Act One of BURNED Next Month

Next month, New York Theatre Barn will be kicking off the 13th season of their New Works Series with a reading of an abridged version of the first act of Burned, a new musical with a book by myself and music and lyrics by Joshua H. Cohen.

The reading will be held at 7:00 on Monday, February 3rd. It's being directed by Aaron Simon Gross. Josh and I are very excited to work with him, and while we can't announce our cast just yet, it's going to include some really talented people.

Burned was inspired by the play The Lucky One by A.A. Milne. It tells the story of two brothers whose relationship comes apart when one of them is arrested for financial fraud. Set against the 2007-08 financial crisis, the musical asks what we owe each other, and what we are owed.

Songs from Burned have been presented by the In the Works series at The Duplex, and by Golden Fleece's Square One. Josh and I have worked on two other musicals together, Ordinary Island (previously titled Maggie the Pirate) and (together with Lavell Blackwell) Keep on Walkin'.

Burned will be presented together with a selection from Johnny & the Devil's Box by J. Douglas Waterbury-Tieman, who is a member of The Lobbyists and was co-writer of the Drama Desk Award nominated musical SeaWife. It tells the story of a young man who believes he's the best fiddler that ever was, and aims to prove it, in spite of a diabolical challenge.

The full evening will be about 70 minutes and will be held at Improv Asylum, 307 West 26th Street in New York City. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. You can purchase advance tickets here.