2025 Festival Wrap Up

Over three weeks we featured:

• 62 actors, singers, and dancers
• 14 playwrights, book writers, composers, and lyricists
• 22 directors, choreographers, dramaturges, music directors, and designers
• 10 stage managers, festival staff, audio engineers, and others working behind the scenes

“It was thrilling to see how hungry our community is for new work. Almost every event at the Richard P. Stahl Festival of New American Theatre was sold out! Each performance was full of applause and each talkback was full of engaging conversations. I heard from audience members and artists alike how much they learned and how important this type of work is.” – Michelle Chin, Festival Director

The first weekend put a spotlight on new play development with our reading of Judgment of the Eye by Simon Bowler and our 24-hour Theatre Project. Simon’s play was one of over 300 submissions and was blindly selected by our panel of readers. The play told the true story of one of the most ingenious art forgers, Han Van Meegeren, and even though it was set during World War II, audiences found it very timely and relevant. The 24-hour Theatre Project featured a team of all local artists: 4 directors, 4 playwrights, and 12 actors who wrote, rehearsed, memorized, and performed 4 new short plays in the span of 24-hours. This one-time performance was sold out and the plays were full of hilarity and heart.

The second weekend peeked behind the curtain at musical development and the songwriting process with a musical reading of Loch Lomond, Design Panel, and our Composer Lyricist Cabarets. Loch Lomond told the legend behind the lyrics of the iconic Scottish song, with music by Neil Douglas Reilly and book and lyrics by Maggie Herskowitz. We were also delighted to have Jeff Whiting back to direct this piece who has directed our productions of Scottsboro Boys, Singin’ in the Rain, and A Chorus Line. This year’s Design Panel featured our first virtual guest, two time Tony Award winning scenic designer Beowulf Boritt. Beowulf was joined by local lighting designer Ryan Terry and costume designer Adriana Diaz to discuss their approach to design and their thoughts on design for a potential world premiere of Loch Lomond. Our Composer Lyricist Cabarets featured composer and lyricist Maiga Vidal, one of the 100 up-and-coming musical theatre writers for the 2024 Rooftop Writers Initiative, and Emmy nominated Composer and Lyricist team Michael Kooman and Christopher Dimond.

For the final weekend of the Festival we presented a musical reading of Genius, a hilarious and zany musical comedy with book by Michael Heitzman and Ilene Reid, and music and lyrics by Ilene Reid. Genius tells the story of Leander Starr, a Hollywood director in the tradition of Orson Welles, whose artistic aspirations soar as high as his checks bounce and we were thrilled to welcome Broadway legend, Douglas Sills, to the Festival to play Leander. Week three also highlighted young playwrights with First Draft Series, in collaboration with Spotlight Youth Theatre, and choreographers with Choreography Lab. Our First Draft Series featured three short plays that will make their world premiere this weekend as part of Spotlight Youth Theatre’s Playfest. Choreography Lab featured the work of Paul Pedersen and Cydney Trent who presented two different imagining of the song “Music Everywhere” by Michael Kooman and Chirstopher Dimond. These performances were paired with a lively discussion about the role of the choreographer and the process of creating dance for musical theatre and beyond.

Please read below for more details about the new works, creatives, and performers.