NEWS
NAMT 35TH ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS 2023
In October of 2023, songs from Vanishing Girl were presented at The National Alliance for Musical Theatre's 35th Annual Festival of New Musicals at New World Stages featuring Maria Habeeb, Isabella Campos, and Samantha Massel.
ABOUT
Synopsis
Bright college student Luciana has always felt invisible. She leans on her one best friend, crushes on the girl at the comic shop from afar, and toils at writing alone. Suddenly, Luciana acquires electricity related superpowers and finds that, like a battery, she's slowly fading out. Can she figure out how to be seen before it's too late?
Artistic Statement
It is hard to ignore the wave of superhero content sweeping through our society right now. It is something we needed as we weathered the pandemic: An imaginary world where good people get power and use it to defeat bad people. VANISHING GIRL explores how power doesn't always come to people who know what to do with it. Uncle Ben taught us that great power comes with great responsibility. It also comes with great cost. This musical gives that power to a girl who feels irrelevant and trapped on the hamster wheel of her life. Now, she can do amazing things. Will they help solve her problems, or will they create new problems of their own?
VANISHING GIRL also embraces the complexities of relationships. We fall for people we barely know. We get in the worst fights with people the closest to us. We sometimes have to leave before we are ready. And we struggle the most with our relationship to ourselves.
Development History
2nd NYC Reading at the Latine Musical Theatre Lab (December 2022)
On December 4th of 2023, another private reading of Vanishing Girl was held in New York City by the Latine Musical Theatre Lab. The cast included Danny Bolero, Isiah Bostic, Isbella Campos, Sanam Erfani, Ellis Gage, Maria Habeeb, Jessica Vanek, and Nicholas Yenson.
Workshop at Flying V, Washington DC (January 2023)
On January 28th-29th of 2023, a an industry workshop of Vanishing Girl was presented by Flying V in Washington D.C. The cast included Rayanne Gonzales, Bianca Lipford, Justine "Icy" Moral, Meredith Richard, Harrison Smith, and Carl L. Williams, with additional cast members to be announced. This iteration was produced by Jonny Perl and Ricky Drummond. Read more about it on BroadwayWorld.
1st NYC Reading at the Latine Musical Theatre Lab (August 2022)
In August of 2022, a private reading of Vanishing Girl was held in New York City by the Latine Musical Theatre Lab. The cast included Kobe Brown, Jordan Kai Burnett, Kathy Finlay, Ellis Gage, Julieta Gozalo-Michaud, Maria Habeeb, Lance Olds, Keith Schneider, and Fernanda Schoering Vélez.
The Composers Showcase Las Vegas (May 2022)
In May of 2022, selections from Vanishing Girl were performed at the Composers Showcase of Las Vegas at The Smith Center.
DEMOS
VIDEOS
"Luciana Begins"
at the Composers Showcase of Las Vegas
"So Long"
at the Composers Showcase of Las Vegas
MEET THE TEAM
Hope Villanueva (Book)
Ms. Villanueva is a current resident of the Washington, DC area where she is an AEA Stage Manager by day and playwright by night. Vanishing Girl: A New Musical has been in development for three years – with a healthy pandemic stall – and is her first collaboration with William Yanesh.
The Veils, a full-length play about a female Marine coming home to get married, was produced as part of the Women’s Voices Theatre Festival 2018. The Veils previously received a reading at the Kennedy Center, an audio podcast recording, The Black and Latino Playwrights’ Conference 2016, at Texas State University, at the Discovery New Play Festival at Ball State University in and The Kitchen Dog New Play Festival in 2017.
The Head That Wears the Crown, was a part of the 2018 Kennedy Center Page to Stage Festival and received a developmental production in 2019 by Ally Theatre Company. It tells the story of high school queen bees who do the unthinkable to one of their own. The play was also featured as a “Play That’s Filling Me Up” on The Subtext podcast, hosted by Brian James Polack and American Theatre.
Ms. Villanueva was selected as an O’Neill Conference 2021 Finalist for The QoL Mandate, a story of bodily autonomy spun on its head and Mexican American identity. It was digitally produced during the pandemic the New Works Virtual Festival to benefit the Actors’ Fund. The QoL Mandate was previously developed by NextStop Theatre as a part of their New Play Festival in summer 2019 and was read by The Quarantine Players of NYC in 2020.
Set in Bangkok, her movement driven work about grief, Her, Across the River, was produced by Rapid Lemon in Baltimore, MD. Previously it was workshopped by DC’s Avant Bard, INKubator podcast, and The Women’s Theatre Festival’s Occupy the Space 2020.
Brackish is one of her newest plays, telling the story of a Vietnamese American family coping with an ever-shifting definition of home. Written during the pandemic, Brackish was produced to packed houses in Southern California in the summer of 2022.
Several of her short plays are published by YouthPlays, including Tidal and Anatomy, and she has several ten-minute plays included in the Code Red Playwrights series, a collaboration of writers responding to gun violence in America.
Ms. Villanueva is the current literary manager for Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, NY and is pursuing her second master’s degree in Lesley University’s Writing for Screen and Stage program. She is working on her first TV pilot.
William Yanesh (Music & Lyrics)
William Yanesh is a DC-based composer, arranger and award-winning music director. Compositions include music and lyrics for Make Way for Ducklings, Blueberries for Sal and Caps for Sale at Adventure Theatre MTC, the latter of which toured nationally and played at the New Victory Theatre; songs for Little Thinkers Adventures podcast; and the choral work “The Astronomer,” featured on the Capital Hearings’ When The Night is New. His arrangements have been heard in Shakespeare Theatre Company (DC)’s Man of La Mancha; the world premieres of the TYA version of Big River, and the Kennedy Center’s Me...Jane. As a music director he has worked frequently at Ford’s Theater (Helen Hayes award for Outstanding Music Direction for Into the Woods), Arena Stage (DC), 1st Stage (VA), Round House Theatre (MD), and Signature Theatre (VA). He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Composition from Carnegie Mellon University. williamyanesh.squarespace.com
Eric Jordan Young (Director)
Eric Jordan Young is a Producer, Director, Choreographer, Entertainer, Playwright and Songwriter with TV, Broadway (RAGTIME 1998, RAGTIME 2009, CHICAGO, SEUSSICAL, LOOK OF LOVE), Off-Broadway, Regional (Public Theater, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Alliance Theater, Signature Theater, Second Stage, Actors’ Louisville), National Tour (CHICAGO, RAGTIME, DREAMGIRLS), and Commercial credits. He is the proud recipient of the Helen Hayes award for his performance as Jake in SIDESHOW at the Signature theater in Washington, DC. Las Vegas performances include COCKTAIL CABARET (Caesars Palace), ROCK OF AGES (Venetian/Rio), SHAKIN’ - Vegas Remixed with a Twist (Planet Hollywood), CHICAGO (Mandalay Bay), STARLIGHT EXPRESS (Las Vegas Hilton), VEGAS! THE SHOW and most recently the USHER residency (Colosseum @ Caesars Palace). Eric has performed with several Symphonies throughout the country including the Atlanta Symphony, Buffalo
Philharmonic, Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Philharmonic and the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall. His solo album ONCE IN A LIFETIME, was produced by his company EnJoY! Productions and his one-man musical SAMMY & ME is the winner of the ArtVoice (MusicalFare Theater) and Salt Awards (Hangar Theater). In addition to working with creatives on new musicals, Mr. Young served as the Resident Director of BAZ (Venetian/Palazzo) and as a Creative Director for original projects including THIS IS CHRISTMAS (Venetian), RENEGADES (Caesars Palace) and DRAG SUPPER CLUB. Eric is currently the Associate Director for the Norwegian Cruise Line production of FOOTLOOSE and he created, directed and choreographed the production shows WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW and THE GREAT AMERICAN SONG FACTORY. Eric recently served as the Associate Director of ROCK OF AGES on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood, CA and the 2022 Kennedy Center production of GUYS & DOLLS. EnJoY! | @ejyshakin | ericjordanyoung.com | enjoyprods.com
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