2026 Shows

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by Jad Jacob

In a rock-and-roll retelling of Ludwig van Beethoven's story, the scandalous rock star turns Vienna upside-down with his musical revolution. The legendary composer comes to life through original music, from his humble beginnings as a young upstart on the music scene, to his fall from grace during the scandals of his later life.

by Laura Guli & Premila Mistry

Sixth grade girl Amalie, socially awkward, lonely and bullied, yearns for another world.  After magically entering Van Gogh’s painting Cafe Terrace at Night, Amalie bonds with Van Gogh over a shared understanding of life’s pain and beauty.  Amalie visits Van Gogh in the painting several times and this friendship gives her the confidence to start making friends.

2026 Student Showcase

C’est La Vie: The Musical

by Victoria Bernardes & Miriam Lakein

C’est La Vie is a musical centered around the lives of four teenage girls. Each has a set of problems that they are struggling to deal with from absent parents to blackmail to impossible expectations of success. The four girls are thrown together for a school project and do not initially hit it off. They face many trials as they attempt to work together, but eventually learn to trust and confide in each other. Throughout the events of the show, they learn that even when their lives are falling apart, having someone beside them, even if they cannot solve anything, makes life more enjoyable.

2026 Writers

Beethoven: Live in Concert Writing Team

Jad Jacob (Book, Music, Lyrics) is an award-winning Syrian-American composer and filmmaker. Film score credits include: Never Can Say Goodbye (produced by Tony-nominee Crystal Lucas-Perry); feature film Concessions, starring Michael Madsen and Steven Ogg (Edinburgh Int’l Film Festival, Woodstock Film Festival). Recent performance credits: Area D (Ars Nova); Hayati (Liminal Theatre Collective); Tribute To Queen: Somebody To Love (The Palace Theatre, NH). Jad played Ludwig van Beethoven in the first staged developmental production of Beethoven: Live In Concert at Fort Salem Theater (April 2024). Jad has traveled the world as dueling pianist, piano bar entertainer, and music director - teaching music at Yaya Theatre Academy in Shenzhen, China; at Forestburgh Playhouse, with APTC; and performing on cruises with both Norwegian and MSC. Film directing credits include: I Am Syria, a documentary about Syrian refugees living in Germany (screenings, Harvard University); and Benson’s Playground (Premiere, Golden State Film Festival). He is recipient of the Al Budde Playwright Scholarship; finalist for the Michael Collyer Memorial Fellowship in Screenwriting; and a graduate of NYU Tisch’s Film & TV program. His songs have been performed by Broadway veterans such as Lexi Lawson (Hamilton), Brennyn Lark (Six), and Keri René Fuller (Wicked). In February 2025, he made his 54 Below debut in a sold-out concert of original works, entitled Finished/Unfinished. www.jadjacob.com | @jadjjacob

Brian Clemente (Director) has worked as a Director and Assistant Director on a multitude of Professional, Community and Educational productions. Local Directing Credits include Spring Awakening, Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party, The Glorious Ones, A Little Night Music at Schenectady Light Opera Company; the Regional Premieres of Theatre People, or the Angel Next Door, Popcorn Falls and Erma Bombeck: At Wit’s End at Curtain Call, where he also serves as Associate Producer, and Into the Woods and Spring Awakening at Fort Salem Theater. Favorite Assistant Director credits include: the American Premiere of Angry Young Man at Urban Stages NYC (Dir. Stephen Hamilton), Intimate Apparel at Bay Street Theater (Dir. Scott Schwartz), A Streetcar Named Desire at Bay Street Theater and on the Guild Hall production of All My Sons starring Alec Baldwin and Laurie Metcalf, also with Stephen Hamilton. Recipient of the Gwen Fraser Award for Creative Excellence from Schenectady Light Opera Company. MFA: Stony Brook Southampton | brianclementedirector.com

Sunflower: The Story of Amalie & Vincent Writing Team

Premila Mistry, composer and orchestrator for Sunflower the Musical is a public school music teacher and teaches music at John Eaton Elementary School in Washington, DC.  She is a certified Orff teacher, and has won the Rubenstein Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2019, and the Spotlight Award for the American Center for Elemental Music in 2018.  She is the Founder and Director of Sticks+Bars Youth Marimba Ensemble, DC’s first and only African style marimba band.  Mistry’s ensembles have performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, at Strathmore Hall in Bethesda, MD with Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and at various venues in the DC area and beyond.  

Laura Guli, the bookwriter and lyricist for Sunflower the Musical, is a Licensed Psychologist in private practice in Austin, TX where she works with adolescents and their families. She obtained her PhD in School Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin and a BA in English from the University of Virginia. Laura is the author of the Social Competence Intervention Program (SCIP), a theater based curriculum for youth on the autism spectrum. She is also an award winning poet with a chapbook (A Fiery Grace) published by Finishing Line Press. Laura is passionate about musical theater, children and the power of art to create meaningful change. 

C’est La Vie Writing Team

Victoria Bernardes & Miriam Lakein

2026 Cabaret Musicals

  • Café con Leche

    by Magda Vida

    CAFÉ CON LECHE is a queer romcom musical about Alejandra, a closeted accountant who works at her parents’ struggling mom-and-pop donut shop, California Cappuccino Donut Coffee (CCDC). After months of trying to convince her parents to change things up to be more competitive, they adamantly refuse. They don’t understand the iced coffee craze or why people don’t love their all- American donuts!

    However, when Bigg Coffee, the largest coffee shop chain in Los Angeles, opens a new store next door and gets the landlord to evict her parents if they’re late on next month’s rent, Alejandra is forced to act... behind their back. With the help of charming and definitely-also-not-hiding-something social media manager, Megan, Alejandra opens up Café con Leche, a secret rival coffee spot to steal straggling customers from next door, that operates only after CCDC closes at 2 pm. However, once her original Chilean-inspired coffee recipe, Media Naranja, goes viral, she starts drawing suspicion from both Bigg Coffee and her parents. As her success with Café con Leche and her feelings for Megan become undeniable, Alejandra begins to question just how much she’s willing to hide to keep her parents’ love.

  • From Water To Air

    by Alanya Bridge

    ‘from Water to Air’ is a song cycle by Alanya Bridge that explores themes of passing over, rebirth and self-discovery. Woven together through the elements; water, earth, fire and air, this evocative 60-minute show encapsulates the fragility of life, its transitions and transformations through a journey of healing.

  • Hatchetation

    by Amy Jo Jackson

    It’s 1900 in Kansas, and Temperance advocate Carry A. Nation is PISSED. What’s the point of having a Prohibition Amendment in the state’s constitution if nobody’s gonna enforce the dang thing? After the death of her young friend Zuleika at the hands of a drunken doctor, Carry reaches a breaking point – there HAS to be a way to get the attention of those in power. The next day, Mrs. Nation, armed with bricks, friggin’ DESTROYS a saloon. She’s an instant sensation. Carry is contacted by Dr. Eva Harding, a career organizer, who convinces her that she needs a team to take the movement to the next level. Eva gifts Carry a Very Important Hatchet, and together they build an army of self-proclaimed Home Defenders. 

  • Human: A New Ancient Musical

    by Bonnie Corral & Krystin Lacey

    HUMAN: A New Ancient Musical captures the moment when a human made art for the first time, on a cave wall, and what that meant for the future of humanity. A story told through the eyes of a small tribe of 7, it shows how humans 50,000 years a go were beginning to find joy in creating as a form of survival. It addresses themes of joy, hope, survival, tradition, expression, grief, loss, & growth.

  • Marlise!

    by Jesse Ayala and Justino Tesoro

    When a fading Hollywood star is framed for murder, she must join forces with her obsessive fan to clear her name and solve the crime. In a world obsessed with fame and perfection, Marlise! asks: what’s more powerful: the truth, or the story people believe? Set in 1954 Hollywood, the musical exposes the price of ambition and the myths behind the idols we adore.When the cameras stop rolling, even stars must face the mirror and the secrets in their closets.

  • New Year in Connecticut!

    by Sequoia Sellinger & Sarah Rossman

    The Stablemans are not like other families. No, but really. Life is a game of mental illness musical chairs, no one has boundaries, and the status quo is anything but static. "Next Year in Connecticut!" follows the Stableman family over the course of one dysfunctional, hilarious family dinner (in this case, a Passover seder).

  • tame the noise

    by Benjamin Walton

    tame the noise is an ADHD folk allegory performed by a troupe of performers. It tells the story of a town called Normal that has been plagued by an unknown force that has been named The Noise by Normal that causes people to uncontrollably speak, sing, or just make noise for extended periods of time. This is a nuisance to seemingly everyone except for a single boy. Sure, the noise affects him, but he doesn't seem bothered in the slightest.

  • Willow Storm and the Lightning Bolts

    by Stephanie Henry

    Set in the mid-1980s, Willow Storm and the Lightning Bolts follows Aaron Richards, a struggling singer-songwriter whose lack of confidence keeps him from breaking past auditions. With the help of her best friend Tiffany, a skilled costume designer, Aaron transforms into her inner female rock star, Willow Storm, crafting both an unforgettable look and a powerful stage persona. Together, tey form Willow Storm and the Lightning Bolts, a band that channels the energy, flair, and rebellion of 1980s glam rock.