MORE THAN THIS: A NEW MUSICAL To Receive American Premiere Reading This Month

"More Than This: A New Musical," written by Jess Marie Timlin and HK Ní Shioradáin, will make its American premiere April 10th at 8PM at Bird in Hand Tavern in Harlem. The reading is produced by Liam Fitzpatrick, Timlin serves as director, and Kerianne Brennan as musical director.

To go forward with her autobiographical play, Chris must get written permission from everyone involved in the story, however, she soon discovers that the list is longer than she anticipated and not all parties will be easily convinced. More Than This explores the lives of three Irish women; Chris, Molly, and Amy. Over the course of one night in a Dublin apartment, they are forced to look back on the last ten years, from their very first college party through to the current day. Together, they must delve into their friendships, desires, love affairs, and ambitions to determine how closely intertwined their lives really are and whose story it is to tell anyway.

Jess Marie Timlin stars as Chris with Jessie MacBeth (Amy,) Sonia Roman (Molly,) D Simington (Tom,) Allison Griffith (Clara,) Jack B. Murphy (Neil, Ensemble,) Sydney Wesson (Jordan, ensemble) Haylee Weatherly (James, ensemble) and Michael Jayne Walker (Eli, Ensemble.)

Timlin began writing "More Than This" in 2017 but soon realized she couldn't do it alone. She met Ní Shioradáin later that year and the pair began creating the show as it is today. The piece has been workshopped twice back home in Dublin, Ireland; once in 2019 as a one act staged production and again in 2020 as a virtual workshop that headlined the Players Resilience Festival. In 2022, they received development funding from The Arts Council of Ireland.

With this reading, "More Than This" makes its American debut, as well as being presented as a complete two act musical for the first time. Followed by a talk back and audience feedback, the production looks to move forward to a lab and workshop before an official production in the next few years.

The reading will take place at Bird in Hand Tavern, 3569 Broadway in Manhattan at 8PM on Monday, April 10th. $10 tickets (also available at the door) can be purchased at https://m.bpt.me/event/5820420.

Follow the production on Instagram at @morethanthismusical!

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