Kokandy Productions is pleased to announce the official selections for the return of the Chicago Musical Theatre Festival, a celebration and showcase of the growing field of musical theatre creators from Chicago and beyond. The 2024 Festival will feature concert presentations of five new musicals over the course of one weekend, as part of Steppenwolf’s dynamic and genre-defying LookOut series. The Festival will be performed August 8 – 11, 2024 in Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theater, 1700 N. Halsted St. in Chicago Tickets are currently available at steppenwolf.org/CMTF.
Since its inception in 2014 by Underscore Theatre Company, the Chicago Musical Theatre Festival has brought over 50 new musicals to Chicago stages. The festival provides much-needed artistic resources for emerging composer/lyricist teams to have their work supported, explored and most importantly – performed! Kokandy is thrilled to steward the much-anticipated return of this vital opportunity for new musical development in Chicago.
Festival Producer Nicholas Reinhart comments, “On behalf of the entire Kokandy Productions team, it is an absolute honor to be bringing the Chicago Musical Theatre Festival back for its own ‘Act Two.’ We are forever grateful for and indebted to Underscore Theatre Company for their long endeavor to create a home for new, original work, and we humbly pick up the mantle with this new iteration of the Festival. This year, we had over 100 fantastic submissions, and in these five presented musicals, Chicago’s eager and astute audiences will be able to hear the future of musical theatre.”
The full-line up and performance schedule includes:
Thursday, August 8 at 8 pm: WANDERLUST
Friday, August 9 at 8 pm: The Brass Teapot: A New Musical
Saturday, August 10 at 3 pm: Jenny: A New Musical
Saturday, August 10 at 8 pm: ei hytte (the cabin), an a cappella musical
Sunday, August 11 at 3 pm: Out of Focus
WANDERLUST
Book and Lyrics by William Nedved
Music by Grant Escandón
Directed by Becca Holloway
Desmond finally takes a vacation – only for Henry, his tech mogul boss, to show up at his Sydney surfer’s hostel. While Desmond works overtime to save their company, Henry parties it up with the international backpackers. Soulful surfer Tico flirts with Henry. Social media influencer Sonja films him. Homesick Jessica calls him out. Corporate fixer Alex kidnaps him. And hostel manager Kit wants Henry gone. As day turns to night and the truth comes to light, will Desmond save Henry or himself? WANDERLUST is a modern-day, old-fashioned musical comedy about learning to live outside of your comfort zone.
The Brass Teapot: A New Musical
Music and Lyrics by Chaz Cardigan
Book by Tim Macy & Ramaa Mosley
Co-Conceived by Erik Kaiko
Directed by Landree Fleming
Alice loves John. John loves Alice. Their only problems are that they are underemployed, broke, their high school bully is the landlord, their former friends are either too rich to care about them or just as broke as they are, and their luck shows no signs of improving. That is, until a seemingly random series of events brings a mysterious ancient object into their life: a brass teapot. The teapot magically spouts money, but only when it senses pain. Pretty soon, Alice and John are debt free and living large, with just a few bumps and bruises… but people are starting to notice, and ask questions. Not only that, but the teapot is demanding more, different, deeper pain to keep the money flowing. How far would you go to win unlimited fortune if it meant hurting those you love? Would you break a tooth? Break their arm? Break their heart?
Jenny: A New Musical
Book and Lyrics by Maryanne Boaz
Music by Elizabeth and Maryanne Boaz
Directed by Andrew Lund
When Jenny gets the opportunity to follow her dream far away, she must choose between pursuing her purpose or staying home with her family. As the deadline draws near, Thomas, her boyfriend, struggles to find peace with Jenny leaving as their plans to move-in end. Lana, Jenny’s sister, fights a mental-health spiral, trying to reorganize life without Jenny. Hopeful for what's next, Jenny decides to leave; but when tragedy strikes, the family must confront the unthinkable. Through self-discovery, everyone finds a new chapter of life where they don’t move on – but maybe move forward.
ei hytte (the cabin), an a cappella musical
Book, Music and Lyrics by Eric Matthew Richardson
Directed by Noah Watkins
During an unseasonable blizzard, two strangers become trapped inside one of Norway's many off-grid public cabins. Without access to electricity, phone or internet service, the hikers wait out the storm. Veronica is a true crime author, and Colin is a warehouse worker. Neither are inclined to reveal too much about their personal lives beyond that. Pressured by the forces of the unseen Valkyries, the strangers push each other to their breaking points.
Out of Focus
Music and Lyrics by Kelan M. Smith
Book and Lyrics by Quinn Rigg
Directed by Frankie Leo Bennett
Out of Focus is a coming of age rock musical about a young photographer named Nick in his first year of college. As Nick struggles with his newfound independence, he is faced with his mother's own struggle of a newly diagnosed case of early onset dementia. In his journey to find himself, and grapple with familial uncertainty, he comes of age alongside a cast of other young characters, all of whom are dealing with their own unique familial imperfections. As demons from the past threaten their clarity of the future, each of them attempts to fill in the missing pieces of their lives. But only through one another can they bring what’s out of focus into frame.
About the Artists
William Nedved (Book and Lyrics, WANDERLUST) is the co-founder of The Gift Theatre Company. Recent collaborations: The Ravages with Theatre of NOTE; Medusa: The Musical with Deaf West Theatre at the Getty Villa; and The Passion of McQueen at Boston Court. He teaches dramatic writing in the BFA & MFA programs at AMDA Los Angeles. WilliamNedved.com @williamnedved
Grant Escandón (Music, WANDERLUST) is a composer and sound designer working throughout the LA area, including Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum and Deaf West Theatre at the Getty Villa. Their music includes concert works played by CLU Wind Ensemble, CSUF New Music Ensemble, Brightwork newmusic. BA California Lutheran University; MM Cal State Fullerton. @Grantescandon
Tim Macy (Book, The Brass Teapot: A New Musical) is an author, screenwriter and playwright. His work has been performed at The Kennedy Center, and two of his stories have been adapted into films. Currently, he has two feature films in pre-production. Tim lives in Kansas with his wife and two children. MFA University of Kansas.
Ramaa Mosley (Book, The Brass Teapot: A New Musical) is a filmmaker and activist who has directed award-winning films, documentaries, commercials and premium television series such as NETFLIX’s The Night Agent, AMC’s 61st Street and Paramount+’s Happy Face. Ramaa is also the founder of the youth-focused advertising agency Adolescent Content. @ramaamosley
Chaz Cardigan (Music and Lyrics, The Brass Teapot: A New Musical) has created music for the YouTube Audio Library, had a top 15 Alternative hit with “Not OK!,” wrote “As I’ll Ever Be” for the NETFLIX film To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You and amassed 24+ million streams. With Brass Teapot, Chaz opens a new chapter. @chazcardigan
Erik Kaiko (Co-Conceiver, The Brass Teapot: A New Musical) is a Chicago-based creative producer, general manager and arts marketer. Chicago: Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Filament Theatre, Writers Theatre, Token Theatre. New York: Joey Parnes Productions, Invisible Wall Productions, Snug Harbor Productions, New York Theatre Workshop. B.S. Northwestern University, MFA Columbia University. @okiak
Maryanne Boaz (Book, Music and Lyrics, Jenny; A New Musical) is a rising senior at CCPA (Musical Theater BFA) where she fell in love with writing, producing her first musical Who We Are in a 2023 workshop. Maryanne explores the beauty of discomfort in both her writing and directing. maryanneboaz.com @maryanne.boaz
Elizabeth Boaz (Music, Jenny; A New Musical) is an independent artist from the Bay Area. She grew up singing everything from theater classics to jazz standards to Taylor Swift, now enjoying paying tribute to her influences through her songwriting. Elizabeth performs across the West Coast as a solo artist and with her band Honey Disposition. @elizabethboazmusic
Eric Matthew Richardson (Book, Music and Lyrics, ei hytte (the cabin) an a cappella musical) is a writer and composer based in Chicago. His full-length musicals include The Book of Sebastián, The LEA Project and Down & Out in Rocky Heights, which was a 2022 Semi-Finalist for the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center National Musical Theater Conference. He was a finalist for the inaugural National Fellowship for Musical Theater through the Dramatists Guild Foundation in 2024 and has been featured as one of William Finn’s Emerging Writers.
Quinn Rigg (Book and Lyrics, Out of Focus) is a Chicago-based, Jeff-nominated actor, musician, playwright, librettist and graduate of Columbia College Chicago’s Musical Theatre BFA program. Seen on stage at Marriott Theatre, Chicago Children’s Theatre, Kokandy Productions and more, Quinn is elated to be behind the table this time, sharing a story seven years in the making. @quinn._.stagram @outoffocusmusical qrigg.com
Kelan M. Smith (Music and Lyrics, Out of Focus) is an actor, musician and composer. Chicago credits include Marriott Theatre, Drury Lane Theatre, Apollo Theater Chicago, Porchlight Music Theatre, Northlight Theatre and Chicago Shakespeare Theater. He has a BFA in Musical Theatre Performance from Columbia College Chicago and is the co-artistic director of Streamline Theatre. @kelanm.smith @outoffocusmusical @streamlinetheatre
About Kokandy Productions
Founded in 2010, Kokandy Productions seeks to leverage the heightened reality of musical theatre to tell complex and challenging stories, with a focus on contributing to the development of Chicago-based musical theatre artists, and raising the profile of Chicago's non-Equity musical theatre community.
The company's artistic staff is comprised of Derek Van Barham (Producing Artistic Director), Scot T. Kokandy (Executive Producer) and Adrian Abel Azevedo & Leda Hoffman (Artistic Associates). The Board of Directors includes Preston Cropp, Scot T. Kokandy, Danielle Sparklin and Katie Svaicer.
For additional information, visit http://www.kokandyproductions.com.
About the LookOut Series
LookOut is Steppenwolf's performance series that presents the work of artists and companies across genre and form, emerging artists and performance legends, quintessential Chicago companies and young aspiring ensembles, familiar Steppenwolf faces and new friends. http://steppenwolf.org/lookout.