The York Theatre Company’s Developmental Reading Series: Winter 2007

The York Theatre Company presents the Winter 2007 season of its Developmental Reading Series. Throughout the year, the series presents some 40 readings and workshops of new musicals by emerging and established playwrights. These readings are a vital part of the creative process, allowing writers to hear their words come alive. In addition, the series serves as an incubator for shows to be considered for Mainstage production. Post-performance discussions are occasionally held with audiences.

Among the numerous shows developed in the Developmental Reading Series are: York’s productions of Souvenir and The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) as well as Bush is Bad, Adrift in Macao, Summer of ’42, Children’s Letters to God, Harold and Maude and the current Tony Award-winning Broadway hit, Avenue Q. The schedule is as follows:

The Sheriff and Caputo
Monday, January 22 at 7:30pm
A comedy/drama by P.J. Barry. In a hospital, two enemies fight to live. Two women wait, pray, clash, deny. One man goes home.

Greetings from Yorkville
Monday, January 29 at 3:00pm & 7:30pm
With music and lyrics by Robert Grusecki and lyrics and book by Anya Turner, Greetings from Yorkville is about lovers, collaborators, partners in all things, a couple of songwriters from the Midwest trying to make it in the big city. Together they set out on the journey of a lifetime. Ultimately, this is a love story about trying again, and again, and again.

The New Jello is Always Red
Tuesday, January 30 at 7:30pm
With book, music and lyrics by Clark Gesner (You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown), The Jello Is Always Red, the hit cabaret revue which premiered off-Broadway at York in 1996, is presented in a substantially revised version featuring rarely-seen material from Gesner’s other shows and cabaret songs never performed outside Vermont. Clark Gesner’s uniquely funny and wise perspective on the world comes back to life, better than ever.

A Park Avenue Christmas
Wednesday, January 31 at 7:30pm
This new musical by Ed Dixon takes place on December 24th, 1929 in the Hollingsworth Mansion on Park Avenue. At their annual party, Mr. Hollingsworth is dressed as Santa, but then so is a notorious jewel thief, and so is the hit man sent to dispatch Mr. Hollingsworth for his gambling debts. Gangsters, the stock market crash and mistaken identity make for a very untraditional and very funny holiday romp.

Stella Rising
Thursday, February 1 at 7:30pm
A musical written and performed by Napua Davoy. Mother vs. daughter, East vs. West, a painful childhood vs. an unexpected second chance. Stella Rising is a complex and uplifting musical autobiography that distills Davoy’s turbulent history into a potent evening of theater. The story of a daughter forced to reevaluate her contentious relationship with her mother is movingly told through monologue, movement and haunting original compositions that range from Jazz to Blues to Opera. An established recording and concert artist, Ms.Davoy possesses a command of the stage as a performer/playwright/composer that makes this a tour de force.

“It’s Not What I Say…”
Tuesday, February 20 at 7:30pm
A Mae West musical with music by Daniel Lanning, book and lyrics by Daniel Lanning and R. Bell. It is 1953, and Mae West has just turned 60. She has not made a movie in ten years and decides to go back to playwriting, but this time she’s writing a musical… about herself, naturally. However, as she is busily musicalizing the “sexsational” events of her life, Mae is once again faced with the danger of landing in jail.

You Don’t Know Jack
Wednesday, February 28 at 7:30pm
With music by Jason Loffredo and book and lyrics by Jay Falzone, Mother Goose would have you believe that “Jack & Jill” is just another harmless childhood nursery rhyme. Or is it just another fairy tale? As Mother Goose begins to compose the story of their lives, Jack and Jill long to escape Nursery Rhyme Land to live their own Happily Ever After. Their best friends, Bo Peep and Georgy Porgy, try to protect the couple. Accompanied by the famous jazz trio, The Three Blind Mice, these four friends sort through jealousies, fears, sexual indiscretions, and a political conspiracy involving one rather well-known Egg. The most important nursery rhyme ever told. No, seriously. Ever.

E-Mail Your Reservations: Jlandsman@YorkTheatre.org
To RSVP, include your name, phone number, the show requested and the number of tickets needed.