Eugene O’Neill Theater Center announces casts and creative teams for
2017 NATIONAL MUSIC THEATER CONFERENCE
Award-winning Actors to Develop Three New Works June 24-July 14
Kelli O’Hara, James Snyder, Mitchell Jarvis, and more cast in staged readings
Creative teams include Jason Moore, Ian Eisendrath, and J Kyle Manzay
Waterford, CT – The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center announces casting and creative teams for the three new musicals selected for development at the 40th annual National Music Theater Conference June 24- July 14, 2017. Among the actors premiering new work are: Kelli O’Hara, James Snyder, Mitchell Jarvis, Lisa Brescia, Billy Lewis Jr., Allie Trimm, Andrew Bancroft, Marva Hicks, and John Herrera. Creative teams feature Jason Moore, Ian Eisendrath, and J Kyle Manzay.
Public, staged readings of each musical will be be presented at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, recipient of two Tony Awards and the National Medal of Arts. The three new works, with casting and creative teams are:
Home Street Home
Book by Soma Snakeoil & Fat Mike with David Goldsmith
Music by Fat Mike
Lyrics by Fat Mike, Jeff Marx, & Soma Snakeoil
Directed by: Richard Israel
Music Direction by: David O
Cast includes: Lisa Brescia, Brandon Espinoza, Mitchell Jarvis, Tyler Jent, Billy Lewis Jr., Mary Kate Morrissey, Ryan O’Connor, MJ Rodriguez, Allie Trimm, Akron Watson, Chelsea Zeno
Synopsis: A new musical about survival and self-realization among teenagers living on the street. Based on true stories of the authors’ experiences of homelessness and punk culture, the story revolves around a 16-year-old runaway who plunges headfirst into the subculture of life on the streets.
Readings: Sat., June 24 at 7pm; Sun, June 25 at 3pm; Wed., June 28 at 8pm; & Fri., June 30 at 7pm
iLLA! A Hip Hop Musical
Book, Music, Lyrics by Ronvé O’Daniel
Music by Jevares C. Myrick
Director/Story Consultant: J Kyle Manzay
Music Direction by: Annastasia Victory
Music Consultant/ Co-Vocal Arranger: Will Stone
Cast includes: Andrew Bancroft, Kyle Carter, Jamal Crowelle, Marva Hicks, Avionce Hoyles, Emily Koch, Stephen Michael Langton, Kingsley Leggs, Bianca Madison, Michael Stiggers, Nyseli Vega, George Vickers, Naomi Walley, Jalise Wilson, Perry Young
Synopsis: As the 2008 U.S. financial crisis threatens to unravel his family, Prince, a classically trained dancer, dreams of becoming a hip hop star. Along the way, he falls hard for his competition’s girlfriend and is forced to confront the shattered dreams of his community. It’s a journey of struggle, swagger, and search for self.
Readings: Sat., July 1 at 7pm; Sun, July 2 at 3pm; Wed., July 5 at 8pm; & Fri., July 7 at 7pm
Superhero
Book by John Logan
Music & Lyrics by Tom Kitt
Directed by: Jason Moore
Music Direction by: Ian Eisendrath
Cast includes: Erik Altemus, Phoenix Best, Kasie Gasparini, Francisco Gonzalez, Danielle Lee Greaves, John Herrera, Kyle McArthur, Mary Mattison, Dimitri Moise, Kelli O’Hara, James Snyder
Synopsis: A new musical telling the story of Charlotte and her teenage son Simon. They have been struggling with grief, and each other, since the death of Charlotte’s husband and Simon’s father a year before. Through their unlikely friendship with a mysterious man in their building, Jim, they move toward reconciliation and renewed hope.
Readings: Sat., July 8 at 7pm; Sun, July 9 at 3pm; Wed., July 12 at 8pm; Fri., July 14 at 7pm
In her 40th and final year leading the National Music Theater Conference, artistic director Paulette Haupt will build on a legacy that includes projects byLin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes’ In the Heights; Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx’s Avenue Q; Kristen Anderson-Lopez, James-Allen Ford, Russ Kaplan and Sara Wordsworth’s In Transit; Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party; Kirsten Child’s The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin; Arthur Kopit, Mario Fratti, and Maury Yeston’s Nine;and Brian Crawley and Jeanine Tesori’s Violet.
Actors who performed with the National Music Theater Conference early in their careers include: Laura Benanti, Adam Chanler-Berat, Jeff Blumenkrantz, Laura Bell Bundy, Carolee Carmello, Kevin Chamberlin, Kristin Chenoweth, Jenn Colella, Colin Hanlon, Ann Harada, Christian Hoff, Christopher Jackson, Steve Kazee, Marc Kudish, Jose Llana, Adriane Lenox, Howard McGillin, Javier Muñoz, Julia Murney, Christine Noll, Kerry O’Malley, Nancy Opel, Mary Beth Peil, Anika Noni Rose, John Tartaglia, Wesley Taylor, Mary Testa, Barbara Walsh, Kate Wetherhead, Betsy Wolfe, Lauren Worsham, and John Lloyd Young,
The O’Neill’s Summer Gala on July 22 will honor the accomplishments of the National Music Theater Conference’s founding Artistic Director Paulette Haupt and celebrate the Conference’s 40th season. The not-to-be-missed event features cocktails, dinner, and entertainment on the O’Neill’s historic campus overlooking the Long Island Sound.
Tickets are on sale June 7. More information is available by calling (860) 443-1238 or visiting www.theoneill.org.
Funding for the National Music Theater Conference provided by: The Shubert Foundation; The Jerome Robbins Foundation; Time Warner Foundation Inc; The Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, Inc; National Endowment for the Arts; Connecticut Office of the Arts; The Frederick Loewe Foundation; The Rodgers and Hammerstein Foundation; BMI Foundation, Inc; Actors’ Equity Foundation as well as Steve and Debra Darren and Stacey Lewis.
***
About the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center:Founded in 1964, the O’Neill is the country’s preeminent organization dedicated to the development of new works and new voices for the American theater, and named in honor of Eugene O’Neill, four-time Pulitzer Prize-winner and America’s only playwright to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. The O’Neill has been home to more than 1,000 new works for the stage and thousands more emerging artists. Scores of projects developed at the O’Neill have gone on to full production at theaters around the world. O’Neill programs include the National Playwrights Conference, National Music Theater Conference, National Critics Institute, National Puppetry Conference, Cabaret & Performance Conference, and National Theater Institute – which offers six credit-earning undergraduate training programs. In addition, the O’Neill owns and operates Monte Cristo Cottage as a museum open to the public. The O’Neill is the recipient of two Tony Awards and National Medal of Arts. www.theoneill.org.
