RAMONA and JOHNNY AND THE DEVIL'S BOX Lead New York Theatre Barn's New Works Series

New York Theatre Barn will host a free live stream of the 29th installment of its virtual New Works Series on Wednesday, November 4th, 2020 at 7PM EDT, featuring excerpts from the new musicals Ramona and Johnny and The Devil's Box. The live 45-minute presentation will also feature a conversation with the writers and creative team.

Based on the classic novel by Helen Hunt Jackson, Ramona is a new musical written by Nevada Lozano. Ramona tells the story of an orphan girl growing up on a Mexican hacienda in Southern California in the 1850s. She falls in love with a Native American ranchero, and together they journey across the new U.S. state in search of a place to call home. With a blend of American, Native American and Mexican musical styles, Ramona is an epic love story set during one of the most violent, tumultuous times in American history. Featuring performances by Amanda Robles (BSC's Into The Woods) and Shereen Pimentel (West Side Story).

With book, music and lyrics by Douglas Waterbury-Tieman (SeaWife), Johnny and the Devil's Box is a new musical with one foot in the Georgia mountains and one foot in the Grand Ole Opry. The original musical follows Johnny Baker, the best fiddler that's ever been, until his boasting attracts the attention of another fiddler-the Devil himself-who shows up with a plan for Johnny's destruction. With fame, fortune and love tempting him at every turn, Johnny must find his true path and the strength to win a battle of the bows with the highest possible stakes. Johnny and the Devil's Box proclaims the immense power of music to heal broken communities when we put aside our pride and join hands in jubilant song and dance. Featuring performances by Annabelle Fox and Douglas Waterbury-Tieman (The Robber Bridegroom, SeaWife), and the acclaimed creative team includes Dramaturg Anika Chapin (Goodspeed Opera House), Choreographer Jennifer Jancuska (Hamilton), and Music Supervisor Scott Wasserman (Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen).

Ramona has been developed with the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop, KHN Center for the Arts, Brush Creek Foundation and will be further developed at Yaddo later this year. Johnny and the Devil's Box has been developed in the Johnny Mercer Writers' Colony at Goodspeed Musicals, the Drama League Rough Draft Residency, Belmont University Musical Theatre Program, and is the recipient of a Frank Young Fund's Writers Retreat Grant with Goodspeed Musicals. Both shows have previously been featured in New York Theatre Barn's live New Works Series before the Coronavirus pandemic.

The 45-minute presentation will be available on New York Theatre Barn's YouTube channel and Broadway on Demand, and is hosted and produced by Jen Sandler and Joe Barros. For more information, visit New York Theatre Barn's website: www.nytheatrebarn.org.

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