La Vie Productions and Playwrights Horizons present an industry reading of Into the Wild, a new musical inspired by Jon Krakauer’s book and the McCandless Foundation’s photo collection Back to the Wild— both exploring the ill-fated Alaskan travel accounts of Christopher McCandless.
Lila Neugebauer (Broadway’s recent The Waverley Gallery) directs a cast that includes Amber Gray (the Broadway-bound Hadestown), Dear Evan Hansen duo Jennifer Laura Thompson and Michael Park, Ryan McCartan (Wicked), Tony winner John Cullum (Waitress), John Ellison Conlee (The Nap), Ryan Foust (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Gizel Jimenez (Avenue Q), and Nehal Joshi (returning to Broadway this season in All My Sons).
The folk-rock musical, featuring a book and lyrics by Janet Allard and music and lyrics by Niko Tsakalakos, was previously developed and presented at the Rhinebeck Writer’s Retreat, the Johnny Mercer Writer’s Colony, and at Encore Musical Theatre.
The February 8 presentation features musical supervision and arrangements by Brian Usifer, dramaturgy by Kent Nicholson, vocal arrangements by Angelique Mouyis, and stage management by Megan Schwarz Dickert. Casting is by Carrie Gardner.