Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, a theater laboratory in Staatsburg, N.Y., has announced the slate of its musical development residencies for summer 2021. In total, 23 writers of nine new show will be hosted for nine sequential weeklong residencies, one musical writing team in residence each week. The series of weeklong retreats begins June 27 and ends August 29.
The first work in progress is The Lesson, in residence from June 27 to July 4. With book by Ty Defoe and score by Avi Amon and Nolan Doran, the musical is a historical reimagining of Beethoven and Mozart, whose paths and hearts collide in Vienna. It’s described as “a meditation on the purpose of artistic expression, the control of ideas and information by the government, and the influence of family on who we are.”
Next up is Shoot for the Moon, in residence from July 4 to July 11. This musical, by David Gomez and John-Michael Lyles, centers on the forbidden love affair between Black boxer Mercy Wheatley and Spanish poet Federico García Lorca amid the Harlem Renaissance. It’s described as “a sweaty and surreal musical that leaves you wondering: how hard would you fight for love?”
Noel Carey and Scott Weinstein are in residence from July 11 to July 18 with That’s All Folks! The musical revolves around animator Mel Mars, who is visited by his most famous cartoon character, Sly Fox, and forced to reckon with his past. Blending live theater and animation, this musical comedy is about “loss and creation, childhood and death, and the healing power of art.”
In residence from July 18 to July 25 is Four Measures, based on the 21 grams experiment conducted by Dr. Duncan MacDougall in Haverhill, Mass., during 1907. This musical, with book by Kira Obolensky and score by David Darrow, follows a young nurse’s search for purpose as she aids an eccentric doctor in his peculiar experiment to weigh patients as they die to prove the human soul has weight.
Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson are in residence from July 25 to August 1 with Mexodus. Inspired by the thousands of enslaved people in the U.S. South who pursued their journey to freedom into Mexico instead of looking North, this musical explores a under-told chapter of the Underground Railroad. A unique American border story, it’s an exploration of people standing together against oppression.
In residence from August 1 to August 8 is Perpetual Sunshine & The Ghost Girls, with a libretto by Sara Cooper and score by Lynne Shankel. This through-composed musical theater piece is based on the true story of the women factory workers who were knowingly poisoned by the United States Radium Corporation and who fought back, changing U.S. labor laws forever.
Union: The Musical, in residence from August 8 to August 15, is from writers Amisho Baraka, Art Hooker, Justin Merrick, Gregory Thompson, and Anasa Troutman. It is set in 1968 Memphis, when city sanitation workers went on strike, leading to the deaths of two workers. What began as a local matter became a defining moment in the struggle toward a more perfect union.
In residence from August 15 to August 22 is A House Without Windows, with book by Anna Ziegler and score by Anna K. Jacobs. The story explores the life of Barbara Newhall Follett, a child prodigy who wrote a celebrated novel about a runaway who vanishes into nature, who herself vanishes years later. It is described as a meditation on “what can happen when the life that seemed promised never materializes.”
The final show in residence from August 22 to August 29 is Starstruck, with book by Beth Malone and Erin Ortman and score by Emily Saliers. This queer retelling of Cyrano revolves around the love triangle of environmentalist Cyd DeBerg, reporter Roxanne Cooley, and park ranger Chris. As they travel an increasingly tangled path, Cyd and Roxanne realize their frustration with each other may be more than ideological.