Musicals are getting a festival of their own at The 28th Street Theatre. Emerging Artists Theatre's first Spark Musical Theatre Festival NYC runs November 2–22, with 26 new musicals over three weeks.
It is a separate event from the company's Spark Theatre Festival NYC, whose fall edition of 67 plays, solo shows and dance pieces runs in the same building through October 25.
The new festival takes full-length musicals, solo shows and shorts, at every stage of development. Each performance ends with a talkback, so the writers hear from the room while the show is still changing.
Some of the work on the schedule:
- Long Ago Song by Lynda Crawford and Gary Kupper, directed by Lee Summers. An elderly Black poet's memories of Tin Pan Alley, the Harlem Renaissance and World War II come back when a young musician plays a forgotten tune. November 18, 20 and 22.
- Standing Above Pajaro, story and libretto by Conrad A. Panganiban, music by Jeremy Rafal. A Filipino farmworker hides from a mob in a Watsonville store in 1930. November 13.
- Mysterious Rays, book, music and lyrics by Noah Canby. A trans radiologist in the 1930s, a closeted tween track star in the 2000s and a time-traveling hacktivist. November 16.
- The Great Mortality by Holly Doubet, Kathy Babylon and John Vester. Vivaldi and the castrato Farinelli in plague-era Venice, with the Plague itself as narrator. November 12 and 13.
- Brighter Than the Sun by Collin Hendley, directed and choreographed by Jojo Minasi. An autobiographical musical about a young man and his grandmother in South Georgia. November 10–12.
- Jeremy Worried About the Wind by Jeremy F. Richter, directed by Stephen Santa. A family musical adapted from a Pamela Butchart book. November 15.
- Queen of Clubs by Kimberly Korn and D. Michael O'Dell. Five decades of New York club life, scored with rock 'n' roll. November 21.
- From the Abuelas' Window, book and lyrics by Nancy Burke, music by Ignacio Valdivia. A girl in Chile in 1973 whose father is among the disappeared. November 22.
Most titles get one or two performances. Long Ago Song, Brighter Than the Sun and The Man Who Could Imitate A Bee get three each. Tickets are $20 to $40.
The 28th Street Theatre is at 15 West 28th Street, second floor, between Broadway and Fifth Avenue. Emerging Artists Theatre was founded in 1993 by artistic director Paul Adams.
For more information, visit the official website.
