A FANTASTICAL REIMAGINING
OF A CHANCE ENCOUNTER BETWEEN
BEETHOVEN + MOZART
IN VIENNA IN 1787
The new musical The Lesson has music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson Grant recipient Avi Amon and Nolan Doran (Head Over Heels) and book by Jonathan Larson Grant recipient Ty Defoe (Straight White Men). The live presentation will feature excerpts from the show and a conversation with the writers.
The Lesson is a fantastical reimagining of a chance encounter between a revolutionary Beethoven and a more-established Mozart, whose worlds - and hearts - collide in Vienna in 1787. The show is set in an alternate universe that melds the future and past into an entirely new, queer, fun, and political space. A hybrid of theater, film, concert, and dance party, The Lesson is a meditation on the purpose of artistic expression, the influence of family on who we are, and the control of information and ideas by the government. It’s a lesson that will change their lives - and the world - forever.
The Lesson has been developed with New York Theatre Barn previously in its Choreography Lab and by a Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellowship.
* FEATURING PERFORMANCES by *
MILO
ALOSI
(ALADDIN)
BRADLEY
DEAN
(THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA)
HEATH
SAUNDERS
(THE GREAT COMET)
book + lyrics by
LAURIE HOCHMAN
book + music by
BRYAN BLASKIE
A NEW MUSICAL
ABOUT THE FIRST MAJOR
ANTI-EVOLUTION COURT CASE
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 to save his town, and May Robinson, his wife who longs to save her family and her father’s church from falling apart in a seemingly Godless world. Of course, notorious reporter H.L. Mencken is there to spin their story — and to uncover what the truth behind the trial really is.
Nothing To See Here was selected as a semi-finalist for the National Musical Theater Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center and will participate in Rubber City Theatre’s Incubator in 2021.
Nothing To See Here has book and music by Bryan Blaskie and book and lyrics by Laurie Hochman. The live presentation will feature excerpts from the show and a conversation with the writers.
* FEATURING PERFORMANCES by *
JONATHAN
CHRISTOPHER
(HAMILTON)
FOREST
VANDYKE
(DOG MAN: THE MUSICAL)
COMMUNITY
INNOVATION
EXPLORATION
EVOLUTION
ARTS WORKERS
COLLABORATION