Meet the future of musical theatre in the New Writers at 54! when the concert series at Feinstein's/54 Below returns to the downstairs supper club this season. Curated by Jennifer Tepper, the venue's creative and programming director, and Alexa Spiegel, assistant programming director, the series showcases emerging musical theatre writers and teams, each with their own evening concert. Read on below for this season's schedule of award-winning composers and lyricists.
The 2022 New Writers at 54! includes:
Janet Noh
January 27 at 9:45 PM ET
Noh will make her Feinstein’s/54 Below solo debut with Songs From My Unwritten Musical, featuring tunes ranging from soulful R&B bops to Disney-esque feel-good songs. Guests include Ali Ewoldt (The Phantom of the Opera), Nyla Sostre (Hamilton tour), Telly Leung (Aladdin), and Conor Ryan (Moulin Rouge! tour).
Janine McGuire and Arri Lawton Simon
February 1 at 9:45 PM
The songwriting team of McGuire and Simon will present songs from their new musical Borders—based on the 2006 film The Bubble— about a gay Israeli solider and a closeted Palestinian man who fall in love during the Second Intifada in the early 2000s. The cast includes Jennifer Apple, Shira Averbuch, Mike Cefalo, Drew Elhamalawy, Sahar Milani, and Omer Shaish.
Ben Chavez
February 3 at 9:45 PM
After a year of touring as a performer in Disney's Aladdin, Chavez will take the more intimate stage of Feinstein’s/54 Below as singer-songwriter to share his tunes inspired by the styles of Billy Joel and PJ Morton. The concert will also feature Zach Bencal, Keisha Gilles, Orianna Hilliard, Jeremy Gaston, and violinist Kevin Kuh.
Julian Hornik
February 15 at 9:45 PM
Composer-lyricist Hornik, along with a cast of friends and special guests, will perform his mix of pop-punk numbers about Walt Whitman’s lovers, folk-inflected ballads about Tennessee Williams’s familial strife, and a bucketful of queer quarter-life-crises condensed into song.
J. Oconer Navarro
February 16 at 9:45 PM
Sharing music from his canon, including his newest musical F.L.I.P. OUT, Navarro's concert promises to be a celebration of Pinoy Pride, featuring a host of Filipino-American artists under the helm of Nathaniel P. Claridad.
Andy Roninson
February 17 at 9:45 PM
Roninson will introduce audiences to his characters ranging from '70s Russian Soviets to outer space aliens in songs from new works and from his podcast showcasing short musicals Take A Ten. Guests include Tony winner Debbie Gravitte, Tony nominee Kate Baldwin, Thom Sesma, C.K. Edwards, Samantha Hahn, Lindsey M.E. Newton, and Carla Woods.
Oliver Houser
February 24 at 9:45 PM
Houser wil bring a host of guest Broadway performers along for his Feinstein’s/54 Below debut concert to share an evening of brand new music capturing the ridiculous and heartbreaking experience of being human.
Brandon Webster
March 15 at 9:45 PM
The composer-lyricist will share a night of theatre music influenced by jazz, funk, pop, and R&B filtered through his afro-surrealist lens, featuring highlights from Webster’s shows Headlines, Metropolis and KRONOS fill the evening with , and traditional theatre genres.
Cheeyang Ng
March 20 at 9:45 PM
With songs at the intersection of queer, Asian and immigrant stories, Ng will share hits from their musicals in development as well as brand new works-in-progress. Music directed by Cynthia Meng, the evening will feature special guests Zachary Noah Piser, Kuhoo Verma, and more.
Murphy Taylor and Emerson Mae Smith
May 31 at 9:45 PM
Together composer-lyricist Murphy and playwright Emerson wrote Elektric, a trans woman-centered adaptation of the Elektra tragedy. Expect an evening of music and storytelling from dark, haunted worlds created by the team of Identical twin transgender women.
Nikko Benson
June 8 at 9:45 PM
Benson's concert guarantees a fantastic...or fantastical...time on a journey from Where the Wild Things Are to Undersea Noir in an evening of new and never-before-heard songs, featuring guests Ally Bonino, Sean Doherty, Latoya Edwards, Roe Hartrampf, Julia Mattison, Natalie Walker, and Joel Waggoner.
For more information and tickets, visit 54Below.com.
