Catching Fireflies
Brooklyn, NY
US
Catching Fireflies: A New Queer Musical, Philadelphia Fringe Festival 2025
SYNOPSIS: Catching Fireflies is a folk rock musical that centers on a trans writer and his queer friend group of artists stuck together in Philadelphia over the 2020 pandemic. Through intertwining love triangles and questioning of common queer stereotypes, each artist achieves a closer connection to their authentic self.
Starting as a quarantine project itself in 2020, the show just finished its Off-Broadway run at the Players Theater in January after several years of workshops & an entire concept album produced by Lorien Sound Studios.
Seeking nonunion Lgbt+ actors (ages 18-30) to portray queer/trans characters.
Please a headshot, resume, and two self tapes: 16 or 32 bar cut of a contemporary musical theatre song & 16 or 32 bar cut of a Pop/Rock/Folk song of your choice. (Optional: guitar playing accompaniment) Please include a slate.
Callbacks will be announced May 2nd, date/location of callbacks TBD (middle of May)
Rehearsals will begin in August. Show will run for one weekend in Philadelphia.
Actor Stipends $900; rehearsals will be in NYC, housing and transportation provided for the run in Philadelphia.
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN:
Willow/Wilder* - He/him Trans man, Questioning, Writer - intelligent, articulate, left San Francisco to live in Philly and then gets stuck there over the pandemic. Falls for Fawn through the course of the show, leaves at the end for a new chapter.
Guitar playing required for Wilder.
Open to actors of any presentation
Voice type: Rock/Folk/Alternative
Ethnicity: All Ethnicities
*different actors for Willow and Wilder
Fawn* - Musician -Talented, bright, Falls for Wilder.
Open to actors of any presentation
Voice type: mix/belt
Ethnicity: All Ethnicities
*this character discusses a past sexual assault
Ember - Extroverted with a big heart, struggles with alcoholism due to an unaccepting family, romantically involved with Sparrow
Open to actors of any presentation
Voice type: pop/rock belt
Ethnicity: All Ethnicities
Sparrow - Transmasc, Led by emotions, wants to appear strong but is sensitive & insecure, steps to the beat of their own drum. Romantically involved with Ember. Becomes best friends with Wilder/Willow.
Open to actors of any presentation
Voice type: Pop/Rock belt
Ethnicity: All Ethnicities
Larke - Transfem, Visual artist, independent and confident, obsessed with their art. On the asexual/demisexual spectrum, falls for Sierra Open to actors of any presentation/voice type
Ethnicity: All Ethnicities
Sierra - (she/her) Young, optimistic, and excited about life. After recently coming out as a lesbian, she desperately wants to lose her virginity and have a girlfriend, but after falling for Larke, realizes her queerness and sexuality is not limited by cisgender.
Voice type: Mezzo-Soprano mix
Ethnicity: All Ethnicities
CREATIVE TEAM BIOS
Zoe Belle Gronner, Director Bio -
Native New Yorker, Zoe Belle Gronner (she/her), took it upon herself to become a filmmaker鈥� since graduating from NYU鈥檚 Tisch School of the Arts, has made her directorial debut with 鈥淟adies Night.鈥� Her short film premiered at the Chelsea Film Festival. Since then, she has produced a mini-series with Executive Producer Mel Brooks and director Samantha Brooks, 鈥淗igh Functioning: A Chronicle of Chronic Ills,鈥� which premiered at Soho Film Festival. Along with a few short films she has produced, 鈥淭here鈥檚 Someone at the Door,鈥� and 鈥淪kin.鈥� Zoe has worked for the stage management team for the Concordia Annual Summit since 2023.
Flynn Faye, Playwright Bio -
Flynn B. Faye (he/they) is a Brooklyn-based folk singer-songwriter originally from Santa Cruz, CA. Works include Catching Fireflies: A New Queer Musical, San Francisco Daydream: A Song Cycle and A Hundred Little Things. His work aims to highlight the queer experiences & unspoken moments of human emotion, normalizing the exploration of gender and sexuality. A former private student of Drew Gasparini, he also studied music at CUNY & UArts. Top 10 finalist for Taylor Louderman鈥檚 National Songwriting Contest 鈥淲rite Out Loud鈥� 2023. Tiktok @finniganfaye (32k+)
Adam Gloc, Music Director/Co Writer Bio -
Adam Gloc (he/him, orchestrator) is a pianist, music director, composer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist and producer from Rockland County NY. He wears many hats in his career as a private/school music teacher, studio musician, and film score composer. (Riding With Sunshine - Amazon Prime Released 2018). Notable theater credits: Lipa On Broadway (Broadway Town Hall Theater NYC 2013), Music Director for Life Insurance the Musical (Off Broadway Symphony Space NYC 2020).
Jenavive Banes, Vocal Director/ Co Writer Bio -
Jenavive Banes (vocal director, she/her) is thrilled to be back for this next step in the life of Fireflies. Some of her favorite memories with new works have been writing and producing her own original musicals; co-writing the TYA musical G(r)een with Philly-based creative group The Hags; interning for composer David Austin on Beaches the Musical at the Drury Lane Theatre in Chicago; being a founding member of the Discovery New Musical Theatre Festival at Ball State University where she earned her BFA; performing in the inaugural casts of Broadway Beats and Rock Revolution for Carnival Cruise Lines; and working with NYC writing teams on new musicals like Morbin' Time (RJ Christian and Cameron Reese), San (Gosz & Fotos), and Charlotte Lucas is 27 and Not Dead (Jessie Field and James Salem). Jena is currently pursuing her master鈥檚 degree in social work from the University of Pennsylvania.Aug 1, 2025 - Sep 30, 2025
$900.00 – $0.00 per gig
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