This month, we caught up with John Jiler and Georgia Stitt, the writers of 2010 Festival show Big Red Sun to check in with them before the show receives its world premiere at NAMT member 11th Hour Theatre Company. The show received a Writers Residency Grant from NAMT’s National Fund for New Musicals in our 2015-2016 Granting Cycle.
This month we chatted with Will Aronson and Daniel Maté, the writers of 2010 Festival Show The Trouble with Doug. Will and Daniel are now preparing for the show’s European Premiere with NAMT member Fredericia Teater in Denmark.
The last time we checked in with you both, you were getting ready for a 2014 Florida production of The Trouble with Doug. What work have you been doing on the show since that production?
In late 2015 we got a call from Victoria Clark, saying her schedule had an opening and would we like to reconvene and do some further work on the show together? Now, when Vicki Clark throws up the Bat-signal (Slug-signal?), you jump at the chance: we’d had such a great experience with her as our NAMT director and the timing felt right to revisit the project. Since then we’ve had a pair of readings with Vicki at the helm (a quickie and then a full 29-hour reading), with our main focus on refining the first twenty minutes of the show, and on really nailing the intended tone.
Playbill reports that Feinsteins/54 Below has officially announced a new concert series featuring presentations from new musicals. The concert series includes past Festival shows Big Red Sun, Funked Up Fairy Tales and String, plus new works from Festival Alumni Joe Iconis and Kyle Jarrow!
New Musicals at 54 is presented by the venue’s programming director, Jennifer Ashley Tepper. The series kicks off Jan. 19, 2016, and is scheduled to run through April 12. Further programming will be announced at a later date.
“[These] new and diverse musicals by a selection of today’s most talented writers have had out-of-town productions, some have had workshops,” state press notes. “Now’s your chance to be first to see them in NYC!”
Read more at Playbill.com or buy tickets for the concerts from 54 Below.