NEW WORKS DEVELOPMENT

To champion thought-provoking material and educate about the full journey to the stage, Broadway Dreams works with its students and faculty to develop musicals that push the boundaries of convention and ensure that theatre remains a vibrant cultural force.

Workshops Include:

2021

A Girl And A Boy Dance (Currently in Development)

–Book, Music & Lyrics by Marshall Pailet

A Girl and a Boy Dance is the story of two friends who meet in a Virginia dance class when they’re 10 years old, and it follows them for thirty years. All Caroline wants is to be a great dancer, but she never quite will. Mikey IS a great dancer, but all he ever wants is to be with Caroline as more than a friend. He never will.

With characters played by multiple actors of different ages and a heart pounding folk/pop score, A Girl and a Boy Dance is the story of love, loss and dance across generations.

2019

Black Box

–Music & Lyrics by Matthew Lee Robinson
–Book by Matthew Lee Robinson & Scott Anderson Morris

More to come soon!

2018

SHEL: A Historically Fictionalized Musical

–Book, Music, and Lyrics by Noah Kieserman

Based on the unusual life of poet and artist Shel Silverstein, Noah Kieserman’s SHEL is written entirely in Silverstein’s unique style of verse. The piece tells the tale of an artist for whom creativity is compulsory, whose fundamental need to create transcendent art takes a toll on those he loves most.  With all original music, Kieserman takes the audience on a compelling and turbulent journey alongside Shel as he becomes the American icon beloved by millions across the world.
Broadway Dreams development workshop directors include Christopher J. Hanke, Aaron Simon Gross, and Dan Knechtges, with music direction by Joseph Serafini.  Thomas Laub, producer.

2017

Mary & Max

– Music and Lyrics by Bobby Cronin and Crystal Skillman
– Direction by Stafford Arima

Based on the claymation film of the same name, Mary & Max comes to life through pen pal exchanges between Mary Dinkle, a chubby 10 year old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne, and Max Horowitz, an obese 44 year old Jewish man with Asperger’s Syndrome living in the chaos of New York. In this charming new musical, two people from two different worlds remind us that, even when we feel most afraid and alone, friendship can be found in the unlikeliest of places.

2015

Zanna, Don’t!

– Music and Lyrics by Tim Acito and Alexander Dinelaris
– Direction by Alan Souza

Set in fictional Heartsville, USA, Zanna, Don’t! provides a window into a wholesome midwestern town known for its civic pride, good old-fashioned family values — and all-gay population. In this “redux” of the 2002 musical, the community is thrown into chaos when two high school seniors are discovered to be secretly heterosexual and everyone is forced to confront the biggest questions of today: What do I stand for? — and — What is America?

2014

The Me Nobody Knows

– Music and Lyrics by Gary William Friedman and Will Holt
– Direction by Stafford Arima
– Choreography by Taye Diggs

Originally produced on Broadway in 1970, The Me Nobody Knows is inspired by the true stories of 200 New York public school students. This reimagining for a contemporary audience follows a group of youth living on society’s margins. As they wrestle with the cynicism that permeates their existence, feelings of hope and renewal emerge, empowering them with the willful determination to explore a world beyond their current circumstances.