Feature: RANKED, A NEW MUSICAL Revs Up Its Push to New York With the UC Davis Ground And Field Theatre Festival

Ranked, A New Musical is back...and it's better than ever. You might recall that the premiere of this show about buying grades eerily coincided with breaking news of the college admissions scandal. The story's creators, Kyle Holmes and David Taylor Gomes, wanted to highlight the enormous pressure that students today were under. They spoke to their drama students at Granite Bay High School and came up with Ranked, which quickly garnered critical acclaim from both local and national outlets.

It also caught the attention of UC Davis professor and Broadway veteran Mindy Cooper. She chose it as one of the groundbreaking new works to display at this year's UC Davis Ground and Field Theatre Festival. It will be playing at the Wright Hall Main Stage from September 26-28. As well as featuring new scenes and two new songs, "Don't Think So Much" and "Don't Tell Me," the show has a special guest star for this run. Shelby Wulfert, who is best known for her role as Maddie 2 on the Disney Channel's "Liv and Maddie," will be playing the part of perfectionist Alexis Larsen. Original cast member Chloe Boyan will return to the stage in a new role-Alexis' sister, Lily. Talented students from the UC Davis drama program will round out the rest of the cast.

In addition to the festival, Ranked is being performed by theatre groups across the United States into 2020. Encouraged by the numerous accolades and widespread interest in reproducing the show, Holmes and Gomes have set their sights on taking the show to New York. With the additional songs and development, it is well on its way to securing a spot on Broadway. Can't get to New York? No problem. See it this weekend by reserving tickets on groundandfield.com and visit Rankedmusical.com for more information.

Photo credit: Yarcenia Garcia