Drama Club Launches Drafts Reading Series

The group has previously developed DRAG: The Musical, A Strange Loop, Mexodus, and CATS: The Jellicle Ball.

March 20, 2026 By Meg Masseron

Drama Club has launched a Drafts readings series, which will mount early-stage presentations of musicals in development on a seasonal basis. The first four new Drafts musicals will be presented in April.

Following their residency at the Rhinebeck Writers Retreat last year, and fresh off their Richard Rodgers win, Fermin Suero Jr. and Pete White's BLUDLINE: A Hip-Hop Odyssey will hold a reading with the series. The hip-hop and R&B musical re-imagining of Homer’s Odyssey explores an epic journey of identity, survival, and homecoming.

Zonia Tsang and Elin Reifler's A Pain in the Neck will also be part of the series. The musical follows Josie, a 41-year-old New Yorker who is told she is terminally ill shortly after a painful breakup. With the encouragement of a friend, she creates a bucket list and begins living more boldly than ever before. As she navigates dating, family expectations, and her own shifting sense of identity, Josie discovers what it truly means to live.

The series will also present Taylor Fagins and Michelle Kuchuk's Living: A Now Musical. The family musical centers on three generations of a family grappling with what is allowed to be spoken, and who is allowed to speak it. When it comes to challenging the fear, stigma, and misconceptions that keep suicidality hidden in the shadows, the musical asks the question: how do we talk about it if we can’t talk about it?

By Dylan Schifrin and Charles Gershman, Cole Porter is My Imaginary VR Boyfriend will close out the April edition of the series. The darkly comic, synth-pop chamber musical about love, loss, and the seductive escape of technology follows a lonely 31-year-old gay VR programmer who, after a devastating breakup, creates a simulated boyfriend—modeled on a college-aged Cole Porter—using AI, historical curiosity, and a desperate need for connection.

Drama Club has played a key role in developing and supporting new works that have gone on to major productions, including DRAG: The Musical, the Pulitzer Prize-winning A Strange Loop, Mexodus, and CATS: The Jellicle Ball. Through its residencies, readings, and Drama Club Camp, the organization remains dedicated to nurturing bold new voices and advancing the future of musical theatre.

For more information, visit Drama.club.