Public Theater Announces Two Musical Premieres for 2025: Goddess and The Seat of Our Pants

Two new musicals have joined the lineup for the Public Theater’s 2025 season, both making their off-Broadway premieres: Saheem Ali and Michael Thurber’s Goddess, and Ethan Lipton’s The Seat of Our Pants.

Following its world premiere at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Goddess will debut off-Broadway at the Newman Theater on April 29, 2025, for a run through June 1. An official opening night is set for May 20. Conceived and directed by Saheem Ali, the work is inspired by Ali’s teenage dream of creating an original musical about the goddess of music. It follows a young man who has returned home to Kenya from studying in America, whose life is upended when a mysterious singer arrives at Moto Moto, a steamy Afro-jazz club. Set to music and lyrics by Michael Thurber, it will feature a book by Jaja’s African Hair Braiding playwright Jocelyn Bioh and choreography by Darrell Grand Moultrie.

Arriving next fall will be The Seat of Our Pants, a musical adaption of Thornton Wilder’s The Skin of Our Teeth. Adapted with music and lyrics by Ethan Lipton, Leigh Silverman will direct the story that twists through time following a family who has lived for 5,000 years. Performance dates will be revealed at a later time.