Asolo Rep Presents MĀYĀ – Part Three of its Ground Floor Series: Making Musicals

Asolo Rep continues its Ground Floor: Making Musicals series, on Thursday, July 9 at 6pm with a preview of MĀYĀ , a new musical set in 1930 during the Gandhi Salt March, with book and music by Cheeyang Ng, book and lyrics by Eric Sorrels:

At the center of the story is Maya Mehta, a Cambridge-educated girl from India striving for recognition as a poet in the West, while her family plans her wedding to a wealthy prince. But in one life-changing moment, the Salt March, led by Mahatma Gandhi against the tyranny of the British Empire, arrives on Maya's doorstep. When Maya joins the thousands in their quest to shake the foundations of an empire, the Mehta family's world changes forever. With a score that fuses Western pop and Indian Classical music, MĀYĀ is about the ties that hold us, the illusions that bind us and the truth that can finally set us free.

The four-part Making Musicals competition, designed specifically for an online audience, previews four new and original musicals broadcast live on Asolo Rep's Facebook and YouTube pages. The final musical in the series, Fountain, a new musical set in Florida with book, music and lyrics by Christopher Anselmo and Jared Corak, will be presented on Thursday, July 23. The series debuted May 21 with Sophie Blanchard's High Flyin' Rock and Roll Extravaganza, book, music and lyrics by Lizzie Hagstedt, and also included Johnny and the Devil's Box, presented on June 25, with book, music and lyrics by Douglas Waterbury-Thieman.

Each 30-minute session consists of a fifteen-minute preview performance of one musical, followed by a fifteen-minute discussion with the playwright/composer and James Monaghan, Asolo Rep Dramaturg and Literary Manager, and Celine Rosenthal, Asolo Rep Associate Artistic Director, who serves as the Director of the Ground Floor Series and is also directing all four musicals. After the four musicals have aired, the audience will be asked to vote for their favorite and the winner will receive a full staged reading at Asolo Rep.

To add to the fun, the Theatre is incorporating a Virtual Happy Hour into the presentation. One day prior to each performance, patrons will receive an email notice of the broadcast that includes a cocktail recipe specifically chosen to compliment the theme of that week's new musical. The cocktail recipe can also be found on Asolo Rep's Facebook page the day before the event.

Patrons wishing to vote for their favorite musical are required to register online through a link on Asolo Rep's website: www.asolorep.org. Following the last performance, registered patrons will be emailed a ballot to be filled out and submitted to the theatre within 48 hours. To qualify to vote, patrons must be registered, they must have viewed all four performances and they will only be able to vote once.