Unexpected Joy Extends Its New York Premiere

The York Theatre Company has announced a one-week extension for the New York premiere of Unexpected Joy, a new musical by Bill Russell (Side Show) and Janet Hood (Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens with Bill Russell). Performances began April 24 and will now run through May 27 at the York Theatre Company at Saint Peter's.

Directed by Amy Anders Corcoran and with music direction by Beth Falcone, the four-member all-female cast features Courtney Balan (Falsettos) as Rachel, Allyson Kaye Daniel (Sistas: The Musical) as Lou, Luba Mason (Pretty Filthy) as Joy, and Celeste Rose (Sister Act) as Tamara.

Unexpected Joy is the story of three generations of female singers, long-held family tensions, and a week together where change is in the air. In modern-day Cape Cod, Joy, a baby boomer and proud hippie, is holding a memorial concert for the other half of her popular musical duo, Jump & Joy. When her conservative daughter and her rebellious granddaughter arrive from Oklahoma, the sparks fly as one family seeks to find the common ground in their different values, dreams and goals.

Unexpected Joy received its world premiere in 2016 at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre in Massachusetts and was previously developed through readings at the York and the Hudson Guild Theatre.