The new musical features music, lyrics and book by the mother-and-son team of Kim Saunders and Heath Saunders (who co-stars in the show) with family member Trent Saunders (Aladdin) also in the cast. The company also includes David DeWitt (national tour of The Phantom of the Opera), Rose Hemingway (How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying), Andrea Jones-Sojola (Porgy and Bess) and Rachel Kara Perez (Latin Grammy-nominated singer/actress).
Newton鈥檚 Cradle, which is billed as 鈥渁 musical journey into a young man鈥檚 unique world of autism,鈥� marks Kim Saunders' first fully staged production after changing careers; she spent 30 years in the product marketing field.
鈥淭here are stories that need to be told to change the way human beings treat each other by helping us better understand the way labels shape, enable and sometimes destroy humanity,鈥� she said of Newton鈥檚 Cradle. 鈥淲e are trying to show one person鈥檚 experience of the world, not a picture of autism. The show questions when a label like autism is helpful and when it is not.鈥�
鈥淚 was immediately struck by the piece鈥檚 originality and beauty and the fact that they had written it together over a period of years as mother and son,鈥� said director Clark, who won her Tony for her performance in The Light in the Piazza, a musical she has also directed. 鈥淭heir close collaboration, as family and as writers, moved me as did the story of a family all coming to a deeper understanding of one another in a cabin in Alaska. The themes of acceptance and forgiveness run very deep in Newton鈥檚 Cradle and I am thrilled to direct this piece for the New York Musical Festival.鈥�
Newton鈥檚 Cradle, according to press notes, 鈥渆xplores what happens when the rules one lives by no longer apply. When Evan Newton brings his girlfriend to the family鈥檚 Alaska cabin to propose, her response sets him on an adventure to connect his past to the present. Evan鈥檚 journey takes theatergoers into his world of autism. Events aren鈥檛 sequential, labels get in the way and well-defined family relationships are anything but constant. The show challenges expectations about connection. It integrates a fast-moving story with a hypnotic electronic score to create a melodic picture of a very special brain.鈥�
The production team also includes producer Robb Nannus, associate director and choreographer Sara Brians, Tara Rubin Casting, scenic designer Luke Cantarella, costume designer Maria Hooper, lighting designer Zach Blane, sound designer Quentin Chiappetta, stage manager Melanie T. Morgan and musical director Jesse Kissel.
Tickets, priced $27.50, are available online at or by calling (212) 664-0979, ext. 26.
(Updated August 3, 2016)
