Photo Flash: Inside The NYC Reading Of The New Musical 57 BUS

The new musical 57 Bus by RYAN M. LUEVANO had a successful developmental reading in New York City on Monday February 24th, 2020. The reading took place at The Growing Studios and had a full house of over 80 theatre lovers. The audience submitted anonymous surveys after the presentation and used the following words to describe the musical: "Youthful, deep, powerful, insightful, heartfelt, thought-provoking, effervescent, important, relevant, informative, poignant, inspiring, and relatable".

EMILY KRAMM stared as Skylar and JORDAN CRAWFORD as John Michael. They were joined by ANDREW WOOD as Tucker, PATRICK STEVEN BOVO as Jules, MAGGIE MCNEIL as Fran, JAMES PARKS as Steve, DANA SCURLOCK as Gloria, and LACEY TUCKER as Irene.

The reading was directed by JUSTIN BRAUN and music directed by BRYAN BLASKIE.

57 BUS is inspired by a true event that took place on a bus in Oakland, California in 2013, when an 18-year-old agender high school student's skirt was set on fire by another student. The musical explores how the lives of these two children are changed forever. After being the victim of this "hate crime" Skylar is left to decide if the cost of self-expression in an intolerant world is worth the freedom of living as your true self. By re-evaluating Skylar's own pursuit for self-expression, they learn more about themselves and discover what they must do to find the path to healing.

The other student, John Michael, is seen as an attacker, however, given his background, and ultimate fate by the court, audiences must determine if he is perhaps also a victim. In the end, John Michael must decide to accept the consequences of his actions and find a way to rise against society's expectations and emerge out of his circumstances better than before.

For more information about this project please visit www.57busmusical.com.

Photo Credit: Annie Wang (www.wang-annie.com)