The lineup has been announced for the December installments of New York Theatre Barn's New Works Series, hosted by Jen Sandler and Joe Barros.
The free, weekly series, presented Wednesday evenings on New York Theatre Barn’s YouTube at 7 PM ET, will feature Broadways alums Isabelle McCalla and Ryann Redmond (along other stage and screen favorites) in musicals like The Ladies Man, Millennials Are Killing Musicals, and Garden of Starflowers. In addition, this month features a 35-minute excerpt of the fully-staged The Bestest Office Christmas Party Ever.
The upcoming lineup follows:
December 2
The Ladies Man
Music and lyrics by Justin Mortelliti and Shannon Hunt
Book by Justin Mortelliti
Featuring performances by Amber Ardolino (Moulin Rouge!), Andrew Chappelle (Hamilton), Casey Garvin (Mrs. Doubtfire, Talya Groves (Mean Girls), Justin Mortelliti (Escape To Margaritaville), Ryann Redmond (Frozen), Jared Reinfeldt (HBO Max’s The Flight Attendant), Justin Showell (Hamilton), Brett Thiele (Clueless) and Aidan Wharton
The Ladies Man centers around Julian, an Italian-American boy from New Jersey who deals with the struggles of coming out and coming of age while escaping the shaming guilt of a Roman-Catholic family and religion. With the help of his colorful, hilarious, and fiercely loyal friends—plus an arsenal of New Jersey attitude—Julian navigates his way into adulthood, learning to face, and accept the truth of himself at all costs.
Millennials Are Killing Musicals
Book, music, and lyrics by Nico Juber
Music direction by Ted Arthur
Directed by Ryan O’Connor
Featuring performances by Asmeret Ghebremichael (The Book of Mormon) and Diana Huey (The Little Mermaid)
Meet Brenda: a quirky, stressed-out, single mom who hates her job, longs to be a writer, and can’t help but compare herself to the seemingly perfect “Jake’s Mom” at school. Brenda is finally ready for love and creativity in her life when her influencer sister Katrina shows up eight months pregnant, completely unprepared for motherhood. Torn between two men and juggling an opinionated mother and an increasingly unstable Katrina, Brenda must learn how to break her self-destructive patterns and live filter-free so she can achieve her dreams.
December 9
The Bestest Office Christmas Party Ever
Book and lyrics by Drew Larimore (Smithtown)
Music and lyrics by Billy Recce (A Musical About Star Wars)
Directed by Aaron Simon Gross
Featuring performances by Raji Ahsan, John Higgins, Peachez Iman Cummings, Deb Radloff, Amanda Robles (BSC’s Into The Woods) and Phil Sloves (SpongeBob SquarePants)
Why would grown adults dress as Santa’s elves for their annual office Christmas party? That’s easy: the bonus. But festivities go from bad to worse for the employees at Kugelman’s Incontinence Pad Factory when their heartbroken boss decides to fly the coop on Christmas Eve and take one of them along. Starting over on a remote island? Leaving your crummy life and never turning back? Emotions running high and tempers on the brink? It’s beginning to sound a lot like Christmas! (Note: this is a special edition of the company’s programming, featuring a 35-minute excerpt of the show and a conversation following with the creators).
December 16
Garden Of Starflowers
Book, music, and lyrics by Masi Asare (Monsoon Wedding)
Featuring performances by Jaime Cepero (Smash) and Isabelle McCalla (The Prom)
It’s 2075 in a dystopian metropolis, where humans spend most of their time in survival pods taking shelter from an overheated planet. Plugged into virtual realities, they rarely venture out in person except for organized mass entertainment events held under a shimmering festival dome. But Lucie, a misfit, has dreams of persuading flowers to grow in the scorched ground outside her pod. When Oscar catches a glimpse of her gardening on surveillance footage, he’s convinced she is the incarnation of Anjelín, a digital pop star he stans in virtual reality, and sets out to meet her. Meanwhile, preparations are underway for Anjelín’s first holographic concert in the dome, but there are “glitches” in the digital star’s programming as she seems to manifest her own will and emotions. Oscar introduces a reluctant Lucie to the festival scene where she comes face to face with the virtual star who, uncannily, looks exactly like her. And then, Anjelín herself begins to have ideas about her purpose in the world, her connection to Lucie, and the dream of a real-life garden of starflowers.
An Incomplete List Of All The Things I’m Going To Miss When The World is No Longer
Book, music, and lyrics by Dante Green
Additional music and lyrics by Marlee Gordon and Lyell Hintz
Featuring a performance by Laura Galindo (Annie Aspen’s Musical Space Spectacular!)
Following a global announcement of the date and time Earth will be terminated, a community decides the only reasonable thing to do is to gather together.
