Musical Theatre West’s New Works Reading Festival

Musical Theatre West’s New Works Reading Festival, started in 2021, seeks to further the art form of musical theatre by providing a space for new works in the form of an annual festival.

Congrats to our two selections for our 2025 New Works Festival:

Rails
Music by Tom Kenaston
Book by Tom Paitson Kelly
Lyrics by Tom Kenaston & Tom Paitson Kelly

The Postman’s Daughter
Words by Danielle Koenig
Music by Justin D. Cook

If you would like to submit for next year’s festival or are interested in learning more about our New Works festival in November, 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

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