Zachary Infante, Alexa Green, Rashad Naylor, And Matt Wolpe Lead Casts Of CHASING FEAR And PETE(HER)PAN For New York Theatre Barn's New Works Series May 21

The eleventh season of New York Theatre Barn's New Works Series continues on Monday, May 21, 2018 with pre-premieres of two new musicals: Chasing Fear and Pete(HER)Pan. Theatre Barn's eleventh season explores "Foreign Cultures and Fractured Fairy Tales."

Inspired by Turkish folklore, Chasing Fear has music and lyrics by Trevor Bachman (Public Theater's Black Light) and a book by Blake McCarty (Play/Date). Chasing Fear tells the story of a boy who leaves home in search of the true meaning of fear. Seen through the eyes of a young refugee, his encounters with ogres, ghosts, and even mermaids become both topical and timeless. As the child faces their own fears and otherness, this new musical mixes multiple languages and cultural traditions to remind audiences that we can all be outsiders. Produced in partnership with Zachary Infante, the presentation is directed by Taylor Reynolds, with music Direction by Macy Schmidt, and a cast that includes Will Bellamy, Zachary Infante (New York City Center's Big River), Amanda Jarufe, Tatiana Lofton, Michael Lorz, Rashad Naylor (Motown), Ebonee Noel, Carlie Priso, and Josh Quat (Public Theater's Black Light).

Pete(HER)Pan is the classic legend of Peter Pan and Wendy, but seen through the eyes of Wendy's precocious darling daughter Jane. The new musical has a book by Melvin Tunstall III, music by Michael Thurber (RSC/Public Theater's Antony and Cleopatra) and Douglas Lyons (Five Points, Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical), and lyrics by Douglas Lyons. Inspired by Wendy's stories of non-stop adventures in Neverland, Jane wants to find an adventure of her own. Imagination runs as wild as the Lost Boys in this retelling of a classic featuring a new Caribbean-inspired score. Pete(HER)Pan reminds the kid in all of us that anyone can be the hero. The presentation is directed by Susanna Wolk, with music direction by Ted Arthur, associate music director is Chris Gurr, and a cast includes Kyle Garvin, Alexa Green (Wicked), Zoe Jensen (Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical), Kurt Hellerich, Nicole Loewenstein (Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical), Nick Martinez, Jackson Perrin, Chris Renalds (Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical), Abigail Shapiro, Stephanie Toups (Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical), and Matt Wolpe (Finding Neverland). Casting for both shows is by Eisenberg/Beans Casting? (Daryl Eisenberg,CS; Ally Beans, CSA).

The May 21 installment includes presentations of both new musicals 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.

Through an education initiative sponsored by Theatre Barn's board of directors, a limited amount of complimentary tickets are available to high school students. To request a student ticket, email Education Director Tim Aumiller: tim@nytheatrebarn.org. To sponsor a student ticket, visit Theatre Barn's website: www.nytheatrebarn.org.

Under the artistic direction of Joe Barros, New York Theatre Barn is a Manhattan-based non-profit theatre company, founded in 2007, dedicated to incubating and producing new musicals that tell untold stories. Our stories are inspired by the lives of real people and actual events that challenge our preconceived ideas, and promote inclusion and positive social change. Theatre Barn's core program is the New Works Series which presents bi-monthly "pre-premieres" of new musicals in the early stages of development. With each installment, 2 new musicals are showcased before a live audience and a worldwide virtual audience. Since the series' inception, we have presented more than 400 writers in 100 pre-premieres, and have amassed a catalogue of nearly 2,000 videos with a million views. For more information: www.nytheatrebarn.org.

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