New York Theatre Barn will continue its New Works Series in February with works including Little Miss Perfect by Write Out Loud Song Competition winner Joriah Kwame and an adaptation of Jodi Picoult’s House Rules by Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical contributors Daniel Mertzlufft and Kate Leonard. Among those set to perform during the spotlights are Kwame, Ty Defoe, Lauren Gunderson, and Daniel Mertzlufft.
Episodes air 7 PM ET on New York Theatre Barn’s YouTube. Each installment features excerpts and conversations with the creative team and performers.
Additional works highlighted in February include an imagined romance between Mozart and Beethoven co-created by Jonathan Larson Grant recipients Avi Amon and Ty DeFoe.
WATCH: Watch Tony Nominee Taylor Louderman Sing ‘Little Miss Perfect’
Check out the full listings below. New Works Series is produced and hosted by Jen Sandler and Joe Barros.
February 3
The Lesson
Music and lyrics by Avi Amon and Nolan Doran (Head Over Heels)
Book by Ty Defoe
Featuring performances by Milo Alosi (Aladdin), Bradley Dean (The Phantom of the Opera), and Heath Saunders (Natasha, Pierre, and the The Great Comet of 1812)
The Lesson is a fantastical re-imagining of a chance encounter between a revolutionary Beethoven and a more-established Mozart, whose worlds—and hearts—collide in Vienna in 1787.
Nothing To See Here
Book and music by Bryan Blaskie
Book and lyrics by Laurie Hochman
Featuring performances by Jonathan Christopher (Hamilton) and Forest VanDyke (Choir Boy)
In the summer of 1925, the struggling town of Dayton, Tennessee, hosted a trial that claimed national headlines and divided the country: the Scopes Monkey Trial, the first major anti-Evolution court case. Nothing to See Here is the story of Frank Robinson, the man who built the trial as a publicity stunt for his town, and May Robinson, his wife who longs to save her family from falling apart in a seemingly Godless town. Of course, notorious reporter H.L. Mencken is there to spin their story—and to uncover what the truth behind the trial really is.
February 17
House Rules
Music by Daniel Mertzlufft (Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical)
Lyrics by Kate Leonard (Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical)
Based on the novel by Jodi Picoult
Featuring performances by Max Antonio Gonzalez, Michelle Beth Herman (Les Misérables) and Mertzlufft
Jacob Hunt is a forensics-obsessed teenager living with autism in modern-day Vermont. With the help of his devoted mother and oft-overlooked younger brother, Jacob relies on strict routines to navigate daily life as smoothly as possible. The family is thrown into chaos, however, when Jacob’s beloved social skills tutor is found dead and Jacob is suspect number one.
Little Miss Perfect
Music and lyrics by Joriah Kwame
Book by Lauren Gunderson (I And You)
Featuring performances by Savannah Fisher and Kwame
Coming of age is even harder when you’re also coming out. Noelle’s world turns upside down when she develops feelings for Malaya, the foreign exchange student being hosted by her conservative family. As class president, she also must confront her privilege and compliance when her high school refuses to take steps in being more inclusive. Noelle struggles to decide whether she will be true to herself and an ally to her peers, or if she will settle with simply being Little Miss Perfect.
