Presented in association with Yale School of Drama/Yale Repertory Theatre
Attend open rehearsal readings of exciting new work created by emerging music theatre artists. These readings are the culmination of the annual Yale Institute for Music Theatre, an intensive two-week summer lab that allows composers, book writers, and lyricists the opportunity to develop their work with a team of professional directors and music directors as well as a company of actors and singers. This is an exciting chance for theater and music lovers to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the creation of new music theater.
Schedule & Selections
Cowboy Bob
June 23 at 1pm, June 24 at 5pm
Created by Molly Beach Murphy, Jeanna Phillips, and Annie Tippe
Book by Molly Beach Murphy
Music and Lyrics by Jeanna Phillips
Peggy Jo Tallas was a good neighbor, a good daughter, and a great bank robber. Disguised as a man in a fake beard and a ten-gallon hat, “Cowboy Bob” evaded detection for more than a decade. In a score that's equal parts Riot Grrrl rage and Texas two-step, the small-town legend inspires an assortment of competing wannabe rebels to claim her story as their own.
GUMBO
June 23 at 5pm, June 24 at 1pm
Music by Brett Macias
Book and Lyrics by Christina Quintana
Conceived by Christina Quintana and Brett Macias
With a Jazz and R&B-infused score, GUMBO begins on the eve of a monstrous hurricane when a newlywed woman accepts an ominous offer from a mysterious stranger. As the city descends into chaos, her new husband journeys beneath the rising waters to find his wife. Together, they must save the soul of the city from the hellish Gumbo Pot.
Please note
Because these are new musicals being workshopped in the weeks leading up to these performances, the running time of the show may change.
Established in 2009, the Yale Institute for Music Theatre is a program of Yale’s Binger Center for New Theatre that bridges the gap between training and the professional world for emerging composers, book writers, and lyricists. The Institute seeks distinctive and original music theatre works to be developed in an intensive two-week summer lab at Yale School of Drama. The Institute matches the authors of the selected works with collaborators, including professional directors and music directors, as well as a company of actors and singers that includes professionals and current Yale students. The lab culminates with open rehearsal readings of each project, presented as part of New Haven’s International Festival of Arts & Ideas.
The Binger Center for New Theatre has distinguished itself as one of the nation’s most robust and innovative new play programs. Since 2008, the Binger Center has supported the work of more than 50 commissioned artists and underwritten the world premieres and subsequent productions of 21 new American plays and musicals at Yale Rep and theatres across the country. The Binger Center also facilitates residencies of playwrights and composers at Yale School of Drama, including those who are selected to participate in the Yale Institute for Music Theatre.