FOR TICKETS ($18) CLICK HERE or call 212-352-3101.

directed by Dev Bondarin

music directed by
Daniel Feyer

curated by Cara Reichel and Dev Bondarin

lab associate
Nick Brennan

Sat. Feb. 11 @ 3pm
Sun. Feb.12 @ 8pm
Mon. Feb. 13 @ 8pm
Sat. Feb. 18 @ 1pm
Sun. Feb. 19 @ 8pm
Mon. Feb. 20 @ 8pm.

at the West End Theatre in the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew, 263 West 86th Street.

A show inspired by rites of passage—exploring themes of life changing moments, memory, and the important ceremonies that become iconic of our experiences. During the months of December and January seven writing teams were challenged to create short musicals inspired by rites of passage.  This February, these original works will be workshopped and performed by a cast featuring some of Prospect’s favorite talents!

Featuring short original musicals written by: Sam Carner & Derek Gregor, Michael Cooper & Hyeyoung Kim, Cheryl L. Davis & Cody Owen Stine, J. Sebastian Fabal, Timothy Huang, Laura Kleinbaum & Max Mamon, Janine Nabers & Sharon Kenny

Cast:  Starr Busby, Ryan Dietz*, David Foley Jr.*, Kathryn Holtkamp, Hansel Tan, Anita Vasan*, Daniel Yates*

Stage Manager: Amy Francis Schott*

*member, Actors’ Equity Association.  Equity Approved Showcase.

2012 Musical Theater Lab Writer Biographies

Sam Carner and Derek Gregor received MFAs from NYU’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. Their musical Unlock’d won a Richard Rodgers Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was produced at the New York Musical Theatre Festival in 2007, where it won the “Best of the Fest” audience award and received Talkin’ Broadway Summer Theatre Festival Citations for “Outstanding New Musical” and “Outstanding Original Theatrical Score.” Unlock’d has gone on to workshops at Theatre Works, Palo Alto and the Ravinia Festival outside Chicago. Sing, But Don’t Tell, a concert of their songs, was presented at NYMF in the fall of 2009, and, in February of 2010, 12 cast members from the Broadway revival of Hair performed an evening of their songs in a show called Buzzed. They have presented a number of other concerts of their songs, including series of concerts featuring a cast of college performers from around the country, entitled Carner & Gregor’s Barely Legal Showtune Extravaganza. In 2011, two of their songs were nominated for Manhattan Association of Cabaret Awards (“Sing, But Don’t Tell” for Best Special Musical Material and “After Hours” for Best Song). A reading of their song cycle Island Song was presented at the 92nd St. Y Tribeca in October of 2011. They are currently at work on several other projects, including a children’s musical, and various book shows. Sam and Derek were in residence at Yaddo in 2005. Derek writes country music with Laura Bell Bundy, and one of their songs was recently featured on her CD, Longing for a Place Already Gone. He also founded the rock band M-LAB: www.mlabmusic.com, whose new CD, A Bold And Hopeful Spark, is now available. Over the past several years, Sam has lectured regularly on various musical-theatre-history-related topics at Yale. Sam has taught musical-theatre history and analysis courses at New York University and Yale. For more information on Sam and Derek: www.carnerandgregor.com.

Michael Cooper is a MAC Award Nominated songwriter and the recipient of the 2005 Jonathan Larson, Daryl Roth, and TRU Daniel Marshall Multicultural Awards.  BA in Theatre from Williams College; MFA from NYU Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program.  His musical, Sunfish, for which he co-wrote the book and lyrics, has been produced at the Stoneham Theatre, Stoneham MA (February 2011) and showcased at the 2010 ASCAP Workshop with Stephen Schwartz, the 2006 NAMT Festival of New Musicals, TRU Reading Series, and was a finalist in the Alliance Theatre’s Kendeda Playwriting Competition.  Other projects include:  It Shoulda Been You (Additional Lyrics), world premiere at the George Street Playhouse (directed by David Hyde Pierce) and Seattle’s Village Theatre upcoming 2012 season; In The Shadow of My Wings:  Songs by Hyeyoung Kim (Co-Producer and English Translation); the album People Like Us (Co-writer and Producer); Museum Pieces and The Dome (Prospect Theatre Company); The Strange Affair of Dr. Crippen (Theatrebuilding Chicago); Lizardman! (Audience Favorite, Short Attention Span Festival) and Luna Park, commissioned by SUNY Cortland.  Michael was selected for the York Theatre’s NEO5 Concert series (and had two songs, from different projects, featured in the concert) and participated in the ASCAP Johnny Mercer Songwriting Project.  Most recently, he associate produced the short film, Zombie, based on the novella by Joyce Carol Oates.  Member of ASCAP, BMI Workshop, and the Dramatists Guild.  More info available at: www.myspace.com/sunfishthemusical and www.cooperandcaruso.com

Cheryl L. Davis is a recipient of the Kleban Award for her work as a librettist, and her musical Barnstormer, written with award-winning composer Douglas J. Cohen, received a Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation Award, under the auspices of the Lark Play Development Center. Her play about the desegregation of the nations’ school system, The Color of Justice, which was commissioned by Theatreworks/USA, received critical acclaim, including excellent reviews in the New York Times and Daily News, and tours regularly, and her play Winnie the Pooh KIDS is licensed by the Disney Theatrical Group. She is the recipient of a Writers’ Guild Award for her work as a writer for the daytime dramatic serial As the World Turns, and has been nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for her work on that show as well.  She is a member of the Dramatists Guild, and an associate artist of the Milk Can Theatre Company. She is also the Vice President of Theater Resources Unlimited, a producers’ networking organization, and the Vice President of Communications for the League of Professional Theater Women.

J. Sebastian Fabal is the composer/lyricist for the award winning musical The Tenth Floor (book by Sara Cooper, NYMF 2010). A reading of his new musical, Yoey and Yeya (book/music/lyrics), occurred in November during the Dramatists Guild’s Friday Night Footlight  program. His new children’s musical, The Elko Aliens (book/lyrics by Chris Widney) also made its world premiere last summer at Millbrook Playhouse. Member: ASCAP and DGA. Rep: Jonathan Mills at Paradigm Talent Agency.

Timothy Huang Recent works include Timothy Huang: Chinese or Crazy? (NYTB at the D-Lounge ‘10), the one acts 2 to Wakefield (UCI at the York ‘10) Crossing Over, (Snapshots/Prospect Theater), and Changing Times (NYU at the York ‘09).  Other shows include LINES: A Song Cycle (NYMF ‘08), The View from Here (talkinbroadway.com’s Top 10 of 2006) Short Story Long (NEO Spotlight Series at the York) the full lengths And the Earth Moved (2009 CAP21 residency), and Death and Lucky (2008 MacDowell Fellowship). Timothy holds an MFA in Musical Theater Writing from NYU/Tisch GMTWP, is a member of the Musical Theater lab at BMI and a proud fellow of the MacDowell artist colony. www.timothyhuang.net

Sharon Kenny is a singer/songwriter and composer/lyricist.  Named “A vibrant musical force” by AwakenMusic, her debut album, Pianocentric, was released in August of 2009. My Name Is Sharon and Adjectives & Nouns (EP) were released to a sold out show at Joe’s Pub in 2011.  Her solo projects can be heard on iTunes, Pandora, and Spotify.  She has participated in ANTFest (Ars Nova), The Johnny Mercer Songwriter’s Project (American Music Theatre Project), and received a MAC nomination for her piece “Leaky Ceiling” (Best Comedic Song).  Kenny was most recently the Musical Director of Off-Broadway’s Tony N Tina’s Wedding and has appeared in concerts at the Kennedy Center, the Gramercy Theater, and Feinstein’s. She is currently working on a new musical, A Beautiful Something (Williamstown Theatre Festival) with Janine Nabers.  Her song, “Different Bodies” was recently featured on Lifetime’s hit show, Dance Moms.  www.sharon-kenny.com

Hyeyoung Kim is a 2005 recipient of the Jonathan Larson, Daryl Roth, and TRU Daniel Marshall Multicultural awards. A member of BMI workshop and ASCAP, she participated in the Nautilus Composer/Librettist lab at New Dramatists and the ASCAP Johnny Mercer Songwriting Project.  Originally from Korea, Hyeyoung received her MFA from NYU’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program.  Projects include the musicals: Falling with Dina Gregory—winner of CreativeFactory and DIMF (Daegu International Musical Festival), Korea and selected for Songwriters Showcase NAMT 2010; Sunfish (book and music) with Michael Cooper—selected for the 2010 ASCAP Workshop with Stephen Schwartz and 2006 NAMT Festival; Café-in with Jaejoon Seong—currently running in Korea and toured in Tokyo, Japan; Museum Pieces and The Dome, with Prospect Theatre Company; Luna Park—commissioned by and premiered at SUNY Cortland.  Upcoming:  Music Box (winner of CJ Festival, Korea). She recently wrote/co-produced/performed in a concert of her original songs, In The Shadow Of My Wings, at the Duplex theater. Hyeyoung’s music can also be heard on the album, People Like Us. More info available at www.myspace.com/hymuse and www.myspace.com/musepop

Laura Kleinbaum grew up in Florham Park, New Jersey.  Her first play, Stacy Learns a Lesson, won a contest and was produced on her school’s stage when she was 11. She attended Columbia University, where she had two musicals and a play produced on the Columbia stage and wrote and performed countless sketches on her WBAR radio show, The Amoxicillin Variety Hour. Laura attends Tisch’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at NYU, where she is a lyricist and book writer in the program. Her work has been performed at The Duplex, Prospect Theater Company, Barrington Stage, and in William Finn’s Songs by Ridiculously Talented Composers and Lyricists You Don’t Know But Probably Should.

Max Mamon is a composer and pianist originally from the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois.  As an undergraduate at Princeton University, he majored in music composition while also writing music and lyrics for the Triangle Club.  Max spent a semester studying piano performance at London’s Royal College of Music, and upon graduation from Princeton, he won the university’s Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts for his score for the opera Rosaleen.  Recently, Max’s music has been featured in various events and venues in New York, including a choreography showing by Ensemble Dance at Alvin Ailey Studios, the West Village Musical Theater Festival, CultureHub Studios, the Duplex Cabaret Theater, and Prospect’s 2011 Summer Intensive.  He is currently pursuing an MFA in Graduate Musical Theater Writing at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.  Thanks to everyone at Prospect for this wonderful opportunity!

Janine Nabers is currently the P73 Playwriting Fellow. Her plays include Welcome to Jesus, Annie Bosh is Missing, A Swell in the Ground, Serial Black Face and West of the Willow Tree. Janine is currently a member of MCC Playwrights Coalition and the Dorothy Strelsin New American Writer’s Group. She is an alumna of Ars Nova, Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, The Dramatist Guild playwriting Fellowship and the 2011 Sundance Theater Lab. Recent work: Decade at London’s Headlong Theatre and the musical A Beautiful Something developed at Williamstown Theatre Festival (music/lyrics by Sharon Kenny). Janine is currently working on a commission from Playwrights Horizons and is a Lila Acheson Wallace playwriting fellow at Juilliard.

Cody Owen Stine is a composer, lyricist, arranger, and musical director. Since 2008, he has written original songs and special material for Delilah Dix and Her Bag of Tricks and Delilah Dix: Showin’ My Business—two full-length cabaret shows featuring a character created and performed by comedian Amy Albert. Delilah Dix has been seen at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Ars Nova, the Laurie Beechman Theater, the Duplex Cabaret, and Second City LA. A new evening-length Delilah Dix show currently in development, with all new original songs by Stine and a script co-written by Albert and Stine, will debut at Ars Nova in 2012. Stine is musical director, arranger, and contributing writer for The Water Coolers, a New York-based, internationally touring musical comedy group. Member of the Advanced BMI Musical Theatre Workshop and the Dramatists Guild.  www.codyowenstine.com