| PROSPECT MUSICALS ANNOUNCES 2025 MUSICAL THEATER LAB COHORT | |
| Posted by: Official_Press_Release 12:43 pm EST 01/08/25 | |
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| PROSPECT MUSICALS ANNOUNCES 2025 MUSICAL THEATER LAB COHORT FEATURING NEW SHORT MUSICALS IN A ONE-NIGHT-ONLY PUBLIC CONCERT THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20 @ 7:30PM AT PETER NORTON SYMPHONY SPACE TICKETS NOW ON SALE New York, NY (January 8, 2025) – Prospect Musicals (Cara Reichel, Producing Artistic Director; Melissa Huber, Managing Director) announced the writing teams for their 2025 Musical Theater Lab, titled JUMP CUT: Utsav Bhargava & Meredith Brandt; Letitia Bullard & Nathan Leitão; Stephanie L. Carlin; Antonio Del Valle; Danielle Koenig & Asher Muldoon; Andy Li & Jillian Ohayon; April Dae Okpwae; Sarah Rossman & Sequoia Sellinger; and Joël René Scoville & Ammon Taylor. Works generated will be presented in a one-night-only, concert-style public performance on Thursday February 20 at 7:30pm at Symphony Space (2537 Broadway, NYC) in the Peter J. Sharp Theater. Tickets are now available and can be purchased at ProspectMusicals.org. Each year, Prospect's Musical Theater Lab brings together writing teams to create short musicals in response to a curated assignment. The 6-week program features in-person writer meetings, workshop rehearsals, and culminates in a public presentation of the new works generated through the lab process. As Prospect is in the midst of celebrating the company's 25th year of producing new work, this year's Lab — titled JUMP CUT — will have a central theme of time, and how change occurs over time. From dawn to dusk, the Renaissance to the Roaring ‘20s, or 11:01 to 11:30, each writing team will randomly be assigned a length of time and asked to create a short musical which jumps through time to create narrative arc, character growth, and discovery. The Lab concert will be directed by Prospect's Associate Artistic Director, Dev Bondarin, and the program is co-curated by Bondarin and Producing Artistic Director Cara Reichel. Additional team information, including casting, will be announced shortly. Single tickets are $30 (price includes a $5/ticket facility fee) and may be obtained through online purchase at www.ProspectMusicals.org. Prospect's Musical Theater Lab is made possible in part by a project support from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature. For more information, please visit www.ProspectMusicals.org. DIRECTOR BIO DEV BONDARIN is a director of plays and musicals with a focus on new work. As Associate Artistic Director of Prospect Musicals she directs the company's annual musical theater lab. Credits include: Thistles (White Horse Theater at 59E59), A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder and Little Women (Festival 56), King Lear (American Bard), Reefer Madness (Gallery Players), and many readings and workshops. As a former Artistic Director of Astoria Performing Arts Center, Dev directed the NY premiere of Marguerite, Caroline, or Change (AUDELCO Award), and Merrily We Roll Along (NYIT Award) among others. Her directing work has been nominated for two AUDELCO Awards and an NYIT Award, and she was given an Alumni of Year Award from the theater department at Brooklyn College where she earned her MFA. BA: Brandeis University. Member: League of Professional Theatre Women. Associate Member: SDC. WRITING TEAM BIOS UTSAV BHARGAVA is an NYC-based composer/lyricist, orchestrator, pianist, and copyist whose writing has been produced at venues including 54 Below, Green Room 42, and Brooklyn Children's Theatre. As Copyist/Music Assistant: Broadway: A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical, Real Women Have Curves (upcoming); Off-Broadway: New York Theatre Workshop — We Live in Cairo; Regional: American Repertory Theater — Real Women Have Curves; Emerson Colonial Theatre — A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical. Other roles: Shakespeare Theatre Company — Macbeth in Stride (Associate Music Director); American Repertory Theater — Gatsby: An American Myth (Orchestration Associate, Music Assistant); Paper Mill Playhouse — The Wanderer (Music Assistant). MEREDITH BRANDT is a Brooklyn-based, South Jersey-bred performer, writer, comedian, producer, and Twizzler-lover. Some favorite past experiences include staging her sold-out solo musical parody show Joy Ride (2024 NYC Fringe Audience Choice Winner); hosting variety shows at Caveat and The PIT; directing and performing with Bloomers Comedy; and acting in countless plays and musicals, including Scarcity (Atlantic Theater Company, OOBC). She has studied with The Barrow Group, iO Chicago, UCB, and The Magnet Theater, and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. She is a member of the BMI Advanced Musical Theatre Workshop and was a recent Write Out Loud Contest Finalist with her song "Totally Rock," co-written with Utsav Bhargava. LETITIA BULLARD is a musical storyteller who enjoys weaving words, melodies, and imagery to create captivating experiences. Entering the musical theater scene from a singer-songwriter background, she recognized her passion for writing songs that weave together a larger narrative. Within the span of two and half years Letitia wrote and directed four original musicals. As a recent graduate of BerkleeNYC's Master's program in Writing and Design for Musical Theater, Letitia continues to write and compose two full-length musicals collaboratively while working on solo projects. An island girl at heart, Letitia brings her unique Bahamian flair to everything she touches, including catchy Caribbean, gospel, jazz, and soul-influenced melodies, and scripts. STEPHANIE L. CARLIN (they/she) is an autistic and queer composer, writer, sound designer, and orchestrator based in New York City. Their work has been presented at New York Theatre Barn's New Works Series, Barn on Fire, Green Room 42, Joe's Pub, and 54/Below. Recent sound design credits include Until Dark, Fry Bread Queen, and Metamorphoses. Two Anxious Bisexuals (2022 Cannes Short Film Festival selection). She is an alum of The BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop and Berklee College of Music. ANTONIO DEL VALLE (he/they) is a composer/lyricist from Queens, New York. Trained at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee College of Music, they are now part of the 2023 BMI Lehman Engel MT Workshop. Most recent credits include serving as the sound designer and composer for the award-winning Clara & Carmilla at the 2024 Fresh Fruit Festival, playing as the pianist for the MUSE Sitzprobe DreamGirls event with Seth Rudetsky at Lincoln Center, and having their debut at Jazz at Lincoln Center this past fall. Their original work has been highlighted in the 2024 BMI Spotlight Series, as well as the 10th annual McGuire & Simon Holiday Salon. They are extremely grateful to be part of the 2025 Prospect Lab. DANIELLE KOENIG is a queer writer, actor, and comedian based in New York and Los Angeles. Their full-length work has been developed at Second Stage, Nautilus Music Theatre, and Syracuse University, and has been seen regionally in Los Angeles, CA, Minneapolis, MN, and Syracuse, NY. They have been commissioned by FUSE Theatre and thrice by the Brooklyn Children's Theater, and are a proud graduate of NYU's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program and member of UNTITLED Musical Writers Group. Their standalone songs have been seen at theatrical venues across New York City including Joe's Pub, Rattlestick Theater, 54 Below, Lincoln Center, and more. NATHAN LEITÃO is a Brazilian multi-hyphenate artist. The son of two musicians, Nathan discovered an early passion for telling stories through music, theater and film. With a Master's degree in Writing for Musical Theater at BerkleeNYC, Nathan has developed his creative career working as a composer, music producer, film director, and actor in Brazil's thriving musical theater scene. Nathan's work as a writer includes two original musicals, the screenplay for an internationally-acclaimed film, and a young adult fantasy novel. He is currently writing musicals and collaborating with Brazilian and international artists to create stories that connect and resonate with people from underrepresented communities. ANDY LI is an Arizona-born Chinese American composer based in New York City. His musical The Garden Bridge (Finalist: Aubrey and Marla Dan Fund for New Musicals, Lab Series at MSM; Semifinalist: 2024 CreateTheater Musical Series) with librettist Jill Ohayon was workshopped at The BringAbout with Jennifer Jancuska, Resident Choreographer of Hamilton on Broadway, and will be further developed at Casa Uno. For opera, he has written Tesserae (lib. Patrick Thompson) and is currently working on Greyhounds Fight, Greyhounds Play. Humans Dance, Humans Fight (lib. Sravya Saraswatula). He is the winner of the 2025 GCNA Franco Proposal Contest. Li holds an MFA from the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at NYU, and bachelor's degrees from Johns Hopkins University and the Peabody Institute. ASHER MULDOON is a writer, composer, and comedian based in New York. Recently, he performed in Prospect's concert presentation of The Hello Girls, playing various characters and instruments. His first musical, an adaptation of Patrick McCabe's novel The Butcher Boy, premiered at Irish Repertory Theatre in the summer of 2022. He graduated with a degree in English from Princeton, where he wrote and performed with the Princeton Triangle Club. His thesis musical mine premiered internationally in the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Upcoming projects: The Eternity Machine, Cynthia (with Dani Koenig), What Remains of Burke and Hare (with BT Hayes). JILL OHAYON is a Montreal-born librettist, actor, and singer. After three years working as a human rights lawyer, she decided to pursue her love of writing at NYU Tisch's GMTWP. She was named recipient of the Council for Canadian American Relations Award and the Shubert Foundation Scholarship. Her musical, The Garden Bridge, written with Andy Li, was workshopped at The BringAbout with Jennifer Jancuska, Resident Choreographer of Hamilton on Broadway. It was recently selected for residency at Casa Uno, and has been a finalist the Manhattan School of Music Lab Series, the Aubrey & Marla Dan Fund, and the CreateTheatre Series. Her co-written musical Turbulence was selected for the IHRA Festival in December of 2024. She is a member of Maestra, the Dramatists Guild, and MUSE. APRIL DAE OKPWAE is a performer, composer, lyricist, and community organizer whose work examines social inequities through comedy centering Black people and communities of color. Her solo show, I'mma Do Me, satirically explores poverty in America and has won multiple awards, including Best Emerging Actress at the United Solo Theatre Festival and Best Short Play at the Atlanta Black Theatre Festival. Concert credits include A Feeling Good Ritual with Poetic Theatre Productions, Musical Theatre Factory's 4X15, and Maestra's The Motherhood Concert. She has developed work at the Johnny Mercer Writers Grove with Goodspeed Musicals and New York Stage and Film and was a 2022-23 Dramatist Guild Foundation Musical Theatre Fellow. Her music(al) video, "Be Soft Be Pretty," was a 2021 Hip Hop Film Festival Official Selection. SARAH ROSSMAN is a writer, performer, and mental health activist based in NYC. Sarah's work has been performed at the Williamstown Theater Festival (Itchin' For An Itch), the American Repertory Theater (The Emperor's New Clothes), Green Room 42 (Next Year in Connecticut! ), The Other Palace Theatre in London (Scribbles Vol. 2), and 54 Below (HY Cantata). Sarah has a BA in Theatre, Dance, and Media from Harvard College and an MFA from the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at NYU Tisch. She is a member of Maestra and the Dramatist's Guild. Awards/honors: Anna Sosensko Grant 2024, AMTP Finalist 2024, Syracuse New Works New Voices Finalist 2025, Newport New Works Festival Finalist 2025, NY Theater Festival: Best Production Short 2022. JOËL RENÉ SCOVILLE is a Black Mormon (yes, really), actress, writer, librettist, and lyricist. A recent recipient of the NYC Women's Fund for Media, Music and Theatre, her 10-minute play Ethel and Ethel (The Fire This Time Festival) is streaming on All Arts TV. Her musical 2&1: A Harlem Love Story with Loose Morals composed by Jenna Gillespie Byrd, was a 2023 Eugene O'Neill Finalist and 2022 Relentless Award Honorable Mention. Her musical Flophouse with co-writer Justin Anthony Long and composer Joanna Burns was a 2023 Rhinebeck Finalist. Memberships include the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, The Dramatists Guild of America, Actors' Equity Association, and UNTITLED Musical Writers Group (founding member). She loves superheroes, has three grown sons, and remarried her ex-husband for the third time (yes, really). SEQUOIA SELLINGER is a NYC-based composer and collaborative theater artist. Her work has been performed at Ars Nova, Joe's Pub, 54 Below, Green Room 42, College of the Atlantic, Dartmouth, The York Theatre, Musical Theatre Factory, MacDowell Arts Colony, and American Opera Projects. Her musical Next Year in Connecticut! was awarded the 2024 Anna Sosenko Assist Trust Grant, 2024 Finalist for Syracuse New Works New Voices, 2024 Finalist for Northwestern University's AMTP, and 2024 Finalist for Newport NewWorks Festival. She received her MFA in Graduate Musical Theatre Writing from NYU Tisch. She was a composer in the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop as well as the New Dramatists Composer-Librettist Studio. Sequoia is a member of the Dramatists Guild and Maestra. AMMON TAYLOR is an award-winning pianist, composer, and music director. In addition to theatre, he works as an arts educator with multiple nonprofits throughout the city, including the National Dance Institute. He performs with various musical improv troupes and comedy theatres, including Baby Wants Candy and The Second City. He has extensive experience in theatre for young audiences, and has composed for the Brooklyn Children's Theatre and the award-winning bilingual play Cenicienta (Kennedy Center 2023). His musical The Most Dangerous Woman in America (with librettist/lyricist Rudy Ramirez) was recently workshopped at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. Ammon is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild and the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. ABOUT PROSPECT MUSICALS Over 25 years, Prospect Musicals has mounted full productions of nearly 40 new musicals, as well as presented hundreds of concerts, readings, and developmental labs, affirming the organization's place as one of NYC's foremost incubators of new musical theater talent. In addition to Prospect's musical premieres, they have produced new plays and numerous "revisals" and re-inventions of classic works. Reflecting its investment in the future of the field, Prospect leads a variety of developmental initiatives: including an annual Musical Theater Lab for emerging writers, and the IGNITE Series of new musical theater in concert. In 2020, Prospect launched the VISION Series of original music-theater works on film, created for online streaming. In recognition of its enterprising and risk-taking new musical theater, the company has received an OBIE Award grant, and its role as a community anchor for emerging artists that strengthens the quality, diversity, and dynamism of American theater was honored by the American Theatre Wing. In 2023 Prospect produced the NYC Off-Broadway premiere of Justin Huertas' acclaimed musical Lizard Boy at Theatre Row, which was nominated for three 2024 Drama Desk Awards including Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Music, and Outstanding Book of a Musical. In 2022, Prospect commissioned and produced (at 59E59 Theaters) the musical song-cycle Notes From Now – Songs of Resilience & Renewal, featuring a lineup of newly-commissioned original songs created by 21 of today's brightest musical theater writers. Previously, Prospect produced the Drama Desk Award-nominated Einstein's Dreams (2019) by Joanne Sydney Lessner & Joshua Rosenblum, adapted from the novel by Alan Lightman; and the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award-nominated The Hello Girls (2018), by company founding artists Peter Mills & Cara Reichel. Other notable productions include: Kerrigan & Lowdermilk's The Mad Ones (2017); Ryan Scott Oliver and Hunter Foster's Jasper in Deadland (2014); the Drama Desk nominated Tamar of the River (2013) by Joshua H. Cohen and Marisa Michelson; Carner & Gregor's Unlock'd (2013); Gordon Greenberg's revisal of Working (Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Ensemble, 2012) including new songs by Lin Manuel Miranda; and Elizabeth Lucas' re-imagining of Guettel's Myths and Hymns (2012). # # # # ProspectMusicals.org Facebook: @ProspectMusicals Instagram: @ProspectMusicals X: @ProspectTheater YouTube: @ProspectMusicals TikTok: @Prospect.Musicals |
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