A home for the future of Musical Theatre.
Using an open-submission process, the Lab Series selects cutting-edge musical theatre projects with potential for professional life and, in alignment with MSM Inclusion Initiative, prioritizes artists underrepresented in the musical theatre industry.
Aaron Ricciardi, MSM Musical Theatre Faculty
The Manhattan School of Music Musical Theatre Lab Series is a new musical development program which offers musical theatre majors the opportunity to work with professional musical theatre creators on their musicals-in-development. Using an open-submission process, the Lab Series selects cutting-edge musical theatre projects with potential for professional life and, in alignment with MSM Inclusion Initiative, prioritizes artists underrepresented in the musical theatre industry.
Lab Series projects introduce students to professional creative teams and the process of working on new material, which increases students’ performance, industry networking, and artistic opportunities. We see the Lab Series as fundamental to our program, because it serves our students while also serving the industry. It augments our students’ education through real-world experience with professional theatre artists, who get space and resources to develop their work.
When musical theatre creators craft a show, an invaluable part of their process is the act of bringing their work to actors and a creative team so they can see and hear the work on its feet. Since musicals are complex machines with many moving parts (scenes, songs, dance, orchestrations, musicians, etc.), that crucial stage of the process is a complicated and expensive endeavor. The Lab Series, which is housed in the Musical Theatre department, provides writers and their creative teams with valuable time and space to workshop their projects, with current MSM students and MSM alumni serving as actors, as stage managers, and in other necessary roles. Creative teams maintain full autonomy over their process.
The Lab Series process is designed to be fully adaptable to the creative team’s needs for their project. Some use their time to hear their entire show, while some use their time to work on a section of their show that’s giving them trouble. For some, their time at the Lab Series culminates with a showing for an invited audience at our NYC campus, while for others a showing is not relevant to their process. However teams choose to spend their time, they are supported by our faculty and students, who are guided by a passion for cultivating the future of the musical theatre.
The Lab Series was created in 2021 by MSM’s Dean of Musical Theatre Liza Gennaro, under whose leadership the Lab Series has grown to present up to seven readings per year. Four of those shows went on to subsequently receive full productions in the MSM musical theatre mainstage season.
Our submission window for the 2025-2026 season has closed. Please check back here in spring 2026 for information about and guidelines for submitting a show to be considered for our 2026-2027 Lab Series season.
Sign up for our email list here and get notified when we open our submission portal!
The Hills Are Alive! at Riverside Theatre, Spring 2024
Purchase Tickets! OCT 25 – 27
Book and Lyrics by Greg Kotis Music and Lyrics by Mark Hollmann
Meghan Finn, Director and Choreographer Eric T. Johnson, Music Director
The Riverside Theatre
A MILLION AISLES AWAY Book by Julia Newman Music and Lyrics by Utsav Bhargava and Luna Abréu-Santana
POETRY & PROSE Book, Music, and Lyrics by Katya Stanislavskaya Directed by Dev Bondarin
MUDVILLE Inspired by the poem “Casey at the Bat” by Ernest Lawrence Thayer Book by Mike Mitri and Dan Elish Music by Douglas J. Cohen Lyrics by Douglas J. Cohen and Dan Elish Directed by Joann Hunter
RED + VODKA + ME Book and Lyrics by Gordon Leary Music by Julia Meinwald
THE REAL GEMMA JORDAN Book by Anna K. Jacobs Music and Lyrics by Rob Rokicki Directed by Portia Krieger
FATTY Book, Music, and Lyrics by Michael Mitnick and Will Connolly
THE DARK LADY Book and Lyrics by Sophie Boyce Music by Veronica Mansour
THE HILLS ARE ALIVE! Book and Lyrics by Frankie Johnson Music by Eric T. Johnson Directed by Evan Pappas Riverside Church Theatre
BRICKS Created and Directed by Charlene Jean
GOOD LUCK IN SPACE Book and Lyrics by Greg Kotis Music and Lyrics by Mark Hollmann
Photo of cast and creative team of Good Luck In Space
THE TURNING Book, Music, and Lyrics by Zack Zadek Directed by Sammi Cannold
Photo of cast and creative team of The Turning
VALENTINO’S TANGO Book and Lyrics by Douglas J. Cohen Music by Howard Marren Directed and Choreographed by Parker Esse Riverside Church Theatre
PAPERBOY Book by Don Stephenson and Emily Loesser with Vince Vawter Music by Jim Wann and David Shenton Lyrics by Jim Wann Directed by Don Stephenson Neidorff-Karpati Hall
THE HILLS ARE ALIVE! Book and Lyrics by Frankie Johnson Music by Eric T. Johnson Directed by Evan Pappas
Photo of cast and creative team of The Hills Are Alive!
THE PETER GENNARO PROJECT Created and Directed by Jason Wise
PRIVATE EDDIE Book, Music, and Lyrics by Kevin Neil Bernard Directed by Jessica Boevers Bogart
Photo of cast and creative team of Private Eddie
SACRIFICES Book by Eli Kaplan-Wildmann Music by Yonatan Cnaan Lyrics by Andrew Zachary Cohen Directed by Catie Davis
Photo from staged reading of Sacrifices
THE COMPLICATED COLLECTION Directed by Benjamin Ernest Abraham
4 New Plays: Quarantine Kills by Kevin Renn Alternating My Vices By Maggie Wilson Untitled Toledo & July Project by Kevin Renn Say It Naked by Maggie Wilson
SHOWCASE: A REHEARSAL MUSICAL Book and Lyrics by Kevin Renn Music and Lyrics by Erin J. Reifler
VALENTINO’S TANGO Book and Lyrics by Douglas J. Cohen Music by Howard Marren Directed and Choreographed by Parker Esse
PRIVATE EDDIE Book, Lyrics, and Music by Kevin Neil Bernard Directed by DeMone Seraphin
PAPERBOY Book by Don Stephenson and Emily Loesser with Vince Vawter Music by Jim Wann and David Shenton Lyrics by Jim Wann Directed by Don Stephenson
Paperboy in Neidorff-Karpati Hall, Spring 2023
130 Claremont Avenue New York, New York 10027 212-749-2802
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