Beck Center Announces 5 New Musicals

LAKEWOOD, OH —The Beck Center for the Arts will premier five 15 minute musicals.

The 15 minute musicals are part of a partnership between the Beck Center and the Baldwin Wallace University Music Theatre Program. Each of the musicals is new and was chosen by the National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT), the organization said.

"Pandemic or no, we were determined that this 10th anniversary of the Beck Center/Baldwin Wallace collaboration must go on. With the addition of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre as a partner, we could not be more excited to offer the World Premieres of five brand new musicals," said Scott Spence, artistic director for Beck Center.

The musical will run online from Feb. 12 to Feb. 28 and will be available on any device as part of Beck Center's 87th Professional Theater Season. Tickets are priced at $20 for one viewer and $30 for two or more viewers. Art lovers can pay $40 to support Beck Center. Tickets are available online.

“In all times, but especially challenging times, we believe that musical theatre has the power to elevate the human experience and uplift each other. The 15-Minute Musical Challenge, inspired and supported by the Alhadaff Family Charitable Foundation, was developed to inspire creativity during the early days of social distancing. We are thrilled to see five of the winning musicals see further development with Beck Center for the Arts and Baldwin Wallace University," said Executive Director Betsy King Militello.

The team creating the musical includes Matthew Webb, the music director of music theatre at Baldwin Wallace. He is also resident music director at Great Lakes Theater, the Idaho Shakespeare Festival and Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival.

The music for the shows was written by Lynne Shankel, with words by Sara Cooper. Shankel was the musical supervisor, arranger and orchestrator for Allegiance and the first woman to solely orchestrate a new musical on Broadway. Cooper is a playwright and lyricst who has received the Jonathan Larson Grant, Overall Excellence Award in Playwriting, and Time Out NY Critic’s Pick.