Manhattan Musical Theatre Lab, whose mission is to identify new musical creators and develop their work, will relaunch operations this year.
The organization will resume under new leadership, led by President and General Director James Benjamin Rodgers.
MMTL鈥檚 New Works Initiative will provide operational, artistic, and administrative support throughout a three-phase, multi-year process. The inaugural project for the initiative is Sam Norman and Eliza Randall's The Debutantes, which tracks the meteoric rise and quiet erasure of the female code breakers of Bletchley Park. Norman and Randall will receive fiscal, administrative, and production support, mentorship, and artistic guidance in preparation for a reading and workshop this fall.
鈥淲hen the opportunity arose to reshape MMTL, we really wanted to take the time to research the existing structures serving the creation of new musical theatre,鈥� said Rodgers in a statement. 鈥淭his allowed us to identify some critical gaps in the support network for emerging creators鈥iven the financial burden associated with creating musical theatre, titles without inherent name recognition face an uphill battle in order to be produced at the highest level. We hope to provide some buoyancy to artist-driven work in its infancy.鈥�
鈥淧rioritizing the artistic focus of creatives, especially when their works are in primary stages, can be the difference between an underdeveloped, rudimentary piece with no prospects, and one filled with passion, sustainability, and true artistic merit,鈥� added Amanda Calvin, MMTL administrative director. 鈥淲e鈥檝e observed that the amount of logistical work required to get a show on its feet often presents a burden to writers, shifting their energy away from their creative process. MMTL has committed to this early stage of the development process to allow them to focus on the work of creating the show, rather than the infrastructure required to support its creation.鈥�
Founded by Bick Goss in 1999 as Musical Mondays, MMTL gained recognition for nurturing new musical theatre writers by presenting their works in early stages under the supervision of Producing Artistic Director Frank Evans. Among the works initially conceived with MMTL: the Pulitzer Prize-winning Next to Normal (under the title Feeling Electric) by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, and It Shoulda Been You by Barbara Anselmi, directed by David Hyde Pierce. The organization paused operations in 2018.
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