Pregnancy Pact / Cheer Wars / Across the River / Sled Ride / Disappeared / Galaxy Comics / One Man Show / Other Songs
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PREGNANCY PACT

Julia Meinwald, composer
Full-length musical
6 women, 1 man

15-year-old Maddie is devoted to her three best friends and they are to her.  So when Brynn finds out that she’s pregnant, the friends all plan to have children, raising them together in a dream of a perfect life.  Their pact grows as other girls begin to find out and want in.  The bubble finally bursts when their secret is revealed, leaving each of the girls alone to face the hard realities of love, responsibility and growing up.

Developed in the Dramatists Guild Fellows Program.
Recipient of the Weston Playhouse 2011 New Musical Award.

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CHEER WARS

 Karlan Judd, composer
Full-length musical
9 women, 2 men

Halle Bolingbroke is the heir apparent to the New London Lady Leopard Varsity Cheer Squad. Her mother Doretha, the former captain and current coach, has devoted her life to passing along her cheer legacy to Halle and nothing – especially not Halle’s lack of talent – will stop her. When Doretha’s former rival Nuella Percy returns to New London from exile with her cheerleading-machine of a daughter Charmain in tow, the lust for power and glory is pitted against the true meaning of cheer. Inspired by Shakespeare’s Henry IV, part 1 and the true story of Wanda Holloway.

Recipient of the 2009 Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theater.

Development
2010 Reading – Directors Company (Dan Knechtges, director)
2009 Workshop – Stagecrafters Theater (Cleveland, Ohio)
2008 Workshop – New York University (Ryan Mekenian, director)
2008 Reading – New York University (Kara-Lynn Vaeni, director)

What Doretha Says Goes - Doretha (Mary Testa)
Tryouts- Halle, Cheerleaders (Dana Steingold, Mykal Kilgore, Amy Linden, Kimiko Glenn, Tracy Weiler, Ally Bonino)
C-H-A-R-M-A-I-N – Charmain (Patti Murin)
Get What's Comin' - Nuella (Nancy Opel)

Listen to the full demo here.

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ACROSS THE RIVER

 Hyun Rim Kim, composer
Full-length musical
3 women, 2 men

Tranquil Nelson is a young girl who feels anything but tranquil. While spending the summer of 1969 with her grandmother in Cleveland, she strikes up a nocturnal friendship with Eddie, a boy who lives across the polluted Cuyahoga River. Their fantastical journey takes them through a burning river and to the moon with Neil Armstrong, to discover the limitations of the truth and the possibilities of dreams.

Recipient of the 2008 First Look Award for New Musicals.

Development
2009 Production – Daegu International Musical Festival; Daegu, Korea (Hun-Gi Baek, director)
2008 Reading – First Look Award (Kara-Lynn Vaeni, director)
2007 Reading – New York University (Lori Steinberg, director)

The First Man on the Moon – Neil Armstrong (Jerry Dixon)
Crooked River – Anna (Cheryl Alexander)
Mirror Mirror (Korean Demo)

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SLED RIDE

 Aravind Sreenivasan, composer
Rochelle Bright, co-book & lyrics
One-act musical
1 woman, 2 men

13-year-old Ethan and his mother Zeena’s lives are changed when 15-year-old Matt comes to live with them. As the boys grow closer, Zeena tries to drive a wedge between them, leaving them with nothing but a simple sled ride together. Adapted from Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome.

Development
2009 Production – Montclair State University (Scott Davenport Richards, director)
2007 Reading – Auckland Art Gallery; Auckland, NZ
2007 Production – Santa Clara University
2006 Reading – New York University (Matt August, director)

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DISAPPEARED

 Julia Meinwald, composer
One-act musical
5 women, 2 men

Inspired by Sophocles’ Antigone and the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, Disappeared tells the story of a mother trying to display her grief. As she mourns her children, she inspires other grievers into a quiet revolution.

Development
2009 Workshop – Lincoln Center Directors Lab (Jeremy Gold Kronenberg, director)
2008 Production – Prospect Theater Company (Jeremy Gold Kronenberg, director)

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GALAXY COMICS 

Julia Meinwald, composer
Jacey Heldrich, screenwriter
Kevin McMullin, director
Short film

A famed comic book illustrator is coming to the tiny, run-down, Galaxy Comics shop for a signing event. Seth, the store manager, must quiet eager fanboys while he attempts to quell the crush he has on his coworker, Tina. As the night progresses and the author is running late, fantasy and reality collide in this musical-comedy.

Screenings
Sarasota Film Festival – April 2013
New York Television Festival – October 2012 (winner, MTV Comedy Development Deal & Best Director)

Nerds Get Nervous - Seth, Leonard, Myron & Stevie (Matt Strickland, Adam Lerman, James Butler & Olli Haaskivi)
You Want a Hero - Seth (Matt Strickland)
Wake Up - Tina (Kimiko Glenn) & Seth (Matt Strickland)

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ONE-MAN SHOW

John Heginbotham, bookwriter & choreographer
Julia Meinwald, composer
Dance musical

John wakes from a coma to find himself center stage at the legendary East Village cabaret, Joe’s Pub. His dying wish has been granted – He will finally star in his own one-man show. Confronted with just one hour to live, John dances and sings to the point of diminishing returns. Two caregivers and a disembodied frontal lobe-cum-pianist provide the entertainment.

Development
2010 Production – DanceNOW [NYC]‘s Dancemopolitan at Joe’s Pub

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Other Songs…

It's Hard for Me Not to Love You - Ellen Condon (music by Julia Meinwald)
Snowblind - Katrina Dideriksen (music by Julia Meinwald)
Things That I Have Lost - Amy Linden (music by Julia Meinwald)