NEXT THING YOU KNOW Opens this Weekend at TriArts Sharon Playhouse

TriArts Sharon Playhouse, under the leadership of Alice Bemand Executive Director and John Simpkins Artistic Director, is proud to present the new musical Next Thing You Know, in TriArts newly converted 99-seat Stage 2 performance space in the Bok Gallery (49 Amenia Road, Sharon) from August 8 through 11.

Directed by Artistic Director John Simpkins (The Black Suits), Next Thing You Know features music by Joshua Salzman and book/lyrics byRyan Cunningham. The musical features Jenna Pastuszek (Tri Arts debut, NYU Pool Boy), Matthew Tracey (TriArts debut), Ashley Sweetman (TriArts Best Little Whorehouse), and Sergio Pasquariello (Tri Arts debut, Les Miserables Hollywood Bowl).

Next Thing You Know is an original musical of four New Yorkers as they laugh, love and drink their way through the big questions that face all young dreamers who wake up in the city that never sleeps. Does marrying a really nice guy mean you're settling down or just settling? Does taking a nine-to-five equal giving up or growing up? Does a decade in the city break you down or break you in?

Joshua Zecher-Ross is Music Director. The design team includes Erik Diaz (sets), Jamie Roderick (lights), Michelle Humphrey (costumes). Thomas J. Coppola is production stage manager.

Joshua Salzman (music) and Ryan Cunningham (book/lyrics) are Jonathan Larson Award winners as well as Drama Desk and MAC Award-nominated writers. Their Off-Broadway musical, I Love You Because, has been produced all over the world in five languages. Their new musical, Next Thing You Know, was developed with director John Simpkins, and has been produced at CAP 21 in New York, across America and in Europe. They continue their collaboration with a new musical about the '77 New York City blackout entitled, The Legend of New York. Ryan and Joshua are graduates of the NYU Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program and are both members of ASCAP and the Dramatist Guild.

Performances of Next Thing You Know are Thursday, August 8 at 7pm, Friday, August 9 and Saturday, August 10 at 8pm, and Sunday, August 11 at 5pm. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased online at www.triarts.net or by calling (860) 364-SHOW (7469).

Photo Credit: John Simpkins