The world premiere of Folk Wandering, a new musical conceived by Men on Boats playwright Jaclyn Backhaus and Andrew Neisler (Clown Bar) with the collaboration of nine NYC-based composers and lyricists, is set to play an additional week Off-Broadway. The Pipeline Theatre Company production will begin performances February 22 at A.R.T./New York Theatres and will now run through March 25.
An exploration of the making and breaking of the American dream across three generations, Folk Wandering weaves tales from tenement Manhattan, the deserts of Utah, and small-town Indiana. The show is billed as “an awakening of the hope, heartache, and longing that binds us all together.” Watch the trailer for the production in the video above.
In addition to book and lyrics by Backhaus, the new musical features music by Blake Allen, Mike Brun (music director for Mr. Burns), Andrew R. Butler (Finn the Fearless), Joel Esher (PharmaBro: an American Douchical!), Alex Fast (The Drawer Boy), Jo Lampert (Joan of Arc: Into The Fire), Barrie McLain (you’ll still call me by name), Annie Tippe (director, Ghost Quartet), and Dominique Toney (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend).
Two of the collaborating composers are also performing in the world premiere Off-Broadway.
Neisler directs a cast made up of Kim Blanck (Little Match Girl Passion), Butler (The Skin of Our Teeth), Seth Clayton (The Madrid), DeMone (Ragtime), Adrian Blake Enscoe (Billy and the Killers), Morgan Siobhan Green (Sweetee), Lena Hudson (You on the Moors Now), Kate Loprest (First Date), Dan Tracy (Once national tour), Jordan Tyson (Sweetee), and Nicole Weiss (The Imbible).
Folk Wandering features arrangements by Brun and Esher, with orchestrations by Brun, and additional orchestrations by Allen. The production has music direction by Ellen Winter (36 Questions), set design by Carolyn Mraz (Thomas Paine in Violence), lighting design by Christopher Bowser (Secret Supper: The Musical), costume design by Heather McDevitt Barton (Of Government), sound design by Jim Petty of Five OHM Productions (Noise), prop design by Emmie Finckel (KPOP), production management by Jenny Beth Snyder (Beardo), and stage management by Kristy Bodall (Ghost Quartet). Casting is by Telsey + Company/Lauren Harris.
Backhaus is a writer in residence at Lincoln Center Theater and Clubbed Thumb, and is the co-founder of Fresh Ground Pepper. Her other works include People Doing Math Live!, The Incredible Fox Sisters, and You On The Moors Now. Her play India Pale Ale will premiere at Manhattan Theatre Club's New York City Center – Stage I this fall with direction by Charm director Will Davis.
Pipeline’s most recent productions include Clown Bar, The Gray Man, and Beardo, which was staged in a church in Brooklyn.
A.R.T/New York Theatres is located at 502 W. 53rd Street, Manhattan. Click here for tickets.
