Arena Stage Announces Musical Symposium 'Where Are you Taking Me?: What's Next in Musical Theater'

Where Are You Taking Me?: What’s Next in Musical Theater is a free, day-long symposium with musical theater practitioners from around the country. The symposium will include a closed roundtable discussion from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. followed by an open performance of songs from up-and-coming musicals at the Gonda Theatre at 8:00 p.m. The roundtable event will feature a discussion of trends, challenges and best practices in developing new American musicals, and the evening performance will offer the public a preview of music from musicals currently in development.

Generously supported by the Mellon Foundation, the symposium aims to create dialogue across the non-profit theater field, provide insight into the development of new musicals and create a unique opportunity for the public to take a peek behind the scenes. This symposium continues the development of Arena Stage as a center of American Theater as it expands the partnership with the Georgetown University Theater and Performance Studies Program.

“Arena Stage is the largest theater in the country focusing on American plays,” states Artistic Director Molly Smith. “Therefore, it is essential for us to provide avenues for the development of the great American creation: the musical. Musicals are in our blood and in our collective bones and for the future of this art form we are grateful to our partnership with Georgetown to be able to host this symposium.”

Smith will be joined by theater professionals including Sheldon Epps (Artistic Director, Pasadena Playhouse), Eric Schaeffer (Artistic Director, Signature Theatre), Tim Sanford (Artistic Director, Playwrights Horizons) and Mara Isaacs (Producing Director, McCarter Theatre Center) among others. These theater innovators will convene in a roundtable discussion moderated by David Dower (Associate Artistic Director, Arena Stage) to examine the challenges and strategies of new musical development.

Two years ago an event at Georgetown brought David Henry Hwang, Moises Kaufman, Nilo Cruz and Karen Zacarias together to talk about directions in new play development. Dower comments, “There is such a strong collaboration underpinning these efforts that is working to bring so many local practitioners and national leaders in the field to the same table.”

Last fall Dower worked with the Mellon Foundation to pull together 20 producers and playwrights to examine best practice in theater development and to make recommendations for funders interested in improving the infrastructure for new work. “Now,” Dower continues, “we focus the exploration on the American musical. The evening concert is going to blow some minds about the range and promise of what's happening in musical theater.”

This free performance will feature songs from over ten new musicals currently in development by composers such as Michael John LaChiusa, Nancy Harrow and Paul Scott Goodman. Performers include Steve Cupo, Mary Mossberg and Tracy Lynn Olivera among others.

“Our deepening partnership with Arena Stage and our shared commitment to the development of new work continues to provide opportunities for students to have sustained encounters with some of the nation’s leading artists,” shares Georgetown Theater Program Director and Artistic Director of the Davis Performing Arts Center Derek Goldman.

He continues, “Through developmental workshops hosted at Georgetown (33 Variations, Taking Over,  Legacy of Light), special performance events and panels (Arthur Miller festival events and New Directions in New Play Development), and numerous apprenticeships, internships and shared initiatives, the partnership continues to blossom in mutually enriching ways.”

The evening performance is free and open to the public. If you wish to attend, please contact the Arena Stage Sales Office at (202) 488-3300.

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Molly Smith, Washington, DC-based Arena Stage has become the largest theater in the country dedicated to American plays and playwrights. Founded in 1950 by Zelda Fichandler, Thomas Fichandler, and Edward Mangum, Arena Stage was one of the nation’s original resident theaters, and has a distinguished record of leadership and innovation in the field. With the opening of the new Mead Center for American Theater in 2010, Arena Stage will have emerged as a leading center for the production, development and study of the American theater. Now in its sixth decade, Arena Stage serves a diverse annual audience of more than 200,000. For more information please visit www.arenastage.org.

The Georgetown Theater and Performance Studies Program integrates creative and critical inquiry, emphasizing artistic excellence, interdisciplinary learning, socially-engaged performance, and the spirit of collaboration The Program features a nationally-recognized faculty, including a number of the field’s leading scholar/artists, and many of the region's leading professional theater practitioners. One of the country's only undergraduate programs in Theater and Performance Studies, the fast-growing program has rapidly attracted significant national attention for its distinctive curriculum, reflecting the political and international character of Georgetown, as well as for its commitment to social justice, and its high-quality, cutting-edge student production seasons. These offerings include many D.C. and World-Premieres, as well as classics, musicals, cutting-edge contemporary plays, adaptations, ensemble-devised work, innovative family-oriented programs, and professional partnership events.