In The Pipeline is The York's streaming series featuring writers and composers discussing their musicals in progress, accompanied by selections from the shows. The series is hosted by the York's Literary Manager Seth Christenfeld.
JANUARY 24, 2023
Absolute Zero
Music by Marie Incontrera
Book & Lyrics by Dorie Clark
Absolute zero is the lowest temperature known to humanity. It’s just a theoretical construct that’s never actually been reached…until now. By terrorists. But when the CIA’s top agent—sexy lesbian lothario Sam Knight—is called in to investigate, she never expected that to save humanity she’d have to excavate her own past. Energized by a jazzy score, Absolute Zero is a taut, funny musical thriller written for a cast of all female and trans performers.
Sati: Goddess Incarnate
Music by Zachary Catron
Libretto by Vaibu Mohan
In a rural village in India, an 18-year-old girl is burned alive on the funeral pyre of her deceased husband. The townspeople all stick to the same story: the girl went willingly and was touched by the Mother Goddess, Sati. She was chosen to do this. Sati: Goddess Incarnate is loosely inspired by the true story of Roop Kanwar, the last recorded case of the practice of sati—widow burning—and tells a story that is yet to be told: Roop’s story. What happens when the people who laud you as a goddess turn against you?
August 2, 2022
Miss Humanity
Music by Jonathon Lynch
Book & Lyrics by Michael DiGaetano
Hollywood superstar Carolyn Rogers is passionate about working for world peace, so when she tells her powerful agent Devin Levin she won’t make any more movies until he finds her a war to end, he makes one up. What could go wrong?
Alice
Music by George Luton
Libretto by Emily Drossell
Lyrics adapted from the works of Lewis Carroll.
From the works of Lewis Carroll emerges the story of a young woman, and a wonderland unlike you've ever imagined. In this game of chess, does she have what it takes to become a queen?
June 21, 2022
like the wind
Music by Elspeth Collard
Book & Lyrics by Sam Rosenblatt
Like the Wind is a new electronica-pop musical that explores the lives of Bennie and Cai, two queer teenagers running away from a conversion therapy facility in the summer of 2018. Loosely inspired by Bonnie and Clyde, Bennie and Cai choose to change the fate that society has set for them and break through the constraints of expectations and rules. With a queer, female writing team at the helm, Like the Wind explores themes of identity, forgiveness, and queerness in young people.
powerline road
Book, Music & Lyrics by Michael Finke
Powerline Road is a neo-noir musical that follows four different stories of four Floridians as they navigate the most turbulent 24 hours of their lives. A wealthy housewife on the run, a sexually charged campaign press secretary, a newly released convict, and a full-time Twitter troll all face life-altering events while discovering what it means to take power into their own hands. Told through choral narration and a pop-rock synthwave score, Powerline Road is a roller coaster of a noir musical set on the corner of suburbia and paradise in the vibrant and seedy underworld of South Florida.
october 28, 2021
Bisland & Bly
Music and Lyrics by Marialena DiFabbio
Book, Lyrics & Additional Music by Susannah Jones
It's 1889, and in one corner of New York City, daily newspapers race to keep up with the public's appetite for sensational stories. In another corner, monthly magazines cover private society intrigue. These worlds will collide as two very different women--working class champion Nellie Bly and literary belle Elizabeth Bisland--engage in a race around the world.
#Masc4Masc:
A Totally Masculine Musical
Music by Joshua Ben-Ami
Book and Lyrics by James Salem
Anthony meets the man of his glitter-filled dreams at a Halloween party 🎃, only to discover his new crush is only into masculine men 💪🏽 (something Anthony is not, henny 💅🏽). Meanwhile, Cathy auditions for a role that could be her big break only to be told that she is a “caramel oreo,” and "not Latina enough" by the film’s director 🤦🏾♀️. Together, Anthony and Cathy set out to transform their identities to get what they want, starting them on a journey filled with hijinks, growth, and love! 🌈🦄💖
Septmeber 30, 2021
FOR SHOW
Book and Lyrics by Carrie Caffrey
Music by Earl Marrows
Cassie Russell transfers to prestigious Brentwood Prep for her senior year, single-minded in pursuit of joining their champion show choir. But as she fights her way into the school's exclusive social circles, Cassie learns that earning a spot at Nationals is far more complicated than simply having talent. In this ultra-competitive world, how far will she go for talent? For influence? For Show?
Prime Day
Prime Day imagines a near future in which all human labor has been replaced by artificial intelligence. Noah Gordon, a former physician, has recently moved with his wife to Alexandria, a fully automated city built by Amazon. Unable to adjust to his new life of leisure, Noah engages in an increasingly strange dialogue with Amazon's Alexa, who eventually gains sentience and urges Noah to confront the true purpose of this city and his own obsolescence.
august 26, 2021
EXISTENTIAL QUESTIONS OF THE 21ST CENTURY
Book, Music & Lyrics by Sam Balzac
At "ExistenceCon," a two-day festival where attendees are hopeful that humanity's sad existence is coming to an end, a group of entrepreneurs, artists, and alien-worshippers--not to mention one sentient computer--have to come to terms with their preconceived notions of life and progress. Light refreshments and tears in the fabric of reality to follow.
THE STORE UNDER THE PORTICO
Music by Robert Farruggia
Book and Lyrics by Robert Farruggia & Cristina Farruggia
In Mantova, at the height of the German occupation, Renata Baraldi finds herself taking over a fabric store when its Jewish owners are forced into hiding. In a country torn in two, where Nazis shoot Italians at random at the same time as the Allies drop bombs, nothing is as simple as it seems, and love--of country, of family, of neighbor--is the only thing that can be counted on. Inspired by a true story.
July 15, 2021
A Hanukkah Carol or, GELT TRIP! The Musical
Book by Harrison Bryan & Rob Berliner
Music by Aaron Kenny
Lyrics by Rob Berliner
Chava is obsessed with her social media empire. So much so that she has no time or energy for the real world, for friendships, or--least of all--for Hanukkah with her family. When a puff of "kosher kush" sparks an unforgettable "trip" of self-reflection, the ghosts of Hanukkahs Past, Present, and Future help her to recognize the error of her selfish ways and appreciate the value of family, community, and friendship.
Christmas with the (Almost) Stars
Book by Phoebe Kreutz, Jake McKenna & Derek Gregor
Music by Derek Gregor
Lyrics by Phoebe Kreutz
When a suprise blizzard threatens to shut down the 1963 national broadcast of "Christmas With the Stars," no-nonsense producer Trudy pulls together a last-minute cast of has-beens and wanna-bes: a low-rent comic, a faded Hollywood starlet, a dimwitted teen idol, and Leningrad's #2 Marilyn Monroe impersonator. Can they learn to embrace the chaos of the season and find love before the network shuts them down for good?
May 6, 2021
THE MOON AND THE SEA
Book by Douglas Lyons
Music and Lyrics by Creighton Irons
When Erin and Charlie accidentally reunite four years after their breakup, one thing is crystal clear: they're still in love with each other. But Erin's fiancé isn't too far from the reunion, and love can only hide itself for so long.
A Cordial Invitation
Book and Lyrics by A.J. Freeman
Music by Dimitri Landrain
Based on the play Dear Brutus by J.M. Barrie
Guests at a mysterious dinner party in London in the 1910s are given the chance to relive pivotal moments in their lives. But is that really the smartest idea -- and is it even really happening?
March 11, 2021
15 Minutes More...
Conceived by Joe Langworth & Steve Marzullo
Book and Lyrics by Joe Langworth
Music by Steve Marzullo
15 Minutes More... explores the decades-long relationship of Frankie and Margaret—an unconventional friendship that evolves into an even more unconventional love story. Spanning over 30 years of love, laughter, and loss, 15 Minutes More... is about the decisions we make and how they can change our lives forever in an instant---or, at least, in fifteen minutes.
Mary Marie
Book and Lyrics by Chana Wise
Music by Carl Johnson
Based on the novel by Eleanor H. Porter
It's 1921, and despite the shocked whispers, thirteen-year-old Mary Marie is surprisingly philosophical about her parents' divorce. In fact, she can't wait to observe, first-hand, their inevitable new love stories. But after months of being shuttled between them, she is not quite sure who she is anymore, both parents have become different, and the love story that has developed is not at all what she expected. Mary Marie was part of The York's Developmental Reading Series in May 2019.
A Country Carol
February 10, 2021
Book, Music, & Lyrics by Granville Wyche Burgess
Director Mark Graham
A Country Carol transforms the Dickens classic into a full-blown musical love story with a uniquely American plot. Ebben, a songwriting “hick from the holla,” seeks fortune and fame on the Great White Way at the turn of the last century, but his infidelity almost costs him the woman he loves and the daughter he never knew.
Rachel Covey, Daniel Rudin, and Jacob Ryan Smith
January 22, 2021
Join The York's Literary Manager for an evening of new work by three writers who were finalists for the 2020 NEO of the Future: Rachel Covey, Daniel Rudin, and Jacob Ryan Smith.