The New York Theatre Barn will support three original musicals and the work of three choreographers in its 12th Choreography Lab season next year. Curated by Avital Asuleen, the Lab is the only program for choreographers and writers to collaborate on movement for original musicals during the incubation stage.

Beginning in April 2025, the New Works Lab will support three musicals: Magia, written by Letitia Bullard and Nathan Leitão; Big Quarterly, written by S. Todd Townsend, Luke McLemore, and Kim Kilby; and Forty Elephants, written by Bryan Blaskie and Laurie Hochman.

Magia, previously featured in the company’s New Works Series, is a celebration of Afro-Latino-Caribbean cultures and experiences in a fantasy musical with spices from the countries that represent the writers, The Bahamas and Brazil. 

Big Quarterly is a hip-hop gospel musical, centering on the legacy of Peter Spencer: a former slave turned pastor who sparked the Big Quarterly, a religious festival and Independence Day for Black people on the Delmarva Peninsula.

Forty Elephants is a dual-timeline comedy about the power of love, the social diminution of women, and the biggest score they can fit in their pockets.

Choreographers for the three projects will be announced in the new year.

In September, the lab will host Songs for Hands on a Thursday, a theatrical song cycle created by Jay Alan Zimmerman, based on poems by Sarah Ruhl. Songs for Hands on a Thursday's development team includes a Deaf composer, a Director of Artistic Sign Language, three choreographers (both Deaf and hearing), a projection designer, a sound engineer, and eight performers (both Deaf and hearing). More details will be announced in the new year.

Funded in part by the Amber Foundation, the Choreography Lab was created to elevate and expand the use of dance in musical theatre.