John N. Hart, the producer behind the Tony-winning Best Musicals Once and The Band's Visit, has joined the team behind Loch Ness, a new musical that has its world premiere at Two River Theater in Red Bank, New Jersey, running March 10–April 4, 2027.
Hart comes on board alongside Victoria Lang, Mark Schwartz, Carl D. White and Gregory Rae, the producers already attached. He is the founder and president of Evamere Entertainment, the independent film and theater company he set up in New York City in 2007, and he holds five personal Tony Awards as a producer.
The producers describe the musical as Broadway-aimed and call the Red Bank engagement the next step in that direction. No Broadway theater or dates have been announced, and the team says further plans will follow.
Marshall Pailet wrote the music and directs, with lyrics by A.D. Penedo and a book by Sandy Rustin. Misha Shields choreographs, and Myrna Conn is music director and arranger.
The story follows Haley, a Scottish girl who goes into the waters of Loch Ness looking for the truth behind the legend and for somewhere she belongs. The creative team is promising an adventure with a fantasy streak, carried by an original score and a strongly visual staging.
Hart's Broadway record takes in the Chicago revival, winner of six Tony Awards and the longest-running revival in Broadway history, as well as Once, which won eight Tonys in 2012, and The Band's Visit, which took ten in 2018. His other Broadway credits include A Bronx Tale, The Glass Menagerie, Guys and Dolls, The Who's Tommy, Hamlet with Ralph Fiennes, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying with Matthew Broderick and Annie Get Your Gun with Bernadette Peters. He is also among the producers of the Tony-nominated Bobby Darin musical Just in Time.
On screen, he has produced 16 feature films, among them Boys Don't Cry, which won Hilary Swank the Academy Award for Best Actress; You Can Count on Me, a Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner with two Oscar nominations; and Revolutionary Road, which picked up three Oscar nominations and a Golden Globe for Kate Winslet.
Casting, along with the complete producing and creative teams, is still to be announced.
Loch Ness runs in the Joan and Robert Rechnitz Theater at Two River Theater, Red Bank, New Jersey, from Wednesday, March 10 to Sunday, April 4, 2027. Tickets are available from Two River Theater and by phone on 732-345-1400.
