The Sappho Project Announces Four Musicals Chosen for The W*rk Lab

The Sappho Project has announced that the 2020 W*rk Lab will include not three, but four new musicals! The selected musicals, chosen from fifty-nine applications, include AT THE BARRE (SMJ [they/them] and Sarah Flaim [she/her]), BREWSTERS (Cayenne Douglass [she/her]), MONTGOMERY (Britt Bonney [she/her]), and POWER (Sukari Jones [she/her]).

Each selected musical will receive a $500 prize, a $1,500 project stipend, and access to career-building masterclasses, grants, and residency opportunities. The Lab will culminate with readings and workshops in April, either virtually or in-person, depending on the state of COVID-19.

The W*rk Lab is a seven month workshop supporting the development of four new musicals by women, transgender, and gender non-conforming composers, lyricists, and book writers. Through a highly individualized approach and intentional community-building, the W*rk Lab aims to provide resources and visibility for the next generation of underrepresented musical theatre creators, and position them for future success.

Recipients were selected by The Sappho Project, in conjunction with an expert reader pool consisting of Producer/Casting Director/Arts Administrator Hershey V. Millner, Playwright/Poet/Performer/Lyricist Kit Yan, Composer/Lyricist/Music Director/Orchestrator Anessa Marie, Artist/Disability Inclusion Consultant Alie. B. Gorrie, Composer/Lyricist Rona Siddiqui, Actor/Singer/Advocate Kat Griffin, Actor/Activist Shereen Ahmed, Playwright/Screenwriter Chelsea Marcantel, and Composer/Lyricist/Music Director/Teaching Artist Dionne McClain-Freeney.