Natalie Joy Johnson and More to be Featured in NYTB's New Works Series 18th Season
The first presentation will feature excerpts from two original musicals centering untold queer history and narratives.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Mar. 28, 2025
New York Theatre Barn will kick off the 18th season of its award-winning New Works Series on Monday, March 31, 2025. The presentation will feature excerpts from two original musicals centering untold queer history and narratives, Orchids and Skin, as well as a conversation with the writers moderated by Artistic Director Joe Barros and producer Harmony Harris. The series will be presented at 7PM ET at the Five Angels Theater in NYC (789 Tenth Ave.) and will also be available for live streaming. Click here to purchase tickets.
Featuring Jane Bruce (Jagged Little Pill, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) and Natalie Joy Johnson (Lempicka, Kinky Boots), the original musical Orchids has a book by T.C. Lind, music by Derek Gregor (Unlock’d, Island Song), lyrics by Phoebe Kreutz (The Nice List), and is directed by Telly Leung (Allegiance, Aladdin). Inspired by true events and set in Florida in the 1950s, Orchids follows Evelyn Pierce, a fiercely intelligent English professor, who secretly falls in love with the strident new dean at her university, Betty Kincaid. The two women set off on a path of self-discovery while a state committee investigates claims of communism at the university, threatening their careers. Orchids spotlights an untold moment in American queer history. The cast also includes Anna Barrett, Brooks Bennett, Rylee Carpenter, Christian Clausnitzer, Aaliyana Garcia, Teddy Huff, Henry Thomas Lange, Reagan Minnette, and Sophie Stromberg.
Set on the West Australian coast, the original musical Skin has a book and lyrics by Andrew Strano and music by Yuriko Shibata. While cleaning out their mother Cath’s old house, Siobh discovers an album filled with pictures of Cath and her ex-lover Heather. Siobh feels betrayed - they never knew. Cath deliberately cut herself off from her past and hid her queerness from Siobh, despite Siobh’s desperate need for connection and care. Skin asks Cath to choose: protect herself by continuing to deny her past, or allow herself to be swept up by the rising tide of painful, joyful memories to save her relationship with her child. The presentation has direction by Strano and music direction by Shibata, and the cast features Lynn Craig (Lazarus), Chibueze Ihuoma (Hadestown), Sara James, and Claire Kwon (Maybe Happy Ending).
This New Works Series was recognized by the National Alliance for Musical Theatre’s Innovation & Exploration Fund. New York Theatre Barn’s programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. For more information, visit New York Theatre Barn’s website: .
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