PRISM Festival of New Queer Musicals to Return at The Brick
THE LAUGH OF THE MEDUSA and THE RUMSPRINGA PROJECT headline the Brooklyn festival's latest lineup.
The Makers' Ensemble and The Brick will present the third annual PRISM Festival of New Queer Musicals, running September 8–13 at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
The 2026 festival will feature two new musicals, The Laugh of the Medusa and The Rumspringa Project.
PRISM Festival of New Queer Musicals is a collaborative development festival dedicated to uplifting and celebrating queer musical theater artists. Produced in partnership with The Makers' Ensemble, The Brick Theater and Brooklyn Art Haus, the festival provides emerging and established artists with opportunities to develop new musicals through experimentation, artistic exchange and engagement with audiences.
The Laugh of the Medusa
The Laugh of the Medusa: A Musical Becoming features book, music and lyrics by Thani Brant, direction by Megumi Nakamura and music direction by Dea Thatcher.
Set across two timelines millennia apart, the musical follows a young writer and the mythical gorgon Medusa as they each pray for a world in which they can live authentically in freedom and safety. Their prayers bring them together across space and time, beginning a years-long journey to help one another break free from cycles of violence.
The trans coming-of-age musical features a folk-rock score and explores the power of artists to imagine and forge a path toward a better world.
The Rumspringa Project
The Rumspringa Project features a book by Bubba Weiler and music and lyrics by Ellen Winter and Nina Ross. Machel Ross directs and conceived the project.
Inspired by the Amish tradition of Rumspringa, the musical is a kaleidoscope of queer coming-of-age stories in America examining the liminal passage between different worlds and the choices that accompany leaving one's community.
The project features additional collaboration from Sekai Abeni and Tony Award nominee Ellenore Scott. It has previously been developed at Mercury Store, Berkeley Rep's Ground Floor and through the Joe's Pub Working Group.
About The Makers' Ensemble
The Makers' Ensemble is a Brooklyn-based resident ensemble of multi-hyphenate artists dedicated to creating and cultivating live arts. The organization provides programming and support for emerging artists while fostering collaboration among artists from a range of cultural, educational, social and identity backgrounds.
Dante Green and Cam Pileggi serve as Co-Artistic Directors, with Grace Zofia Alberti as Production Manager.
About The Brick
The Brick Theater is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to developing and presenting work by emerging artists and career experimenters in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Its programming spans theater, dance, video, virtual reality, visual arts and other forms of live performance.
The Brick is led by Co-Directors Dante Green, Eric Shethar and Peter Mills Weiss.
The third annual PRISM Festival of New Queer Musicals runs September 8–13, 2026 at The Brick Theater, 579 Metropolitan Avenue in Brooklyn.
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