THE FINAL DAYS OF LYCOMING MALL to Premiere at New York Theater Festival

As the fall/winter New York Theater Festival comes to a close, a New Musical by Beto González and Ben Fish is preparing for its New York premiere. The Final Days of Lycoming Mall is a musical comedy based on a true story that explores what happens to the last remaining employees and customers when a dying Pennsylvania mall finally closes.

Driven by an infectious 1980s-inspired synth-pop score, the show follows three employees clinging to jobs that no longer quite fit. Ben, a relocated T-Mobile employee and former theater kid, is desperate for direction and community. Frank, a cashier at his mother's struggling pizza shop, has delayed adulthood for years, avoiding both career risk and emotional commitment. Sofia, the capable manager of the mall's last successful store, has quietly abandoned her long-held dream of transforming the mall into something better for her hometown.

Their lives intersect with Marshall, the mall's longtime custodian who has witnessed every era of its rise and decline, as well as Cheryl and Patrick, two wealthy Mall Walkers who treat the empty corridors as their personal, air-conditioned playground. When the absentee CEO announces the mall has been sold to a storage company and will soon close, the remaining employees are forced to decide whether to accept the ending, or take the first step toward something new.

Originally conceived at BerkleeNYC's Writing and Production for Musical Theater program, the show had a concert performance last February at Gin Mill and received additional development at Drama Club Camp's residency program. Beneath the show's authentic humor, it also touches on themes like quarter-life crisis, the erosion of so-called "third spaces", and the daunting act of taking control of one's future before it's too late.

The Cast includes Sabrina Shah (Kimberly Akimbo), Jesse Swimm (School of Rock), Jenny Lee Stern (A Christmas Story), Kaye Tuckerman (Summer: The Donna Summer Musical), alongside Spencer Gonzalez, Yule Donald, and Ben Fish.

The musical features Book and Lyrics by Ben Fish and Book and Music by Beto González (Chess). Direction and Choreography are by Lydia Ruth Dawson (Jesus Christ Superstar) and Hope Easterbrook (Hamilton).

The Creative team includes lighting designer Alex Guimon, sound designers Isaac Carbajal and Eduardo Garza, associate music director Hannah Berry, stage manager Pato Garza Cantú, company manager Rebecca Lawrence, and graphic designer Jimmy Gutiérrez.

With catchy tunes, hilarious antics, and a sincere appreciation for the community that inspired it, The Final Days of Lycoming Mall brings life to one of America's most notorious liminal spaces and shows that the end of one place can be the beginning of a brighter future.