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New York Theatre Barn Launches 10th Season of New Works with FOR TONIGHT and THE BRONTES
By: BWW News Desk Jan. 24, 2017
The 10th season of New York Theatre Barn's New Works Series launches on Monday, February 27, 2017 at The Cell with pre-premieres of two new musicals: For Tonight and The Brontës.
The complete winter/spring lineup includes three installments of six new musicals:
Monday, February 27, 2017
For Tonight
Book by Whitney Rhodes, Shenelle Williams and Spencer Williams
Music and Lyrics by Shenelle Williams and Spencer Williams
Directed by Joe Barros (Gigi, Cagney)
When their parents die of a mysterious illness in their small Welsh village, surviving siblings Thomas, Haydon, and Nettie are forced to fend for themselves. Unhappy with small town life, Haydon runs off to Liverpool where he meets a Romani woman, Mirela, who speaks to his wandering soul. This enchanting story, inspired by the author's great-great-great grandfather's journals, is magically recounted by a band of Romani musicians. Through a riveting indie-rock/folk score, For Tonight explores prejudices, family relationships and the indelible power of home. Previously featured in Goodspeed's Festival of New Musicals, NYMF, MSU's imaGEN program, and TheatreFest on the Isle of Man.
The Brontës
Book by Lucas Tahiruzzaman Syed, Sarah Ziegler and Katie Palmer
Music by Lucas Tahiruzzaman Syed
Lyrics by Sarah Ziegler
"Literature cannot be the business of a woman's life." After receiving this crushing response from the poet laureate, Charlotte Bronte went on to write "Jane Eyre", spearhead her sisters' writing careers, and break through a Victorian "glass ceiling." Literary history is forever grateful. So why did her family resent her and fall apart?
Monday, April 24, 2017:
Book, Music and Lyrics by Joe Barros (Artistic Director, New York Theatre Barn) and Ryan Haase (Artistic Director, Stillpointe Theatre)
It's 1984 and Ryan White is a thirteen-year-old hemophiliac living with AIDS. When Ryan puts on the headphones to his walkman, he can escape into his own fantasy world where he is the the rockstar of his mind. But Ryan soon becomes a celebrity in the real world: America's first poster child for AIDS. All he wants to do is to return to school and be normal. It is in the great escape of his fantasy world that he is able to deal with the pressures, problems and hysteria of the real world. Maybe he can live in the fantasy world for eternity, even if his body eventually fails him. Ryan White is told through the eyes of an all-teenage cast.
Pretty to the Bone
Book by Yvonne Adrian
Lyrics by Cheryl Stern (Shoes and Baggage)
Music by Tom Kochan
Developed by Jack Cummings III / Co-Adapted by Robyn Hussa and Eric R. Christiansen
Pretty to the Bone is a dynamic, provocative and contemporary musical, based on a true story. When fifteen-year-old Polly develops an eating disorder, a "Perfect and Happy" American family is shaken to the core and embarks on an emotional roller coaster ride of a lifetime. Humorous, heartbreaking and ultimately uplifting, Pretty to the Bone is about family, survival and love.
Monday, May 22, 2017:
Martian Child
Book and Lyrics by David Brush
Music by Rachel Dean
Based on the novel by David Gerrold
What happens when a single science fiction writer from Los Angeles adopts a 9-year-old boy who believes he's from Mars? Together, David and Dennis must navigate the treacherous waters of adoption to discover how it feels to be alien and what it means to be human. Based on the award-winning true story by David Gerrold, Martian Child is a funny, touching and honest account of discovering where you belong no matter where you're from.
Divorce Southern Style
Book, Music and Lyrics by Katya Stanislavskaya
North Carolina has been in the news a lot lately. Some say it no longer qualifies as a democracy. Most have heard about its views on discrimination and its infamous "bathroom law." But lurking just beneath the surface are its outdated family laws. Divorce Southern Style examines the legal, social and emotional ramifications of getting divorced in the 21st Century American South.
Nancy Manocherian's The Cell presents New York Theatre Barn's New Works Series with presentations at 7PM and 9PM at The Cell, located at 338 West 23rd 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.
New York Theatre Barn, a Manhattan based non-profit theatre company founded in 2007, incubates, develops, and produces new musicals that tell untold stories. Our stories are inspired by the lives of real people and actual events. These stories are challenging, diverse, and alternative. Theatre Barn's core programming is the New Works Series, which presents bi-monthly "pre-premieres" of new musicals in the Early Stages of development. With each installment, two new musicals are showcased before a live audience and a worldwide virtual audience. Since the series' inception, the company has presented more than 350 writers in more than 80 pre-premieres, and have amassed a catalogue of more than 750 videos with 600,000+ views on our YouTube channel. For more information, go to www.nytheatrebarn.org.
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