Lehman Engel News

BRUSH STROKES is a new musical that has been selected for the NY Thespis Theater Festival. Performances are at the Hudson Guild Theater, 411 West 26th street (between 9th & 10th Avenues), NYC.

Heart and Flame Productions is thrilled to present a World Premiere Pop/Rock Musical, WE ARE THE TIGERS, book, music and lyrics by Rebekah M. Allen, musical direction by Patrick Sulken, choreography by Jacob Brent and directed by Michael Bello. WE ARE THE TIGERS is produced by Matthew P. Hui, Geri Silver and Evan Bernardin. WE ARE THE TIGERS recently completed an artistic residency at New York City's Musical Theatre Factory, where it presented two sold-out workshop performances earlier this month. WE ARE THE TIGERS will preview on Friday, October 2 at 8pm; Saturday, October 3 at 2pm & 8pm; Sunday, October 4 at 7pm; Friday, October 9 at 8pm & Saturday, October 10 at 2pm and will open on Saturday, October 10 at 8pm and run through Sunday, November 8 at the Hudson Backstage, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood.

54 Below, Broadway's Supper Club, presents award winning composer /lyricist Timothy Huang as he hosts the 10th Anniversary of his one-man musical THE VIEW FROM HERE, which premiered in 2005 at the New York Musical Theater Festival and will be revived again in 2016 at the Umbrella Group Milwaukee. 

Samuel French has announced the winners of the 2015 Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival, the nation's leading short play competition. The six winning plays were presented in a Showcase on Sunday, August 9th at the conclusion of the week-long festival at the East 13th Street Theater (Classic Stage Company). These plays will be published, and available for licensing by Samuel French in the 40th Annual edition of its Off Off Broadway Plays collection:

The Muny announced today the cast for its production of Oklahoma! (August 10 -16) directed by Rob Ruggiero, choreographed by Susan Stroman and music directed by Kevin Stites. Ginger Thatcher will restage Ms. Stroman's choreography.

Concrete Timbre (www.ConcreteTimbre.com) is a composer-driven performance collective which aims to add bold interdisciplinary performances to the contemporary music canon by creating opportunities for composers to work in multidisciplinary settings that often defy categorization. The group's '4 Wars' by Mark Farnen, directed by Ann Warren, is an interdisciplinary exploration of the universal themes that exist amongst four different stories from four different countries, showing a progression of people struggling to create social change in the year 1968 in the face of unrest. The world premiere will be presented by Theater for the New City's Dream Up Festival September 13 to 20.

Musical Theatre Factory (MTF) will present a developmental presentation of WE ARE THE TIGERS with book, lyrics and music by Rebekah M. Allen.

Full casting announced for the world premiere of Robert J. Sherman's brand new musical at this year's Edinburgh Fringe.

The BMI Foundation has announced nine members of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop as the winners of its annual Musical Theatre Awards, encompassing the Jerry Harrington Awards For Outstanding Creative Achievement in Musical Theatre, the Jean Banks Award, and the newly established Ellen Schwartz Award for Outstanding Literary Merit in Lyric Writing.

National Alliance for Musical Theatre has announced the line up of new musicals for their 27th ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS, which takes place on Thursday, October 15 and Friday, October 16 at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues). Registration for Industry members is free and now open at www.namt.org/festival.

 BALLOON BOY: THE MUSICAL, a new musical featuring book, music and lyrics by Billy Recce, will be presented in the 2015 New York Musical Theatre Festival Developmental Reading Series.

Broadcast Music, Inc.® (BMI®), the global leader in music rights management, has announced that the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop is now accepting applications for its first year composer/lyricist class. The August 1, 2015, deadline is quickly approaching and applicants are asked to send in the requested materials as soon as possible. The Workshop begins mid-September 2015, and runs through June 2016. A recipient of the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre Award, the Lehman Engel Musical Workshop consists of approximately 250 composers, lyricists and book writers who are actively writing new works for the musical theatre.

The University of Texas at Austin Department of Theatre and Dance brings Broadway talent to Austin with the newly developed musical, Helldrivers of Daytona, for a free workshop performance tonight, June 20, 2015 at the B. Iden Payne Theatre.

The award-winning musical, A Letter to Harvey Milk, based on the short story "A Letter to Harvey Milk" by Leslea Newman,  will enjoy an invite-only industry reading in New York City on Monday, June 22, 2015 at Times Square's Playroom Theatre. A Letter to Harvey Milk, has a book by Jerry James, Cheryl Stern and Laura I. Kramer, lyrics by Ellen M. Schwartz with additional lyrics by Cheryl Stern, and music by Laura I. Kramer, it has been musical directed, arranged and orchestrated by Ned Paul Ginsburg, and the reading will be directed by Evan Pappas (Performer: Parade, My Favorite Year).

The New York Musical Theatre Festival and MWG Productions, LLC are pleased to announce casting for WHAT DO CRITICS KNOW?, a new musical with music and lyrics by James Campodonico and Matthew Gurren a book by Matthew Gurren and direction by Michael Bello. The company includes Chris Gleim, Sarah Stevens, Mary Mossberg, Danny Bolero, Kimberly Doreen Burns, Ryan Knowles, Bruce Rebold, Jason Fleck, Prescott Seymour, Kaitlyn Frank, Lindsay Bayer, Sean Bell and Danny Harris Kornfield.

Under the stars on the patio at Vagabondo Italian Ristorante + Lounge in downtown Toronto, Theatre 20 announced its 2015/2016 season. The sold-out event, which included food, drinks, and a first glimpse into the season, also included preview performances from the upcoming season presented by Nathan Carroll, Colleen Dauncey, Lauren Toffan, Kevin Dennis, Nora McLellan, and David Keeley, with musical accompaniment provided byScott Christian and Mark Selby.

Continuing its commitment to developing new works, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley will gather playwrights and composers from across the nation for its 2015 New Works Festival at Palo Alto's Lucie Stern Theatre, where the public can attend performances, offer feedback, and participate in a panel discussion with the artists. 

Strange Sun Theater - under the direction of Artistic Directors Jessica Bashline and Evan Mueller - concludes its third season with a workshop/showcase production of the new musical, CLOSER THAN YOU THINK. Performances will begin June 18 in The Black Box Theater at The Sheen Center, 18 Bleecker Street in Manhattan.

The Muny announced today the cast for its production of Oklahoma! (August 10 -16) directed by Rob Ruggiero, choreographed by Susan Stroman and music directed by Kevin Stites. Ginger Thatcher will restage Ms. Stroman's choreography.

Kathy Evans, Founding Executive Director of Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, announced the 17 writers and 8 new musicals selected for the fifth summer of weeklong retreats. For eight consecutive weeks beginning July 5th, each writing team will have a residency in Rhinebeck, New York. Writers are provided a private home, transportation, food, and a $400 stipend. This year's writers include Obie winner Kirsten Childs, Tony nominee Elizabeth Davis, and 2015 Jonathan Larson award-winners Charlie Sohne, Tim Rosser, and Sam Willmott, who also just won the Kleban Prize.