The Bridge launches this month, a new New York City-based development company for original musicals. Spearheaded by dramaturg Molly Marinik, it aims to bridge the gap between artists and stakeholders, providing assistance for shows that are midway through development. 

Marinik leads a team including Jenna Ready (Seaview) as general manager and Laura Been (New 42nd Street Studios) as creative strategist.

The Bridge will serve as project manager to up-and-coming productions and original works, ensuring artists have sufficient time, resources, and support to craft an effective path to production, as well as providing ongoing dramaturgical support. Additional resources may include workshops, concerts, table reads, retreats, branding strategy, industry outreach, and more. The Bridge also seeks to explore the larger questions around the new musical development landscape with particular interest in resource sharing and expanding development opportunities in regions just outside of New York City.

"Original musicals are the backbone of musical theatre, yet they're having a harder time than ever getting to production due to the very real and growing challenges our industry is facing,” said Marinik in a statement. “So many of us have been dreaming about what new models of development might look like. The Bridge is imagining new processes, putting them in action, and building conversations about what we're learning—so we can move forward, together."

For its first-ever season, The Bridge is supporting new musical The King of Harlem by John-Michael Lyles and David Gomez, directed and choreographed by Raja Feather Kelly. Under The Bridge's guidance, the musical is aiming for a full workshop presentation this spring in collaboration with Musical Theater Factory.

The Bridge's inaugural advisory board includes Liz Carlson, Ken Cerniglia, Amanda DuBois, Katie Gamelli, Dmitry Koltunov, AriDy Nox, Sandy Rustin, Jeremy Stoller, Natasha Sinha, Charlie Stone and Arminda Thomas.

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