Musical Theatre West Selects THE POSTMAN'S DAUGHTER and RAILS For Its 2025 New Works Reading Festival
The two new musicals will have their pieces featured as part of the invite-only reading festival in Long Beach, CA on Saturday, November 22nd.
By: Stephi Wild Nov. 04, 2025
Musical Theatre West (MTW) announced its selections for its Fifth Annual New Works Reading Festival: The Postman's Daughter, a one-act, sung-through musical dramedy told entirely through written correspondence, with book and lyrics by Danielle Koenig and music by Justin D. Cook, and Rails, the story of a troubled man caring for his aging grandmother takes a wild ride through the stories of her past as he struggles to determine her future, with music and lyrics by Tom Kenaston and book and lyrics by Tom Paitson Kelly. The two new musicals will have their pieces featured as part of the invite-only reading festival in Long Beach, CA on Saturday, November 22nd.
“The two pieces we selected for this year's festival are such exciting additions to the musical theatre canon.” said Paul Garman, Executive Director/Producer for MTW. “Both pieces combine humor and heart in such an exciting way, and we're thrilled to give them the opportunity to see their work on its feet, using professional actors. This festival was created in part to uplift authors who can help shape the future of musical theatre, and we truly believe that these writers have the power to do just that.”
The writer of the book and lyrics for The Postman's Daughter, Danielle Koenig, has had her work developed by Second Stage, Theatre NOW, Prospect Theatre Company, and Syracuse University, and presented at Lincoln Center, Joe's Pub, Rattlestick Playwright's Theater, and 54 Below. Composer Justin D. Cook's work has been seen at Lincoln Center, UCLA, Syracuse University, Prospect Theatre Company, NYU, Rattlestick Theater, Nautilus Music-Theater, and has music directed with Children's Theatre Company, UCLA, Illusion Theater, among many other schools and theaters.
Rails began as a 15-minute piece for an event at the York Theatre Company, inspired by the nostalgia of train travel, and its representation of adventure and possibilities. Parts or all of Rails were performed at the National Asian Artists Project (2011), Florida Stage (2012), the York Theatre in NYC (2013), and the New York Musical Theatre Festival (2015). Rails is a three time semi-finalist for the Eugene O'Neill National Musical Theatre Conference and currently a semi-finalist for the Pipeline Foundation Awards. It is also Coverfly's Top Musical Stage Play of all time.
MTW's New Works Program began in 2021, and spawned from participation in Inclusion Media Company's “Raise Your Voice Playwriting Competition.” Since then, MTW has produced four 29-hour staged readings each year, with the goal of providing writers of new musical theatre an opportunity to see their work on its feet and receive an audience's feedback. To learn more about the MTW New Works Program, visit https://musical.org/events/new-works/.
Los Angeles Awards - Live Stats
Best Musical - Top 3
1.
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (Hollywood Bowl)
9.4% of votes
2.
ORIGINALS (The Gardenia Club)
8.4% of votes
3.
HEATHERS (Backyard Playhouse: Treetop Production)
4.3% of votes
Videos