Musical Theatre West’s New Works Reading Festival
Musical Theatre West’s New Works Reading Festival, started in 2021 and sponsored by The Port of Long Beach, seeks to further the art form of musical theatre by providing a space for new works in the form of an annual festival.
Thank you to all who applied for and attended our 2025 New Works Reading Festival!
If you would like to submit for next year’s festival or are interested in learning more about our New Works festival, fill out the form here!
DIVERSITY STATEMENT
MTW strives to represent the diverse community of Long Beach that we service in all areas of our company, and encourages writers who represent various race, ethnicity, socioeconomic backgrounds, gender identity, age, physical ability, LGBTQIA+, and diverse viewpoints, to submit.
PAST FESTIVAL SELECTIONS
2025
- Rails
- Music & Lyrics by Tom Kenaston
- Book & Lyrics by Tom Paitson Kelly
- The Postman’s Daughter
- Words by Danielle Koenig
- Music by Justin D. Cook
2024
- Sueños: Our American Musical
- Created by Jesse J. Sanchez
- The Pelican
- Music & Lyrics by Dylan Glatthorn
- Book & Lyrics by Will Lacker
2023
- Broken Ground
- Book & Lyrics by Christine Toy Johnson
- Music & Lyrics by Jason Ma
- The Dark Lady
- Music by Veronica Mansour
- Book & Lyrics by Sophie Boyce
- Māyā
- Music & Book by Cheeyang Ng
- Book & Lyrics by Eric Sorrels
2022
- Hay Fever: A New Musical
- Book & Lyrics by David Howard
- Music by Bret Simmons
- Missing Peace
- Book, Music & Lyrics by Kalani Queypo & Kyle Puccia
- América Tropical
- Book by Gina Gallego
- Book & Lyrics Joel S. Bailey
- Music by Jan Roper
2021
- Angels of the Southern Accents
- Book, Music & Lyrics by Rus McCoy
- The Importance of Being Earnest: A Wilde New Musical
- Book & Lyrics by David Howard
- Music by Bret Simmons
- On This Side of the World
- Music & Lyrics by Paulo K. Tiról
- Developed by Noam Shapiro