The First Week of The New Musicals Lab
Welcome to The New Musicals Lab of 2022! After weeks of preparation and anticipation, the NML program has finally started and everybody is working hard to showcase the musicals for the 2022 season. As we begin the program, we are excited to see what musicals will awe us, inspire us and move us with their stories.
The first musical for the Lab is Wake You Up and it is written and directed by Shannon Molly Flynn, composed and lyricised by Taylor Pearlstein and is musically directed by Alyssa Kay Thompson. The musical Wake You Up is about two friends named Jordan and Avery and how their friendship is altered after an accident happens that threatens the life of one of them. We follow the characters through their memories and watch how even though we experience pain and loss, the joys of comfort and love can also be found in unexpected places.
“Wake You Up is a really special show and the music is a big part of that,” said Musical Director Alyssa Kay Thompson. “What I really hope to accomplish is to bring the music to life in a way that allows the writers to understand and see the show in a new way. This is the first time the show is being done on its feet- and everyone involved will learn so much by seeing how it functions in this new form. I want the music to support that process.”
Wake You Up will be workshopped and rehearsed at the Ferguson Center for the Arts from July 5 to July 14. The musical will then be performed by the cast from the company of the New Musicals Lab on both Friday, July 15 and Saturday, July 16 at 7:30 p.m. Until the curtains open, we will be hard at work and eager to unveil the first part of the magic of the The New Musicals Lab.