A new musical about three estranged siblings and the tapes their late brother left behind will be shown to the industry on October 21, when Out of the Box Theatrics presents The World’s Cassette Library at its new home on West 46th Street.
The piece is the work of three writers who share credit for book, music and lyrics: Mike Nappi, currently on the road with the first national tour of Shucked; Sam Durant Hunter, a regular at The Box NYC; and Max Sangerman, whose Broadway credits include Dead Outlaw and A Beautiful Noise. Nappi pitched the idea, drawn loosely from his own life, weeks before the pandemic closed theaters in March 2020, and the three had a show six months later. It has since been a finalist for the Woodward/Newman Award at Constellation Stage and Screen and the runner-up in Broadway Shark Tank.
The story starts after a death. When Joey dies, his siblings Krysti, Michael and Brian, long out of touch with one another, find a box of cassettes on which he recorded a lifetime of their memories. Playing them back reopens old injuries and leaves the three deciding whether to forgive, or simply to forget.
Aneesha Kudtarkar, whose recent work includes Water by the Spoonful at Juilliard and Queen for the National Asian American Theatre Company and Long Wharf Theatre, directs. The company of five is Emily Fink (Dead Outlaw) as Krysti, Nathaniel Hackmann (Back to the Future: The Musical, Les Misérables) as Michael, Nick Martinez (Moulin Rouge! The Musical) as Brian, Talia Robinson (Merrily We Roll Along, Dear Evan Hansen) as Katie and Sam Simahk (Into the Woods on Broadway, and the company’s own See What I Wanna See) as Joey.
Chris Gurr is music director and shares the orchestrations and arrangements with Nappi, with Ruiran Xun as associate music director and Molly FitzMaurice as dramaturg. Casting is by Kevin Metzger at Tara Rubin Casting, and Jessica Sporn co-produces.
The musical comes through Building the Box, a series the company began in 2017 to give new projects workshop time and a showing for industry professionals, with the support tailored to each piece. No public ticketing has been announced for the October 21 presentations, and no further production has been set.
Founded in 2016 by Liz Flemming, Out of the Box Theatrics won an Obie for its 2024 season at Theater 154 and has since signed a ten-year lease with St. Luke’s Theatre on 46th Street. Its season there also takes in Soon, Nick Blaemire’s chamber musical, which has its opening night at The Loft on October 5, and the American premiere of Laura Waldren’s Some Demon, with performances from April 7, 2027. More on the company at ootbtheatrics.com.
