Weston Playhouse Offers Sneak Peek of “Resident Alien”

(Photo provided by Weston Playhouse.)

Beyond Broadway’s bright lights and the concrete jungle of New York City, there are plenty of theater companies who are developing new works. If you’re headed to Vermont this weekend for a ski weekend, perhaps take a side trail to the Weston Playhouse Theatre Company, which will light up a winter night with a free concert of songs from an exciting new musical performed by top Broadway talent. On Saturday, February 28 at 8 p.m., a cast of five will sing selections from Katya Stanislavskaya’s new musical Resident Alien. The event has been designated a VT Arts 2015 event by the Vermont Arts Council.

On stage will be Sarah Uriarte Berry and David Bonanno of Broadway and Weston’s The Light in the Piazza, Caitlin Kinnunen of Weston’s Pregnancy Pact and Broadway’s The Bridges of Madison County, Marissa McGowan of Broadway and Weston’s Les Miserables, and A.J. Shively of Broadway’s La Cage Aux Folles. The musical director for the event is Charity Wicks of Broadway’s Spring Awakening.

Resident Alien is the winner of Weston’s 9th annual New Musical Award. Each year, the unique award supports one new work by a writer or writers of notable promise, chosen from a group of national nominations. The winner, along with a music director and cast, will be in Weston to rehearse and perform selections from the piece prior to a concert and recording session in New York City.

Resident Alien is an original story of the Berdichevsky family, who emigrate to New York from the Soviet Union in the early 1990’s. The musical explores the theme of the main characters’ ability—or inability—to adapt to a new set of rules. The musical has been developed at the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop, the Dramatists Guild Fellowship, and New York Theatre Barn.

Weston’s New Works Programs are supported by the Anton Family Foundation, Dramatists Play Service, the Frederick Loewe Foundation, Stacey Mindich Productions, Music Theatre International, the Rodgers and Hammerstein Foundation, Tams-Witmark Music Library, and many generous individual donors.

The February 28 concert will be held at the Weston Playhouse, 12 Park Street, just off Route 100 S in Weston, Vermont. There is ample parking around the Village Green and in the adjacent Weston Mill Yard. The hour-long concert begins at 8pm and will be followed by a wine and cheese reception with the writer and performers. No reservations are necessary. For more information, call 802-824-8167 x110.