Musical Theatre Radio presents "Be Our Guest"

Karl the Cat and the Junkyard Pack

Jesse Lewis: Playwright/Composer, Producer, Karl the Cat

Rachel Van Staalduinen: Production Designer, Puppet Builder, Ensemble Cast

Karl is an adventurous cat, exploring the garbage peaks and demolished cars of their junkyard home, but they struggle with figuring out their true purpose. Introducing the audience, the junkyard tourists, to his many puppet friends, from Daryl the Dog to Courtney the Crow, Karl will begin to figure out who they are, and how they belong in their pack. They’ll find

adventure with those who matter to them the most in a 45-minute spectacle of live music and originally designed hand-puppets.

Goin' Hollywood

Music by David KraneBook & Lyrics by Stephen Cole
It’s Alice’s birthday, and Garson, her musical writing partner and sometimes lover, takes her to lunch at the trendiest restaurant in Grand Central Station, The Super Chief Dining Car. 
The restaurant is a perfect replica of the Super Chief Dining car of the train that took everyone out to Hollywood back in the Golden Age.  
Alice and Garson have always had one wish, to live back when movie musicals and MGM was at its hottest, and when Alice blows out her candles and makes her wish, the Super Chief Dining Car starts to move on a track, taking them cross country and back to Hollywood in 1949.
They are told by the conductor that their ticket is good for one year.
Once there, they get jobs at MGM, and find out that every era has its dangers and pitfalls as they encounter the decline of the studio system, sexism, anti-semitism, homophobia, and the Blacklist.
L.B. Mayer has them investigated and finds that they have no identity (as they’re from the future) and thinks they’re Commie spies.
Their year is up and they hot-foot it back home to their own time with a new understanding of who they are and where they are meant to be and that there is no time like the present.

YELLOW SOUND LABEL has announced the release of The Billy Joel Project, the debut album from The Broadway Ensemble – an 11-member cast with a combined 48 Broadway credits – on streaming and digital formats today, Friday, August 1. The CD edition is due on Friday, September 26. The recording is produced by Phil Geoffrey Bond, the force behind the Grammy Award-nominated album series Sondheim Unplugged. Stream or download the album at Spotify or Apple Music. Pre-order the CD HERE.

The Billy Joel Project is a new collection of songs, at turns intimate and explosive, that gets to the heart of one of the major singer/songwriters of our time. These new interpretations honor the original versions, but invite the audience to hear them in new ways. The album not only highlights beloved Joel classics like “She’s Always a Woman,” “Only the Good Die Young,” and “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant,” but also a selection of deeper cuts, such as “Where’s the Orchestra?” and Joel’s latest single from last year, “Turn the Lights Back On.”

The album highlights the vocal talents of Farah Alvin (Drama Desk nominee, The Marvelous Wonderettes), Nicholas Edwards (& Juliet, Frozen), John Treacy Egan (The Producers, The Little Mermaid), Annie Golden (“Orange Is the New Black,” Assassins), Lina Koutrakos (10-time MAC Award winner), Aaron Ramey (The Visit, The Bridges of Madison County), Nicholas Rodriguez (Company, The Sound of Music), Courter Simmons (Jersey Boys), Rachel Ulanet (Beauty and the Beast, LoveMusik), Donna Vivino (Wicked, Hell’s Kitchen), and Michael Winther (Flying Over Sunset, Songs from an Unmade Bed). Music direction is by Jeremy Robin Lyons (Anastasia).

THE BROADWAY ENSEMBLE, founded in 2025 by Grammy-nominated record producer Phil Geoffrey Bond was created to bring Broadway’s vocal artistry to a larger audience, featuring some of the most exciting voices ever to grace a Midtown stage. Settle in with your favorite cocktail as cast members from shows like Hell’s Kitchen, Wicked, Frozen, Hairspray, Mamma Mia!, and The Producers lend their remarkable voices to contemporary classics. From Billy Joel and Joni Mitchell to The Beatles, Annie Lennox, Elton John, and Carole King, these powerhouse performers reimagine the music of legendary artists, supported by extraordinary Broadway pit musicians who have stepped out of the orchestra pit and into the spotlight. More details at www.TheBroadwayEnsemble.com

Robert Meffe, Head of the SDSU MFA Musical Theatre Program, spent twenty-two years in New York City as a professional conductor, music director, keyboardist, orchestrator, arranger and music copyist. His Broadway credits include: Associate Conductor of Little Women and the last six years of Les Misérables, keyboards for Evita (2012 revival), Newsies, The Phantom of the Opera, Avenue Q, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Grey Gardens, and Bombay Dreams.

National Tour credits include Music Director of Evita (2012 revival) and The Phantom of the Opera, Associate Conductor of Les Misérables, Little Women, and Sunday in the Park with George. Off-Broadway: Myths & Hymns, Violet, The Prince and the Pauper, Gutenberg! The Musical!, and music arrangements for Disenchanted. TV: Encore! (Disney+), Earth To America (TBS), Renee Fleming-Live at Lincoln Center (PBS). Las Vegas: Associate Conductor of Avenue Q, keyboards for Mamma Mia and Hairspray. Williamstown Theatre Festival: Ten Cents a Dance (directed by John Doyle). Paper Mill Playhouse: Peter Pan (Music Director), Forum, Thoroughly Modern Millie (Associate), A Wonderful Life, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers(keyboards). San Diego credits include a nomination for Best Musical Direction for Fun Home (San Diego Rep), keyboards for Wicked, Waitress, Beautiful and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (San Diego Civic Theatre), Bright Star, Looking for Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (The Old Globe), Kiss My Aztec, Fly (La Jolla Playhouse) and Far Away Places, a one-night cabaret show with Patti Lupone (Balboa Theatre).

Robert served as Music Prep Supervisor/Orchestrator for the benefit concert, You’ve Got a Friend at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles honoring legendary singer/songwriter Carole King. New orchestrations included “I Feel the Earth Move” for Alicia Keys and “It’s Too Late” for Amy Grant.

Mr. Meffe serves as the Head of the Faculty for the Musical Theatre Studio at the Trentino Music Festival in Mezzano, Italy. For this festival he has music directed Godspell, Evita, Into the Woods, and Rent.

A champion of new works, Mr. Meffe has music directed many workshops and reading of new musicals including Postcard American Town by Lynne Shankel and Crystal Skillman,  'Til Death Do Us Part, by Bobby Cronin and Caroline Prugh, Mister Doctor and Mr. Holland's Opus, both written by B.D. Wong and Wayne Barker, We Foxes and Darling, both written by Ryan Scott Oliver, Quanah by Larry Gatlin and Tony Dodge, College: The Musical by Drew Fornarola and Scott Elmegreen, A Lasting Impression by Zoe Sarnak, Factory Girls by Sean Mahoney and Creighton Irons and I Capture the Castle by Cara Reichel and Peter Foley.

 SDSU New Musical InitiativeOver the course of two years, MFA students will rehearse and develop to full production a new work of musical theatre under the guidance of faculty director Stephen Brotebeck and faculty music director (and Head of MFA Program) Robert Meffe. Brotebeck and Meffe have years of Broadway experience developing new musical works for the stage including shows such as Peter and the Starcatcher, Ghost and Little Women. Past artists have included Derek Gregor, Phoebe Kreutz, T.C. Lind, Lynne Shankel, Crystal Skillman, Bobby Cronin, Caroline Prugh, Ryan Scott Oliver, BD Wong, Wayne Barker, Michael Federico and Home for Hovercraft band members Seth and Sean Magill. Our plan is to collaborate with a creative team in three stages from reading to workshop to full production. We are looking for completed scripts and scores from a team that is interested in developing their work in conjunction with our graduate students. The committee considers a host of factors in the selection process, including representation of writers and stories from a range of cultural, ethnic, racial, and other affinities, as well as the gender balance of the writers whose work is presented in a given theatrical season.

Tinkerbell Live

Bruce's Garden

 11 Park Terrace E, New York, NY 10034, USA 

Ticket Info

Join Princess Snow White, Prince Dreamboat, The Evil Queen, and Little Rosa Riding Hood for a wacky, bilingual trip to Fairlyland.

Frog & Peach Theatre Company, one of New York's most beloved arts institutions, is very pleased to announce that the 2025 edition of Tinkerbell Live will be coming to Bruce's Garden in Inwood Hill Park (11 Park Terrace E) on Saturday, October 18 at 1pm.

Join Princess Snow White, Woodsman Will, Prince Dreamboat, The Evil Queen, Ringmaster Ron, and Little Rosa Riding Hood for a wacky, BILINGUAL trip to Fairlyland.

With games, music, songs and excitement, Tinkerbell Theatre has been bringing high-quality family theatre to New Yorkers of all ages since 2009. If you love Rocky & Bullwinkle or Pee-Wee Herman, TINKERBELL LIVE is just right for you.

TINKERBELL LIVE is appropriate for kids (and former kids) ages 4 and up.

Don't miss the fun of TINKERBELL LIVE! Starring Anuj Parikh, Hari Bakhsar, Erica Cafarelli, Jaixa Irizarry, Steven Ungar, and Lenny Ciotti as The Evil Queen!

Written and directed by Lynnea Benson. Music & lyrics by Ted Zurkowski. Production Assistants Abril Soler Rocha and Arley Trice.

Romero + Juliet

The Cutting Room

44 E 32nd St, New York, NY 10016, USA

Ticket Info

A cast of Broadway names and up and coming talent will be taking the Cutting Room stage for the New York City concert premiere of the new zombie rock musical ROMERO & JULIET.

Yup. Zombies! Shakespeare! 80s inspired music!

It’s September, Friday the 13th, 1985. Zombies are trying to go mainstream and find acceptance. They despise the filmmaker George Romero for revealing their existence. Public sentiment is running high against Zombies.

When Regional Guardsman Romero George (a distant relative of the filmmaker) meets Juliet (a Zombie) at a music festival called Deadstock, what could possibly go wrong?

Starring as the star-crossed lovers are Chad Marge as Romero and Delilah Jane Dunn as Juliet.

Tony nominee Steven Skybell (CABARET, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, WICKED, Yiddish FIDDLER) will be one of several Broadway vets joining them. Also in the cast are Caren Lyn Manuel (Tackett,) whose Broadway credits include RENT, HAIR, BROOKLYN and HIGH FIDELITY; Robert DuSold (LES MIS, JEKYLL & HYDE, KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN;) Natalie Joy Johnson (LEMPICKA, LEGALLY BLONDE, KINKY BOOTS;) and Chani Maisonet (SIX National tour, Off Broadway LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, TITANIQUE.) Rounding out the principal cast are Tristan Smith, Max Suwarno, and Vince Tresco. The cast also includes Tyler Evick, Sharon Lita, Andrew McNamara, Emily Lynne Miller, Ray Robinson, and Ava Tyson as the Vocal Majority.

This new musical blends Shakespeare’s classic tragedy, ROMEO & JULIET with elements of the horror classic “Night of the Living Dead,” and features an all new 80s score inspired by Madonna, Bon Jovi, Heart, Laura Brannigan, George Michael, Boy George, Blondie and more. The show features book and lyrics by Scott Logsdon and music by Aaron Gandy, the creators of THE CRINOLYNNS.

Michael Finke is a New York based musical theater writer. He’s written the book, music, and lyrics for full-length musicals such as Reporting Live, Caroline and George, Surrounded By the Water, and Powerline Road which recently completed a developmental Off-Broadway production at the A.R.T./New York Gural Theater. His work has been developed at regional theatres across the country including Merrimack Repertory Company (Lowell, MA), New Musicals Inc. (Los Angeles), Musical Theatre Heritage (Kansas City), and OutVisible Theatre (Detroit), as well as collegiate institutions like New York University, Pace University, Long Island University, and Columbia College of Chicago.

Other projects include the musical short Dead Flowers, which is licensed by Music Theatre International in both English and Spanish. He also wrote the one-act musical comedy Movies Are Not Dead as well as music and lyrics for the solo musicals Christmas in Afghanistan and A Single Vibration, both of which were commissioned for the Veteran’s Project with New Musicals Inc. Upcoming projects include the Untitled Kansas Project (developed by Theatre Now) and the Broadway-bound 161st Street, written with Andrew David Sotomayor (developed and produced by Holey Shirts Productions). 

Michael’s had songs and concerts of his work performed at the Lincoln Center Library, Signature Theatre, the Czech National Symphony Orchestra in Prague, 54 Below, Joe’s Pub, the Green Room 42, the Laurie Beechman Theatre, and many more. His original Christmas song “Hope is Born” was broadcast nationwide on the Christmas Day telecast on ABC. For the past two decades Michael has been on the artistic staff of Lovewell Institute for the Creative Arts, having led over 40 musical theatre writing workshops in Ohio, Florida, New York, Kansas, Nevada, Sweden, and Italy. 

Michael is a current and original member of the Theatre Now Musical Theatre Writer’s Lab. He’s a winner of the 2015 New Voices Project with Walt Disney Imagineering and New Musicals Inc., a Dramatists Guild Fellowship and Jonathan Larson Grant finalist, a Creative Capital Grant finalist and is a proud member of ASCAP and the Dramatists Guild. 

MOSAIC is a vibrant, London-based vocal ensemble, made up of a collection of 10 singers. Founded in 2023, MOSAIC was born out of a desire to explore a diverse repertoire of music and challenge the conventions of a typical choral performance.
From collaborating with emerging composers to workshop and premiere new works, to performing narrative song cycles, our work is rich in creativity and celebrates the varied and exciting landscape of contemporary choral music.

Nietzsche unveils the cast of characters who shaped the life and legacy of the controversial philosopher—Friedrich (“Fritz”) Nietzsche. His mother wanted him to be a pastor. His musical mentor wanted him to defend antisemitism. His sister wanted power. His love interest wanted freedom. And Fritz wanted to love life—all of it. But how? What do you do when you adore people whose values you abhor? The musical unfolds as a series of flashbacks leading to an explosive conclusion: Fritz goes insane; his sister, Elisabeth, allies with the Nazis; and his love, Lou Salomé, vows to honor their bond and write a book that will set the record straight.Book, lyrics, and music by Kimerer LaMothe
Music and orchestrations by Geoffrey Gee

1816 : The Year Without A Summer

Trapped indoors by torrential rain, legendary writers Byron, Percy and Mary Shelley and their friends, Polidori and Claire, search for inspiration by the gloomy Lake Geneva. But things fall apart the longer they are stuck together... Polidori’s diary is brought to life in the 1816: The Year Without a Summer musical.Nat Riches + Natasha Atkinson; Co-writers