MUSI-CAL Comes To The Catalina Jazz Club in March
Experience new musicals in development at the Catalina Jazz Club this March
The Foundation for New American Musicals has announced the presentation of MUSI-CAL at the famous Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood on Wednesday, March 4th, 2026.
This electrifying event will showcase selections from five cutting-edge musicals: Gladiatrix, Sweet and Twenty, BFA: A New Musical Comedy, and Coming Home to Soul. The program is produced by Ryan M. Luevano (Executive Producer), with Linda Shusett as co-producer, both esteemed board members of the Foundation for New American Musicals.
MUSI-CAL, a FNAM program, stands as a beacon for the development and support of new musicals, providing audiences with an exclusive peek into works-in-progress by local So-Cal Composers and Writers. This dynamic platform not only offers encouragement to our Southern California music creators but also serves as a public showcase for their exceptional work. Attendees, including industry professionals, gather to witness the birth of new talents and greet familiar faces. With a rich history of featuring over 100 musicals in progress in just a few short years, MUSI-CAL continues to be a driving force in shaping the future of musical theater. Get ready for an unforgettable night of creativity and innovation.
GLADIATRIX
Book Book by Paul Bianchi
Music by Sam Johnides & Tony Gonzalez
Lyrics by Paul Bianchi, Tony Gonzalez, Sam Johnides
GLADIATRIX is an action musical inspired by the true history of 200 AD Rome when Emperor Septimius Severus decreed that women were no longer allowed to participate in the gladiator games. What follows is character portraits of four female gladiators caught in the cross-hairs. Deireoe is contracted and has three fights left. If she doesn't complete her contract, she becomes a slave. Vita and Felicitas are slaves with nowhere else to go. Mevia is a noblewoman who only feels alive when she's in the arena. In the end, the four women are forced to fight to the death. Only one will survive.
SWEET AND TWENTY
Book and Lyrics by Adam Carl
Music by Julian Drucker
When brand-new adults Helen and George meet by chance at a sprawling estate that both are eyeing for potential purchase, it's more or less love at first sight. The realization that each is there with someone else, then, is understandably cause for much distress. With its toe-tapping music, rapid fire dialogue, and ironic, clear-eyed observations about love and marriage, Sweet & 20 is a charming and whimsical-yet slyly subversive-Roaring '20s-era ode to the importance of independence, the absurdity of youth, and, of course, the irresistible, utterly illogical, all-encompassing power of love.
COMING HOME TO SOUL
Book by Catriona Fray, Jonny Perl, Danny Segura
Lyrics by Catriona Fray, Alena Bernardi, Danny Pravder, Bella Hicks
Music by Catriona Fray, Alena Bernardi, Danny Pravder, Bella Hicks
Coming Home to the Soul is a contemporary musical blending original songs written by Homegrown Collective exploring what it means to come home to yourself-emotionally, spiritually, and creatively.
BFA: A NEW MUSICAL COMEDY
Book, Music and Lyrics by Joe Nedder
18-year-old Blake Andrews dreams of nothing more than attending the prestigious Scott School of Drama to pursue a career in musical theater. But once she gets there, she's met with an outrageous professor, and classmates who have seemingly already figured out their own successful careers.
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