Barn on Fire
A collaboration between New York Theatre Barn and the Fire Island Pines Arts Project, Barn on Fire is a summer residency on Fire Island that makes space for musical theatre writing teams and their original culture-shifting musicals in development. Since its inception in 2022, Tony Award-winning director/ choreographer Jerry Mitchell and Tony nominated director/choreographer Jeff Calhoun have served as mentors to the residency. Centering the artist and their work, the week-long intensive retreat in Fire Island Pines is for writers and their creative teams to collaborate and further develop their shows in a supportive, creative, and tranquil atmosphere. Separated from the southern side of Long Island by the Great South Bay, Fire Island Pines has served as a refuge and haven for the LGBTQIA2S+ community since the 1920s.
The Barn on Fire residency has supported 13 original musicals: Lewis Loves Clark, Sunken Cathedral, Spectrum, Ghost in the Machine King of Pangaea, The Bubble, Coming Soon: A New Rock Musical, Skyward: An Ending Elegy, Sueños: Our American Musical, Little Miss Perfect, How to You: A Musical Guide to Black Boyhood, Buried, and Andy, Keith & Jean-Michel.
Summer 2024
Check out the latest shows from our Summer 2024 program.
LEWIS LOVES CLARK
Book, Music, and Lyrics by
Dylan MarcAurele and Mike Ross
Lewis Loves Clark, with book and lyrics by Mike Ross and music by Dylan MarcAurele, is a funny, fast-paced epic about the famous Corps of Discovery expedition. Combining bluegrass, folk and pop, this tragicomedy follows Meriwether Lewis (a depressed closeted alcoholic), William Clark (just breathtakingly oblivious), Sacagawea (permanently exasperated), and York (would rather be birdwatching) as they grapple with the not-so-great unknown. The show was featured in the 2024 NAMT Festival of New Musicals and the writers are the recipients of the 2023 Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theater.
SUNKEN CATHEDRAL
Book, Music, and Lyrics by
Taylor Fagins and Chase Uram
Within the fantastical world of the first act, the grief-driven desires of a king and a princess lead to the tragic sinking of their kingdom, while the second act parallels this in modern day through the estranged relationship of a homeless man struggling with dementia and his daughter. With an alternative rock vibe, Sunken Cathedral is a musical journey of contending worlds, exploring the unhoused community, dementia, and familial caretaking. The show was previously featured in New York Theatre Barn’s award-winning New Works Series.
THROUGHOUT THE YEARS
2024:
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Andy, Keith & Jean-Michel - written by Christiana Cole and Matthew Puckett
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Spectrum - written by Stephanie L. Carlin
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Ghost in the Machine - written by Janine Robledo
2023:
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King of Pangea - written by Martin Storrow
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The Bubble - written by Janine McGuire and Arri Lawton Simon
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Coming Soon: A New Rock Musical - written by Rachel Lark
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Skyward: An Ending Elegy - written by Truth Future Bachman
2022:
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Sueños: Our American Musical - written by Jesse J. Sanchez
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Little Miss Perfect - written by Joriah Kwamé
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How to You: A Musical Guide to Black Boyhood - written by Joriah Kwamé
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Buried - written by Joe Barros and Micheal Ferrara
WRITERS INTERVIEW
Andy, Kieth, and Jean-Michel
Past, but still present.
Since 2007, New York Theatre Barn has been at the forefront of new work development. Explore past shows below.