New Musical LATE Arrives In March At Boston Center For The Arts Plaza Theatre

Moonbox Productions will bring a developmental production of the new musical LATE to the Plaza Theatre at Boston Center for the Arts March 6–14, 2026, continuing the vital work of nurturing bold, original musicals that engage directly with the world we're living in now.

LATE is a contemporary, character-driven new musical about a year in the emotional life of Wilhelmina “Billie” Jackson, her Best Friend Katie Williams, and six of their high school friends, all coming of age in the era of school shootings. It's the gripping story of broken lives and newfound lives, of friendships put to the test, of the struggle to put the pieces of hope and wonder back together after violence blows them apart. How can they reclaim their futures? They are determined to make their voices heard in a country that wants to look away and move on. “Like The Outsiders, LATE tells its story from the perspective of the adolescents who experienced it,” said Kathleen Cahill, bookwriter and lyricist.

Written by Pulitzer Prize–nominated playwright Kathleen Cahill (Charm, Harbur Gate, The Robertassey) LATE brings a distinctive, character-driven theatrical voice to the musical stage. The propulsive, moving score, vocal arrangements and additional lyrics are by Michael Wartofsky, Professor of Songwriting at Berklee College of Music and founder of the New Opera & Musical Theatre Initiative (NOMTI). Cahill and Wartofsky were commissioned to write two musicals for North Shore Music Theater, and their song “All the Possibilities” was recorded by Broadway's Kate Baldwin on Yellow Sound Label. www.latemusical.com

“LATE pulsates with life, focusing on the transformative power of friendship and community,” said Michael Wartofsky, composer and co-lyricist. “We're inspired by the survivors of Parkland who stood in the open with their truth, often at great personal cost.”

This production launches an exciting new collaboration between Moonbox Productions and the New Opera and Musical Theater Initiative (NOMTI). Developed over several years through NOMTI's Advanced Writers Lab and Moonbox's 2022 Boston New Works Festival at BCA, LATE is the first Festival work to receive a full co-production from Moonbox.

The production is directed by Ilana Ransom Toeplitz (Assistant Professor at Emerson College) whose work includes the Broadway creative teams of The Prom and Violet as well as directing the 10th Anniversary of Reefer Madness and the US premiere of Drew Gasparini's We Aren't Kids Anymore. David Freeman Coleman, Associate Professor at Berklee College of Music and a 2023 Elliot Norton Award winner for Outstanding Musical Direction (Ain't Misbehavin'), serves as Music Director, with recent credits including WILD: A Musical Becoming and Choir Boy (Norton nomination).

According to director Ilana Ransom Toeplitz, “Late gives the floor to honest, unsupervised adolescent characters, with generations of storytellers and artists standing behind them—because while this story belongs to the young, the call for change belongs to all of us.”

PRODUCTION TEAM

• Joy Clark (Choreographer)
• Avery Piazza (Assistant Director)
• Juliet Simon (Assistant Choreographer)
• Danielle Ibrahim (Production Manager)
• Elliott Cunningham (Associate Producer and General Manager)
• Luke Ferrante (Company Manager)
• Mac Medeiros (Production Stage Manager)
• Jenna Thomas and Alyssa Schlaifer (Assistant Stage Managers)

The creative team features David Goldstein++ (Scenic and Props Design), Amaya Gonzalez-Møllmann (Costume Design), Elijah Goldberg (Lighting Design), and Miller (Sound Design). The cast includes 2025 Elliot Norton award-winning actor Cortlandt Barrett as Billie, Jayla Shedeed as Katie, Kennedy Chang as Makala, Cole Stanley as Vernell, Azul Girola as Charlotte, Max Cavanaugh as Ryan, Jackson Gentry as Beau, and Jeffrey Michael Sewell as Cole. Catie Jamieson, Emery Cunningham, and Alex Kennedy serve as swings.

PERFORMANCES

Preview performances will take place March 6 and 7, with the official opening on March 12, followed by performances on March 13 and 14. All performances will be held at the Plaza Theatre at Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont Street, Boston, Massachusetts.

LATE: A New Musical is co-produced by Moonbox Productions, Love Sadie Musicals and NOMTI (New Opera and Musical Theatre Initiative).