (1981-1999). A full interactive Musicals Timeline ranging from 1866 to 1999 can be found at UnsungMusicals.org. Show Time! The First 100 Years of the American Musical features musical continuity and arrangements by Fran Minarik and direction and musical staging by Shannon Lewis.

In the fall of 2019, The York Theatre Company will host UMC's production of 45 Minutes from Coontown, focused on black musical writers, and in the fall of 2020, they will host UMC's production of 68 Ways to Go, about female musical writers.

Leading up to its premiere in September, Show Time! will be offering a sneak peek at this year's New York Musical Festival as part of the concert series on July 18th and 21st at 7pm. The evening will feature three sequences from Show Time! as well as a discussion led by Variety's Gordon Cox.

On August 20th, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center will offer Archive Dive: The Research Behind Show Time!, a program which will showcase items from the NYPL collections used to create Show Time!.

For more information on the upcoming season and to purchase tickets to Show Time!, please visit: www.UnsungMusicals.org

UnsungMusicalsCo. (UMC) is a not-for-profit Production Company focused on researching and developing prescient projects that explore the vibrancy of the American musical theatre canon and how past works have influenced the artists and repertoire of today and tomorrow. Founded in 2009, UMC relaunched in 2018 after a three-year hiatus for research and development with a renewed focus on presenting works which speak directly to the influence of the past on both the present and future. Dedicated also to the preservation of rare musical material for future generations, the company will be receiving its own archival collection in the Billy Rose Theatre Division of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. UnsungMusicals.org

Ben West (Creator, Writer, Performer) is a director, producer, performer, and musical theatre historian. His directing credits include Unsung Carolyn Leigh for Lincoln Center's American Songbook; Gatsby: The Songs in Concert, a world premiere featuring an original score written circa 1969 by Carolyn Leigh and Lee Pockriss; and downtown productions of Make Mine Manhattan by Arnold B. Horwitt and Richard Lewine and The Fig Leaves Are Falling by Allan Sherman and Albert Hague. On Broadway, he served as assistant director and dramaturg for The Old Acquaintance, assistant producer for both August: Osage County and The Homecoming, and production assistant for Talk Radio. He has also worked in various capacities on productions at Hartford Stage, Paper Mill Playhouse, McCarter Theatre, Vineyard Theatre, and Ravinia Festival. He is a 2017 recipient of Lincoln Center's Martin E. Segal Award.

The York Theatre Company is the only theatre in New York City-and one of very few in the world-dedicated to developing and fully producing new musicals and preserving neglected, notable shows from the past. For nearly five decades, York's intimate, imaginative style of producing both original and classic musicals has resulted in critical acclaim and recognition from artists and audiences alike. Under the guidance of Producing Artistic Director James Morgan since 1997, The York has focused on new musicals in its Mainstage Series-most of them world, American, or New York premieres-by some of the field's most esteemed creators, and has also helped launch the careers of many talented new writers. While a home for new musicals, The York also offers the Theater at Saint Peter's to rent for all commercial and non-profit productions.

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