Wicked's Arielle Jacobs Sings 'Put Me to Work' by Jill Abramovitz and Brad Alexander from their new musical Bread and Roses.  Catch it at NYMF this summer!

Kerry Butler (Disaster!), Lilli Cooper (Spongebob), Meghann Fahy (Next to Normal), Eric Michael Gillett (Kiss Me, Kate), Jillian Gottlieb (Unlock'd), F. Michael Haynie (Wicked, Dogfight), Ryann Redmond (If/Then, Bring It On), Conor Ryan (John & Jen), Allie Trimm (13, Bye, Bye Birdie), and Hannah Zazzaro complete the lineup for the 7th edition of Cutting-Edge Composers at Feinstein's/54 Below tonight, May 10, 2016.

What would you do if you found an Olsen twin in your dumpster? What happens when 7 grown men are forced, because of the astronomical rents in Manhattan, to live together in a small one bedroom apartment? MARY-KATE and the SEVEN, based loosely on the story of Snow White and her 7 dwarfs, looks at the ever widening gulf between the 'haves' and the 'have nots' in modern day America and the extremes of celebrity. One of the Olsen twins is hungry for fame while the other is just hungry... for a cookie. When the 7 men find the aforementioned Olsen twin in their dumpster, is she perhaps their ticket out of the hellish life they are living? Could they, should they, ransom her? And if they do, will her sister want her back or is she more valuable in terms of celebrity if she is missing or better yet, dead? How much do we really need to be happy?

Here is Tamika Sonja Lawrence (IF/THEN, MATILDA, RENT, BOOK OF MORMON) singing 'Jukebox' from Akiva Romer-Segal (lyrics), Colleen Dauncey (music) and Sara Farb's (book) new musical BREMEN ROCK CITY!

Here is Ben Fankhauser (Newsies) and Nick Blaemire (Found) singing 'Brothers,' a new song by Alexander Sage Oyen from his original musical A Night Like This.  

We're thrilled to present a brand new song by Carmel Dean and Jenny Stafford! 'I LOVE YOU is a song about the love/hate relationship every New Yorker has with their city'. Here is If/Then's Ryann Redmond singing it at our concert at 54 Below.

Rachel Griffin is an up-and-coming musical theater songwriter and librettist. She is currently writing the book, lyrics and music for a musical entitled, We Have Apples. Rachel has won two national songwriting contests (National Public radio, American Idol Underground) garnered over 1.5 million YouTube views, and received a publishing deal for several of her pop/rock songs. Recently she wrote a song for a Macy's internal campaign which premiered at the Lincoln Center.

Here is Tony winner Ruthie Ann Miles (The King and I) singing 'Disloyal Daughter' by Drew Fornarola and Scott Elmegreen.

Here is Zak Resnick singing 'Reason to Fall' by Zoe Sarnak from her musical The Years Between: a poignant window into lives, loves, and dreams of the new 'lost generation' set to a rock, folk, pop and soul score. The piece centers on Piper, a 27 year-old modern Peter Pan living in a modern American city, and the group of millennials in her life. They struggle financially, change jobs, and move through long term but non-committal relationships in a snapshot of the 'boomerang' (NY Times) generation and their idealized, if sometimes misguided, search for purpose. One of those friends is Damon, parentless and fiercely loyal to his friends and relationships. Damon has his heart broken by BA, the woman he thought he'd marry. He revisits their old apartment together and standing in a ghost-town of their memories he sings.

Here is the lovely and talented Kacie Sheik singing 'Spinning,' an original tune from the new musical fantasy Unbound by Amy Molewski and Nick Luckenbaugh.  'After stumbling upon a book that sucks him into a magical world, Percy meets a headstrong, adventurous girl named Fiona. Uneasy with each other at first, the two become fast friends. But after spending more and more time together in her magic home, Fiona starts wondering if there might be something more between the two.'

'In this song, the character has recently come back from fighting in Vietnam, and while he was expecting a hero's welcome - he's faced with the reality of the country he's come back to. He wanted more than anything to make his father proud by being courageous back in war, but he's haunted by the idea that maybe he wasn't.'

This week we are excited to feature composer Eric Dietz and his new musical, ALL THE WALLS, inspired by the powerful true story of Aron Ralston's escape from Blue John Canyon, Utah in 2003. After a falling boulder pins Aron's arm to the canyon wall, the adventurer's limits are put to the ultimate test. He finds strength in the memories of his friends and family, giving him the courage he needs to survive. In the title song, Aron's mother asks a police officer for assistance in her rescue efforts. When the officer declines her plea, she begs him to see the situation from her perspective. Here is the amazing Jessica Phillips (Next to Normal) performing the song at our 54 Below concert this past January.

This week's spotlight is on Joel Waggoner and Eric Price, whose new original musical PRESTO CHANGE-O is commissioned by Barrington Stage and directed by Marc Bruni (Beautiful). It tells the story of a family of stage magicians who find themselves living under the same roof for the first time in years. In this song, Tina, who is the family's maid and maintains their ever-growing collection of artifacts from the history of magic, reveals her larger ambitions. Here is the talented Janet Krupin (If/Then) performing the song at our concert at 54 Below.

Just last night, Cutting-Edge Composers returned to 54 Below, showcasing the talents of both up and coming composers and performers in New York City. Below, BroadwayWorld brings you photos from inside the concert!

On January 25th at 9:30pm, Cutting-Edge Composers will present their sixth concert at 54 Below! Cutting-Edge Composers is a platform for new musical theatre writers featuring Broadway's top performers and musicians.

This week's spotlight is on composer/lyricist Drew Fornarola and bookwriter Scott Elmgreen. TIANANMEN is an original rock musical that follows the events of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing, focusing on the stories of three student demonstrators and the Communist leaders they dare to challenge. The students communicate through music while government leaders communicate through spoken dialogue, and in this way the show uses musical theatre to starkly and viscerally portray the generational and cultural divides that come between both sides. Selections from Tiananmen premiered in a March 2014 concert at 54 Below starring Telly Leung, Ruthie Ann Miles, and Karl Josef Co, and the show continues to be developed under the artistic guidance of director Stafford Arima and with academic support from the Harvard University Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations. For more, email: TiananmenMusical@gmail.com.

This week our spotlight is on Paul Loesel and Scott Burkell, whose original musical LMNOP received developmental productions at the University of Michigan and Goodspeed Musicals (Norma Terris Theatre). The show, produced with Third Coast Creative, will open in April 2015 at TUTS Underground in Houston, TX.

This week's spotlight shines on Landon Braverman and Derek Hassler, featuring OVER THE RAINBOW winner Danielle Wade performing their song 'Thin Ice' at 54 Below. The setting for the original song is inspired by a cabin Hassler's family used to own in Wisconsin.

This week's spotlight goes to composer/lyricist Eli Bolin and his original new musical FOUND, with a book by Lee Overtree and Hunter Bell, currently running at the Atlantic Theater Company. Here is the show's lead actor, Nick Blaemire, singing 'Something That I Love' at our concert at 54 Below.

Today we are in the studio with Alexander Sage Oyen and special guest Caissie Levy from Broadway's Les Miserables! You can see Alex perform live at 54 Below on November 15th!

Cutting-Edge Composers is excited to present a PREMIERE SONG by Lyons and Pakchar this week! Here is Wicked's Christine Dwyer singing 'Crossroads' from their recent concert at 54 Below.

This week's features composer is Alexander Sage Oyen. Newsies' Ben Fankhauser and Wicked's Michael McCorry Rose performed this song from his new musical 'Outlaws' at our concert at 54 Below.

This week's featured composers are Joe Iconis, Lance Rubin, and Jason SweetTooth Williams whose song 'Spin Those Records' from their new musical Annie Golden: Bounty Hunter, Yo! was sung by the legend herself at their concert at 54 Below. You may recognize Annie Golden from the hit TV show 'Orange is the New Black' or from the Original Broadway Cast of HAIR. Today, we are thrilled to share a clip of the song written for Annie by Joe Iconis, Lance Rubin, and Jason SweetTooth Williams!

This week we are excited to share the song 'Before the End' from the new musical Afterland written by Benjamin Velez and Kathryn Hathaway. The talented Van Hughes, with backup vocals from PJ Adzima and Gerianne Perez, performed the song at our concert at 54 Below.

This week we present the song "As Beautiful," from the new musical Galois written by Aaron Jones and Sung Rno. The wonderful Conrad Riccamora and Amber Gray performed it at our concert at 54 Below.