The Yellow Wood
2008 Festival
Director
Brian Yorkey
Cast
Melinda Bass, Randy Blair, Bob De Dea, MaryAnn Hu, Diana Huey, Daniel Haengil Larsen, Amy Linden and Morgan Weed
Number of Acts: 1
Number of Principals (Male): 3
Number of Principals (Female): 3
Preferred Ensemble Size: 12
Total Cast Size: 18
Orchestra Breakdown:
6-7 pieces: Piano, Bass Drums, Keyboard, El. Guitar, Cello, Violin
Genre & Style:
Synopsis
17-year-old Adam is frantically trying to memorize Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken” before English, but because he didn’t take his Ritalin, he can’t get much farther than the “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood…” before a fantastic wood begins coming to life in his school. Desperate to prove he can turn his life around, Adam struggles to get beyond his ADD, his cultural heritage and his unique but unruly imagination. Adam is pulled deeper and deeper into the Yellow Wood, where he must face the reality of who he is and decide who he will ultimately become.
Development History
The Yellow Wood was first presented at the NYU Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program in April 2005 and received workshop productions at NYU in June 2005 and the Kennedy Center in August 2005. It received of the 2006 Richard Rodgers Development Award and the 2006 Daryl Roth Award. The show was presented by San Francisco Arts in April 2007 and was in the New York Musical Theatre Festival in September 2007, where it was directed by BD Wong. In August 2008, The Yellow Wood will be part of the Festival of New Musicals at the Village Theatre in Issaquah, Washington.
Festival Successes
Developmental production at Contemporary Classics (CA) in 2009