Mission

PREMIERES' mission is to support the development and promotion of new music theater works in New York City by exceptional playwrights, lyricists and composers whose creative visions move the art form forward and enrich the lexicon of the American Musical Theater. We present staged readings of works in development as well as create new partnerships through commissions, development and full productions in our 'Inner Voices' initiative.

History

PREMIERES' inaugural season took place at the Clark Studio Theater at Lincoln Center in May and June of 2001 with staged readings of Ed Dixon's Richard Cory, Darrah Cloud and Kim D. Sherman's Heartland, and Noa Ain and Gerard Edery's Song of the Turtledove.  

From 2002 to 2004, we presented staged readings of several Richard Rodgers Award winning musicals, including Maryrose Wood and Andrew Gerle's The Tutor, Daniel Frederick Levin and Jonathan Portera's To Paint the Earth, and Sam Carner and Derek Gregor's Unlock'd.  

In 2006, we produced a workshop of Lauren Robert's .22 Caliber Mouth, winner of the Georgia Bogardus Holof Award at the O'Neill Theater Center in 2005.  The workshop was directed by Diane Paulus at the Ohio Theatre in Soho.  

In 2008, inspired by Alan Bennett's Talking Heads, we initiated a new and innovative form of music theater entitled Inner Voices, and commissioned three new teams to write original sung-through monologues.  Our first production included Tres Ninas by Ellen Fitzhugh and Michael John LaChiusa, directed by Jonathan Butterell,  Alice Unwrapped by Laura Harrington and Jennifer Giering, directed by Jeremy Dobrish, and A Thousand Words Come to Mind by Michele Lowe and Scott Davenport Richards, directed by Jack Cummings III. Presented at the Zipper Factory Theatre in May of 2008, these works starred Victoria Clark, Jennifer Damiano and Barbara Walsh.  

Two new teams were then commissioned by PREMIERES to create Inner Voices and in April of 2010, directed by Jonathan Butterell,  we produced Mosaic by Cheri Steinkellner and Georgia Stitt, starring Heidi Blickenstaff, and Whida Peru: Resurrection Tangle by David Simpatico and Josh Schmidt, starring Judy Blazer at 59 East 59th Street Theaters.

In January of 2011, we produced a three-week workshop of Buddy's Tavern, winner of a Richard Rodgers Award and written by Raymond De Filitta, Alison Louise Hubbard and Kim Oler.  The workshop featured Shuler Hensley, Andrea Burns and Laura Osnes, directed by Warren Carlyle.  

In November and December of 2012, PREMIERES produced the next production of Inner Voices at the 30th Street Theater.  This production included commissioned works by Martin Moran and Joseph Thalken (Borrowed Dust), starring Hunter Foster and directed by Jonathan Butterell, Victor Lodato and Polly Pen (Arlington), starring Alexandra Silber and directed by Jack Cummings III,  and Nilo Cruz and Jim Bauer (Farhad or the Secret of Being), starring Arielle Jacobs and directed by Saheem Ali. Digital and Hard Copies of CD for Borrowed Dust and Farhad or the Secret of Being available. Contact us for information on how to receive.

In October of 2014, our fourth production of Inner Voices was presented at TBG Theater in New York. This production was a double bill of commissioned works by Charlayne Woodard and Kirsten Childs (Grace), starring Andrea Frierson and directed by Shirley Jo Finney, and Mark Campbell and Marisa Michelson (The Other Room), starring Phoebe Strole and directed by Ethan Heard.

Again in October of 2016, our fifth production of Inner Voices took place at the TBG Theatre with three new commissioned works including Just One Q by Ellen Fitzhugh and Ted Shen starring T. Oliver Reid, with direction by Brad Rouse and music direction by Andrew Resnick; The Pen by Dan Collins and Julianne Wick Davis starring Nancy Anderson, with direction by Margot Bordelon and music direction by Alexander Rovang; and The Booty Call by Saheem Ali and Michael Thurber starring Michael Thurber and directed by Saheem Ali.

In 2017 Premieres presented two public readings of a new musical entitled Rapture, written and composed by Edward Trach. The readings took place during a four-week workshop at the TBG Theatre with Kelly Robinson as director and Kenneth Gartman as music director. There were 21 actors in the cast. Rapture is a contemporary story about love and spiritual belief. It centers on a community in Short Creek, Utah that still practices plural marriage, or polygamy.

In October and November of 2018 the sixth production of ‘Inner Voices’ took place at the TBG Theater. This production included commissioned works by Deborah Zoe Laufer & Daniel Green, Daniel Zaitchik, and Jeff Blumenkrantz.

In August of 2022, Premieres presented LOS OTROS by Ellen Fitzhugh & Michael John LaChiusa, directed by Noah Himmelstein Off-Broadway at ART/New York Theatres in a landmark production as the off-broadway community bounced back from the pandemic. 

For more information see our Archival History Page.

PREMIERES is especially proud that all six of our ‘Inner Voices’ productions were selected by Lincoln Center on Film and Tape, and all are available for viewing.