Jenn Colella, Derek Klena, Ciara Renée, and More Will Lead SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD in Radial Park This Summer

New City Music Theatre (formerly Cleveland Musical Theatre) will launch its first production under its new name with Jason Robert Brown's Songs for a New World. Reimagined through a contemporary storytelling lens and performed by an expanded, star-studded cast, NCMT will present the enduring and ever-relevant musical in a one-night only event at Radial Park at Halletts Point, Queens on Thursday, August 26 at 7:30pm. Tickets, starting at $30, are available online at www.NewCityMusicTheatre.org.

Beloved by artists and theatregoers alike for over 25 years, Songs for a New World is set to receive a New York production that reimagines each song to speak directly to our current cultural climate. As its premiere production following a rebranding, renaming, and relocation, New City Music Theatre-formerly Cleveland Musical Theatre-celebrates its new home in New York City by paying tribute to the thriving communities who have seen and been through it all in the last year and a half. NCMT has received special permission to expand the cast size beyond the scripted quartet of Songs for a New World, opening doors to fresh perspective and enlightened interpretation of some of contemporary musical theatre's most cherished tunes. Complete with powerful video design, this singular event is a true celebration of New York and the return of live, in-person theatre.

Come From Away Tony nominee Jenn Colella (she/her) will join the cast of the NCMT production, taking on the penultimate Act One song "She Cries." Traditionally sung by a male-identifying actor, Colella will lend her powerful voice and incomparable storytelling to the song that laments of and revels in the power the singer's female lover holds over them. Following in the melodic footsteps of Broadway favorites Brooks Ashmanskas, Colin Donnell, and Ramin Karimloo, Colella will use her unique experience to tell a version of the story never seen by audiences before.

Former Anastasia co-stars Christy Altomare (she/her) and Derek Klena (he/him) are set to reunite as part of the expanded Songs for a New World cast. The pair will charm audiences once more in the exclusive evening, bringing their history of on-stage chemistry to the duet "I'd Give It All for You."

Also joining the cast, singing the tender "Christmas Lullaby," is West Side Story star Shereen Pimentel (she/her), along with Ciara Renée (she/her; Frozen, Pippin) taking on "I'm Not Afraid of Anything." Bonnie Milligan (she/her; Head Over Heels) is set for the raucous number "Surabaya-Santa," while Kyle Taylor Parker (he/him; Kinky Boots) lends his talents to the impassioned "King of the World."

NCMT Producing Artistic Director Miles J. Sternfeld directs the production, with music direction by Rick Edinger (he/him; Broadway's Pacific Overtures) and choreography by Ahmad Simmons (he/him; Broadway's West Side Story, Hadestown). Complete casting, under the direction of Jamibeth Margolis (she/her), will be announced shortly.

New City Music Theatre's one-night only production of Songs for a New World will play Radial Park at Halletts Point on Thursday, August 26 at 7:30pm. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit www.NewCityMusicTheatre.org.